Our Body Politic

Host Farai Chideya talks with author and China expert Leta Hong Fincher about how feminists face up to the country’s authoritarian regime, and the similarities with gender-equality struggles in the U.S. Sixto Cancel of the non-profit Think of Us shares his experience in the foster care system, and what the organization is doing to reform it. Chef Kia Damon explains why she prefers the term “food a...

Host Farai Chideya talks about the power of forgiveness with Sharon Risher, whose relatives were among the Mother Emanuel shooting victims. Michael Arad, the architect behind the new memorial to the Emanuel Nine, discusses the collaborative process of designing an homage to the congregation. Civil rights leader Rashad Robinson talks about the final report from the Aspen Institute’s Commission on I...

Host Farai Chideya talks with MacArthur Fellow, poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, about why we struggle to articulate exactly how we want to change the prison system in the U.S. OB-GYN Dr. Jamila Perritt explains why she dreams of exercising her medical practice without the interference of politics. Gwen Ifill Award winner Sisi Wei of OpenNews examines the transition from focusing on diversity in newsro...

Host Farai Chideya talks with longtime immigrant rights expert Cecilia Muñoz about Welcome. US, a website that connects people to the process of resettling newcomers. Our Body Politic contributors Diane Wong and Jenn Jackson, researchers at the GenForward survey, share their findings about the favorability of both major parties with young people of color. Author and global citizen Chloe Dulce Louv...

Host Farai Chideya asks Virginia gubernatorial candidate Princess Blanding about running on a third-party ticket and how her platform is diverse and inclusive. Our Body Politic public health contributor Dr. Kavita Trivedi covers everything we need to know about vaccines, and not only against Covid-19. Two sisters in the Bay Area share the story behind starting the Afghan Clinic, which serves the h...

Host Farai Chideya talks with award-winning writer Edwidge Danticat about why it’s important to tell specific stories that complicate the immigrant narrative in the U.S. Writer Zeba Blay shares insights from her new book about Black women in pop culture, “Carefree Black Girls.” TV and filmmaker Felicia Pride discusses her focus on Honeys in her work in entertainment. And on Sippin’ the Political T...

Host Farai Chideya talks with Anita Hill thirty years after she first testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. She discusses what we can do to address sexual assault in her new book, “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence.” Nicol Turner-Lee of the Brookings Institution explains why private tech companies s...

Host Farai Chideya talks with author Minda Harts about the moment she made a difficult decision to leave a racist work environment and prioritize her mental health. Journalist Adam Serwer shares why he felt it was important to write about the Trump Presidency, even if he lost the 2020 election. Farai and business of entertainment contributor Casey Mendoza nerd out about the women of color making w...

Host Farai Chideya celebrates the show’s first anniversary  with a conversation on Black homeownership and the importance of housing policy with 2021 MacArthur fellow and historian Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. The data scientists at the GenForward survey dissect the anxiety and optimism of millennials of color around their financial futures. Farai talks with the three filmmakers behind “My Name is Pau...

Host Farai Chideya shares her experience at the “Justice for J6” rally and talks about how extremists view the media with reporter Chris Jones of the outlet 100 Days in Appalachia. Wes Moore, who’s running for governor in Maryland, says his ancestors facing white supremacists inspires his political career. Rue Mapp of Outdoor Afro helps others realize that “nature never closes.” And in a special r...

Farai Chideya talks with Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington about her decision to have an abortion years ago, and her experience of the January 6th insurrection. Our Body Politic’s new economics analyst Jamila Michener of Cornell University discusses important policy changes that could benefit workers. Public health contributor Dr. Kavita Trivedi gives practical advice for families with...

Farai Chideya talks with Latina veteran Pam Campos-Palma about the role of the U.S. military in a changing geopolitical climate. Our legal analyst Tiffany Jeffers breaks down the new abortion and voting laws in Texas, and what she sees as a Republican tactic to chip away at constitutional rights. The Washington Post’s Tracy Jan details her team’s investigation into where $50 billion corporations ...

Farai Chideya talks with Dr. Leana Wen about how public health can save lives, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and about her book “Lifelines.” Lydia X.Z. Brown explains how important it is to have a safe learning environment, especially with the return to in-person teaching. The new chief curator at the National Gallery of Art, E. Carmen Ramos, talks about elevating Latino and Latin Ameri...

Farai Chideya talks with Nadia Hashimi, an Afghan-American pediatrician and novelist who advocates for Afghan women, about what she’s hearing from people on the ground there now. Tech contributor Mutale Nkonde explains how average social media users are being pulled into a network of disinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. New York Times reporter Somini Sengupta makes the case that there’s stil...

Farai Chideya talks with journalist Dana Coester about her extensive reporting on how extremists recruit rural youth online. Carol Alvarado of the Texas Senate shares what it took to stage a 15-hour filibuster of a state law that would make it harder for people to vote. New York Times editor Veronica Chambers highlights the joy and lessons from the Black Lives Matter movement in her new children’s...

Farai Chideya goes into the history of voting rights with legal expert Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to fully understand why our democracy is under threat today. Representative Bee Nguyen of the Georgia General Assembly shares why protecting voting rights is central to her campaign for Georgia Secretary of State. Journalist Manolia Charlotin provides important historical perspect...

Farai Chideya talks with Dr. Angel Pérez of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling about how students can access the resources they need for a successful college experience. Luvvie Ajayi Jones shares lessons from her book on facing your fears. Latinx author Carmen Maria Machado addresses criticism of her memoir from a school district in Texas, and why it matters to share her st...

Farai Chideya talks with author Roxane Gay about the skill and craft required to write about trauma. Writer Deesha Philyaw of “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” explores womanhood, relationships, and “what we owe our mothers.” Journalist Soledad O’Brien on navigating racism and sexism in the media industry, and striking out on her own. On Sippin’ the Political Tea, Errin Haines of The 19th examin...

Farai Chideya talks with St. Louis mayor Tishaura Jones about how she hopes to accomplish her progressive goals. Business of entertainment contributor Casey Mendoza reports on the #FreeBritney movement as a reproductive justice issue, and shares which entertainment venues are reopening. Astrophysicist Sarafina Nance explains how she manages the sexism and racism in her field, and invites other wom...

Farai Chideya talks with Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Biden-Harris adviser on Covid-19 and health equity, about where we are in the pandemic. Researcher Dr. Jenn Jackson shares the GenForward survey results that show young people’s evolving stance on policing and police reform. Sharon Chang and Kamal Sinclair of the Guild of Future Architects reimagine public safety. Ten-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi...

Farai Chideya talks with Representative Nydia Velázquez about recovery and self-determination for Puerto Rico, and how she paved the way for other Latinas in Congress. Cecilia Muñoz, longtime policy expert and former Obama administration official, explains how Democrats and Republicans just aren’t having the same conversation when it comes to immigration reform. Our Body Politic producer Priscilla...

Farai Chideya talks with journalist Judd Legum about why he digs deep into corporate money in politics, especially after the insurrection of January 6th. Our Body Politic health contributor Dr. Kavita Trivedi shares how to stay safe with the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, and convincing your loved ones to get vaccinated. In her new book, The Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik challenges us...

Farai Chideya talks with Our Body Politic legal analyst Tiffany Jeffers and Slate’s health and race reporter Julia Craven on a Sippin’ the Political Tea roundtable focused on new Supreme Court rulings. Retired Major General Linda Singh of the Maryland National Guard shares her experience handling sexual assault cases in the military, and why she wants to hold the institution’s leaders accountable....

Farai Chideya talks with special guest Jenni Monet, an Indigenous affairs reporter and media critic at Indigenously, and Errin Haines of The 19th, on Sippin’ the Political Tea. U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia L. Fudge explains why it’s so important to her that the federal government call out systemic racism. Harvard University historian Annette Gordon-Reed reflects on Junete...

Farai Chideya welcomes the co-hosts of The Double Shift podcast on Sippin’ the Political Tea to talk about the impact the pandemic had on moms’ mental health, and how they can begin to recover. New York Times Opinion columnist Jamelle Bouie shares his views on the latest voting rights legislation, and why he decided to take full parental leave this year for the birth of his second child. Dr. Migue...