Notes from America with Kai Wright

The state of Fox News today is thanks to Rupert Murdoch. A look inside the Murdoch media empire shows how media outlets can turn into right-wing political influence machines.  Famed Fox News host Tucker Carlson got fired. The story is still unfolding, but initial reports claim that the decision came straight from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch after vulgar language and messages were attributed to Car...

A history of anti-Black fear has left everyone unsafe in a nation full of anxious gun owners.  There are more guns than there are people in the U.S., and a lot of people seem to be afraid. According to historian and Emory University African American studies professor   Carol Anderson , our nation’s history with guns is directly related to its legacy of anti-Black racism. She explains this history...

Filmmaker Lisa Cortés tells the inspiring and painful story of the Black, queer inventor of rock and roll–Little Richard. Richard Wayne Penniman   launched rock and roll into pop culture and wrote a new set of rules for what it meant to be free as an American, but his own freedom is a much more complicated story. Filmmaker   Lisa Cortés   set out to capture his   t ale in her new documentary, Litt...

In a world that feels divided, two storytellers invite people to share what shapes their politics through poetry, using the prompt “Where I’m From.” Host   Kai Wright –inspired by a listener voicemail–considers poetry as a potential vehicle for facilitating challenging conversations. He’s joined by poet and filmmaker   Bob Holman , owner of the Bowery Poetry Club and original slam master of the Nu...

On the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, one journalist examines the 1968 Holy Week which he calls one of the most consequential weeks in U.S. history.  Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was buried on April 9, during what's commonly called Holy Week. In the runup to Easter Sunday and nothing about life in America would be the...

Brandon Johnson's mayoral election could change the national conversation about crime, schools -- and an aging Black establishment in big city politics. Chicago’s recent mayoral election saw two Democratic candidates–Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas–fight for their very different visions of how the windy city should be run. The race centered debates on crime and schools, issues with inevitable impl...

A recent mass shooting at a school in Nashville added to the toll of death and injuries from the nation’s gun violence crisis. A reporter wonders if we’re grieving properly – or at all. Two mothers lost their daughters to gun violence but received disparate levels of attention. Now, they’re using their stories – and their grief – to inspire others.  WNYC correspondent   Tracie Hunte   introduces h...

In Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, one writer sees a model for amassing obscene wealth, pioneered in 19th century California, finally nearing its limits.  Silicon Valley is notorious in the global economy and the American psyche. According to author   Malcolm Harris , the Bay Area tech hub and California at large are a laboratory for the worst consequences of capitalism–centuries in the making. Ha...

White supremacist myths turn defeated leaders into heroic victors. Are Donald Trump and the MAGA movement the next Lost cause?  Donald Trump is the lead contender for the Republican nomination for President once again. And with pending indictment looming in the headlines, the opportunity arises for the former president to yet again, control the narrative of his defeat. If we turn to history, we’ll...

Ramadan Mubarak! We check in with people of the Muslim community, their intentions, traditions and plans for making the most of this holy month.  Ramadan has begun, which means that close to two billion people worldwide will be abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset. But Ramadan is about much more than fasting. It is one of the most sacred periods for Muslims. The vastly diverse glo...

Some believe that the religious right’s roots begin with  Roe v. Wade . But there was an earlier court decision about the rights of segregated schools that first mobilized them. The recent surge in anti-trans legislation nationwide sparked a conversation on our show, about how the religious right has worked to deny the rights and existence of LGBT people for decades. This movement dates back to th...

State lawmakers across the country are introducing new waves of legislation targeting the transgender community. What’s behind this movement?  To answer this question, we first turn to history. Host   Kai Wright   speaks with   Imara Jones , founder of   TransLash Media   and host of the podcast   The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality . Jones shares   the national picture of this su...

Why do millions of people from around the world flock to Philadelphia, PA, to visit a statue….of a fictional character? We ask Paul Farber, host of the WHYY podcast   The Statue . Many who have been to Philadelphia have visited the iconic plaza outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art that houses the Rocky statue. But what does a statue celebrating a fictional boxer tell us about how and why we crea...

Artist Michelle Browder lives in a city that is increasingly being altered by monumental works…including one she created herself. More than 30 years ago, as an 18-year-old art student in Atlanta, Michelle Browder came across a work of art that haunted her. The picture was meant as a tribute to Dr. J. Marion Sims, a 19th century doctor long known as the 'Father of Gynecology.’ His discoveries, only...

Our national story comprises  all  of us. We hear stories from listeners and The HistoryMakers founder Julieanna Richardson that capture the living history that often goes unmentioned. How can we craft a new version of our national history that includes people who have been written out of it?   Julieanna Richardson   is someone who is also   asking this question. She’s doing the work through   The...

We continue our Black History Is Now series with  Gina Prince-Bythewood , director of the hit films “The Woman King” and “Love & Basketball,” among others that center Black voices.  “The Woman King” has received widespread acclaim and has inspired representation for women on the big screen. For  Gina Prince-Bythewood , the film’s director, this movie is the latest in what has been a long career of...

Terrance McKnight , evening host on WQXR,  unearths the hidden voices that shape our musical tradition s in the new podcast  "Every Voice with Terrance McKnight.” McKnight has spent decades interrogating the classical world, raising questions about race relations in the genre and therefore introducing his listeners to often overlooked or forgotten music and voices.   Kai Wright   joins McKnight li...

We mark the end of Black History Month with a conversation about the people who are too often left out when we celebrate the past. What do we learn when we study the history of those considered wayward and existing outside of the norms of the day? Cultural historian and MacArthur fellow   Saidiya Hartman   introduces host   Kai Wright   to the young women whose radical lives were obscured by respe...

Continuing our Black History Month series, ballet sensation Misty Copeland shares her journey to believing she was special. As the first African American woman to be a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater in 2015,   Misty Copeland   made history. Now, she continues to shape the future by inspiring young dancers and sharing not just her story, but also her inspiration in her memoir   “Th...

Black studies is not about inclusion. It’s about disruption – which is why some fear it.  Black studies is under partisan attack, not only in Florida but around the country. With the effort to eliminate the field of study comes the erasure of scholarship and activism.   Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor , African American studies professor at Northwestern University and author of the book   “Race for Profit...

Down in the Mississippi Delta, the Lester Family made a space for themselves and claimed their land–and they didn’t need “40 Acres and a mule” to do it.  In February 2023, Pearline Lester passed away peacefully. We’re revisiting this story about her family’s legacy in her honor. Her husband, Elbert Lester has lived his full life in Quitman County, Mississippi, on land their family owns. That’s exc...

Boy meets girl, boy’s an immigrant, they go on a first date. The date does not go well. 17 years later, the boy discovers that being an immigrant played a role, on both sides. What happened? Senior Digital Producer   Kousha Navidar   guest hosts a conversation about coming of age as an immigrant in the U.S. He shares the story of his failed first date, a rare second chance and what the experience...

From the “Southern Strategy” to the civil rights movement, we’re surfacing what is true about our nation’s past, and what is propaganda masquerading as history. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made headlines again after striking down the College Board’s Advance Placement course on African American Studies in the state. Simultaneously, the College Board was making  changes to the curriculum that...

In the spirit of the Grammys, Emil Wilbekin, a founding editor of VIBE, offers a first-person history of Black popular music, from Soul Train to Beyoncé. On Notes from America we focus on Black history regularly, but to celebrate this year’s Black History Month, we’re thinking about it in the present tense. In our series Black History Is Now, we’ll bring you conversations with people who consider...

When it comes to police reform, a retired NYPD detective argues that policing as a profession must evolve or go away completely.  The problem of police violence, and the excessive use of force in Black and Brown communities in particular, has spanned centuries and retired NYPD detective  Marq Claxton  says that the force’s  stubborn, insular culture was built to last. Claxton, co-founder of the or...