We need to talk about whiteness podcast

Ep70: Whiteness and culture - author, broadcaster and educator Jeffrey Boakye spent 15y in the education sector. He now provides training for schools, universities and businesses on race, identity, masculinity and education. He joins me to talk about re-telling the story of Britain through musical history, how to talk about race better and the impact of enduring perceptions of black masculinity.

Ep69: Whiteness and art curation - Samenua Sesher is the Founder and Director of the Museum of Colour, the UK's foremost arts and heritage digital enterprise.The Museum is focused on the creative journeys of British people of colour and has as its mission to present a continually evolving online repository of once-forgotten wisdom. She joins to talk omitted heritages, the 'slave Bible' and why decentering whiteness is so vital for artists. Please note: These Things Matter: Empire, Exploitation and Everyday Racism is currently on show at The Bodleian Libraries until 19/2/23

EP68: Whiteness and 'racial reckoning' - Eve Fairbanks is an award winning writer and the author of a new book “The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning” which explores what happened when a white supremacist state is overturned by the previously dispossessed. She joins me to discuss whiteness in post-apartheid South Africa, naviguating away from the white supremacist order, and racial reckoning. *apologies in advance for some audio issues aka echoing

Ep67: Whiteness and power - Suzanne Alleyne is a self coined 'cultural thinker' and founder of consultancy Alleyne&. Her groundbreaking research project 'Neurology of PowerTM', asks where power resides in the brain and body. She joins me to talk about empathy and privilege, power and the body, and the importance of recognising the physical as well as cultural impact of power on the very structure of our minds.

Ep66: The Stories of Whiteness - A third-generation Japanese-American essayist, poet and fiction writer, David Mura has written intimately about his life and the connections between race, culture and history. In this episode, he joins me to about his latest book, 'The Stories Whiteness tells itself', as we examine the embeddedness of white supremacy within American culture and the stories America tells itself to avoid confronting it.

Ep 65: Whiteness and maculinity - Yomi Sode is an award-winning Nigerian British writer. He was shortlisted for The Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2021 and his acclaimed one-man show COAT, recently toured nationally to sold-out audiences. His latest book "Manorism" explores the lives of Black British men and boys through poetry. He joins me to talk masculinity, pop culture and having your own lexicon...

ep 64: Whiteness and the racial code - Nichola Rollock is Professor of Social Policy and Race at King's College London, a government adviser and a widely read contributor to publications including Guardian, the FT and Vogue. She is now also the author of a new book “The Racial Code: tales of resistance and survival.” She joins me to educational attainment gaps, race in the workplace and naviguating the rules of whiteness.

Ep 63: Whiteness and white antiracism - In this episode, I'm joined by the authors of a new book which “invites White people to talk about race with one another in ways that are generative, sustaining, and lead to real change.” Starting from the words of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison that ‘racism is a White person problem' the authors say it's time for White people to see how it hurts them too—and to start to do something about it. Ali Michael is the co-founder and co-director of the Race Institute for K-12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education (2015), winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. and Eleonora Bartoli is a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma, resilience-building, and multicultural/social justice counseling –their book is “Our Problem, Our Path: Collective Antiracism for White People.” We talk the pitfalls of white people leading antiracism initiatives, the psychology of racism and the challenges to change.

Ep 62: Whiteness and the patriarchy - Award-winning columnist, international public speaker on Arab and Muslim issues and global feminism based in Cairo and New York - feminist icon Mona Eltahawy joins me for this LIVE recording at the Bradford Literary Festival to talk whiteness and feminist resistance, how racism fuelled the US abortion ban and her commitment to F*** the patriarchy, in all its shades. WARNING: Strong Language throughout

Ep 61: Whiteness and Africa - Astrid and Chinny were sick of reductive depictions of Africa, where they both have roots - so they decided create ‘It's a Continent', a podcast, published as a book in July 2022, which takes each African nation and retells a key moment in the country's history. In this episode, we explore whiteness and the African continent, why so many people refer to Africa as a 'country', how so much African history is also British history and the African heroines missing from our feminist manuels..

Ep 60: Whiteness and words - multiple award winning writer and author of the bestselling book 'Sprache und Sein' ('Speaking and Being' Kübra Gümüşay is founder of several award winning campaigns and organisations - she joins me to talk about how language shapes our world - and its limits, the cages created by words and how to break out of those boxes.

Ep59: Whiteness and terminology - The language we use and the unease many of us feel in finding the right words speaks, at least in part, to the difficulties in using the categories of meaning we intend to subvert for the act of subversion. To discuss this linguistic minefield, I'm joined by two women who've been working on the first ever “Blacktionary”. Maggie Semple OBE is a businesswoman and entrepreneur. She was instrumental in creating the Black British Voices survey and is co-author with coach, trainer and mentor Jane Oremosu of “My Little Black Book”, which aims to help people navigate the language of race and find the ‘right' words. We talk about knowing what to say, who has the authority to decide and the limits of “Diversity and Inclusion”.

Ep58: Whiteness in TV - Zarqa Nawaz is a canadian creator and producer for film and television, published author, public speaker, journalist, and former broadcaster. You might know her from her hit sit com “Little Mosque in the Prairie” which premiered to the highest ratings CBC had in over 20 years, and won multiple awards, or her most recent publication “Jameela Green ruins everything.” She joins me to talk subverting stereotypes on screen, building your own and success on God's time.

Ep 57: Whiteness and the Royals - Prof Trevor Burnard is Wilberforce Professor of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull and Director of the Wilberforce Institute. The author of several books including 'Jamaica in the Age of Revolution' and The Atlantic World, 1492-1830, he recently curated a special forum in the journal, Slavery and Abolition on Black Lives Matter and Slavery, and is a member of the senior management board of the Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre. He joins me to discuss the Royal family's visit to the Caribbean, those historic links to slavery and whether reperations might be on the cards..

Ep 56: The history of white people - New York Times bestselling author of “The history of white people” Prof Nell Irvin Painter is a leading American historian and visual artist. She is the author of several books including 'Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol and American Whiteness Since Trump', 2020. She joins me to talk about 'The history of white people', the complexities of terminology and what history can teach us about the present. [Recorded in 2021]

Ep 55: Whiteness and identity - British Egyptian writer Sabrina Mahfouz is an author, editor, fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and TV writer (Netflix and Amazon Studios). Her debut non-fiction book, 'These Bodies of Water: Notes on the British Empire, the Middle East and Where We Meet' (May 2022)explores questions of identity and belonging - she joins me to talk about growing up in the 9/11 shadow, her egyptian roots and representation in TV.

Ep54: Whiteness and equality - Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics, and former Director of the Gender Institute, Prof Anne Phillips' latest book, Unconditional Equals, challenges the very philosophical foundations of Western notions of equality - she joins me to talk about how our framework of equality can undermine the quest for it, rethinking the struggle and whether equality is really a universally held ideal...

Ep 53: Whiteness and healing - Amartey Golding is a multifaceted contemporary artist whose work centers on themes of humanity, healing and identity. His new touring Solo Show at the V&A 'Bring Me To Heal' looks to the restorative work undertaken by Rasta (and many other) communities dealing with intergenerational trauma and in a radical shift, applies these same techniques of context, accountability and compassion to the White British experience. He joins me to talk proximity to whiteness, white trauma and how his faith influences his approach to healing.

Ep 52: Whiteness and Black Consciousness - Lewis R. Gordon is an Afro-Jewish philosopher, political thinker, educator, and musician, & Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy at UCONN-Storrs in the United States. Author of several books, he joins me to talk about Black consciousness, whiteness as narcissism, radical love, and his latest book “Fear of Black Consciousness”.

Ep51: Whiteness and the curriculum - Ben Mearhart is a former joint- headteacher and the senior lead for Education Standards at The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise that aims to deliver black British history across the UK by providing a curriculum and free resources for schools to teach students about Black history. He joins me to talk about getting 'comfortable' talking about race, countering white narratives and the challenges in forging a more relevant curriculum for the new gen.

Ep50 - Whiteness and air pollution: Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is a BreatheLife Ambassador and founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation, based in London. Rosamund became a clean air advocate after her 9-year-old daughter, Ella, died in 2013 from a rare and severe form of asthma. Rosamund spent several years campaigning for a second coroner's inquest into Ella's death to determine whether it was linked to air pollution. In a landmark decision in December 2020, the coroner ruled that it was. Ella is now the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as a cause of death on her death certificate. Rosamund is a teacher in schools and lecturer at universities. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association and was named among You Magazine's 21 Most Extraordinary Women of 2021, British Vogue's 25 Extraordinary Women of 2021, The Times' Green Power List 2021 and BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour's Power List 2020. She joins me to talk about why we don't all breath the same air and honouring Ella's legacy in challenging the toxicity we don't see.

Ep49: Whiteness and colourism - Dr Dionne Taylor is a Senior lecturer at Birmingham City University where she teaches Sociology and Black studies and is the MA Black Studies Course leader. Dionne's research looks at the lived experiences of young Black British women's interpretation and engagement with representations of Black womanhood and she was recently in conversation with Little Mix's Leigh- Anne Pinnock for her BBC documentary “Colourism and Me”. She joins me to discuss the roots of colourism, representations of blackness - and whiteness, and THAT Little Mix controversy....

Ep 48: Whiteness in Art - Adelaide Damoah is a British-Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist, who uses investigative practices spanning painting, performance, collage, image transfer and photographic processes, to interrogate colonialism, spirituality and intersectional feminism. Since her debut exhibition ‘Black Brits' in 2006, she has exhibited in shows nationally and internationally from Lagos to Cannes. She is a founding member of the Black British Female artist (BBFA) Collective and a co-founder of the Intersectional Feminist (INFEMS) Art Collective, and in 2019, she became the first black artist to be appointed an academician of the Royal West of England Academy (RWA). She joins me to talk whiteness in art, who curates what gets appreciated and her body as a canvas. Note: This episode was recorded in June 2021 so some events are now in the past.

Ep 47: Whiteness and refugees - Hameed Amiri fled Aghfanistan as a child, seeking refuge in the UK. As an adult, he has dedicated much of his work to raising awareness around the plight of refugees. He is the author of the recently published autobiographical book “The Boy With Two Hearts”, which is partly a homage to his brother Hussein, but also to the NHS, which provided Hussein with vital treatment. The book was featured on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week and has since been turned into a play which recently opened in Cardiff, Wales. He joins me to talk British whiteness, the refugee label and how NHS workers helped him reconnect with his trust in humanity, following his struggle with PTSD.

Ep 47: Whiteness and Brick Lane - Dr. Fatima Rajina is a Legacy in Action Research Fellow at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre at De Montfort University. She is a former Research Assistant at the Institute of Criminology, at the University of Cambridge looking at police and counter-terrorism and has taught at SOAS and Kingston University, London. She is a co-founder of the ‘radical' Bangladeshi campaign group ‘Nijjor Manush' which is part of the Save Brick Lane Campaign, a coalition opposing the construction of a corporate office building in the heart of London's Brick Lane. She joins me talk whiteness and gentrification, radical action and being Muslim in a post 9/11 world.

Ep 46: Whiteness and the 'Orient' - An award-winning broadcaster and journalist who anchors the UK's Channel 4 News, Fatima Manji is best known for breaking stories with a global impact. She's also recognised as one of the first UK news anchors to wear a headscarf. She's the author of the recently released “Hidden Heritage: Rediscovering Britain's lost love of the Orient” and joins me to talk whiteness in journalism, belonging and Britishness and why she thinks the Kew Gardens mosque needs to be resurrected.

Ep 45: Whiteness and hip hop – Prof Tricia Rose is often referred to as the world's foremost academic on Hip hop. Her ground-breaking book on the emergence of hip hop culture, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America went on to define what is now an entire field of study. She joins me to discuss how whiteness reduces hip hop to entertainment, whether some music just isn't for ‘white' ears and that line, between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation.

ep 44: Whiteness is a dangerous idea - Robert P. Baird is a freelance writer and editor, who has held editorial positions at The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Esquire, and Harper's Magazine, and has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His recent Guardian Long Read titled: “The invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea” delves into the history and more recent understandings of whiteness and how the term's growing usage hasn't always yielded the results many white liberals had hoped. He joins me to talk whiteness as religion, how whiteness has evolved, and whether there is such a thing as 'detoxified' white identity.

*TRIGGER WARNING: Some of the language in this episode may be upsetting to some listeners. Ep 43: Whiteness and the police – Paul Wilson was one of the UK's longest serving and most senior black police officers. From helping establish the Black Police Association, heavily influencing the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, discussing critical issues with a Home Secretary, a Prime Minister, and an American President, Paul has been at the heart of British policing at a time of intense scrutiny over its commitment to racial equality. Now retired, Paul's memoir “Rocking the Boat: A Superintendent's 30 Year Career Fighting institutional racism” has been described as “a challenging read” by Trevor Hall CBE, the retired Race Equality Advisor to the Home Office, and “an important wake-up call in the Black Lives Matter era” by Lord Brian Paddick, the former Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police. He joins me to discuss his experiences within the MET, his efforts at challenging racism and how much has changed since he first joined.

Ep 42: Whiteness and schools - Do our schools teach whiteness? What exactly should be taught in "Black History Month"? And does our educational system have a white supremacy problem...? To discuss this and more is a man who bridges the academic and activist world. Dr Ornette D. Clennon is a Professor at the Federal University of Amazon (UFAM) whose research focuses on themes of decolonial community and liberation psychology. His most recent book explores the 'invisible' impact whiteness has on the lived 'black' experience in the UK. He joins me to unpack how whiteness is being taught to our kids.

Ep 41: Whiteness and fashion - What's the relationship between fast fashion and colonialism? What happens to my old clothes? And who is really paying the price for my fashion fix? Aja Barber is an American writer, personal stylist and style consultant whose recently published first book “Consumed: colonialism, climate change and consumerism” is an expose of the industry she was long a part of, and a rallying call to us all to change the ways in which we consume.

ep40: Whiteness and belonging - Born in Nairobi, raised in London and Norway, writer and presenter Nazneen Khan joins me to explore identity, belonging and why she decided to tell a new, different version of the history of London - the subject of her recent book - to pay homage to the many who despite making up the capital's life and soul, are so often erased from its story.

Ep 39: Whiteness and healthcare – What is the colonial legacy in healthcare? How does modern medicine replicate historically forged patterns of domination? And why are we all so “inflamed”? Rupa Marya is an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and faculty director of the Do No Harm Coalition, an organization of over 450 health workers committed to structural change to address health problems. Welcome Dr Marya! And Raj Patel is a New York Times bestselling author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. Together, one a doctor, the other an economist, they explore the link between health and structural inequality. And crucially, what we can all do about it.

Ep 38: Whiteness and mental health - Guilaine Kinouani is a French critical psychologist, feminist, therapist, equality consultant and award-nominated writer of the blog, RaceReflections.co.uk Her recent book “Living while black – The essential guide to overcoming racial trauma” draws on her over 15y of experience in psychotherapy and as an anti-racist educator in laying out therapeutic advice on how to understand and counter anti-black racism. It's been described as a "powerful wake up call" (Patrick Vernon). She joins me to talk racism as a public health concern, intergenerational trauma and how medicalised terminology can mask the harm of whiteness in the mental health sphere.

Ep 37: A terrible secret - Alison Croggon is an award-winning novelist, poet, theatre writer, critic and editor living in Melbourne, Australia. Her latest book "Monsters" is a memoir exploring the impact of whiteness within a family when the uncovering of a colonialist heritage evokes anger and denial within an already fraught relationship. It's been described by the Guardian as "an unsparing cultural and self-reckoning". She joins me to talk white guilt, the legacy of empire and confronting one's colonialist past.

Ep 36: Whiteness and psychiatry - Dr. Aruna Khilanani is a forensic psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, whose speech at Yale university, "The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind", gained global attention after this quote was made public and sensationalised: "I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away, relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step". She joins me to discuss the fallout, violence in the unconscious mind, and how the media turns victims of racism into aggressors to hide from the reality of whiteness.

Ep 35: Whiteness and sport - Prof Ben Carrington is widely regarded as one the world's leading scholars on the sociology of race and culture, with a focus on popular culture and sport. He joins me to discuss reactions to Britain's Euro final defeat, sports as a space to re-imagine identity, and who sets the standard for womanhood when it comes to elite athletes?

Ep 34: Climate Change is racist - Jeremy Williams is one of the UK's leading environmental voices, a writer, activist and author of “Climate Change is Racist: Race, Privilege and the Struggle for Climate Justice”. He joins me to talk about climate change and white privilege, polluter elites, the link between the climate crisis and colonialism and slavery and what we can all learn about being a 'good ancestor'.

Ep 33: Brown baby - In his latest book, writer and author Nikesh Shukla has shared his story of raising mixed ethnicity daughters in modern Britain - he joins me to talk about whiteness and parenting, 'authentic' asian characters in books, and the limits of representation politics.

Ep 32: Nice Racism - Her book ‘White Fragility' kicked off heated debates on how we think about white responses to racism and sparked an international conversation on whiteness. Now she's back with a new book, already causing a stir, entitled “Nice racism”. For this episode, we welcome back anti-racism scholar, educator and NYT bestselling author, Dr Robin di-Angelo to talk about what she wants to add to the whiteness conversation .

Episode 31: Whiteness and identity politics - How should our identity shape our politics? What is the space for class in conversation on race? And does our ‘rights-based framework' confuse emancipation and victimhood? Author of “Mistaken Identity” founding editor of Viewpoint Magazine Asad Haider weighs in.

Ep 30: Whiteness and Muslim women – Award-winning poet and writer Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan knows a thing or two about disrupting boundaries – we talk radical politics, whiteness and Islam and the securitisation of Muslims. Is secularity a facet of whiteness? Why is the media so obsessed with Muslim women skateboarding? And is there still hope for the decolonising movement?

Ep 29: Whiteness and teenage diaries - Tez Ilyas is one of the most celebrated stars in British comedy, you’ll have seen him Live at The Apollo , on the BBC’s Mock the Week or possibly on the hit BBC3 series Man Like Mobeen - comedian extraordinaire, talk show host and now author, of a wonderful new book titled “The secret diary of a British Muslim – aged 13 ¾” - so why do we need to hear the teenage thoughts of a British Pakistani Muslim from Blackburn? Tez tells all.

Ep 28: Whiteness and family - Georgina Lawton is a columnist, host, and the author of “Raceless”, a powerful memoir of growing up in a family with a deep secret which would lead to what she describes as “an erasure of her racial identity.” We discuss whiteness in the family, the pitfalls of ‘colour blind’ parenting, and how her own family secret mirrors the many secrets the UK isn’t quite ready to confront.

Ep 27: Whiteness and migrants – The UK depends on migrants for many of our key services, from food to transport, and of course the National Health Service. And yet, immigration is often rated as Britain’s ‘most important issue’ with almost half of Brits favouring less of it, a serious cleavage point since Brexit. Dr Suzanne Hall is Associate Professor in Sociology at the LSE and an interdisciplinary urban scholar. Her work connects the asymmetries of global migration and urban marginalisation, exploring the racialised frameworks of citizenship and economic inequality and their everyday contestations. She is also the author of the recently released “The Migrant’s paradox: street livelihoods and marginal citizenship in Britain” – She joins me to discuss whiteness and migration.

Ep 26: Whiteness and LGBTQ+ communities. Dr Kevin Nadal is a professor of psychology, queer activist and one of the leading researchers on the impact of micro aggressions. He has published over 100 works in the fields of psychology and education and is the author of several books including Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice as well as “Queering Law and Order”. Dr Nadal joins me to discuss white normativity in sexuality, micro aggressions and the roots of anti-Asian hate.

Ep 25: Whiteness and coalition - Emma Dabiri is an Irish-Nigerian activist, broadcaster and academic - Her latest book “What white people can do next: from allyship to coalition” has been described as “as though it’s written by the love child of James Connolly and Audre Lorde”- she joins me to discuss anti-racism vs liberation, the invention of whiteness and why the revolution won’t be instagram-lived.

Ep 24: Whiteness and anti-Asian hate - Christine Liwag Dixon is a Filipino American writer and musician, and the Content Director of Samahan, an online multimedia platform dedicated to connecting Filipinos across the globe. She’s a columnist at the Filipino Star News and the author of a poetry collection, titled “From These Islands I Rise.” She joins me to discuss rising anti-Asian racism, the hyper-sexualisation of East and South-East Asian women and whiteness in the family.

Ep 23: Whiteness and how to talk about it - Eugene Ellis is the founder and director of the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network, the UK's largest independent organisation working therapeutically with Black, Africa, Caribbean and South Asian people. In this episode, we discuss his new book “The race conversation: an essential guide to creating life changing dialogue”, the challenges in talking about race and how to find your voice.

Episode 22: Whiteness and motherhood - Prof Elizabeth McRae is an American historian and the author of award winning book “Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy” which explores - among other things – how motherhood has been wielded in the service of white supremacy. In this episode, we examine gender and racism - what role have women played in upholding racial segregation in America, are white liberals 'exempt' from racism, and can motherly care act as a cover for enforcing racial boundaries?

Ep 21: Whiteness and culture wars – Prof Barnor Hesse is Associate Professor of African American Studies, Political Science, and Sociology at Northwestern University (USA) and a man who has found himself at the centre of the “culture wars” after a list of 8 white identities he’d devised became headline news, leading to a campaign of intimidation and hate, which has included threats against his life. So what are the 'culture wars' really about, why are they so virulent, and what can we learn from his list of white identities?