Former President Donald Trump’s latest indictment leaves a lot to unpack. We answer questions and take your calls. Brian Lehrer, host of The Brian Lehrer Show, talks to Charlie Sykes , founder and editor-at-large and host of a podcast at The Bulwark , MSNBC contributor and author of How the Right Lost Its Mind (St. Martin's Press, 2017). Brian also recently invited Kai and others on his show to read the full indictment. Listen to “Reading the Indictment of Donald Trump” here : https://www.wnyc.o...
Aug 10, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jelani Cobb , staff writer for The New Yorker, tells the fascinating story behind a provocative idea. Understanding the origins of Critical Race Theory is the first step in understanding the evolution of civil rights and whether racism could be a permanent fixture of society. Then, producer Regina de Heer shares some listener submissions to our summer playlist project. Send us your song for our summer playlist! What’s a song that represents your personal diaspora story? Go to notesfromamerica.or...
Aug 07, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast The story of the first Black doll to have the name Barbie. Until 1980, Barbie was always white. Mattel had made Black dolls before, but they were sidekicks to the brand’s main character with facial features that didn’t really distinguish them from the other dolls. Correspondent Tracie Hunte brings you the story of the first Black doll to have the name Barbie. Hear from Kitty Black Perkins, Mattel’s first Black designer who brought her own style and preferences to the task of creating the doll. A...
Aug 03, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast A disastrous period in the 1980’s. Where we went wrong and what we keep doing wrong today. What do you think of when you hear the term, “crack cocaine?” The drug is at the heart of an epidemic in the 1980’s that destroyed lives. But for writer Donovan X. Ramsey, a lot of our assumptions and understandings about this era are actually mistruths. So he wrote When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era.” He tells Kai that the full truth reveals, “how deep the harm goes in America ...
Jul 31, 2023•52 min•Ep 300•Transcript available on Metacast James Spooner made a documentary in 2003 called “Afro-Punk.” It was a defining film for a generation of young Black people who felt like outsiders. This fall, he’ll publish a collection he co-edited with Chris L. Terry called Black Punk Now . Hear his place in the story of punk rock and the future he’s helping young Black artists pave for themselves. This episode is an installment of "Black History is Now." Send us your song for our summer playlist! What’s a song that represents your personal di...
Jul 27, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our producer, Regina de Heer, wants to know which songs reflect your experience being part of a diaspora. For her, having to choose an entrance song for her engagement ceremony made a new connection with her Ghanaian heritage, and made her want to learn more about afrobeats. So she found an expert: Christian Adofo , author of A Quick Ting On: Afrobeats Send us your song for our summer playlist! What’s a song that represents your personal diaspora story? Go to notesfromamerica.org and click on th...
Jul 24, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re gonna need a bigger bench. Because w hen most people talk about expanding the Supreme Court, they're talking about adding a few justices. But Elie Mystal is not most people. He thinks we should just blow the lid and add 20 justices. Here's why. This is from Contempt of Court , a new podcast from Elie and The Nation. This episode is called "Elie's Court Packing Plan." Also, heads up that Elie drops the F-bomb in this episode. Send us your song for our summer playlist project! What’s a song ...
Jul 20, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listeners want to talk about moments from their past when they felt like they didn’t belong and who helped them through those moments. So Kai invites them to talk with Connie Wang, author of “Oh My Mother!” Connie’s most memorable moments with her mom have been when they were traveling: to their family timeshare in Mexico, family visits to China, and a Magic Mike liveshow in Las Vegas. Each of these adventures not only helped Connie understand her mom better, but also get comfortable with the id...
Jul 17, 2023•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Everyone’s talking about affirmative action at elite universities. But they educate fewer than 5 percent of students seeking advanced degrees. So why should the other 95 percent care? Kai wants to know about the future of equity in higher education. So he talks to: - Dominique Baker, Southern Methodist University Associate Professor of Education Policy. - Imani Perry, Harvard University Professor of African and African American Studies, and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Tell us what y...
Jul 13, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Affirmative action is gone. Ibram X. Kendi tells us the history leading up to this moment and what could be next. Historian and best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi helps Kai understand the Supreme Court's ruling that ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions. Plus, Kai wants to know Dr. Kendi's personal reaction to the Court's ruling. He is devastated for a number of reasons. Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send us a voic...
Jul 10, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts’s mission: To recover her ancestry as a Black American. Her destination: The bottom of the Atlantic. Tara Roberts walked through the National Museum of African American History when one photo stopped her in place. A group of divers – all Black women – preparing to search for the wreckage of slave ships. A short time later, Tara would find herself searching for those ships and discovering her own past. She chronicled what she found in “ Into the Depths .”...
Jul 06, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast A culture war from our past: Before he could define America’s sound for the next century, Aaron Copland had to overcome conflict over what “America” meant. There’s one line of questioning our listeners ask more than any other: “What is America, and who gets to define it?” Kai can tell you these questions aren’t new. So he goes back in time to look at one story from the New Deal era and a culture war over what made patriotic music…patriotic. Turns out, it’s the same old song and dance. Sara Fishk...
Jul 03, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Arab Americans around the country are celebrating their diaspora. And it starts with two guys in a band blasting music at underground parties in Washington, D.C. Philippe Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal were two guys in a band called Wake Island. Music helped them process a lot about their lives: Where they came from, who they were, and where they were going. They realized music does that for a lot of people, especially if you’re from a diaspora. So they, along with partner Saphe Shamoun, created Lay...
Jun 29, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Allison Herrera , the Indigenous affairs reporter at KOSU, returns to the show to introduce us to Hodalee and Jamie Sewell, who are in the process of adopting their great niece– a baby girl. She’s a Cherokee Nation citizen, so that meant her social workers had to follow guidelines set out by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Allison walks us through Sewell's adoption journey and what happens when ICWA works the way it’s supposed to. Later in the show, Claudette Grinnell-Davis , professor of s...
Jun 26, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2018, a few months into building a new school in Sugar Land, Texas, construction crews uncovered 95 unmarked graves. This wasn’t a serial killer’s dumping, but it was evidence of a particularly dark period in our country’s history - evidence many in Sugar Land wished had stayed hidden. This is the story of these 95 people. Who were they? What happened to them? It turns out their story is just as much about them as it is about the people who have been trying to control them for over a century....
Jun 22, 2023•44 min•Ep 289•Transcript available on Metacast It goes beyond the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s about liberating our own hearts and minds and staking a claim to freedom. On June 19th, 1865, roughly a quarter million enslaved people in Texas officially learned that they were free, years after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the last place the Union delivered news. Kai wants to go to Houston to hear the history, music, and perspective from locals about how they celebrate. And he finds even more – how people create and cl...
Jun 19, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast At least not anymore. That confidence comes from her purpose, her identities, and how comedy has evolved from the sitcoms she used to watch as a kid. Our former intern Vanessa Handy was watching reruns of Good Times with her family. It made her realize how important comedy was growing up – especially sitcoms centering Black families. So she called up Sam Jay to talk about comedy of the past, and what the future looks like to one comic who’s forging it. As you can guess, that comedy is tied to th...
Jun 15, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast He celebrates Pride all year long through art – and that’s been the journey of a lifetime. He’s got an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony. But early in his career, Billy Porter was relegated to roles of comic relief. Things didn’t change until he figured out how to show up authentically in every space. Kai sits down with Billy to hear that story. Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailin...
Jun 12, 2023•33 min•Ep 286•Transcript available on Metacast According to Brooke Gladstone, host of “On The Media,” a lot of journalists think their job is to report “...fairly, accurately, and with principle.” But she also says that might be where we get in trouble. She and Kai and try to make sense of this mess the media feels today. Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or going to Instagram and clicking on the link in our ...
Jun 08, 2023•18 min•Ep 285•Transcript available on Metacast Micah Loewinger , a reporter for On the Media , began monitoring militia conversations in early 2020. The potential for violence was immediately clear. And so when they staged an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Micah was listening and recording. But when his reporting became part of the FBI’s case against the Oath Keepers, it raised difficult questions about his role as a journalist. Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send ...
Jun 05, 2023•32 min•Ep 284•Transcript available on Metacast Kai’s a legit fanboy of Padma. One reason why: She explores who we are …through what we eat. So Kai gets her on the mic to ask what food can tell us about the American immigrant story. You’ll hear from: - Padma Lakshmi , Host of Hulu’s Taste the Nation & Bravo’s Top Shelf Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or going to Instagram and clicking on the link in our bio....
Jun 01, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ask a group of highschoolers, “who was Trayvon Martin?” and you’ll see some tragically blank stares. But replace that with “George Floyd”, and you’ll see heads nod. Kai’s struggling with how we memorialize anti-Black violence when we “say their names” – is that an effective response to anti-Black violence? So he talks to: Chelsea Miller , activist and co-founder of Freedom March NYC. Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send us a voice messa...
May 29, 2023•33 min•Ep 282•Transcript available on Metacast Our friends at More Perfect dove into Clarence Thomas’s past to make sense of his ideology today. You’ll hear from: Juan Williams — Senior Political Analyst at Fox News Corey Robin — Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center Angela Onwuachi-Willig — Dean of Boston University School of Law Stephen F. Smith — Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School The More Perfect team inspired us to do our own deep-dive: U nearthing Thomas’s ideological roots, and what the...
May 25, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Supreme Court’s most senior member writes opinions that have an outsized impact on U.S. law. Our listeners call in to understand what really shapes Justice Thomas, and what we should expect from SCOTUS as the 2023 term comes to an end. Plus, - Elie Mystal, Justice Correspondent for The Nation and Supreme Court scholar. - Corey Robin, Author of The Enigma of Clarence Thomas. For more, check out our colleagues at More Perfect , the show about “how the Supreme Court got so Supreme.” The first e...
May 22, 2023•51 min•Ep 280•Transcript available on Metacast Jordan Neely’s death raised deep, fundamental questions about our society; about what kind of people we are, and why? Our colleagues at The Brian Lehrer Show talked with Eli Mystal from the Nation to confront these questions. Last week, our show talked about homelessness. “Homelessness Hides in Plain Sight. So Does Its Fix.” is available in your feed. We recommend listening alongside this episode. Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @noteswithkai . Email us at notes@wnyc.org . Send us...
May 18, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast One in every 14 Americans experiences homelessness at some point. Our listeners who know about it firsthand talk to us. Plus, - Michael Kimmleman, architecture critic for The New York Times. His article, “How Houston Moved 25,000 People From the Streets Into Homes of Their Own,” was published in his Headways column of the Times, from June 14, 2022. - Ana Rausch, Vice President of Operations for Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County Tell us what you think. Instagram and Twitter: @no...
May 15, 2023•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Before she was the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo’s journey as an artist began at a federal Indian boarding school. She reveals an unexpected perspective about her experience. Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022. Her new children’s book, Remember ( Penguin Random House, 2023), is an adaption of her famous poem by the same name. That poem was one of th...
May 11, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast From 1819 and 1969, the U.S. removed thousands of Native children from their homes and tried to strip them of their culture. What would a reparations program for this history look like? T he U.S. Department of the Interior has begun finally wrestling with the history of the Indian boarding school program. In 2021, the department’s head, Secretary Deb Haaland, launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to not only document the history, but to understand its ongoing impact. Last year, ...
May 08, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast The world of finance can be confusing for people who weren’t born into it – more often, that’s people of color. Berna Anat is a “Financial Hype Woman” on a mission to fix that. The freelance writer-turned-financial education content creator is deeply skeptical of capitalism and dedicated to empowering first-generation Americans and people of color to thrive in the system. Anat shares the lessons she’s learned in her book, "Money Out Loud: All the Financial Stuff No One Taught Us." It investigate...
May 04, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast A deadly encounter fifty years ago between the New Jersey State Police and a group of Black activists turned Assata Shakur into a cultural icon – and an enduring political villain. In May 1973, activist Assata Shakur and two members of the Black Liberation Army were pulled over by state troopers on the New Jersey Turnpike. Tragically, guns were fired, people were killed, and in the aftermath, a political standoff between Shakur and state law enforcement began. On the fiftieth anniversary marking...
May 01, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
