Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi

Sharing Malcolm Gladwell’s latest project, a podcast called Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise. 

Imagine a time when the United States was split in two. And then had to put itself back together. It was a time of chaos and sometimes violence as millions of people fought for the right to become citizens. Americans struggled over questions like: who gets to be a citizen? Who has the right to vote? To own property? In short, who belongs? This was Reconstruction… the era following the Civil War. When Americans ended slavery and expanded voting rights. But none of this was easy. Many people consider the promise of Reconstruction unfulfilled. Why?

In this episode, journalist Kai Wright shares the story of the legendary abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass and how he navigated a world without Abraham Lincoln.   

Find Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise on Audible or wherever you get podcasts.

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Kamau Bell and Ted Danson discuss Ted’s long, storied career, starting with his breakout role as Sam Malone in the legendary sitcom Cheers. They discuss activism, Jane Fonda, Ted’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, and dive deep on the 1993 Friars Club Roast of Whoopi Goldberg. 

Kamau opens by praising Cheers, a show that was a huge comedic influence on him. They talk about how Ted’s innate goodness counterbalanced Sam’s sleazy ways, making the character palatable to mass audiences. 

They talk about Ted’s remarkably long career, which he attributes to good writers, and his recent work with showrunner Mike Schur. 

Ted and Kamau talk about activism and questioning if you’re doing enough to make a change in the world. Ted has been an advocate for saving our oceans for over 35 years and an outspoken advocate of progressive politics, but he still compares himself to his activist peers like Jane Fonda and wonders if he is doing enough.

Kamau gives Ted his flowers for demonstrating how a White person can apologize, and the conversation takes a serious turn as they discuss his infamous Friars Club Roast of Whoopi Goldberg, in which he appeared on stage in blackface. Ted is and always has been deeply regretful and embarrassed by the incident, and is grateful for the opportunity to clear the air. He discusses his thinking leading up to that night, the immediate aftermath, and his work to right the wrong.

They wrap up the conversation by talking about Ted’s favorite roles that he thinks haven't gotten enough attention.

Donate to support formerly incarcerated individuals as they reintegrate into society at PathwaytoKinship.org, and help fight for our oceans at Oceana.org

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Richard Pryor redefined comedy by telling the truth, even when it scorched him. And today, we’re sharing a preview of a new podcast, Big Lives, and a special episode about Pryor. Every week on Big Lives, hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi dig into the BBC archive to explore the story behind the icons who shape our culture—trailblazers like David Bowie, George Michael, Muhammed Ali, and Tina Turner—and better understand how each legend set the stage for our contemporary cultural landscape. In this preview, Kai and Emmanuel look at how Richard Pryor rose from a Peoria, Illinois brothel to become a comedic great, only to then wrestle with racism, fame, desire, and self‑destruction.

If you like what you hear, find more episodes of Big Lives wherever you get podcasts.

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In 1974, a federal judge ruled that Boston’s public schools were unconstitutionally segregated. The solution? A controversial experiment in desegregation known as “busing,” which would take children from majority-white schools and bus them to predominantly Black schools, and vice versa. What followed was a year of upheaval, violence, and fierce protests, as Boston became a battleground for the heated national debate over school integration and racism in the North.

In this dramatic audiobook, journalist Leon Neyfakh (co-creator of the podcasts Slow Burn and Fiasco) unpacks the history of busing in Boston and brings to life the human stories behind the headlines. Listen on Pushkin.fm, Audible, Spotify or wherever you get audiobooks.

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Here’s a preview of a new podcast from Pushkin, Started From the Bottom. Host Justin Richmond interviews successful “outsiders” — people of color, people who weren’t part of the old boys’ network, people who weren’t part of the college network — about how they beat the odds and built a roadmap for success. In this episode, he’s joined by Charlamagne Tha God, who shares how he went from being a young man suffering from anxiety, constantly in and out of jail, to a prevailing icon of modern media. Hear more from Started From the Bottom at apple.co/thebottom. 

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Cathy Park Hong is a Korean American poet, writer, professor, and the poetry editor at The New Republic. Her recent book, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography in 2021. Hong and Dr. Kendi have a deep discussion about the uniquely Asian American experience of living at the intersection of racist vilification and the stereotype of the “model minority.” For further reading, resources, and a transcript of this episode visit pushkin.fm/show/be-antiracist-ibram-kendi/

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David Treuer is an Ojibwe Indian from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. His most recent book, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present, was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Carnegie Medal in 2019. He is currently a professor of English at the University of Southern California. Dr. Treuer and Dr. Kendi held a powerful conversation about the ramifications of historical erasure, anti-Native racism, and Treuer’s antiracist proposal to return the National Parks to the tribes. For further reading, resources, and a transcript of this episode visit pushkin.fm/show/be-antiracist-ibram-kendi/

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Abolitionist Mariame Kaba is the founder of Project NIA and the author of the New York Times bestseller, We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice. Kaba and Dr. Kendi have a profound discussion on why mass surveillance, police, punishment, and incarceration will never create a safe society—and what will. For further reading, resources, and a transcript of this episode visit https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/be-antiracist-with-ibram-x-kendi.

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As a 2020 presidential candidate, Julián Castro proposed radically reforming United States immigration policy by putting people first. Previously he served as President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and spent three terms as mayor of San Antonio, Texas. In 2018 Castro published his memoir, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream. He now serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for American Progress and is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Dr. Kendi and Castro sit down to discuss the common ground on which antiracist and pro-immigrant battles must be fought. For further reading, resources, and a transcript of this episode visit https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/be-antiracist-with-ibram-x-kendi.

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Historian Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley is the Gary B. Nash Professor of History at UCLA and the author of Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression and Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. Dr. Kendi and Dr. Kelley have a deep discussion on the roots of the modern American labor movements, racial capitalism, and how we can create an antiracist world that benefits all workers. For further reading, resources, and a transcript of this episode visit https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/be-antiracist-with-ibram-x-kendi.

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