Podcast appearances and mentions of Alex Kotlowitz

We got a tip about a meat plant selling pig intestines as fake calamari, wondered if it could be true, and decided to investigate. Doppelgängers, doubles, evil twins and not-so-evil twins, this week. Fred Armisen co-hosts with Ira Glass. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Fred Armisen worked up an imitation of Ira and put it into a sketch on Saturday Night Live a couple of years ago. But when they rehearsed it with an audience, there was not a roar of recognition; it seemed like Ira might not be famous enough to be mocked on network TV. Armisen finally gets a go as Ira's doppelgänger in our studios by co-hosting this episode. (4 minutes)Act One: Ben Calhoun tells a story of physical resemblance — not of a person, but of food. A while ago, a farmer walked through a pork processing plant in Oklahoma with a friend who managed it. He came across boxes stacked on the floor with labels that said "artificial calamari." So he asked his friend "What's artificial calamari?" "Bung," his friend replied. "Hog rectum." Have you or I eaten bung dressed up as seafood? Ben investigated. (26 minutes)Act Two: For decades, the writer Alex Kotlowitz has been writing about the inner cities and the toll of violence on young people. So when he heard about a program at Drexel University where guys from the inner city get counseling for PTSD, he wondered if the effect of urban violence was comparable to the trauma that a person experiences from war. Kotlowitz talks to a military vet from Afghanistan and a guy from Philadelphia who's lived in some pretty bad neighborhoods to find out if they are doubles of some sort. (23 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Five families from Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Pittsburg move to the suburbs in search of the American dream, drawn by promises of better schools and all the other amenities promised by suburban life…but instead, they're experiencing the decline of the suburbs, rather than the benefits that were sold to them. On this week's episode, host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn discuss this story, told in “The Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme,” and based on the book, Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “The Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme,” by Alex Kotlowitz, The Atlantic (January 2024). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

The lawyers settle with the County, which agrees to pay the kids who were wrongfully arrested and illegally jailed; the hard part is getting the kids paid. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

Wes Clark reads a telling line in a police report about how Rutherford County's juvenile justice system really works. He and his law partner Mark Downton realize they have a massive class action on their hands. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

A young lawyer named Wes Clark can't get the Rutherford County juvenile court to let his clients out of detention—even when the law says they shouldn't have been held in the first place.  He's frustrated and demoralized, until he makes a friend. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

A police officer in Rutherford County, Tennessee, sees a video of little kids fighting, and decides to investigate. This leads to the arrest of 11 kids for watching the fight. The arrests do not go smoothly. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021.  Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award. A year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. “A wondrous tapestry of stories, of young people looking for a home. With deep, immersive reporting, Elly Fishman pulls off a triumph of empathy. Their tales and their school speak to the best of who we are as a nation—and their struggles, their joys, their journeys will stay with you.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. For a century, Chicago's Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages. For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.  Elly Fishman's book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America (The New Press, 2021) is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–8 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn't understand. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems. Laura Beth Kelly is an assistant professor of Educational Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. 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

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021.  Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award. A year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. “A wondrous tapestry of stories, of young people looking for a home. With deep, immersive reporting, Elly Fishman pulls off a triumph of empathy. Their tales and their school speak to the best of who we are as a nation—and their struggles, their joys, their journeys will stay with you.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. For a century, Chicago's Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages. For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.  Elly Fishman's book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America (The New Press, 2021) is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–8 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn't understand. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems. Laura Beth Kelly is an assistant professor of Educational Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021.  Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award. A year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. “A wondrous tapestry of stories, of young people looking for a home. With deep, immersive reporting, Elly Fishman pulls off a triumph of empathy. Their tales and their school speak to the best of who we are as a nation—and their struggles, their joys, their journeys will stay with you.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. For a century, Chicago's Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages. For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.  Elly Fishman's book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America (The New Press, 2021) is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–8 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn't understand. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems. Laura Beth Kelly is an assistant professor of Educational Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021.  Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award. A year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. “A wondrous tapestry of stories, of young people looking for a home. With deep, immersive reporting, Elly Fishman pulls off a triumph of empathy. Their tales and their school speak to the best of who we are as a nation—and their struggles, their joys, their journeys will stay with you.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. For a century, Chicago's Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages. For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.  Elly Fishman's book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America (The New Press, 2021) is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–8 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn't understand. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems. Laura Beth Kelly is an assistant professor of Educational Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021.  Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award. A year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. “A wondrous tapestry of stories, of young people looking for a home. With deep, immersive reporting, Elly Fishman pulls off a triumph of empathy. Their tales and their school speak to the best of who we are as a nation—and their struggles, their joys, their journeys will stay with you.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. For a century, Chicago's Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages. For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.  Elly Fishman's book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America (The New Press, 2021) is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–8 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn't understand. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems. Laura Beth Kelly is an assistant professor of Educational Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021.  Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award. A year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. “A wondrous tapestry of stories, of young people looking for a home. With deep, immersive reporting, Elly Fishman pulls off a triumph of empathy. Their tales and their school speak to the best of who we are as a nation—and their struggles, their joys, their journeys will stay with you.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. For a century, Chicago's Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages. For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.  Elly Fishman's book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America (The New Press, 2021) is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–8 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn't understand. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems. Laura Beth Kelly is an assistant professor of Educational Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education

Alex Kotlowitz is known as a chronicler of Chicago, and of lives marred by urban poverty and violence. His books set in the city include “An American Summer,” “There Are No Children Here,” and “Never a City So Real.” Nevertheless, for some 40 years he has returned to a remote stretch of woods, summer after summer. At a young age, he found himself navigating a canoe through a series of lakes, deep in the woods along Minnesota's border with Canada. This stretch of country is known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Larger than Rhode Island, it is a patchwork of more than a thousand lakes, so pristine you can drink directly from the surface. Now in his late sixties, Kotlowitz finds the days of paddling, the leaky tents, the long portages, and the schlepping of food (and alcohol) harder than before, but he will return to the Boundary Waters as long as he can. Last summer, he took a recorder with him on his annual canoe trip, capturing what has kept him coming back year after year.  This segment originally aired on August 6, 2022.

Alex Kotlowitz is known as a chronicler of the city of Chicago, and of lives marred by urban poverty and violence. His books set in Chicago include “An American Summer,” “There Are No Children Here,” and “Never a City So Real.” But for some 40 years, he has returned to a remote stretch of woods summer after summer. At a young age, he found himself navigating a canoe through a series of lakes, deep in the woods along Minnesota's border with Canada. The stretch of wilderness is known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Larger than the state of Rhode Island, it is a patchwork of more than a thousand lakes, so pristine you can drink directly from the surface. At the age of sixty-seven, he finds the days of paddling, the leaky tents, the long portages, the schlepping of days' worth of food (and alcohol) harder, but Kotlowitz will return to the Boundary Waters as long as he can. This spring, he brought a recorder with him on his annual canoe trip, capturing what has kept him coming back year after year. Plus, Susan Orlean remembers Ivana Trump, who died last month, at the age of 73.

“Because for every kid who makes it out, there are thousands more who are just as capable, who don't. And I think we need to shift the conversation away from what was it that helped that one kid make it out to why are all these other kids not?” Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child belongs on the shelf next to Evicted by Matthew Desmond and Alex Kotlowitz's books There are No Children Here and An American Summer. She joins us on the show to talk about eleven-year-old Dasani and her family, how systems feed the poverty cycle, why we need to challenge our love of success stories, and more. Featured book: Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City. Produced/hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This week, hear from journalist and editor Elly Fishman about her book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America, winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel award. The book tells the story of a year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school [...]

This week, hear from journalist and editor Elly Fishman about her book Refugee High: Coming of Age in America, winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel award. The book tells the story of a year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school [...]

Ostatni odcinek przed przerwą wakacyjną poświęcamy książkom o Stanach Zjednoczonych, które ostatnio przeczytaliśmy i które Państwu – w mniejszym lub większym stopniu – polecamy. Trzy po polsku, trzy po angielsku, trzy od Łukasza, trzy od Piotra. Mówimy o epidemii przemocy i zabójstwach czarnych Amerykanów w Los Angeles i Chicago (Jill Leovy,„Wszyscy wiedzą”; Alex Kotlowitz, „Amerykańskie lato”) i o wydanym dopiero co po polsku głośnym eseju Ta-Nehisiego Coatesa („Między światem a mną”) o doświadczeniu byciu Afroamerykaninem. O tym dlaczego zdaniem historyczki Heather Cox Richardson Konfederacja niekoniecznie przegrała wojnę secesyjną („How the South Won the Civil War”) i o alternatywnych historiach USA (Jeff Greenfield, „Then Everything Changed”). Recenzujemy też zbiór reportaży Macieja Jarkowca („Rewolwer obok Biblii”). Możecie nas słuchać w: Spotify, Podtail, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts i YouTube. Jeśli chcecie nas wesprzeć, zapraszamy na patronite.pl/podkastamerykanski

Investigators in Benton Harbor, Mich. are reopening the 30-year-old cold case of Black teen Eric McGinnis's death, following the emergence of a new eye witness. Chicago author Alex Kotlowitz detailed the case in the 1998 book The Other Side Of The River. He joins Reset for the latest on the case and why it continues to resonate today. GUEST: Alex Kotlowitz, author of the 1998 book The Other Side Of The River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma; also author of the 2019 book An American Summer: Love And Death In Chicago

Alex Kotlowitz, bestselling author of An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago, joins Citizen co-founder Larry Platt along with journalist Jo Piazza, producer of Philly Under Fire, for a recent virtual conversation to explore the book, and what it means for the gun violence epidemic today.

Marc Sims talks with journalist Alex Kotlowitz about low income African American neighborhoods. Alex Kotlowitz is an American journalist, author, and filmmaker. https://www.alexkotlowitz.com

The Ricketts Family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, actively support President Trump’s reelection campaign. Some Cubs fans are rethinking their allegiance. Reset brings on Chicago writer Alex Kotlowitz to discuss the intersection of sports and politics in 2020.

John Howell welcomes Alex Kotlowitz, author and contributor to The New Yorker to detail how Cub's co-owner Todd Ricketts has risen in political power, including the relationship he has with former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and how he came to be the chief fund-raiser for Donald Trump's reelection campaign.

It's February 2020, and Warner Elementary's star is rising. It's showing so much progress this year that it might be able to go from one of the lowest performing schools in Tennessee to one of the best. Now it's just time to hunker down and work until the big state test at the end of the year.    But we all know what happens next. First, a natural disaster in Nashville. Then, a global pandemic. And at a school with low-income students, these challenges hit especially hard.   “I'm tired of fighting for kids. One person can't consistently carry that burden,” Warner principal Ricki Gibbs said. “I was at a point where I was going to say, ‘You can have Warner. This is too much.'”  In this dramatic final episode of Season 2, crisis brings Warner's challenges to a breaking point.  The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

There was a time when the decision of where to send your child to school was relatively simple: public or private. Now, in Nashville and many other cities, those choices have multiplied exponentially.    In large part, it's because of white families — a way to keep them in the public system, but on their own terms. But with so many choices at play, things have gotten messy. Judgement is cast. Pedagogy is ruthlessly ranked. Gossip and chatter steer decision making. And information begins to splinter.    In this episode, we follow two mothers whose experiences in choosing a school couldn't be more different.    The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions. 

Last fall, parents from Lockeland Elementary held a community meeting to talk about the elephant in the room: Despite the diversity of the neighborhood, their school was the whitest school in the entire district. Some white parents in the neighborhood simply didn't see any problem. Others did and wanted the district to find a solution that would bring more children of color to their school. But there was a time, not that long ago, when an idea was floated that could have changed the makeup of Lockeland's student body — and it did not go well. In this episode, white parents start to realize that their choices, and the choices of their neighbors, created this problem. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight, with additional reporting by Samantha Max. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Warner Elementary is about to take its moon shot. After landing on the state's list of lowest-performing schools, it's aiming to make the list of highest-performing schools. Finally, it has all the right tools: an infusion of federal grant money, an energetic and experienced principal, and new class offerings that set the school apart.  But the real turnaround will only work if more students enroll — white students, specifically. And most white families in the neighborhood want nothing to do with Warner.   In this episode, Warner begins its uphill turnaround battle.   The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

When Willie Sims' daughter started kindergarten at a high-performing elementary school in East Nashville, all seemed well at first. His daughter loved her teacher. She was making friends. But then Willie realized: In a neighborhood with tons of Black families, his daughter was the only Black child in the entire grade. Then he started hearing murmurings from other families, white families, concerned about the issue of resegregation. They were mobilizing. They wanted to push the school to acknowledge the fact that families of color were becoming scarcer and scarcer at the school. In this episode, white parents start to see the problem. And once they do, they can't unsee it. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

After 43 years of courtroom battles, Nashville's landmark school desegregation lawsuit was settled.  In the eyes of the law, the city finally made an honest effort to racially integrate its schools. But in truth, the matter was far from settled.  For the Kelley family, whose son was the case's named plaintiff, being Black in America meant there were battles and sacrifices at every turn — far beyond education. And for Richard Dinkins, the plaintiffs' lawyer, hope was quickly replaced by dismay as he watched decades of work and progress towards school desegregation begin to unravel.   "The settlement was based on mutual promises," Dinkins said. "The city broke the promise."  In this episode, our story about Nashville's fight for school desegregation continues.  The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

To understand the resegregation of Nashville's schools, you have to start with understanding desegregation.   In 1954, the famous Brown v. Board decision ruled that segregated schools violated the constitution. But in reality, that decision changed very little in Nashville. Segregation was an architecture, and to pull it apart was a grueling endeavor. White families derailed the process. City officials worked mightily to resist it. And black families sacrificed for it.  In this episode, we're going back to the early days of this battle for racial equity in the classroom, to the time not that long ago when school desegregation literally blew this city apart.  The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions. 

Host Bob Hercules speaks with the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, Steve James, who’s first film, Hoop Dreams, made an indelible mark on the cultural and sociological landscape in the U.S.. This film won every major critics award in 1994 as well as a Peabody, and picked up many more accolades along with way. James also directed, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, that was nominated for an Academy Award, and tells the story of a small financial institution that was the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States 2008 mortgage crisis. He also teamed up with writer Alex Kotlowitz on The Interrupters, a film that brought us an intimate and fiercely honest portrayal of ex-gang members that transitioned to interrupting conflicts to stop gang violence. His laundry list of vital and important films brings incredible insight to the world around us, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the show.

A review of the book "There Are No Children Here" by Alex Kotlowitz which tells the story of residents of Chicago’s Henry Horner projects during the 1980s.   Show notes are available at http://noirehistoir.com/blog/there-are-no-children-here-book-review.

  Rebekah and Ing provide an insightful look into yoga.   Rebekah recommend the book Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett. Ing recommends An American Summer:  Love and Death in Chicago by Alex Kotlowitz.

Koss and Seth sit down with Alex Kotlowitz, former staff writer of The Wall Street Journal and critically acclaimed author of An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago. They discuss his journey from working on a cattle ranch to the Emmy winner he is today, his approach to journalism and his drive to share the stories of a segregated society.

Guest host, Bob Hercules sits down with the prolific author, journalist and filmmaker, Alex Kotlowitz, who is best known for his books exploring the intersection of poverty, urban violence and race, which includes his landmark book, THERE ARE NO CHILDREN HERE.

Recorded at the Hawthorne barn on May 25, 2019 by Twenty Summers. All Rights Reserved.

Dan and Eric talk about Dan's recent surgery, from which he's still recovering; Sarah Larson's Talk piece on Lynn Shelton, Marc Maron, and a current exhibit at the Met; Dana Goodyear's insightful piece about presidential candidate, Kamala Harris; an excellent story by Hanif Kureishi; and an online story by Alex Kotlowitz about the beauty of the Boundary Waters (between Minnesota and Canada) and how they are imperiled.  

The numbers are staggering: over the past twenty years in Chicago, 14,033 people have been killed and another roughly 60,000 wounded by gunfire. What does that do to the spirit of individuals and community? Journalist and storyteller Alex Kotlowitz joined us with a deeply intimate collection of chronicles from the lives of individuals who have emerged from this violence—all gathered together in his book An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago. Kotlowitz met with KUOW’s Ross Reynolds to explore these thoughtful and empathetic individuals: a man who as a teenager killed a rival gang member and twenty years later is still struggling to come to terms with what he’s done; a devoted school social worker whose student refuses to give evidence in the shooting death of his best friend; and the witness to a wrongful police shooting who can’t shake what he has seen. Join Kotlowitz and Reynolds for a piercingly honest portrait of a city—and its people—in turmoil, and a perspective that seeks to upend what we think we know about gun violence in America. Alex Kotlowitz is the author of three previous books, including the national bestseller There Are No Children Here, selected by the New York Public Library as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century. His book The Other Side of the River was awarded the Chicago Tribune’s Heartland Prize for Nonfiction. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and on This American Life. Ross Reynolds is the Executive Producer of Community Engagement at KUOW. He creates community conversations such as the Ask A events, and occasionally produces arts and news features. He is the former co-host of KUOW’s daily news magazine The Record and KUOW’s award–winning daily news–talk program The Conversation. Recorded live at University Lutheran Church by Town Hall Seattle on April 17, 2019. 

Dr. Marty Makary on fighting high healthcare costs // Feliks Banel, All Over the Map -- Commencement Bay, Eagle Harbor, Budd Inlet // Hanna Scott on the movement to lift the WA ban on affirmative action // Tom Tangney's review of Teen Spirit // Dose of Kindness -- a timely photo of Notre Dame Cathedral // Sports Insider Danny O'Neil on the end of the Mariners' losing streak/ the Seahawks' needs in the draft // Alex Kotlowitz, author of American Summer

Dave Ross speaks with award-winning reporter and author of There Are No Children Here, Alex Kotlowitz, about his newest book, An American Summer. Kotlowitz spent six years embedded in some of Chicago's most turbulent, violent neighborhoods while reporting for this book, and he tells Dave the stories of some of the people he met there, people living on a daily basis in a culture of pervasive gun violence.

Journalist and author Alex Kotlowitz joins David to talk about his award-winning book on kids growing up in the Chicago housing projects, the mental toll writing that book took on him personally, the violence in Chicago today, and what he wants to focus on next.

Peabody Award- winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz is one of the nation’s foremost commentators on urban violence and community perseverance. He is best known for the seminal but haunting There Are No Children Here, the real-life story of 9- and 11-year old brothers in Chicago’s most crime-ridden public housing complex. […]

Peabody Award- winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz is one of the nation’s foremost commentators on urban violence and community perseverance. He is best known for […]

Peabody Award- winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz is one of the nation’s foremost commentators on urban violence and community perseverance. He is best known for the seminal but haunting There Are No Children Here, the real-life story of 9- and 11-year old brothers in Chicago’s most crime-ridden public housing complex. (Oprah Winfrey produced and starred […]

S4 E15: In this episode, meet Alex Kotlowitz, author of AN AMERICAN SUMMER; Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt, author of BIASED; and Preet Bharara, author of DOING JUSTICE. These authors’ timely audiobooks explore the complex topics of violence, race, and criminal justice. Hear about the meaningful and influential interviews that contributed to these audiobooks, and how these personal stories and different perspectives can help us reflect on our own. Plus, find out which author was inspired, in part, by Tim O’Brien’s seminal book THE THINGS WE CARRIED. An American Summer by Alex Kotlowitz: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/236520/an-american-summer/ Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/557462/biased/ Doing Justice by Preet Bharara: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/567283/doing-justice/

Alex Kotlowitz has made a career out of mapping the lives of those who live in what he has called "the other America," in works like his award-winning 1992 bestseller There Are No Children Here, his documentary film The interrupters, and his wide-ranging reporting for newspapers, magazines and radio.  His revelatory, heartbreaking new book An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago takes up the problem of gun violence with a portrait of a single city over the course of one murder-wracked season.  It probes the nature of the crisis where it tears most persistently into the lives of ordinary Americans placed by poverty and racism into a daily struggle with the aftermath of violence and the fear of more to come. But An American Summer is a tapestry of story – a work about the Chicagoans who opened up their lives and hearts to Kotlowitz; the result is a powerful evocation of grief and endurance, love and loss.  We caught the author in New York, just as An American Summer was being released. He sat down in the studio with B&N's Miwa Messer to talk about how this book started – and what it became.

Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg takes us inside his article about his former colleague Bob Ringham, who cared for his wife Peg as a disease takes over her body and her mind.And journalist and filmmaker Alex Kotlowitz talks about the effects of violence on families and individuals on Chicago’s south and west sides.

Alex Kotlowitz discusses “An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago,” and John Lanchester talks about his new novel, “The Wall.”

Author Alex Kotlowitz burst into the public 25-years-ago with his seminal work "There Are No Children Here." Now he's out with its bookend, "An American Summer," about the lives affected by gun violence. Tune in as Alex and Mayor Emanuel share a honest discussion about the causes and solutions of gun violence, along with the stories of love, hope, redemption, and grace that live in between.

This week, we're looking back on the lessons we've learned from all of our guests and the books that have changed their lives. To learn more about the books we've mentioned in this week's episode, check out Middlemarch by George Eliot, New People by Danzy Senna, The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman, Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace, Who Will Run The Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore, There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion, The Karma of Brown Folk by Vijay Prashad, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, and Raymond Carver's Cathedral. You can find transcripts of this episode and past ones on LitHub. This episode is sponsored by Imposter's Lure. You can listen to the new podcast I Love You But I Hate Your Politics on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. You can listen to the new podcast The Girls on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, and check out Courtney Summers' Sadie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Jeff Hobbs on Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here, the art of nonfiction, and a eulogy that got way out of hand. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs. Please fill out our survey at bit.ly/butthatsanothersurvey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We look back at our favorite interviews with the makers of new podcasts in 2017: Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer of By The Book, Alex Kotlowitz of Written Inside, and Jack Hitt and Chenjerai Kumanyika of Uncivil.

Over the past several years, we've seen the journalism world take a hard look at itself. Reporters and documentary-makers have had to confront the relationship between cold, hard facts and the push to make compelling stories linger long after they’re heard. Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute moderated a panel at the 2012 Third Coast Conference to address the ethical dilemmas that pop up for journalists when producing stories. She was joined by Matt Thompson, now the deputy editor at The Atlantic, and documentarian Alex Kotlowitz. Together they discussed the common, shared ethical values of reporting and whether those values are absolute or if they can be bent. Recorded at the 2012 Third Coast Conference. Note: This session features a clip from Alex’s film, The Interrupters. You can watch it here: http://bit.ly/Pocket33 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on The Big Listen, we talk Passover and Easter candy with America's favorite Jewish mothers, Ronna & Beverly. We also pet a lot of hypothetical dogs with the co-host of Can I Pet Your Dog?, and we peer beyond prison bars with writer Alex Kotlowitz from Written Inside. Plus: best-selling author Pamela Druckerman uses podcasts as Xanax.

He noticed something moving in the back of the cell. In this final episode, inmate James Trent describes an encounter that he'll never forget. Plus: An interview with the co-creators of Written Inside, Alex Kotlowitz and Jennifer Lackey. Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

Alex Kotlowitz is a journalist whose work has appeared in print, radio, and film. He’s the author of three books, including There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America. “The truth of the matter is, given what we do, we’re always outsiders. If it’s not by race or class, it’s by gender, religion, politics. It’s just the nature of being a nonfiction writer—going into communities that, at some level, feel unfamiliar. If you’re writing about stuff you already know about, where’s the joy in that? Where’s the sense of discovery? Why bother?” Thanks to MailChimp and MeUndies for sponsoring this week's episode. alexkotlowitz.com Kotlowitz on Longform [00:00] "Episode 03: Nick Denton, founder of Gawker Media" (Stoner • Apr 2017) [01:30] There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America (First Anchor Books • 1992) [01:45] The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America’s Dilemma (First Anchor Books • 1999) [01:45] The Interrupters [02:30] "The Trenchcoat Robbers" (New Yorker • Jul 2002) [05:00] Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families (J. Anthony Lukas • First Vintage Books • 1986) [14:45] "487: Harper High School, Part One" (This American Life • Feb 2013) [14:45] "488: Harper High School, Part Two" (This American Life • Feb 2013) [24:45] "179: Cicero" (This American Life • Mar 2001) [31:30] In the Lake of the Woods (Tim O’Brien • First Mariner Books • 2006) [35:30] Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago (Crown Journeys • 2004) [45:15] Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Jon Krakauer • First Anchor Books • 2004)  

No privacy. No space. No quiet. No furniture. In this episode, inmate William Jones describes his prison cell, which is notable for what is not there rather than what is. Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

Ramon Delgado rises before dawn to thoroughly scrub his cell each morning. In this episode, an inmate describes his obsessive cleaning routine in a space caked with dust and dirt. Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

In prison, it's important not to allow anyone to get close to you, especially a cellmate. But this cellmate is different. In this episode, inmate Michael Carlos describes his improbable friendship with a cardboard pianist. Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

Being a recluse, especially in prison, does simplify things. In this episode, inmate Marcos Gray considers the consequences of isolating himself from other prisoners...and from his family back home. Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

Pack your stuff. You’re moving. Howard Keller Jr. has been transferred over two dozen times to different prison cells. In this episode, Howard describes the anxiety he experienced before meeting his 37th cellmate.Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

These roaches don’t run when the light turns on. In the second episode, inmate Oscar “Smiley” Parham describes the reason he started a two-month war with super vermin in his prison cell.Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

How do you learn to play piano without a piano? In this first episode, inmate Demetrius Cunningham explains how he taught himself to play piano with a makeshift keyboard fashioned from something he found in prison.Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

Written Inside is a podcast about life inside a maximum-security prison cell. Adapted from essays written at Stateville Correctional Center near Chicago, these intimate stories speak to the everyday experience of being incarcerated. Each inmate’s story is voiced by a Chicago actor. Created by journalist Alex Kotlowitz and produced by WBEZ Chicago's Colin McNulty.

Never underestimate the power of a finely crafted intimate narrative. These “small stories” of everyday life have the potential to bring listeners in close to reveal the complexities and ambiguities of the world around us. Celebrated author, filmmaker and radio journalist Alex Kotlowitz will share tips on finding compelling narratives, interviewing subjects to elicit unforgettable tape, and crafting a seemingly small story that speaks to something so much bigger. Recorded at the 2016 Third Coast Conference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ibrahim Parlak came to the U.S. in 1991 as Kurdish refugee; his friends and neighbors see him as the ideal American immigrant. But the U.S. government considers him "the complete terrorist package" and has been trying to deport him for over a decade. We try to figure out why the two see him so differently. Credits Undone is hosted and produced by Pat Walters. This episode was reported by Alex Kotlowitz, and produced by Julia DeWitt and Emanuele Berry. Our senior producer is Larissa Anderson. Editing by Alan Burdick and Catlin Kenney. Production assistance by Isabella Kulkarni. Undone is mixed and scored by Bobby Lord. Our fact-checker is Michelle Harris. Special thanks to Robert Carpenter and Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister of Long Haul Productions, who provided tape we used in this episode. You can check out their other work here. Undone was conceived in collaboration with our friends at Retro Report, the documentary film series that connects iconic news events of the past to today. You can find them here.

In his new book The Defender: How The Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), Ethan Michaeli charts the riveting history of the Chicago Defender, one of the nation’s longest running and most significant black periodicals. Founded in 1905 by publisher Robert S. Abbott, the Defender came to play a central role in regional and national black politics; drawing African Americans north to Chicago as part of the Great Migration out of the South, condemning Jim Crow and bolstering the electoral power of black America, and helping to secure the election of presidents such as Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Relying on exhaustive research, including dozens of interviews and extensive archival material, Ethan has constructed the most in-depth and illuminating history of the Defender ever published – highlighting not only the impact of publisher Abbott and iconic columnists such as Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes, but also the hundreds of other journalists and editors who contributed to the legendary newspaper’s development. Alex Kotlowitz has described The Defender as “a majestic, sweeping history, both of a newspaper and of a people,” and Carol Anderson has applauded the text as a landmark study which will “become an essential resource in African American cultural and political studies.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book The Defender: How The Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), Ethan Michaeli charts the riveting history of the Chicago Defender, one of the nation's longest running and most significant black periodicals. Founded in 1905 by publisher Robert S. Abbott, the Defender came to play a central role in regional and national black politics; drawing African Americans north to Chicago as part of the Great Migration out of the South, condemning Jim Crow and bolstering the electoral power of black America, and helping to secure the election of presidents such as Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Relying on exhaustive research, including dozens of interviews and extensive archival material, Ethan has constructed the most in-depth and illuminating history of the Defender ever published – highlighting not only the impact of publisher Abbott and iconic columnists such as Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes, but also the hundreds of other journalists and editors who contributed to the legendary newspaper's development. Alex Kotlowitz has described The Defender as “a majestic, sweeping history, both of a newspaper and of a people,” and Carol Anderson has applauded the text as a landmark study which will “become an essential resource in African American cultural and political studies.” 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 his new book The Defender: How The Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), Ethan Michaeli charts the riveting history of the Chicago Defender, one of the nation’s longest running and most significant black periodicals. Founded in 1905 by publisher Robert S. Abbott, the Defender came to play a central role in regional and national black politics; drawing African Americans north to Chicago as part of the Great Migration out of the South, condemning Jim Crow and bolstering the electoral power of black America, and helping to secure the election of presidents such as Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Relying on exhaustive research, including dozens of interviews and extensive archival material, Ethan has constructed the most in-depth and illuminating history of the Defender ever published – highlighting not only the impact of publisher Abbott and iconic columnists such as Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes, but also the hundreds of other journalists and editors who contributed to the legendary newspaper’s development. Alex Kotlowitz has described The Defender as “a majestic, sweeping history, both of a newspaper and of a people,” and Carol Anderson has applauded the text as a landmark study which will “become an essential resource in African American cultural and political studies.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book The Defender: How The Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), Ethan Michaeli charts the riveting history of the Chicago Defender, one of the nation’s longest running and most significant black periodicals. Founded in 1905 by publisher Robert S. Abbott, the Defender came to play a central role in regional and national black politics; drawing African Americans north to Chicago as part of the Great Migration out of the South, condemning Jim Crow and bolstering the electoral power of black America, and helping to secure the election of presidents such as Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Relying on exhaustive research, including dozens of interviews and extensive archival material, Ethan has constructed the most in-depth and illuminating history of the Defender ever published – highlighting not only the impact of publisher Abbott and iconic columnists such as Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes, but also the hundreds of other journalists and editors who contributed to the legendary newspaper’s development. Alex Kotlowitz has described The Defender as “a majestic, sweeping history, both of a newspaper and of a people,” and Carol Anderson has applauded the text as a landmark study which will “become an essential resource in African American cultural and political studies.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book The Defender: How The Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), Ethan Michaeli charts the riveting history of the Chicago Defender, one of the nation’s longest running and most significant black periodicals. Founded in 1905 by publisher Robert S. Abbott, the Defender came to play a central role in regional and national black politics; drawing African Americans north to Chicago as part of the Great Migration out of the South, condemning Jim Crow and bolstering the electoral power of black America, and helping to secure the election of presidents such as Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Relying on exhaustive research, including dozens of interviews and extensive archival material, Ethan has constructed the most in-depth and illuminating history of the Defender ever published – highlighting not only the impact of publisher Abbott and iconic columnists such as Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes, but also the hundreds of other journalists and editors who contributed to the legendary newspaper’s development. Alex Kotlowitz has described The Defender as “a majestic, sweeping history, both of a newspaper and of a people,” and Carol Anderson has applauded the text as a landmark study which will “become an essential resource in African American cultural and political studies.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ameena Matthews in a scene from The Interrupters (Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, 2011) In a program from August of 2011, Andrew talks with Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Kartemquin Films), Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), and Cobe Williams (the CeaseFire project) about their acclaimed documentary, The Interrupters. Made in Chicago, the film looks at the efforts [...]

Ameena Matthews in a scene from The Interrupters (Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, 2011) First aired August 8, 2011, Andrew Patner talks with Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Kartemquin Films), Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), and Cobe Williams (the CeaseFire project) about their acclaimed documentary, The Interrupters. Made in Chicago, the film looks at the efforts of more [...]

Eric Mennel is a producer for WUNC and Criminal. "People pooh-pooh the idea of logging like it’s the worst thing in the world. Some of the best techniques I’ve learned, in terms of interviewing, was from logging good interviewer's tape. ... Listening to Alex Kotlowitz conduct an interview was like it’s own class on how to make radio."

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. A talk by Alex Kotlowitz, award-winning author and journalist. In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the Univeristy of Chicago Human Rights Program, Alex Kotlowitz delievered the second annual Robert. H. Kirschner, M.D., Memorial Human Rights Lecture. Kotlowitz is an award- winning author and journalist. He has written extensively on urban affairs and social policy and is the author of the highly acclaimed book There Are No Children Here. This lecture honors the life and work of Robert H. Kirschner, MD, noted forensic pathologist and a founder of the Univeristy of Chicago Human Rights Program.