Not Just Forgotten, but Erased From History: A Final Note from Notes from America
This is the last episode of Notes from America with Kai Wright. If you’ve been with the show through its multi-year history and iterations a...
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The United States of Anxiety
The United States of Anxiety: Culture Wars introduces you to people who have been battling to shape America’s political culture for decades. We profile culture warriors, past and present, wh...
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The Real Heartbeat of D.C. Isn’t Politics. It’s Go-Go Music.
The drumbeat of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area is not politics. It’s go-go music. The genre developed by Chuck Brown in 1976 feat...
Dear Listener: A Celebration of Our Best Moments with You
Host Kai Wright celebrates the many years and iterations of Notes from America by revisiting some of the show’s most engaging listener momen...
A Year After Being Shot in Vermont, Palestinian Student Hisham Awartani Sets His Sights on Home
College student Hisham Awartani, 21, was visiting family in Vermont over Thanksgiving break in 2023 when he and two of his friends were shot...
We Could End AIDS. So Why Are People Still Dying?
This episode was originally published March 1, 2024. Host Kai Wright started his career covering the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities i...
Writer Ekow Eshun on James Baldwin’s History
Our guest on the final episode of “Notes on a Native Son” is British writer Ekow Eshun . He has been described as a cultural polymath. At a...
An America Without Police is Safer Than You Think
The public debate over policing has made more of us more familiar with ideas like defunding or abolishing the police, but these ideas are st...
Writer Hisham Matar on James Baldwin’s Patience
In the 10th episode of “Notes on a Native Son,” host Razia Iqbal sits down with writer and former architect Hisham Matar . He won the Pulitz...
Presenting This is Uncomfortable: Writer Hanif Abdurraqib on what it Means to “Make it”
This is Uncomfortable is a podcast from Marketplace. For their season premiere earlier in 2024, host Reema Khrais shared a conversation with...
It’s Trump’s Policy, But Both Parties Set the Stage for Mass Deportations
For nearly a decade, Donald Trump and his political allies have made it clear that one of their primary goals is mass deportation of undocum...
Nikki Giovanni on James Baldwin's Anger
As a young woman, poet and writer Nikki Giovanni could see that no one was interested in a Black girl writing what was seen as militant and...
A Majority of Voters Have Endorsed Cruelty. So Now What?
What do the results of the presidential election tell us about our country? We asked a veteran movement organizer to reflect on what feels l...
Author Colm Toibin on James Baldwin’s Interiority
Award-winning Irish writer Colm Toibin has long admired James Baldwin, ever since he read “Go Tell It on the Mountain" as a teenager, and ha...
The Real Reason Why the Lies and Violent Rhetoric Won’t Stop On Election Day
Former President Donald Trump has spent the last days of his 2024 campaign casting doubt on the U.S. election system, even taking the stage...
Biographer David Leeming on James Baldwin’s Teaching
In the seventh episode of “Notes on a Native Son" our guest is writer, philologist and James Baldwin biographer David Leeming . In the biogr...
In Michigan, Arab Americans Weigh the Power of a Vote
This presidential election is likely to be a squeaker, decided by a handful of votes in some key swing states. In this episode from our frie...
Live From Atlanta: GA Politics, a Growing Gender Gap and Scenes From Spelhouse Homecoming's Tailgate
With the 2024 presidential election right around the corner, all eyes are on the swing states. In this episode, host Kai Wright travels to A...
Author and Playwright Caryl Phillips on James Baldwin’s Friendship
In the sixth episode of “Notes on a Native Son,” writer Caryl Phillips shares the experience of getting to know James Baldwin beyond the pag...
How Important is College to a Successful Career?
There is a longstanding, widely held belief that the best chance at a better future is to go off to college – especially for people from mar...
Novelist Elif Shafak on James Baldwin’s Compassion
In the fifth episode of Notes on a Native Son, our guest is Turkish-British writer Elif Shafak . She has published 21 books, 13 of them nove...