Study of the history, culture, and politics of black people from the United States
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Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University & author of Black Scare Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States, Charisse Burden-Stelly, returns to Bad Faith to discuss the new 100 page State Department report accusing American leftist groups of being part of a "sustained campaign of subversion" against the United States. This new Red-Scare blacklist names Code Pink, the DSA, Hasan Piker, Ben Cohen, Zohran Mamdani, and even Maxine Waters. What does this mean for left movements, & does the liberal response to these accusations, which is largely to distance "Communism" from Scandinavian-style social democracy, help or hurt the cause of the socialist left? We examine a series of Red-Scare articles, including a viral Atlantic Piece titled "The DSA Is a Parasite," along with clips from Jon Stewart, Abdul El-Sayed, & more. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).
Summary Shaun Ossei-Owusu didn't go to law school to become a lawyer. After a PhD in African American Studies at Berkeley and a fellowship at the American Bar Foundation, he wanted the technical language of law so he could translate what he'd already been studying: how the legal system actually treats people, versus how it says it does. That instinct became his new book, "Law on Trial." In this conversation, Kathryn Rubino and Ossei-Owusu dig into what "thinking like a lawyer" costs, from law school curricula that leave out issues like civil asset forfeiture, to big law and government lawyering, where the pressure to win can crowd out the question of whether winning was the right outcome. They close with practical advice for lawyers trying to stay honest with themselves about the trade-offs they're making. Key Takeaways Legal training builds what Ossei-Owusu calls a "tragically necessary skill": separating law from moral and social context. It's useful, and it's also easy to overcorrect. Core law school subjects often skip the inequality issues baked into them. Property class rarely covers civil asset forfeiture, even though it's a bigger part of practice than most casebooks suggest. Big law economics can quietly work against legitimate discrimination claims, not just frivolous ones, because of who's paying the bill. City and county law departments face a similar tension: they enforce consumer and housing protections while also defending against civil rights claims brought under the same kinds of laws. Lawyers can protect their values by setting ethical red lines before financial pressure sets in, not after. Links and Resources Above the Law The Jabot Podcast Law on Trial: An Unlikely Insider Reckons with Our Legal System (W.W. Norton) Law on Trial on Amazon Keywords legal education, law school, thinking like a lawyer, legal ethics, big law, public interest law, civil asset forfeiture, law professor, legal academia, Shaun Ossei-Owusu, Law on Trial, University of Pennsylvania, legal profession, government lawyers, municipal law departments, law firm culture, first-generation lawyers, social justice law, Above the Law, The Jabot Podcast Episode Highlights [00:00:49 - 00:04:20] Ossei-Owusu explains his winding path from the Bronx to a PhD to law school. [00:04:56 - 00:06:51] Why mentoring future lawyers, including those headed to big law, matters to him. [00:06:51 - 00:08:35] The gap in law school literature that inspired Law on Trial. [00:10:46 - 00:13:19] What "thinking like a lawyer" really means, and its necessary trade-offs. [00:13:19 - 00:14:33] The civil asset forfeiture example most property classes skip. [00:15:50 - 00:17:35] How big law economics can quietly undermine legitimate discrimination claims. [00:17:35 - 00:19:16] The civil rights tension inside city and county law departments. [00:20:04 - 00:22:20] Practical advice for lawyers weighing big law against their values. [00:22:20 - 00:24:01] Why ethical red lines matter more than good intentions.
How can we change the narrative about what it means and what it takes for people to be safe? How can we restore the protections of citizens from the harm and violence caused by the state? How can academic research lead to real change?In this series on healthcare and social disparities, Dr. Jill Wener, a board-certified Internal Medicine specialist, anti-racism educator, meditation expert, and tapping practitioner, interviews experts and gives her own insights into multiple fields relating to social justice and anti-racism. In this episode, Jill interviews Dr. Terence Keel, author of Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science.They dive into his research around falsified death reports for people that were killed by state or police violence during arrests or while in custody. Listen as they discuss how there are committed communities who have been doing this activist work, who are already doing it, and the importance of getting more people in numbers to build power to make real change.Dr. Terence Keel is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of African American Studies and the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. He also directs the UCLA Lab for BioCritical Studies and serves as the Advisor for Structural Competency and Innovation for the UCLA Simulation Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine. After earning a BA in Theology from Xavier, he received a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and completed a PhD from Harvard University working with the Committee on the Study of Religion, the Department of the History of Science, and the Department of African American Studies.LINKSwww.terencekeel.com**You can learn more about Dr. Wener's coaching, EFT/Tapping and meditation offerings at www.jillwener.com, and you can learn more about her online social justice course, Conscious Anti Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability, and Meaningful Change at https://theresttechnique.com/courses/conscious-anti-racism.If you're a healthcare worker looking for a CME-accredited course, check out Conscious Anti-Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability, and Meaningful Change in Healthcare at www.theresttechnique.com/courses/conscious-anti-racism-healthcareFollow her on:Instagram at jillwenerMDLinkedIn at jillwenermd
This was a live one, recorded on the eve of the 250th at Wake Forest Divinity School with the Double Deans in the room. Corey Walker's Theology Summit lecture — which spent six hours at the top of Substack the week we recorded — uses two moments in American history to name where we are: James Duane's October 1775 letter hoping this winter would bring revolution, and Gil Scott-Heron's 1973 album Winter in America, a lament for the arrested development of democracy after Nixon. Corey's argument is that 2026 is another winter. Bill Leonard, the founding dean who trained a generation to think about dissent, added the second layer: a perfect imperfect storm in which Christian nationalism has fused with authoritarian government and the church is the least helpful it has been in his lifetime. Three questions run through the conversation — Is God dead? (Sojourner Truth to Frederick Douglass in 1850), Is America possible? (Vincent Harding), and What does our religion say to those with their backs against the wall? (Howard Thurman) — and none of them get answered. What they get instead is Corey's proposal that the 250th is calling us to a counter memory — not the memory of those who prevailed, but of Miss Audrey, Mister Pugh, and Mister Linwood, the neighbors whose first names were their titles. Plus the Snake Handler Fund is officially open. Join our Online Summit - Unsettled Ground: Faith & the American Story at 250 This summer, Diana Butler Bass and I are launching Faith at 250 — an online summit featuring scholars like Randall Balmer, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Elesha Coffman, and more, each offering their own take on religion and America at 250 years. We built it so faith communities have something honest and substantive to turn to when the nationalist narratives start flying. Sign up at www.TheologySummit.com to get access to every lecture, livestream, and discussion guide. The summit is donation-based, including 0. Dr. Corey D. B. Walker is Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, and inaugural Director of the Program in African American Studies. A native of Norfolk, Virginia and an ordained American Baptist clergyperson, he previously served as Vice President and Dean at Virginia Union University's Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, founding dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, Business and Education at Winston-Salem State University, and chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. He is a former student of Cornel West at Harvard, and sits on the board of Lincoln University (the country's first HBCU). Books: A Noble Fight: African American Freemasonry and the Struggle for Democracy in America (University of Illinois Press); Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy (co-edited with Melody Barnes and Thad Williamson, Edward Elgar, 2020); and Beyond a Politics of Nostalgia: Religious Freedom and the Ends of Democracy (co-edited with Sabrina E. Dent). Forthcoming: Disciple of Nonviolence: Wyatt Tee Walker and the Struggle for the Soul of Democracy(University of Virginia Press). His Theology Summit lecture — Winter in America — is at theologysummit.com. Dr. Bill J. Leonard is the founding Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity and Professor of Divinity Emeritus. He writes a regular column for Baptist News Global. His most recent book is Appalachian Mountain Christianity: The Spirituality of Otherness (University of Georgia Press, 2024). Earlier books include A Sense of the Heart: Christian Religious Experience in the United States (Abingdon), Baptist Ways: A History (Judson), and The Challenge of Being Baptist (Baylor). He is, to the best of anyone's knowledge, the only person in Wake Forest history to have brought a serpent-handling preacher to campus with actual serpents (Reverend Carl Porter, 1997, five snakes minimum). The Snake Handler Fund at Wake Div is now, officially, open. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University Charisse Burden-Stelly joins our broadcast. She is the author of Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States and coauthor of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History and the coeditor of Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing and Reproducing Domination: On the Caribbean Postcolonial State, a collection of essays by Percy C. Hintzen. Follow Dr. CBS on Twitter/X @blackleftaf Purchase Dr. CBS's book Black Scare / Red Scare Here innercityleft.com Support us at patreon.com/innercityleft Follow us on IG @InnerCityLeft
Since retaking office, President Donald Trump has attacked the election system, pushed voter ID laws, raided local election offices and claimed widespread voter fraud. As the midterm elections approach, Political Breakdown begins a new series examining election integrity in America. Host Marisa Lagos talks with historian Carol Anderson, a professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy.” They take a look at the nation's history of voting from Reconstruction and Jim Crow to the civil rights era and the recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act. Check out Political Breakdown's weekly newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner zooms in for a Monday catch-up of all the SCOTUS news ... plus, Trump's efforts to again delay his $5m sexual abuse payout to E Jean Carroll.Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of African American Studies at Princeton, reflects on this fraught July 4 holiday.Chris Dempsey and Bill Straus join for a transit panel as Blue Hill Ave gets some attention ... We'll also discuss transit amid the World Cup.Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Karen MacDonald and Steven Maler join ahead of their free productions on Boston Common of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
On this episode of Rattling the Bars, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966, host and former political prisoner Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Joy James and Dr. K. Kim Holder about the history of the Panthers and their unique approach to, and practice of, communal socialism.This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Watch Part 1 here.Guests:Dr. Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of numerous books, including: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love; Resisting State Violence; and Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics. Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin, James is also editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader.Dr. K. Kim Holder is an assistant professor of educational foundations and Africana studies at Rowan University. Dr. Holder earned his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Multicultural Education and African American Studies, his masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and B.A. in History from Hampshire College.Credits:Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!
This episode is a fully remastered version of our classic and extremely popular episode from February 2021, rereleased on the occasion of 4 July 2026 In this episode of Guerrilla History, we close out Black History Month with a very special guest, the great Professor Gerald Horne. In this episode, we talk about heroic creation myths of the United States, and the actual history in order to deconstruct these myths. This episode will be largely based on Gerald's books The Counterrevolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States, The Dawning of the Apocalypse: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, Settler Colonialism, and Capitalism in the Long 16th Century, and The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in 17th Century North America and the Caribbean. Gerald Horne is the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. His research interests are unbelievably varied, encompassing biographies of W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson, to The Haitian Revolution, to Hollywood in the '30s-'50s, to Jazz and Justice. Be sure to check out his bibliography, you're certain to find something that interests you! Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory
The James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, historian, and New York Times bestselling author Eddie S. Glaude Jr. takes us inside his latest book, America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
In this episode we sit and chat with Associate Professor of History and Director of African and African American Studies at the University of Memphis Prof. Brian Kwoba about his book Hubert Harrison: Forbidden Genius of Black Radicalism -- recipient of the 2026 Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book Award and The 2026 Phillis Wheatley Book Award from the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage.Alongside Kwoba, we think about what "radicalism" means and what it means to be radical. Kwoba discusses the often forgotten about "Genius of Black Radicalism," Hubert Harrison, and why he thinks that Harrison was one of the earliest exemplars of Black Radicalism.In this episode, listeners learn about the various positions Hubert Harrison held politically--many of which were far ahead of their time. For instance, we learn that Harrison called for the end of capitalism, was an early radical voice on sex education and reproductive rights, and was one of the first Black figures in U.S. history to explicitly and publicly defend Non-monogamous relationships through his Free Love politics.Mentioned in this Episode:Hubert Harrison: Forbidden Genius of Black Radicalism [Book] - Brian KwobaW.E.B. Dubois: A Rebel with a Cause [PBS Documentary]Black Love, Black Hate: Intimate Antagonisms in African American Literature [Book] - Felice BlakeThe Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsGet in Touch with and Follow Dr. Brian Kwoba:IG- @Dr.KwobaWebsite- www.briankwoba.comFollow us across our social media channels:IG- @PagestrgTikTok & Youtube- @PagesthereadinggroupWebsite- www.Pagestrg.comSpotify: PAGES PODApple Podcasts: PAGES POD
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland, California, in 1966. On this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Joy James and Dr. K. Kim Holder about the legacy of the Panthers today, and about the important differences and intersections between democratic socialism and the Black Panther model of communalism.This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Subscribe to TRNN and stay tuned for Part 2 next week…Guests:Dr. Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She is the author of numerous books, including: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love; Resisting State Violence; and Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics. Creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin, James is also editor of The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; The Angela Y. Davis Reader; and co-editor of the Black Feminist Reader.Dr. K. Kim Holder is an assistant professor of educational foundations and Africana studies at Rowan University. Dr. Holder earned his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Multicultural Education and African American Studies, his masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and B.A. in History from Hampshire College.Credits:Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron GranadinoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!
In Texas, a judge sentenced a group of anti-ICE demonstrators to decades in prison. On this week's On the Media, how leftist zines were used to convict a group of protesters accused of ties to antifa. Plus, as we approach the nation's 250th birthday, we reflect on America's inability to reckon with the darkest parts of its past. [01:00] Micah interviews Lex McMenamin, movement building reporter at The Guardian US, about how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison this week. [13:09] Brooke sits down with Eddie Glaude, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, to talk about his latest book, “America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries,” and why, at every major milestone, the United States has struggled to reconcile a “double-consciousness.” Further reading: “‘This is injustice': how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison,” by Lex McMenamin America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Dive deep into the profound significance of African American & African Studies with Dr. Keith Claybrook on the Obehi Podcast. This enlightening episode uncovers the immense power these fields hold in shaping our understanding of history, culture, and identity. Dr. Keith Claybrook, a distinguished expert, shares his invaluable insights into how these vital academic disciplines challenge narratives, foster critical thinking, and empower communities.Discover why African American Studies and African Studies are more relevant than ever, exploring their impact on education, social justice, and global perspectives. Learn about the rich tapestry of contributions and the ongoing journey of discovery within these essential fields.Don't miss this insightful conversation! Like, share, and subscribe to the Obehi Podcast for more thought-provoking discussions.Explore related educational resources and deepen your knowledge: Aclasses Academy Courses: https://academy.aclasses.org/our-courses/ Aclasses Blog for insights: https://aclasses.org/blog Aclasses Oracle for advanced learning: https://oracle.aclasses.org
Mark Twain's Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the first fully drawn Black fathers in American fiction. Haunted by the family he has left behind, Jim acts as father figure to Huck, the white boy who is his companion as they raft the Mississippi toward freedom. Jim is also a highly polarizing figure: he is viewed as an emblem both of Twain's alleged racism and of his opposition to racism; a diminished character inflected by minstrelsy and a powerful challenge to minstrel stereotypes; a reason for banning Huckleberry Finn and a reason for teaching it; an embarrassment and a source of pride for Black readers.In Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade (Yale UP, 2025) eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin probes these controversies, exploring who Jim was, how Twain portrayed him, and how the world has responded to him. Fishkin also follows Jim's many afterlives: in film, from Hollywood to the Soviet Union; in translation around the world; and in American high school classrooms today. The result is Jim as we have never seen him before—a fresh and compelling portrait of one of the most memorable Black characters in American fiction. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and professor (by courtesy) of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. She is the author or editor of many books, including Writing America: Literary Landmarks from Walden Pond to Wounded Knee and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voices, and editor of the twenty-nine-volume Oxford Mark Twain. She lives in Stanford, CA. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education
Mark Twain's Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the first fully drawn Black fathers in American fiction. Haunted by the family he has left behind, Jim acts as father figure to Huck, the white boy who is his companion as they raft the Mississippi toward freedom. Jim is also a highly polarizing figure: he is viewed as an emblem both of Twain's alleged racism and of his opposition to racism; a diminished character inflected by minstrelsy and a powerful challenge to minstrel stereotypes; a reason for banning Huckleberry Finn and a reason for teaching it; an embarrassment and a source of pride for Black readers.In Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade (Yale UP, 2025) eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin probes these controversies, exploring who Jim was, how Twain portrayed him, and how the world has responded to him. Fishkin also follows Jim's many afterlives: in film, from Hollywood to the Soviet Union; in translation around the world; and in American high school classrooms today. The result is Jim as we have never seen him before—a fresh and compelling portrait of one of the most memorable Black characters in American fiction. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and professor (by courtesy) of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. She is the author or editor of many books, including Writing America: Literary Landmarks from Walden Pond to Wounded Knee and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voices, and editor of the twenty-nine-volume Oxford Mark Twain. She lives in Stanford, CA. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
Mark Twain's Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the first fully drawn Black fathers in American fiction. Haunted by the family he has left behind, Jim acts as father figure to Huck, the white boy who is his companion as they raft the Mississippi toward freedom. Jim is also a highly polarizing figure: he is viewed as an emblem both of Twain's alleged racism and of his opposition to racism; a diminished character inflected by minstrelsy and a powerful challenge to minstrel stereotypes; a reason for banning Huckleberry Finn and a reason for teaching it; an embarrassment and a source of pride for Black readers.In Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade (Yale UP, 2025) eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin probes these controversies, exploring who Jim was, how Twain portrayed him, and how the world has responded to him. Fishkin also follows Jim's many afterlives: in film, from Hollywood to the Soviet Union; in translation around the world; and in American high school classrooms today. The result is Jim as we have never seen him before—a fresh and compelling portrait of one of the most memorable Black characters in American fiction. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and professor (by courtesy) of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. She is the author or editor of many books, including Writing America: Literary Landmarks from Walden Pond to Wounded Knee and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voices, and editor of the twenty-nine-volume Oxford Mark Twain. She lives in Stanford, CA. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Mark Twain's Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the first fully drawn Black fathers in American fiction. Haunted by the family he has left behind, Jim acts as father figure to Huck, the white boy who is his companion as they raft the Mississippi toward freedom. Jim is also a highly polarizing figure: he is viewed as an emblem both of Twain's alleged racism and of his opposition to racism; a diminished character inflected by minstrelsy and a powerful challenge to minstrel stereotypes; a reason for banning Huckleberry Finn and a reason for teaching it; an embarrassment and a source of pride for Black readers.In Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade (Yale UP, 2025) eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin probes these controversies, exploring who Jim was, how Twain portrayed him, and how the world has responded to him. Fishkin also follows Jim's many afterlives: in film, from Hollywood to the Soviet Union; in translation around the world; and in American high school classrooms today. The result is Jim as we have never seen him before—a fresh and compelling portrait of one of the most memorable Black characters in American fiction. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and professor (by courtesy) of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. She is the author or editor of many books, including Writing America: Literary Landmarks from Walden Pond to Wounded Knee and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voices, and editor of the twenty-nine-volume Oxford Mark Twain. She lives in Stanford, CA. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Jaws of Justice Radio investigates how we can achieve justice from a system of laws deeply rooted in economic, social and political inequality. We want to dispel misconceptions created by the news and entertainment industry, politicians and our educational system. We hope you will listen. For June 22, 2026, we play an April, 2026 broadcast of Final Straw Radio. This episode features an interview with Dr. Terence Keel about U.S. Deaths in Custody and Public Accountability. Dr. Terence Keel is a Professor of Human Biology & Society and African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also author of Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science and The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence. He created the UCLA BioCritical Studies (BCS) Lab in 2020, an interdisciplinary space that investigates the complex interactions between human biology and society. https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/about/ The Final Straw is a weekly anarchist and anti-authoritarian radio show bringing you voices and ideas from struggle around the world. Since 2010, they have been broadcasting from occupied Tsalagi land on 103.3 FM in Asheville, NC. Amar Bursts is co-host and producer; Ian Bursts is co-host. https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/about/ During the second half of our hour, hosts Terri Wilke and Justice Johnson will talk further about violence involving law enforcement. Humans are violent due to a complex interplay of evolutionary instincts, biological factors, and social/environmental influences. While humans are highly cooperative, we possess an inherent capacity for aggression. Primal “fight or flight” instincts still exist, even when the threats are social rather than physical. A lack of the neurotransmitter serotonin can impair the brain's ability to inhibit impulsive or aggressive reactions. Studies show that it is significantly easier for individuals to commit violent acts when there is physical or emotional distance from the victim. Aggression is heavily influenced by a person's environment. Individuals who grow up exposed to abuse, conflict, or violence in their communities are much more likely to exhibit and pass on those behaviors. Our success as a species relies overwhelmingly on empathy, reason, and cooperation. Society has historically mitigated our violent tendencies through laws, institutions, and cultural norms that encourage negotiation over conflict. On Jaws of Justice, we examine how to find justice in our society. Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
Mark Twain's Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the first fully drawn Black fathers in American fiction. Haunted by the family he has left behind, Jim acts as father figure to Huck, the white boy who is his companion as they raft the Mississippi toward freedom. Jim is also a highly polarizing figure: he is viewed as an emblem both of Twain's alleged racism and of his opposition to racism; a diminished character inflected by minstrelsy and a powerful challenge to minstrel stereotypes; a reason for banning Huckleberry Finn and a reason for teaching it; an embarrassment and a source of pride for Black readers.In Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade (Yale UP, 2025) eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin probes these controversies, exploring who Jim was, how Twain portrayed him, and how the world has responded to him. Fishkin also follows Jim's many afterlives: in film, from Hollywood to the Soviet Union; in translation around the world; and in American high school classrooms today. The result is Jim as we have never seen him before—a fresh and compelling portrait of one of the most memorable Black characters in American fiction. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and professor (by courtesy) of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. She is the author or editor of many books, including Writing America: Literary Landmarks from Walden Pond to Wounded Knee and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voices, and editor of the twenty-nine-volume Oxford Mark Twain. She lives in Stanford, CA. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture
Mark Twain's Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the first fully drawn Black fathers in American fiction. Haunted by the family he has left behind, Jim acts as father figure to Huck, the white boy who is his companion as they raft the Mississippi toward freedom. Jim is also a highly polarizing figure: he is viewed as an emblem both of Twain's alleged racism and of his opposition to racism; a diminished character inflected by minstrelsy and a powerful challenge to minstrel stereotypes; a reason for banning Huckleberry Finn and a reason for teaching it; an embarrassment and a source of pride for Black readers.In Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade (Yale UP, 2025) eminent Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin probes these controversies, exploring who Jim was, how Twain portrayed him, and how the world has responded to him. Fishkin also follows Jim's many afterlives: in film, from Hollywood to the Soviet Union; in translation around the world; and in American high school classrooms today. The result is Jim as we have never seen him before—a fresh and compelling portrait of one of the most memorable Black characters in American fiction. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, professor of English, and professor (by courtesy) of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. She is the author or editor of many books, including Writing America: Literary Landmarks from Walden Pond to Wounded Knee and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voices, and editor of the twenty-nine-volume Oxford Mark Twain. She lives in Stanford, CA. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day
“Time for an Awakening” with Bro. Elliott & Bro. Richard, Sunday 06/14/2026 at 6:00 PM (EST), the guest was Author, Historian, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the Univ. of Houston, Dr. Gerald Horne. Dr. Horne shared a historical perspective on the recent Supreme Court decision on Section 2, dismantling the Voting Rights Act, and the upcoming decision on birthright citizenship involving the 14th Amendment, and how these decisions fit into a broader historical context of political disenfranchisement for Black people. Also, other conversations with Dr. Horne on topics that affect Black people locally, nationally, and internationally.
In this episode of Office Hours, Kaison Ward sits down with Texas State history associate professor and African American Studies coordinator Dr. Dwonna Goldstone to discuss her journey from aspiring doctor to historian, the mentors who helped shape her career, and the experiences that led her to African American Studies. Together, they explore the importance of Black history education, building community on campus, the impact of mentorship, and why professors genuinely want to see their students succeed from their first semester through graduation.
Tracy K. Smith comes to Shakespeare and Company for a conversation with Adam Biles. They discuss her book Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times, a bold manifesto on poetry as a tool for deeper living, clearer thinking, and more compassionate citizenship. Drawing on her time as US Poet Laureate, Smith reflects on taking poetry to rural America, and how poems, unlike political debate, can open rather than entrench. She talks about the origins of Fear Less, and why she chose to write a love letter to the art form rather than a polemic. Smith also reads from her forthcoming collection The Forest, sharing new poems on war, complicity, the divine feminine, and an expansive, unsettling "us" that includes those we revile.Buy Fear Less: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/fear-less-4Tracy K. Smith was born in Massachusetts and raised in northern California. She earned a BA from Harvard University and an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. From 1997 to 1999 she held a Stegner fellowship at Stanford University. Smith is the author of four books of poetry: The Body's Question (2003), which won the Cave Canem prize for the best first book by an African-American poet; Duende (2007), winner of the James Laughlin Award and the Essense Literary Award; Life on Mars (2011), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; and Wade in the Water (2018). In 2014 she was awarded the Academy of American Poets fellowship. She has also written a memoir, Ordinary Light (2015), which was a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction. Her latest book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times (2025). In June 2017, Smith was named U.S. poet laureate. She teaches at Harvard University, where she is a professor of English and of African and African American Studies and the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company.Listen to Alex Freiman's latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Marcus Anthony Hunter, professor, founding chair of the Department of African American Studies at UCLA, and author of “Radical Reparations: Healing The Soul Of A Nation,” tells us the latest about the Washington state reparations movement and shares his analysis about trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
In this episode, you'll be introduced to John Hooker, a Hartford lawyer, judge, and abolitionist as well as a reformer for women's rights. Hooker was the president of the anti-slavery committee in Hartford, published the Charter Oak anti-slavery newspaper with the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society of Hartford, and co-authored with his wife Isabella Beecher Hooker, the state bill in 1877 that gave married women more control of their property. Why isn't he better known? Our guest for this episode is Erika Slocumb, Director of Interpretation & Visitor Experience at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. Erika is a scholar of Black history. She received her BA in Social Justice Education, her MS in Labor Studies, and she expects her PhD in African American Studies in the fall of 2026—all from University of Massachusetts Amherst. Be sure to go to the Stowe Center's website at stowecenter.org/blog/ to read Erika's new blog post about John Hooker. Plan to attend the Nook Farm Lawn Party and Fourth of July events-all the info is on the Stowe Center website. Grating the Nutmeg is partnering with Preservation Connecticut to bring you summer and fall episodes on saving historic barns, Connecticut sites found in the historic Green Book guide for black travelers, Mid-Century Modern architecture, and sites that reveal the state's LGBTQ+ history. Connecticut's historic places matter! ------------------------------------------ Don't forget to subscribe to Connecticut Explored magazine today-our summer issue is a double-issue celebrating our nation's 250th birthday! And set up your monthly donation to Grating the Nutmeg at ctexplored.org This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/ Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky. Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!
In Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead (University of California Press, 2026), Gary Hoover asks the reader a simple question: Is our economy a ladder or a lottery? Are people able to control their position on the economic spectrum by their actions? Some argue that, in our market-based economy, if you play by certain rules and make certain choices, you'll achieve upward mobility no matter what economic position you were born into. Drawing on his vast economic expertise, Hoover explores what this "social contract" requires of its citizens, and what it offers in return. Hoover shows how civil unrest is often directly related to broken society-level promises, exploring protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness as case studies. He also predicts where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. This insightful and data-driven book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and artificial intelligence, and ultimately equips readers to answer these pressing questions: Is our social contract a ladder to higher economic standing, accessible to all no matter where they start? Or rather a lottery in which many will buy a ticket but only a few will find success? And how can we best align social promises with our lived economic realities? Gary Hoover is Executive Director of the Murphy Institute, Professor of Economics, and Affiliate Professor of Law at Tulane University. Dr. Zachery Williams is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at LSU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
In Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead (University of California Press, 2026), Gary Hoover asks the reader a simple question: Is our economy a ladder or a lottery? Are people able to control their position on the economic spectrum by their actions? Some argue that, in our market-based economy, if you play by certain rules and make certain choices, you'll achieve upward mobility no matter what economic position you were born into. Drawing on his vast economic expertise, Hoover explores what this "social contract" requires of its citizens, and what it offers in return. Hoover shows how civil unrest is often directly related to broken society-level promises, exploring protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness as case studies. He also predicts where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. This insightful and data-driven book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and artificial intelligence, and ultimately equips readers to answer these pressing questions: Is our social contract a ladder to higher economic standing, accessible to all no matter where they start? Or rather a lottery in which many will buy a ticket but only a few will find success? And how can we best align social promises with our lived economic realities? Gary Hoover is Executive Director of the Murphy Institute, Professor of Economics, and Affiliate Professor of Law at Tulane University. Dr. Zachery Williams is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at LSU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead (University of California Press, 2026), Gary Hoover asks the reader a simple question: Is our economy a ladder or a lottery? Are people able to control their position on the economic spectrum by their actions? Some argue that, in our market-based economy, if you play by certain rules and make certain choices, you'll achieve upward mobility no matter what economic position you were born into. Drawing on his vast economic expertise, Hoover explores what this "social contract" requires of its citizens, and what it offers in return. Hoover shows how civil unrest is often directly related to broken society-level promises, exploring protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness as case studies. He also predicts where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. This insightful and data-driven book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and artificial intelligence, and ultimately equips readers to answer these pressing questions: Is our social contract a ladder to higher economic standing, accessible to all no matter where they start? Or rather a lottery in which many will buy a ticket but only a few will find success? And how can we best align social promises with our lived economic realities? Gary Hoover is Executive Director of the Murphy Institute, Professor of Economics, and Affiliate Professor of Law at Tulane University. Dr. Zachery Williams is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at LSU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science
In Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead (University of California Press, 2026), Gary Hoover asks the reader a simple question: Is our economy a ladder or a lottery? Are people able to control their position on the economic spectrum by their actions? Some argue that, in our market-based economy, if you play by certain rules and make certain choices, you'll achieve upward mobility no matter what economic position you were born into. Drawing on his vast economic expertise, Hoover explores what this "social contract" requires of its citizens, and what it offers in return. Hoover shows how civil unrest is often directly related to broken society-level promises, exploring protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness as case studies. He also predicts where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. This insightful and data-driven book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and artificial intelligence, and ultimately equips readers to answer these pressing questions: Is our social contract a ladder to higher economic standing, accessible to all no matter where they start? Or rather a lottery in which many will buy a ticket but only a few will find success? And how can we best align social promises with our lived economic realities? Gary Hoover is Executive Director of the Murphy Institute, Professor of Economics, and Affiliate Professor of Law at Tulane University. Dr. Zachery Williams is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at LSU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory
In Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead (University of California Press, 2026), Gary Hoover asks the reader a simple question: Is our economy a ladder or a lottery? Are people able to control their position on the economic spectrum by their actions? Some argue that, in our market-based economy, if you play by certain rules and make certain choices, you'll achieve upward mobility no matter what economic position you were born into. Drawing on his vast economic expertise, Hoover explores what this "social contract" requires of its citizens, and what it offers in return. Hoover shows how civil unrest is often directly related to broken society-level promises, exploring protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness as case studies. He also predicts where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. This insightful and data-driven book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and artificial intelligence, and ultimately equips readers to answer these pressing questions: Is our social contract a ladder to higher economic standing, accessible to all no matter where they start? Or rather a lottery in which many will buy a ticket but only a few will find success? And how can we best align social promises with our lived economic realities? Gary Hoover is Executive Director of the Murphy Institute, Professor of Economics, and Affiliate Professor of Law at Tulane University. Dr. Zachery Williams is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at LSU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/economics
In Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead (University of California Press, 2026), Gary Hoover asks the reader a simple question: Is our economy a ladder or a lottery? Are people able to control their position on the economic spectrum by their actions? Some argue that, in our market-based economy, if you play by certain rules and make certain choices, you'll achieve upward mobility no matter what economic position you were born into. Drawing on his vast economic expertise, Hoover explores what this "social contract" requires of its citizens, and what it offers in return. Hoover shows how civil unrest is often directly related to broken society-level promises, exploring protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness as case studies. He also predicts where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. This insightful and data-driven book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and artificial intelligence, and ultimately equips readers to answer these pressing questions: Is our social contract a ladder to higher economic standing, accessible to all no matter where they start? Or rather a lottery in which many will buy a ticket but only a few will find success? And how can we best align social promises with our lived economic realities? Gary Hoover is Executive Director of the Murphy Institute, Professor of Economics, and Affiliate Professor of Law at Tulane University. Dr. Zachery Williams is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at LSU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics
On Tuesday, May 12, the Center for Civil Rights and Technology hosted its 2026 annual convening, "All Eyes on Tech: Power, Protection, and the Fights for Civil Rights in the Age of AI," at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The Center is a joint project of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund, and it engages in advocacy, education, and research on issues at the intersection of civil rights and technology policy.During the event, Tech Policy Press editor Justin Hendrix hosted a conversation with Dr. Ruha Benjamin, an acclaimed author, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, and founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab; and Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, vice president of the Center for Civil Rights and Technology. The conversation touched on the necessity of cultural and narrative work as the foundation for policy work; how to build collective power and alternatives, not just guardrails; and why it is important to focus on the people behind technology and their motivations, not just technology itself.
“Time for an Awakening” with Bro. Elliott & Bro.Richard, Sunday 5/10/2026 at 6:00 PM (EST); guest was Author, Professor of Politics and African American Studies at the University of San Francisco, Dr. James Lance Taylor. Dr. Taylor gave us a historical perspective to the destruction of the voting rights act, the architects involved, and strategies to move our people forward. Always conversations on topics that affect Black people locally, nationally, and internationally, and information, insights, and dialogue from a Black Perspective.
Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week on the podcast it's an NYU affair with a side of Columbia University, Harvard University and UCLA. I first met my guest as fellow New York University students/alumni in the late 1990's, at a time when slam poetry was beginning to reaching global audiences with influences from hip hop music and other activist movements. Fast foward after more than 20 years to earlier this spring when our paths crossed again at an event hosted by fellow Glocal Citizen and Director of NYU Accra, Chiké Frankie Edozien - The Labone Dialogues. Bryonn is a poet, actor, prison activist, playwright, scholar, author, hip hop artist and professor of African American Studies, Theater, Film & Television, and World Arts & Cultures in the School of the Arts and the School of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Playing over 40 characters, his one-man show, LYRICS FROM LOCKDOWN, won “Best Solo Performance” from the LA Weekly and the NAACP. Executive produced by the late and great, Harry Belafonte, the show tells stories of wrongful incarceration through spoken word poetry, hip hop theater, calypso, comedy and classical music. He founded the Prison Education Program at UCLA in 2015 and in 2019, the program and his performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts were featured on the debut episode of LA Stories, which won an Emmy Award. His work has been featured on a diverse range of stages including the Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Public Theater (NYC), National Black Theatre (Harlem), NJ PAC, The Actor's Gang Theater (Culver City), Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC), Festival de Liege (Belgium), M-1 Theater Festival (Singapore), Universidad de las Americas (Mexico) and Muteesa Royal University (Uganda), Rikers Island (New York), Marion Prison (Ohio), TEDX at Ironwood State Prison and Sing Sing Prison. He has performed at over 250 colleges and prisons in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. And soon in Ghana! Where to find Bryonn? https://www.bryonn.com On LinkedIn On Instagram What's Bryonn reading? A Survey of Muhammad Ali Biographies What's Bryonn watching? Concerning Violence What's Bryonn listening to? Blues Women Other topics of interest: What is a Calypsonian About Veteran Black Panther Jamal Joseph About Akuse Prison in Ghana 90's music roll-call - The Fu-Schnickens, Digital Underground, Tupac Shakur About Pedro Noguera About Delroy Lindo Sinners the film About Michael A. JordanSpecial Guest: Bryonn Bain.
Rabbi Sharon Brous is a leading voice at the intersection of faith and justice in America. She is the founding and senior rabbi of IKAR, a trail-blazing Jewish community based in Los Angeles. Brous's work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. Her new book is The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend our Broken Hearts and World. On April 23, 2026, Sharon Brous came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an on-stage conversation with john a. powell, another scholar helping forge connections across political, spiritual, and cultural differences. Powell is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute and a Professor of Law and Professor of African American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent book is The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong.
Ian Hoch in for Tommy Tucker. Republicans in Tennessee have re-drawn their Congressional maps after the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act. We'll explain what's going on and what it means with Emmitt Riley, Associate Professor of Politics and African and African American Studies at The University of the South.
For centuries, museums in Europe and the U.S. built their collections during eras of empire and unequal power. Now, institutions face growing calls to return artifacts taken through colonial rule or war, from the Benin Bronzes to Indigenous objects. Supporters say repatriation corrects historical injustice and restores sacred objects to their communities. Critics argue that museums serve a global public and that these works represent shared human heritage. Now we debate: Should Museums Repatriate Cultural Artifacts? Arguing Yes: Chika Okeke-Agulu, Artist, Curator, and Professor of Art and Archaeology and African American Studies at Princeton University Leila Amineddoleh, Art and Cultural Heritage Lawyer; Chair of the Firm's Art Law Group at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin Arguing No: Dominic Selwood, Historian, Author, Journalist, and Barrister Mario Trabucco della Torretta, Classical Archaeologist Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Join the conversation on Substack - share your perspective on this episode and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated insights from our debaters, moderators, and staff. Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and TikTok to stay connected with our mission and ongoing debates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Marcus Anthony Hunter, professor, founding chair of the Department of African American Studies at UCLA, and author of Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation, discusses his efforts to ensure accountability for the reparations movement in Washington State and gives his analysis on trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Have we discovered the first great piece of AI filmmaking? We'd like to believe we are the first Christian film podcast to cover the OUR MAN KENT series, since installment one was released less than two weeks ago and currently has fewer than 100 views. AI seems to be the current artistic focus of auteur Kenya Cagle, an extremely prolific faith-based film director proven capable of creating live-action films such as our favorites THE BOY WHO SAW CHRIST and THIRTEEN MONTHS. AI in Cagle's hands is possibly a way to quickly iterate on fantastical sci-fi ideas, and hopefully not a full replacement for his live-action work, which we love. Despite personal artistic qualms about generative AI's use in art, t's undeniable that AI allows Cagle to pursue sci-fi ideas he probably couldn't pull off in live action. OUR MAN KENT contains depictions of futuristic technology such as "drone phones," "guardian angel" drones that serve as personal robotic bodyguards, and Kent's AI girlfriend "Tasha" (whom he communicates with via commands, like Alexa). These tools are deployed by protagonist Kent, a Black secret agent combating systemic anti-Blackness. In this installment, when an evil scientist cancels a university's African American Studies program, Kent's boss (the "Supreme Being") offers him a lucrative opportunity to defeat the scientist and save history. The medium of AI video adds a bizarre, uncanny tone to the piece; character movements and animations such as car rides are unnatural to the point of nauseating, but they add a character that at times makes it delightful to watch. While generative AI's impact on the creative process remains controversial among film fans, and for good reason (critiques of resource usage and creative plagiarism are valid), from a philosophical standpoint it's clear that AI doesn't mask Kenya Cagle's creative spirit. The singular, weird vision of his live-action films is highly present in OUR MAN KENT, allowing the medium to extend his message, even if it makes the film hard to watch at times. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy
In this episode of Guerrilla History, we have a critically important discussion that we hope you will find useful and will share with others that you think may benefit. Here we bring on Nina Farnia and Navid Farnia to discuss the ongoing war on Iran. The situation continues to develop rapidly, but the analysis provided here is absolutely crucial to continuing to deepen our understanding of what is happening as well as WHY is is happening the way it is. Be sure to check out the piece that they did for Pambazuka which we reference several times throughout the conversation - Iran v. US Imperialism: An Interview with Navid Farnia & Nina Farnia. We also recommend you check out the previous episode that Nina did with us Lawfare and Imperialism. Nina Farnia is a legal historian, focusing on the role of modern imperialism in U.S. law and politics. Her forthcoming book Imperialism and Resistance will be coming out next year from Stanford University Press, so stay tuned for that! You can find more of her work on her Albany Law webpage, and you can follow her on twitter @NinaFarnia. Navid Farnia is a scholar of African American Studies. His research broadly explores the relationship between racial oppression in the United States and U.S. imperialism with a focus on revolutionary movements and counterrevolutionary responses. Navid's book manuscript, National Liberation in an Imperialist World: Race, Counterrevolution, and the United States, traces the U.S. national security state's evolution by examining how U.S. officials responded to national liberation movements at home and abroad from the 1950s to 1980. Both are members of the Anti-Imperalist Scholars Collective. Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory
The Context of White Supremacy welcomes Dr. Terence Keel. Classified as a black male, Dr. Keel is a "Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles where [he teaches] in the Department of African American Studies and the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics." Dr. Keel also directs "the UCLA Lab for BioCritical Studies and [serves] as the Advisor for Structural Competency and Innovation for the UCLA Simulation Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine." In the midst of all this constructive work, Dr. Keel found time to visit Seattle's Elliott Bay Books to discuss his new tome, The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence. The text examines the how large numbers of black males and non-white males in general die under suspicious circumstances in officer custody. Dr. Keel notes that White coroners and medical examiners have a history of excluding black people from this profession and skillfully using language to conceal the wrongful death of black male prisoners. Gus noted at least one double negative and a plethora of curious usages of the pronoun "we." "We" don't practice White Supremacy and cage black dudes. The text also suggests that White people who practice Racism have a vision impairment — i.e., black males are invisible — and strains to insist that 'everyone' is vulnerable and could die in custody under the current System of White Supremacy. Logic and the record of hamburger-munching, convicted mass murderer Dylann Storm Roof says this ain't so. #AtTheHandsOfPersonsUnknown #COINTELPRO #TheCOWS17Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 720.716.7300 CODE 564943#
In this continuation of our African Revolutions and Decolonization series, we bring back two returning guests, Gerald Horne and Anthony Ballas, to discuss the documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, and the U.S.'s "jazz ambassadors". A really stimulating discussion, we highly recommend you also check out our other episodes focused on the Congo to orient yourself historically here - The Congo - From Colonization Through Lumumba & Mobutu and The Situation in Congo - From Mobutu to M23 Rebels Today (both with Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja) and Mining the Congo w/ Josaphat Musamba, Germain Ngoie Tshibambe, & Ben Radley. We also recommend you check out the previous episodes we have done with Dr. Horne, which include - Histories of Resistance in LA from 60's to Today, Texas and the Roots of U.S. Fascism, and The Counterrevolution of 1776 Anthony Ballas was also on the show recently, you can listen to the episode we did with him - Whiteness, Jake Paul, Boxing, & the Crisis of US Imperialism Gerald Horne is the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. His research interests are unbelievably varied, encompassing biographies of W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson, to The Haitian Revolution, to Hollywood in the '30s-'50s, to Jazz and Justice. Be sure to check out his bibliography, you're certain to find something that interests you! Anthony Ballas is an organizer and a PhD student at Duke University. His work appears in Monthly Review, Protean Magazine, Caribbean Quarterly, 3:AM Magazine, Truthout, Middle West Review, CounterPunch, Scalawag Magazine, Peace, Land and Bread Magazine, and elsewhere. He also the host of the De Facto Podcast and co-host of Cold War Cinema. Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory
Princeton University professor of African American Studies and Public Affairs, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, discusses the Trump admin's newest investigations into Harvard. And we check in on the broader higher ed crackdown.Tufts food policy expert Corby Kummer explains how the war in Iran is impacting your grocery bill, and how Big Food continues to push back against the MAHA food policy agenda. Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner preview's the birthright citizenship case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court this week, and weighs in on the case of a 98-year-old federal judge who won't give up her seat.
In conversations about women's rights, religion and feminism are often cast as incompatible. But religious women tend to see it differently. In this episode, we'll explore how religious women around the world are defining what liberation looks like on their own terms, and ask what we can all learn from their efforts, regardless of what we believe. We'll talk to writer and lawyer Dania Suleman about how women of faith are defending their religious freedom in secular spaces while also challenging gender inequality within their own communities. And we'll talk to Dr. Dianne Stewart about African heritage religions, where women have often held spiritual authority in ways that challenge familiar assumptions about gender and hierarchy.Dania Suleman is the author of A Different Cloth: Reimagining Faith and Feminism. Dr. Dianne Stewart is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Emory University, and the author of Obeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad, Volume II, Orisa. Learn more about her work, and her many other publications, at her website.Also mentioned this episode:Asma Lamrabet is the author of Women in the Qur'an: An Emancipatory Reading. Learn more about her work on her website. Learn more about Hind Makki's Side Entrance Project here. Chandra Talpade Mohanty is the author of the essay “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses”
What is the sin in Sinners? — and then four of the most brilliant theologians working today spent an hour doing what great theologians do: they cracked the whole thing open. Set in 1932 Mississippi and layered with blues, hoodoo, vampires, and Black survival, Ryan Coogler's film turns out to be a theological event, and this conversation treats it like one. Adam Clark names white supremacy as the film's central sin — parasitic, predatory, embodied in white vampires who can only survive by consuming Black vitality. Kelly Brown Douglas traces the deep dialectic between the blues and the Black church, and how the juke joint functions as a kind of invisible institution keeping Black faith alive from the underside. Juan Floyd-Thomas goes deep on conjure, Papa Legba, and why Sammy at the crossroads isn't just a blues musician but a gateway between the living and the dead. And Stacey Floyd-Thomas brings the womanist lens that names what the film itself only partially names: the women are the most spiritually powerful figures in the story, and they pay the highest price. By the end, someone looks around the room and says what a lot of us were thinking — Theology Beer Camp is a hush harbor. This is one of the most popular sessions from camp this year, and after you listen, you'll understand why. Join 600+ Listeners, 30 theologians, & 30 God-Pods at Theology Beer Camp 2026 this October 8-10 in Kansas City! Panel Members Kelly Brown Douglas is Visiting Professor of Theology at Harvard Divinity School and Canon Theologian at Washington National Cathedral. Juan Floyd-Thomas is Associate Professor of African American Religious History at Vanderbilt Divinity School, where he teaches Black religion, race, religion, and film. Stacey Floyd-Thomas is the Carpenter Professor of Ethics and Society and Chair of African American Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Adam Clark is Professor of Theology and Director of Civic Engagement at Xavier University. Will Rose is the co-host of Systematic Geekology, a podcast exploring theology and pop culture for people who geek out on the deeper things. UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS - Theology for Troublemakers: Christian Social Ethics from the Margins The injustices we face are immense — but they are not unique. Previous generations confronted the same powers with theological conviction and strategic brilliance. The question is whether we'll learn from them. This 6-week online course, led by Dr. Gary Dorrien and Dr. Aaron Stauffer, recovers the radical tradition of Christian social ethics — from Reverdy Ransom and Reinhold Niebuhr to James Cone and the Welfare Rights Movement — and asks what faithfulness demands of us right now. Weekly lectures, live Q&A conversations, guest lecturers, and an online community are included.
In July 1991 President George HW Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme Court. Initial reaction to the nomination suggested there would be a contentious Senate confirmation battle that would probe Thomas's conservative views on issues such as abortion and affirmative action. But there was no real concern that Bush's pick might not be approved. That is until one woman's testimony threatened to derail the entire process. In this episode of History of the 90s we look back at the moment when the little know concept of workplace sexual harassment was catapulted into public consciousness. This is the testimony of Anita Hill. Guest Info: Rev. Dr. Traci C. West; Professor of Christian Ethics and African American Studies at Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ www.traciwest.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These days I sometimes have to remind myself to keep breathing. I think this is true of human beings across all of our differences and divides. But in a room in New York City just before the turn of this year, I was regrounded by this fierce and joyous conversation with Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith. I invite you to settle into your soft breathing body with these two wise women as companions and with a sense of poetry as a technology, as Tracy describes in her new book: a technology for rising to our truest, highest selves, even amidst grief and mystery and danger, and bearing witness to each other as we do so. I think all of us in the room left a little more lighthearted and alive as this conversation unfolded. I hope that will be your experience too. Tracy K. Smith and Joy Harjo are former U.S. poet laureates, beloved On Being guests, and friends. They are each wildly and deservedly awarded and not just as poets — Tracy also as a teacher and professor at Harvard, Joy as a saxophonist and painter. We were brought together at Symphony Space in Manhattan to celebrate their newest books: Fear Less by Tracy and Girl Warrior by Joy. Find an excellent transcript of this show, edited by humans, on our show page. Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to receive Krista's monthly Saturday newsletter, including a heads up on new episodes, special offerings, recommendations, and event invitations. Joy Harjo was the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Among many honors, she has received the Poetry Society of America's Frost Medal and a National Humanities Medal. She is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She lives on the Muscogee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma. Her new book of essays is Girl Warrior. Forthcoming in 2026 is her 12th book of poetry and a new album co-produced with esperanza spalding. Tracy K. Smith was the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States. She teaches at Harvard University, where she is Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Among her many honors, she has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and is a Chancellor of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her new memoir is Fear Less. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University, Dr. CBS, returns to Bad Faith to discuss the contraversy around Bad Bunny's Super Bowl half time performance and the limits of revolutionary art, the increasingly heated Jasmine Crockett/James Talarico Texas Senate primary & what everyone gets wrong about the viability of Black candidates, Trump's "Lion King" tweet featuring the Obama's as apes, & the latest attempt by Ezra Klein-stye centrists to brand their deregulatory agenda as a winning path forward for the Democratic Party -- a new "pro growth" political group called Next America Era. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).
Too many of us left high school thinking that a poem could be taken seriously only if it was difficult to understand, subdued in its use of rhyme and alliteration, and addressed lofty topics. Harryette Mullen's saucy, suggestive “LVTOFU” bulldozes through convention, all the while revelling in its own rhythms, references, and humor. We invite you to subscribe to Pádraig's weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound books and his newest work, Kitchen Hymns, or listen to all our Poetry Unbound episodes. Harryette Mullen is the author of eight books of poetry, including Urban Tumbleweed, Recyclopedia, and Sleeping with the Dictionary, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of California-Los Angeles.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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