UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham

By The Meteor, Pineapple Street Studios

What's UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham about?

Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an activist, educator, and popular TV commentator—and a trusted voice for millions of people interested in social justice. Now, with UNDISTRACTED—an original podcast from The Meteor and Pineapple Street Studios—she aims her focus on the most pressing issues of our time through the lens of intersectional feminism. From the latest headlines to deep-dives with today’s most fascinating changemakers, UNDISTRACTED is your weekly guide to the revolution.

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Exclusive: Vice President K...

06.21.2023

One year ago this week, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—a momentous decision that has enabled 14 states to outlaw abortion so far. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham knew exactly who she wanted to talk to about that, and in ...

UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham episodes:

06.21.2023 Exclusive: Vice President Kamala Harris On A Year Without Roe One year ago this week, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—a momentous decision that has enabled 14 states to outlaw abortion so far. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham knew exactly who she wanted to talk to about that, and in ...
10.20.2022 “Every Hashtag is a Human Being”: Honoring the Five-Year Anniversary of #MeToo It’s been five years exactly since millions of people, most of them women, stepped forward to say #MeToo. What have we learned since then? In our season finale, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Tarana Burke, the woman who ...
10.13.2022 The End of the World as We Know It? Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Rates our Climate Future The floods, the hurricanes, the wildfires…if you feel like you’re living through a climate apocalypse, you’re not wrong. But it’s not all hellfire, says marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson—there are signs of progress if you know where to look. ...
10.06.2022 “You Can’t Win if You Don’t Start”: Rep. Cori Bush on Running for Office—and Making a Difference Congresswoman Cori Bush doesn’t have the usual political resume: no Ivy League alma mater, no law degree, no generational wealth––but she’s an organizer, a mother, a pastor and a survivor, and she’s brought all those pieces of herself with her ...
09.29.2022 Derecka Purnell On Living (and Loving) Outside the Police State What do Stranger Things, social media and sexual violence all have in common? They all figure into Derecka Purnell’s brilliant world philosophy about abolition—the effort to move beyond police, and the violence too often associated with them. In this episode, ...
09.22.2022 The Queen Died. Now What? Three Brilliant Women on Colonialism and the Future The funeral is over. The pomp has died down. But the conversations—not just around the monarchy, but around the legacy of imperialism—continue around the world. So host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with three women with different perspectives on the ...
09.15.2022 The Hidden Latinx Stories We Don’t Hear, with Julissa Natzely Arce Raya It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! And Julissa Natzely Arce Raya has complicated feelings. The author of You Sound Like a White Girl sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about why some stories get told so much more than ...
09.01.2022 The Kids Are All Right. The Adults Are F***ing Up! It’s all about the young folk this week: We’ve got Gen Z protestors disrupting anti-abortion galas…a student reporter holding colleges to task…and clever TikTokers lobbying for debt relief. And that’s just in the first ten minutes! Then, host Brittany Packnett ...
08.25.2022 Will We Be Smarter About the Next Epidemic? Two Experts Break it Down COVID taught us a lot of lessons—or did it? With MPV (aka monkeypox) here in its wake, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Dr. Monica Gandhi and Dr. David Johns to talk about what we’re getting wrong, the rise ...
08.18.2022 A Future Without Police? Andrea Ritchie on Crime and Abolition The headlines say crime is up. And our politicians say more police are the answer. What’s the truth? And what happened to all those abolitionist promises made in the summer of 2020? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down to answer ...
08.11.2022 “People’s Kids Are the Center of Their World”- Caitlin Dickerson on the Horrors of Family Separation On this week’s episode, Undistracted host Brittany Packnett Cunningham talks to journalist Caitlin Dickerson about one of the darkest policy moments in American history: the “Zero Tolerance” family separation initiative. Caitlin spent 18 months investigating family separation for The Atlantic. ...
08.04.2022 Beyoncé’s Renaissance, According to Four Brilliant Black Women “This started off as a conversation about Beyoncé,” says host Brittany Packnett Cunningham, “but like her music, it became about so many other things: the evolution of womanhood, our queer siblings, spiritual sexuality and giving Black women their things.” So ...
07.28.2022 “The System Works For Those Who Occupy It”: Maria Teresa Kumar on Voting Rights The majority of Americans didn’t want to see Roe v. Wade overturned—but it was. Most Americans want gun reform—but it doesn’t happen. So the big question is: What’s going on here? Maria Teresa Kumar, cofounder of Voto Latino, understands the ...
07.21.2022 Phoebe Robinson is Writing Her Own Rules (on TV and in Life) "The media has such a limited understanding about Black femaleness,” says Phoebe Robinson, the actress, comedian, writer, podcast host and producer. “But the complexity is always more interesting!” So she and Brittany Packnett Cunningham go complex (and hilarious) in this ...
07.14.2022 “Covering the End of the World”: A Reporter on Gun Violence You know gun violence is an American epidemic. But…why? And how do we get out of this mess? Jennifer Mascia understands those answers better than almost anyone. As a reporter with The Trace, her entire beat is gun violence. Host ...
07.12.2022 Introducing History is US Written and narrated by award-winning author and Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, “History is US” is a 6-part audio documentary produced and developed by C13Originals that asks questions about who we are as ...
07.07.2022 Tiffany Cross on Roe, Resistance and What Comes Next “I would rather be a voice and an advocate for my people than sit and smile in the face of bullshit.” That’s host Tiffany Cross’ philosophy—and the reason she consistently centers BIPOC voices on her MSNBC show. In this episode, ...
06.30.2022 Michelle Colón is Living Through The Last Days of Legal Abortion in Mississippi It’s been six days since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But activist and “abortion freedom fighter” Michelle Colón has been defending pregnant people and providers in Mississippi for years—and she’s not going to stop now. She ...
06.25.2022 The Roe v. Wade News—and Finding Hope In the shadow of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, what do hope and faith mean? In this bonus episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham joins journalist Phillip Picardi, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, and Jamie L. Manson, president ...
06.23.2022 Having a Baby While Black: Martina Abrahams Ilunga and Gabrielle Horton Know All The Stories You probably know the data about what Black women face when they give birth. But do you know the stories? Martina Abrahams Ilunga and Gabrielle Horton are committed to telling them, through their podcast NATAL. Brittany Packnett Cunningham sat down ...
06.16.2022 You Can Be Successful Where You Are: Majora Carter on Reclaiming Communities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
06.02.2022 “God is Big Enough for Our Questions:” Candice Benbow on Faith, Feminism and Lipstick What does having faith mean in 2022? Candice Benbow has become an icon for answering that question—especially for those of us who’ve fallen off the prayer wagon somewhere along the way. This week, the writer/theologian/educator and author of Red Lip ...
05.26.2022 During a Dark Time, A Little Light with Bevy Smith In this week’s episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham honors the victims and the tragedy of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting. Then, the Undistracted team sits down with TV personality and business icon Bevy Smith to talk about women, aging and why ...
05.19.2022 “Tell the Truth to Set Us Free”: Kimberlé Crenshaw on White Supremacy, CRT and Lies It’s been a long week, y’all—and we’ve been grieving the victims of the Buffalo shooting. On the heels of that violence, we’re bringing you an interview that host Brittany Packnett Cunningham did with Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw last summer, as the ...
05.12.2022 WTF, TEXAS?! Cisneros, Crockett and O’Rourke on The Madness (and Promise) of The Lone Star State What happens in Texas matters everywhere. As the state becomes a testing ground for extreme policies (abortion! immigration! CRT!) we hear from three people fighting for a better Texas. Congressional candidate Jessica Cisneros, State Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and gubernatorial candidate ...
05.05.2022 What Happens Now? Gloria Steinem and Renee Bracey Sherman on the Future of Abortion In the shadow of the leaked SCOTUS decision on Dobbs v. Jackson, we're re-airing this conversation between host Brittany Packnett Cunningham, legendary activist Gloria Steinem and the “Beyonce of Abortion storytelling,” Renee Bracey Sherman. Late last year, the trio sat ...
04.28.2022 The Senator of TikTok: Morgan Harper’s Run for Office (and Our Hearts) There are a lot of closely watched midterm races. But in Ohio, Morgan Harper is making news with her run for U.S. Senate—and her TikToks eviscerating her primary opponent. In this week’s episode, the dynamic attorney tells host Brittany Packnett ...
04.21.2022 Motherhood, Love and the “Trayvon Generation,” with Elizabeth Alexander How do you parent—lovingly and well—in the age of technology and police violence? That question is on host Brittany Packnett Cunningham’s mind as she settles into motherhood—and for this episode, she sits down with Elizabeth Alexander, the inaugural poet at ...
04.14.2022 “I Want To Raise a Free Black Child”: Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Reginald Cunningham On Parenthood It’s a different kind of episode this week—”our most personal, most gut-wrenching, most triumphant,” says host Brittany Packnett Cunningham. The reason? Four months ago, she became a mother, to a son born at just 24 weeks. Now she sits down ...
04.07.2022 “I’ve Been Proud So Many Times”: A Texas Family Fights the Anti-Trans Laws Willow Egerton is 13 years old, an aspiring filmmaker, and a trans girl in Texas in 2022—which means that “people in power want me gone,” she says. This week, Willow and her father Owen Egerton sit down with host Brittany ...
03.31.2022 "We See Who Pays the Price": Muzoon Almellehan on War and Refugees Nearly four million Ukrainians have fled their homeland—and around the world, 21 times that number of people have been displaced from their homes because of war or other disasters. So: What has Ukraine taught us about what all refugees face, ...
03.24.2022 “You Deserve to Be Safe”: Nicole Chung on Parenting in a Wave of Anti-AAPI Violence Crimes against AAPI women are in the headlines—and for parents like writer Nicole Chung, the challenges of how to talk to kids about racism, violence and safety are very real. In this episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with ...
03.18.2022 Kimberlé Crenshaw on the Origins of Critical Race Theory This week, we’re sharing something special from our friends over at Pushkin. It’s an episode of a new podcast from Anita Hill called Getting Even. On the show, Professor Hill tackles the tough questions about equality; she talks with people ...
03.17.2022 "Buckle Up": Sen. Elizabeth Warren Still Has a Plan for Change This week, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham is joined by Elizabeth Warren - the senator from Massachusetts and the president we coulda had. They unpack the student debt crisis, the child care crisis, the filibuster crisis—all of it. Plus, Warren breaks ...
03.10.2022 “I Don't Believe In The Guilt”: Real Climate Talk, with Mary Annaïse Heglar Last week, the IPCC released a report finding that the planet is getting “clobbered” by climate change. What does that mean? And what should we do? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Hot Take cohost Mary Annaïse Heglar—who sets ...
03.03.2022 Anita Hill on The Supreme Court’s Future—and its Past It’s a historic moment: America has its first-ever Black woman Supreme Court nominee, and host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with a legend, Professor Anita Hill, to talk about the law, and why she’s “elated” at the possibilities ahead. Also ...
02.24.2022 “We Are Here to Fight Disinformation”: Sara Lomax-Reese and Akoto Ofori-Atta Build the Future “Mainstream media” (whatever that is) might be struggling, but you know who’s leading the revolution to do better? “Women, and especially women of color,” says host Brittany Packnett Cunningham. She sits down with Sara Lomax-Reese of URL Media and Akoto ...
02.17.2022 Ai-jen Poo on Caregiving: “We Take for Granted That Women Will Just Figure It Out” Do you have parents? Children? Someone who cares for you, or who you care for? With Build Back Better on the line, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Ai-jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance to talk about ...
02.10.2022 Jemele Hill and Cari Champion on Racism (and Liberation) in Sports Sports are beautiful and transformative. Also racist and corrupt! This week, with the Olympics in full swing, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham is joined by journalists Jemele Hill and Cari Champion. They talk about what athletes are going through in China, ...
02.03.2022 Dr. Uché Blackstock on Pandemic Fatigue—And the New COVID Normal As the two-year anniversary of the pandemic looms, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Dr. Uché Blackstock to discuss all things COVID-19—from why “Omicron is a gift” (she’ll explain) to the “pandemic privilege” that perpetuates the risks Black and ...
01.27.2022 Elaine Welteroth on the Great Resignation and Rewriting Your Own Definition of Success What does the Great Resignation mean for women of color? Elaine Welteroth—the best-selling author and former Teen Vogue editor who’s built a career out of charting her own path—has a lot of thoughts. She sits down with host Brittany Packnett ...
01.20.2022 “This Big Old Lie”: Heather McGhee on the Real Cost of Racism Why doesn’t the US have universal health care, paid leave, or plenty of seemingly basic public services many other countries do? Heather McGhee has an answer: it’s racism, and it hurts all of us. The author of The Sum of ...
01.13.2022 LaTosha Brown on our “Moment of Reckoning” This week, President Biden and Vice President Harris traveled to Georgia to talk about voting rights—but LaTosha Brown was not celebrating. As co-founder of the Atlanta-based Black Voters Matter Fund, Brown explains to host Brittany Packnett Cunningham why she and ...
01.06.2022 One Year Later: “The Next Coup is Already Happening” It’s been one year since the invasion of the U.S. Capitol—so how are we doing at holding insurrectionists accountable? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham answers that question, revisiting archival interviews with Representatives Cori Bush and Ayanna Pressley, who lived through the ...
12.16.2021 Nikole Hannah-Jones on America’s “400-Year Racial Pandemic” Back in May, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sat down with New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones to talk about how The 1619 Project—which Hannah-Jones created—has both changed this country’s understanding of slavery, and withstood a brutal, ongoing assault from ...
12.09.2021 Beyond Roe: Gloria Steinem and Renee Bracey Sherman on How We Got Here and What Happens Next As SCOTUS weighs overturning the legal right to abortion, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down for a moving conversation on what’s most important: the people behind the politics. Her guests are two leaders separated by a generation but determined to ...
12.02.2021 From SCOTUS to White Womanhood: Dr. Brittney Cooper Decodes Our World UNDISTRACTED IS BACK! And so are abortion bans, the white women’s vote, and a whole Greek alphabet of viruses. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham knew exactly who she wanted to unpack it all with: Dr. Brittney Cooper, professor and truth-teller. Together ...
11.24.2021 We’re Back! A Sneak Peek at Season Two You heard it here first: UNDISTRACTED is back for Season Two on December 2nd. Here’s a sneak peek at what host Brittany Packnett Cunningham has up her sleeve—as she and her newsmaking, rule-breaking guests get ready to delve into everything ...
09.24.2021 PREVIEW! “BECAUSE OF ANITA,” WITH ANITA HILL, CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD AND MORE Special for UNDISTRACTED listeners…it’s a sneak peek of the new podcast “Because of Anita”—a four-part series about the legacy of Anita Hill’s testimony in the Justice Clarence Thomas hearings exactly 30 years ago this fall. It’s about truth, gender, race, ...
08.19.2021 BONUS! YOUR UNDISTRACTED HIGHLIGHTS REEL Forty episodes, baby! With our first season under our belt and a mini-hiatus ahead of us, the UNDISTRACTED team is looking back on some highlights from Season One. Featuring Nikole Hannah-Jones, Rep. Cori Bush and more. See you in the ...

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