Real Talk: A Diversity in Higher Ed Podcast

In this season finale, KC talks with two young leaders, Alex Grant and Abdul Osmanu, about leadership, running for office, role models, and what it’s like to serve in political office. Osmanu was elected to the Hamden, CT Town Council in 2021 at the age of 19. 

KC and guest co-host Jess Holman talk with Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and CEO of Generation Hope , and author of memoir Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families . Join our discussion on the stigma and myths of teenage pregnancy and motherhood, and learn how you can help change the narrative about student parents, see them for the full, com...

This week, KC talks with two passionate people behind the soon to open PROUD Academy (Gr 7-12) in New Haven—Patty Nicolari, the founder and executive director, and Brandon Iovene, graduate student and board member. The school’s mission is to provide a safe and affirming learning environment for all students, but particularly for LGBTQIA+ students. It is one of only a few schools like it in the cou...

The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond has been training people and leading effective community change through its Undoing Racism workshop for four decades. In this episode, KC is joined by three undergraduate students who recently experienced the workshop: Tatiana Jackson (Sociology ‘23), Shoshana Mahon (Social Work ‘24) and Zoe Pringle (Psychology ‘23). Listen in to hear students' perspe...

There’s some big news from the team at the top of today’s episode! Then, KC and guest co-host Dr. Kelvin Rutledge talk with Dr. Natasha Flowers about systems of power within education, and the challenges to and opportunities for sustained change.  Dr. Flowers is the assistant dean for anti-racism, equity, and inclusion at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Education, Heal...

KC and Jamil sit down with Whitney Gent, Ph. D., an assistant professor of rhetoric and civic engagement at University of Nebraska Omaha. Dr. Gent's research examines how rhetorics circulate among advocates and policymakers in public policymaking processes and how representations of people experiencing homelessness appear in popular culture -- in film, on television, and online.

Black faculty members offer perspective following a university-hosted event featuring Justin Stewart and Antija Allen, authors of We're Not Okay: Black Faculty Experiences and Higher Education Strategies. The conversation is navigated by Diane Ariza, vice president of Southern's Office for DEI.  If you haven't listened to our episode with Justin and Antija, we recommend heading back to Season...

Our unfiltered, unadulterated, unasked for opinions -- need we say more?

KC and Jamil talk with authors Bridget Crawford and Emily Gold Waldman about their new book Menstruation Matters: Challenging the Law’s Silence on Periods. The conversation explores legal contexts around menstruation from tax policies and education to workplaces and prisons, gender equity, and reimagining a world that is built for all bodies—visionary justice. Use code MENSTRUATION-FM at NYU Press...

Jamil and KC are joined by a good friend of the podcast, Denise Fryzelka, a certified nurse-midwife with nearly 30 years in health care, to discuss self and community care, myths about pregnancy, U.S. culture around bodies and shame, home births, and much more.    In her work, Denise addresses both maternity care and primary health care needs of women and people with uteruses throug...

Scholars Lilie Chouliaraki and Myria Georgiou join KC and Jamil to discuss their new book: The Digital Border: Migration, Technology, Power. Learn how digital technologies impact the experiences of migration and its depictions in the media, in particular the 2015 European migration “crisis” and the current war in Ukraine. Lilie Chouliaraki is Professor of Media and Communications at the London Sch...

In this opening episode, KC and Jamil discuss upcoming guests, share some big news, and talk about the work to come. 

KC and Jamil reflect on the 15 episodes and 20+ guests they talked with in season 4. Thank you to everyone who tuned in and joined us for hours of innovative conversations. And, of course, they drop a few hints about what's to come this fall in season 5!

KC and Jamil are proud to to host the first stop on Dr. France Winddance Twine's book tour, talking about her new work Geek Girls: Inequality and Opportunity in Silicon Valley. They discuss the beginnings of her tech-focused research, mythologies surrounding Silicon Valley, marginalized representation in tech, coding boot camps, primary concepts in the book like “geek capital” and “glass walls” an...

KC and Jamil meet with Liz Ellcessor, associate professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, about her new book In Case of Emergency: How Technologies Mediate Crisis and Normalize Inequality. Together they discuss emergency media, surveillance technologies, safety on college campuses, and much more. Dr. Ellcessor is a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at UV...

Jamil and KC talk with Ines Reardon and Peter Dimoulas from the Bioscience Academic and Career Pathway (BioPath) about their community efforts to increase students of color entering STEM fields through mentorship, job opportunities, and specialized classes. They are joined by Lionel Meda (Pfizer) and Legairre Radden (Boehringer Ingelheim), who talk about their career growth, educational journ...

Post-Graduation Blues: Finding Your Path. KC and Jamil talk about common anxieties that surround graduating from college with guest Michael King. Together they address feelings of hopelessness, worries about not finding employment, societal pressures, and ways to overcome these troubles. Michael King is a storyteller, educator, and a campus advisor for the JED Foundation, a nonprofit that protects...

KC and Jamil talk about the power of using friendship to fuel activism. They are joined by Tony Ferraiolo and Dru Levasseur, who share the story of their friendship, which allowed their co-founding of the Jim Collins Foundation and has supported them through struggles with burn out so many of us face. Tony and Dru’s dedication to uplifting the trans community will inspire anyone to create light ev...

KC and Jamil give their unsolicited advice to some questions circulating around social media about higher ed. Sit back, relax and enjoy their banter!

In this episode we discuss the rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-CRT bills regarding K-12 education and how to prepare future educators on politics of curriculum. Dr. Roni Jo Draper, lifelong educator, joins Jamil and KC to to talk about how to create classroom spaces so all students will thrive, including rethinking teaching practices in mathematics. Dr. Draper was a math and science teacher before...

Jamil and KC are joined by Dr. Antija Allen and Justin Stewart, co-editors and authors to talk about their forthcoming book We're Not Okay: Black Faculty Experiences and Higher Education Strategies. Check them out here! https://linktr.ee/notokbookproject

KC and Jamil highlight university counseling services and discuss cultural barriers to mental health care in Black and Latinx communities, debunk common myths about counseling, and talk about how to approach healing as a community with guests Dr. Randolph Brooks, Multicultural Programming and Outreach Coordinator, and Stephanie Perez, MS, LPC, NCC, assistant counselor, both at Southern Connecticut...

KC and Jamil begin to discuss mental health on university campuses and how to take care of ourselves along with our communities featuring guest Micah Wolf.

KC and Jamil discuss the complexities of being disabled in higher education by virtue of identity, visible and invisible disabilities, accessibility, and perceptions, featuring guests Sarah Rizzuto and Aura Fortier. You can listen to/read some of Aura's work here: The Illusive Men ( https://youtube.com/channel/UCEqnBYms--G9c5uXPQdPItg ), Recusant’s Sigil ( https://youtube.com/channel/UCjMoinzM5Eoo...

KC and Jamil discuss the Divine Nine, particularly highlighting the legacy of historically Black sororities and their importance on predominantly white campuses. They are joined by Dr. Audrey Kerr, professor of African American literature, and Tishana Williams, president of the Sigma Gamma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho, Inc.