A Word … with Jason Johnson

Stacey Abrams dealt with a narrow --and tainted-- loss in the Georgia governor’s race by helping to turn her red state blue in 2020. On today’s episode of A Word, she tells host Jason Johnson about her campaign plans, her voting rights fight, and her worries about economic boycotts as a political tactic.

Guest: Stacey Abrams, politician, author, and the founder of the voting rights group, Fair Fight

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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Kendi joins the show this week to explain critical race theory, and why it has become such a political lightning rod. He also talks about how the backlash against critical race theory is threatening academic freedom, and specifically how it kept Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones from tenure at the University of North Carolina. 

Dr. Kendi is the host of a new podcast, Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi. You can listen here: https://www.pushkin.fm/show/be-antiracist-ibram-kendi/

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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David Alan Grier is a comedian’s comedian, from his iconic stint on ‘In Living Color,’ to his many sitcoms roles, including his latest on the Netflix show, ‘Dad Stop Embarrassing Me.’ He’s also a dramatic actor, with roles in Broadway classics and Ava Duvernay’s ‘Queen Sugar.’ On today’s episode of A Word, David Alan Grier joins Jason Johnson to talk about his career, staying booked and busy during the pandemic, and his many collaborations with Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx.

Guest: David Alan Grier, award-winning comedian and actor

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, marking her second anniversary in office, would only grant one-on-one interviews to journalists of color. Lightfoot said she was highlighting a lack of media diversity. Critics call it racist. Could this policy change the status quo, or just be a distraction? Jason Johnson is joined by Errin Haines, editor-at-large of The 19th*, a non-profit news outlet focused on women. They discuss why too many urban newsrooms remain overwhelmingly white, and whether Lightfoot’s move was a step toward equality, or a political stunt.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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Whoopi Goldberg’s early views, Barack Obama’s youthful indiscretions, Diahann Carroll’s big break. Those stories and thousands more have been preserved by The HistoryMakers, a video archive of notable African Americans. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson speaks with the founder and president of The HistoryMakers, Julieanna Richardson, about the project’s mission, and the urgency of preserving Black history during Covid crisis.

Guest: Julieanna Richardson, founder and president of The HistoryMakers 

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility climbed back on the best-seller charts after George Floyd’s murder. On today’s episode of A Word, she talks with Jason Johnson about what white allyship looks like after Derek Chauvin’s conviction, and the challenges of building an anti-racist society. The two originally spoke at the Crosscut Festival, an online conference that took a hard look at the people, policy and events that shape our lives. 

Guest: Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility 

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Emmy-nominated actor William Jackson Harper. Fans might know him as indecisive professor Chidi from The Good Place. But he’s back on screens this spring in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad. The series is based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel from Colson Whitehead. Harper talks about the upcoming Amazon Prime series, playing Chidi on The Good Place, and his role as a rom-com star in We Broke Up.

Guest: William Jackson Harper, Emmy-nominated actor.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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It’s game time, and Black women creatives are leveling up in the online video gaming business. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by online gamer Briana Williams, better known as Storymodebae. She’s a content creator, gamer, and Twitch ambassador. They discuss her path to winning in the white and male-dominated business of online gaming, and how she and Black women gamers are building their own community. 

Guest: Briana Williams, content creator, gamer, and Twitch ambassador

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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Advocates of police reform, including President Biden, say Derek Chauvin’s conviction is a crucial step in ending racist police practices. But abolitionists say it’s too little, too late. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson speaks with Professor James D. Ward, the author of Policing and Race in America: Economic, Political and Social Dynamics. Ward explains why he thinks abolishing police can’t work politically, but jailing or even executing killer cops could bring real change. 

Guest: Professor James D. Ward is the author of Policing and Race in America: Economic, Political and Social Dynamics, and the interim director of the Master of Public Policy program and Visiting Professor at Cal Poly.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

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Minnesota police killed another unarmed Black man, less than a year after George Floyd’s death. On Sunday, twenty-year-old Daunte Wright was fatally shot by then-officer Kim Potter during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Johnathon McClellan, president of the civil rights advocacy group Minnesota Justice Coalition. They talk about Wright's death, the Derek Chauvin trial, and the ongoing battle for police reform in Minnesota. 

Guest: Johnathon McClellan, president of the Minnesota Justice Coalition

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Jasmine Ellis

You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now for just $1 for your first month. Click here for more info.

Editor’s Note: The guest misstated that Daunte Wright has a daughter. He has a son.

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