In The Thick

In light of Bari Weiss’ resignation from The New York Times, Maria and Julio have an honest conversation about being journalists of color. They also talk about what happens when newsrooms are majority-white, the continued surge of COVID-19 cases across the country, and the heartbreaking death of Naya Rivera.  ITT Staff Picks:  - Vivian Kane writes, "People like Weiss and Stephens are representativ...

Maria and Julio are joined by Alexis Madrigal, staff writer at The Atlantic and co-founder of The Atlantic's COVID Tracking Project. They dig into the stories behind the COVID-19 data, and discuss the disproportionate impact the disease continues to have on people of color, particularly the Latino community.  ITT Staff Picks: - In Alexis' latest piece for The Atlantic, he warns of the dire consequ...

Maria and Julio dive into Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s visit to the White House. They talk about what the maskless meeting meant in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and Trump’s anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant, comments and policies. They also talk about Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue praising Trump. And finally, they break down Harper's “Letter on Justice and Open Debate,” exa...

Maria and Julio debrief the news with ITT All-Stars Jenni Monet, an independent journalist and tribal member of the Pueblo of Laguna, and Terrell J. Starr, a senior reporter at The Root and host of the new podcast, Black Diplomats. They dive into what it means to celebrate a Fourth of July marked by the sexual assault and killing of servicemember Vanessa Guillén, a racist diatribe by President Tru...

Maria and Julio are joined by authors and historians Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross to talk about their latest book, A Black Women's History of the United States. They analyze the history of Black women in America and their legacy of activism, resistance and entrepreneurship. Daina and Kali offer their insight on how Black women are shaping politics and harnessing their electoral power. I...

Maria and Julio are joined by Peniley Ramírez, an investigative reporter with Univision, and Gisela Pérez de Acha, a human rights lawyer and journalist, to talk about the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Latin America. They discuss the surge in cases, how governments are responding, and the role information plays in a public health crisis. ITT Staff Picks: - Peniley Ramírez writes for El Univer...

COVID-19 cases are surging nationwide, and President Trump is unilaterally imposing strict immigration restrictions. Maria and Julio get into that and more as they talk about the people powered organizing that is pushing back — often in creative ways — and recap this past week's 2020 primary elections. ITT Staff Picks:  - Joe Coscarelli writes for The New York Times about how K-Pop fans are turnin...

This year's Pride month lands during a global pandemic and a national uprising to defend Black lives, which means the LGBTQ community of color is on the frontlines, as always. Maria and Julio speak with Elle Hearns, the executive director of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, and Nala Simone Toussaint, founder of R.O.A.D, the Reuniting of African Descendants. They talk about the history of struggle...

On Juneteenth, Maria and Julio take time to honor and reflect on what today has meant for Black Americans for decades. They hear from Futuro Media's Amanda Alcántara, who shares her reflections on the historical significance of this day. They also talk about the Supreme Court’s decision to block Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and they break down which...

Maria and Julio talk about police and prison abolition with Charlene Carruthers, author and founding member of Black Youth Project 100, and Ejeris Dixon, director of Vision Change Win. They imagine a world without police, dive into community safety, and get real about what calls for defunding the police mean. ITT Staff Picks: - Mariame Kaba, an organizer whose work focuses on dismantling the priso...

Maria and Julio get into how race and activism show up in sports - historically and in the current Black Lives Matter movement - with Howard Bryant, a senior writer for ESPN and correspondent for NPR’s Weekend Edition. They talk about Bryant’s recent book, Full Dissidence: Notes from an Uneven Playing Field, and the ways in which Black athletes, like Colin Kaepernick, have spoken up and been silen...

As thousands of protestors fill the streets, Maria and Julio talk about the #BlackLivesMatter movement, performative allyship, and what it means to abolish the police with Karen Attiah, global opinions editor for the Washington Post and ITT All-Star Dr. Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University and co-host of the podcast FAQ NYC. ITT Staff Picks: - Karen Attia...

Protests continue across every state in this country, and in countries around the world, in the fight for racial justice for Black lives. Maria and Julio talk about the different ways people have been organizing, the gaslighting they have seen in responses from those in power, and what this means in the context of 2020 primary elections. ITT Staff Picks:  - “Responding to a protest of police viole...

Maria and Julio process this historic moment in the fight for racial justice and defending Black lives with Julieta Martinelli, Futuro Media producer who is on the ground covering the ongoing protests in Atlanta. Then, they dive into conversation with Danielle Moodie, co-host of the podcast Democracy-ish and host of the radio show WokeAF, to make sense of this year so far and what it all means for...

As protests continue in Minneapolis and spread across the country, Maria and Julio talk about anti-black racism and violent policing in the United States. They reflect on the ways in which white supremacy shows up in police interactions, as well as in daily life — for instance in threats from a white woman walking her dog in Central Park. ITT Staff Picks: - A former classmate of George Floyd says...

Maria and Julio are joined by James Boo, showrunner at Self-Evident, a podcast telling Asian America’s stories and Erika Lee, award-winning author and professor of history and Asian American studies at the University of Minnesota. They focus on the spike in anti-Asian sentiment that people are experiencing across the country. They also talk about the economic impact for historic neighborhoods acro...

Maria and Julio discuss how the Latinx community is being affected by the COVID-19 crisis. They highlight the latest Latino USA episode which looks inside a New York City hospital's ICU. Also, they continue to dive into the cruel, inhumane conditions at detention centers and prisons around the country. ITT Staff Picks: - Latino Rebels reports on a lawsuit filed by four migrant detainees against th...

May is Mental Health Awareness month, so Maria and Julio discuss the psychological and emotional toll of living through a global pandemic. They are joined by Dr. Patrice Harris, child and adolescent psychiatrist and president of the American Medical Association, and Bethany Ao, a mental health reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer. ITT Staff Picks: - In her latest for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Be...

Maria and Julio discuss Dr. Anthony Fauci's and Rick Bright's congressional testimonies on the pandemic response. They also dive into the Supreme Court's pending decision around DACA which could strip protections from hundreds of thousands. Finally, they return to policing and criminal justice during the pandemic and the ongoing violence toward black and brown communities. ITT Staff Picks:  - Rick...

This week Maria and Julio are talking about education during the time of this pandemic. They hear from Dr. Elizabeth Farfán-Santos, professor of anthropology at the University of Houston, and Dr. Pedro Noguera, professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles, about how school districts across the country are adapting to online learning, what gaps still remain especially for stu...

The COVID-19 story is a POC story. Maria and Julio work through a devastating news cycle. They talk about policing during the pandemic and the disproportionate brutality toward people of color, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and the death of Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, who passed from COVID-19 related complications while being detained by ICE. ITT Staff Picks: - Charles M. Blow writes i...

Maria and Julio talk with Alex Roque, executive director at the Ali Forney Center in New York City and ITT All-Star Imara Jones, creator of TransLash Media about how LGBTQ youth of color are coping during the coronavirus pandemic.  This episode was reported and produced by In the Thick's New York Women’s Foundation IGNITE! Fellow, Harsha Nahata. ITT Staff Picks:  - "With schools closed amid the pa...

Maria and Julio discuss the latest with the sexual assault allegation against the 2020 presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden who appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Friday to publicly address the allegation. They also cover the historic May Day strikes happening around the country and what President Trump’s executive order to keep meatpacking plants open means for the many migrant workers. ITT S...

This week Maria and Julio focus on how different faith communities are staying connected during the pandemic. They talk with Dawud Walid, a faith leader and executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Alejandra Molina, a national reporter from Religion News Service covering Latinos and religion. ITT Staff Picks: - Alejandra Molina's latest for Religi...

On today’s ITT Sound Off, Maria and Julio are fed up. They talk about how the Trump administration continues to lash out at immigrants, and the disproportionate press coverage the President’s tweets receive. They also dive into what is happening in Chelsea, Massachusetts and in the Bronx, New York where hotspots of the virus are developing. We want to hear from you. As schools shut and services be...