Attribution with Bob McKinnon

Richard D. Kahlenberg is an education and housing policy researcher, writer, consultant, and speaker. He is also Director of Housing Policy and Director of the American Identity Project at the Progressive Policy Institute. The author or editor of 19 books, his latest is Class Matters: The Fight to Get Beyond Race Preferences, Reduce Inequality, and Build Real Diversity at America's Colleges. This...

Adam Chandler is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Esquire, and elsewhere. We talked about his most recent book 99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life. This was a fascinating and myth-busting conversation about the value work plays in our life. Adam Chandler 99% Perspiration Subscribe to Moving Up...

Jennifer B. Wallace is an award-winning journalist and author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It. She is also founder of The Mattering Institute, whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in homes, workplaces, and communities. This was a truly eye-opening conversation that I hope you find of value. Jennifer B. Wallace Never Enough Mattering...

Katherine May is an internationally renowned writer, podcaster and speaker whose work touches on nature, spirituality, slow living and neurodivergence. Her hybrid memoir Wintering was a global bestseller, adapted as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week, and shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. Her most recent title, Enchantment became an instant New York Times bestseller....

I was thrilled to take part in the launch of the Social Mobility Lab at City College earlier this year. It is an idea that I have been working on for several years and am so grateful to have the opportunity to launch it within the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. The purpose of the Lab is to learn what contributes to success in college and beyond and then translate that learnin...

Rachel Perić is Executive Director of Welcoming America. Inspired by her family's refugee story and by the worldwide movement of welcomers, Rachel works to create communities where all residents – including immigrants and refugees – can thrive and belong. We talked about her own personal journey, the important work of her organization and how we as a country are doing to live up to our ideals of w...

Jason Hehir who is a documentary filmmaker whose subjects have included cultural icons Andre the Giant, Michael Jordan and Elvis Presley among others. We talked about those films and his recent HBO series, Murder in Boston.  It was a far ranging conversation touching on topics ranging from race, reckoning with our past and what makes for a successful life. I hope you enjoy it.  Jason Hehir Andre t...

Mark R. Rank is recognized as a foremost expert on issues of poverty, inequality and social justice.  To date he has written 10 books on a range of subjects, including an exploration of the American Dream and  a new understanding of poverty and inequality. In this episode, I talk to Mark about his latest book, The Random Factor which looks at the role of luck and chance in shaping the course of ou...

Brittany Means is author of the critically acclaimed memoir, "Hell if We Don't Change Our Ways". Reviews have called it "gut-wrenching and triumphant." "Readable and rigorous."  "Brutal and beautiful.'  At its heart, it is a book about family. as Means recounts her complex relationships with her mother, father, brother, and grandparents and eventual guardians. What does it mean when those closest...

In communities across the country, including New York, library budgets and hours are being cut, just at a time when society needs them most. This is in spite of the incredible success that libraries have in bringing people, particularly older adults, together.  Bob McKinnon, host of the podcast, Attribution talks with Eric Klinenberg, NYU sociologist and author of "Palace for the People" which exa...

It is the simplest of tools designed to help us tackle the complexities of life. It helps reduce errors, remember what's important, assess and reflect on what and how we're doing. Pilots, astronauts, builders and surgeons use them to save lives. What is this elementary yet powerful tool?  A checklist. Is it possible that a simple checklist could do for the growing issue of social isolation among o...

Stephanie Land is the New York Times bestselling author of Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive which is now the inspiration for the Netflix series of the same name.  Her latest book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood,  Hunger and Higher Education is out now. During our conversation we talked about the challenges and judgment that she and other single moms have faced simply trying...

Christopher Zara is the News Editor at Fast Company.  His recent memoir, Uneducated, explores his unlikely journey into the newsroom without the credential of a college degree. During our conversation we talked about both his own story but also more broadly about the role of education - higher and otherwise - in creating opportunities to climb the proverbial ladder.  Links to learn more about:  Ch...

Singer/songwriter Joy Oladokun is a master storyteller whose songs have been listened to over forty million times. Her latest album, Proof of Life is being heralded as her breakthrough. We talked about her journey as an artist and her process of making music that "helps myself and others process this world." Links to learn more about:  Joy Oladokun Proof of Life HOST Bob McKinnon is a writer, desi...

Larissa FastHorse is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow, award winning writer/choreographer, and co-founder of Indigenous Direction, the nation's leading consulting company for Indigenous arts and audiences. With her latest work, The Thanksgiving Play, she became the first native American to have her play on Broadway. We talked about her journey to Broadway and how we connect with our culture and each other....

Dr. Robert Waldinger, is clinical professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. He is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and also a Zen priest. We discussed his book The Good Life, co-authored with Marc Schulz, the central role of relationships in our life and what can undermine our ability to be socially fit. The conversation wi...

This bonus episode of Attribution, 'Seeing Erin Hagerty', was originally broadcast as a WLIW-FM special program and a part of Chasing the Dream: Poverty, Justice and Opportunity in America, a public media reporting initiative from The WNET Group. Erin Hagerty died last year at the age of 62. By most counts she lived an extraordinary life -  simply by doing things many would consider ordinary. This...

Richard Buery is CEO of Robin Hood, one of the nation's leading anti-poverty organizations. Prior to this role, Rich had worked as Deputy Mayor of New York, where he was the key architect for the city's Pre-K for All initiative. In our conversation, we talked about the many ways in which his work has attempted to alleviate scarcity by leveraging the abundant resources around us and his own backgro...

For the last thirty years, Dr. Deepak Chopra  has been at the forefront of the meditation revolution.  His 93rd book, Living in the Light  written with Sarah Platt-Fingerwith. taps into the ancient Indian practice of Royal Yoga and offers an illuminating program for self-realization, bliss, and wholeness. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as "one of their top 100 most influential people."  In...

Brandon Ogbunu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. While his research takes place at the intersection of evolutionary biology, genetics, and epidemiology, it all as he says stems from his own biography. His writing appears not just in academic journals but for Wired, The Atlantic and ESPN among other places. This was a deep and far reaching conversation ab...

This bonus episode of Attribution, 'The Great Gatsby: Then and Now', was originally broadcast as a WLIW-FM special program and a part of Chasing the Dream: Poverty, Justice and Opportunity in America, a public media reporting initiative from The WNET Group. "I think that this is our great American novel about class. I think you see it on almost every page." Bob McKinnon, host of the podcast Attrib...

Emi Nietfeld is author of Acceptance: A Memoir. Her essays have appeared in New York Times, Longreads, Vice, and Boulevard. This was an incredibly moving and important conversation - one I hope you'll listen to in its entirety as the ending is  particularly poignant. This episode contains descriptions or mentions of eating disorders, mental health issues, and sexual abuse which some listeners may...

Dave Eggers is the acclaimed author of thirty books and the co-founder of several non-profit organizations including 826 Valencia and Voice of Witness. We talked about how we connect with each other, the importance of telling our own stories AND amplifying the voices of others. I hope you enjoy  Links to learn more about:  Dave Eggers Heroes of the Frontier The Every Heartbreaking Work of Staggeri...

Andrea Elliott has documented the lives of poor Americans, Muslim immigrants and other people on the margins of power. She is an investigative reporter for The New York Times and the author of Invisible Child , which has won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Her book and our conversation were eye-opening. I hope it helps you see better too.  Links to learn more about:  Andrea Elliott...

Kathryn Schulz is a Pulitzer Prize winning staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. Her latest book, Lost & Found, is a wonderful and beautiful read. Our conversation touched on topics like life, death, love and loss - helping me see each in a new light.   Links to learn more about:  Kathryn Schulz Lost & Found Being Wrong: Adventures in the...