Jay Bennett, science editor at National Geographic, joins us to talk about how NASA is pinning its future on a diverse collection of scientists and future astronauts.
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How Pocahontas Kept The Peace
Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Silver Professor of History Emerita at New York University, joins us to talk about how Pocahontas collaborated with a trio of English boys to keep communication flowing between the colonists and their Indian neighbors.
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What Is Appalachia Without Coal Mining?
Jeff Young is managing editor of Ohio Valley ReSource, a regional journalism collaborative reporting on economic and social change in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. He joins us to discuss his investigations into the struggles of the people and businesses there, and why they don’t bode well for the future of the nation.
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Life As A Black Vegan
Amirah Mercer is the founder of Other Suns, a wellness guide for Black women, and she joins us to talk about her switch to a vegan lifestyle, the isolation from community she initially felt, and her subsequent deep dive into the long history of plant-based diets in the Black diaspora.
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The Heavy Weight of American Racism
Mary-Frances Winters, president and CEO of diversity and inclusion consulting firm The Winters Group, joins us to discuss the exhaustion that comes with constantly fighting for a seat at the table, especially amid white fragility and empty promises for change.
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Why Kendrick Lamar Is A Genius
Music journalist Marcus J. Moore joins us to talk about how this one-of-a-kind artist manages to push musical boundaries while remaining a top-selling pop culture icon.
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From Enslaved To Congress: The Life Of Joseph Rainey
Bobby J. Donaldson is director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina, and he joins us to profile a man who was born enslaved before being elected to Congress in the wake of the Civil War.
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What The World Demands Of Deaf People
Jaipreet Virdi, assistant history professor at the University of Delaware, joins us to talk about her research into medicine’s long legacy of promised hearing cures and why science has yet to achieve a universal solution.
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What Drives Indian Parents To Push Their Kids
Pawan Dhingra is a sociologist and Professor of American Studies at Amherst College, and he joins us to discuss the rise of the competitive student, the industry of tutors and activities built up around the idea, and how class and social status play into the phenomenon.
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Is Appropriation In Art Always Wrong?
Paisley Rekdal, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Utah and the state’s poet laureate, joins us to discuss the places where identity intersects with politics, and why it’s important to confront the language we use when defining cultures.
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What Does It Mean To Be Asian-American?
Cathy Park Hong, poetry editor of the New Republic and a professor at Rutgers-Newark University, joins us to talk about the stereotypes, suspicions, successes and fears wrapped up in her identity.
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Toxic Patriotism
Mychal Denzel Smith is a fellow at Type Media Center, and he joins us to talk about his thoughts on how he wrestles to understand the current moment studied against the long lens of American history.
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