In this episode, we sit down with one of the brightest rising stars at the New York Times—political reporter Astead Herndon—for sharp conversation and analysis about the nature of the moment we’re in. Astead, 29, shares why he sees election reporting as culture reporting, how he helped make the reparations debate a litmus test for Democratic Presidential candidates back in early 2020, and why representation alone doesn’t chin the bar for younger voters of color.

We also discuss American journalism’s current gut check moment through the lens of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ recent denial of tenure at the University of North Carolina and how Astead shows up authentically at the Times (including getting paid to sing Beyoncé songs).

REFERENCES:

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Astead W. Herndon, New York Times, National Politics Reporter – @AsteadWesley

New York Times - Outtake from “The Daily” https://nytimes.com/audio/2019/11/22/podcasts/22daily-newsletter-audio.html

Nikole Hannah-Jones - @nhannahjones

New York Times // Nikole Hannah-Jones - 1619 Project https://nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html

New York Times Articles by Astead W. Herndon

 ‘These People Aren’t Coming From Norway’: Refugees in a Minnesota City Face a Backlash https://nytimes.com/2019/06/20/us/politics/minnesota-refugees-trump.html

Progressive Victories Signal Staying Power for the Movement https://nytimes.com/2020/08/05/us/politics/election-primary-results.html

2020 Democrats Embrace Race-Conscious Policies, Including Reparations https://nytimes.com/2019/02/21/us/politics/2020-democrats-race-policy.html

Articles

Forbes - 30 Under 30 - Astead Herndon https://forbes.com/profile/astead-herndon/

The Atlantic // Ta-Nehisi Coates – Why Precisely Is Bernie Sanders Against Reparations?  https://theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/

The Daily Princetonian // Marie-Rose Sheinermen  – Times reporter Astead Herndon talks newsroom diversity, 2020 election coverage https://dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/09/journalism-reporter-astead-herndon-newsroom-diversity-2020-election-new-york-times

The Root // Michael Harriot – It Turns Out, All Those 'Woke' White Allies Were Lying https://theroot.com/it-turns-out-all-those-woke-white-allies-were-lying-1846959017

Slate // Aymann Ismail – “I Don’t See the Last Four Years as This Journalistic Anomaly” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/astead-herndon-interview-new-york-times-trump.html

NPR // Roberta Rampton – Trump Announces 'Patriotic Education' Commission, A Largely Political Move https://npr.org/2020/09/17/914127266/trump-announces-patriotic-education-commission-a-largely-political-move