In part one of a special two-part episode that asks, “What’s the story of America, and how can it be told differently?” Kimberlé Crenshaw sits down with a panel of esteemed thinkers and storytellers to examine the origins, implications and failings of America’s grand narratives. The conversation delves into the stories that drove the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and those that informed liberal responses to it. How did the stories that shape our understanding of America get established in the first place, and what histories got buried in the process? In what ways have storytelling industries like Hollywood helped construct myths of American innocence? All that and more.

With:

RUHA BENJAMIN- Professor of American Studies, Princeton University; Author, Race After Technology

DAVID BLIGHT - Professor of American History, Yale University; Author, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

BRYAN STEVENSON - Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Author, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

VIET THANH NGUYEN- Professor of American Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Southern California; Author, The Sympathizer

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine

Support provided by Amarachi Anakaraonye, Rebecca Scheckman, Destiny Spruill, and the African American Policy Forum

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast