Race and Democracy

Ep. 46 – America’s Racial Reckoning: A Conversation with Trymaine Lee

Trymaine Lee is a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award-winning journalist. Having reported for both The New York Times and Huffington Post, Trymaine currently works as a national reporter for the digital arm of MSNBC. He has been recognized for his work covering social justice issues, including the case of Trayvon Martin in 2012, for which […]

Ep. 46 – Trymaine Lee on America’s Racial Reckoning

Trymaine Lee is a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award-winning journalist. Having reported for both The New York Times and Huffington Post, Trymaine currently works as a national reporter for the digital arm of MSNBC. He has been recognized for his work covering social justice issues, including the case of Trayvon Martin in 2012, for which […]

Ep. 45 – Gay is Good: A Conversation with Eric Cervini

Dr. Eric Cervini is an award-winning historian of LGBTQ+ politics and culture. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar. As an authority on 1960s gay activism, Cervini serves on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Gender and […]

Black Lives Matter and LatinX Allyship: A Conversation with Karma Chávez

Dr. Karma Chávez is an Associate Professor in the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies. Her scholarship is informed by queer of color theory and women of color feminism and analyzes social movement building, activist rhetoric, and coalitional politics. Dr. Chávez’s research explores the rhetorical practices and coalitions of […]

Ep. 44 – Black Lives Matter and LatinX Allyship: A Conversation with Karma Chávez

Dr. Karma Chávez is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies. Her scholarship is informed by queer of color theory and women of color feminism and analyzes social movement building, activist rhetoric, and coalitional politics. Dr. Chávez’s research explores the rhetorical practices and coalitions of […]

Bayard Rustin, Black Lives Matter, and Black LGBTQIA Allyship: A Conversation with Robert Martin Seda-Schreiber

Robert Martin Seda-Schreiber is a chief activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice. Robert forged New Jersey’s first middle school gay straight alliance, was honored as New Jersey’s State Champion of Equality, served as a Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar to Japan, received two Senate proclamations recognizing his service to the community, and was […]

Ep. 43 – Bayard Rustin, Black Lives Matter, and Black LGBTQIA Allyship: A Conversation with Robert Martin Seda-Schreiber

Robert Martin Seda-Schreiber is a chief activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice. Robert forged New Jersey’s first middle school gay-straight alliance, was honored as New Jersey’s State Champion of Equality, served as a Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar to Japan, received two Senate proclamations recognizing his service to the community, and was named […]

Ep. 42 – Race, Democracy, and Public History: A Conversation with James Basker

James G. Basker is President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and The Richard Gilder Professor of Literary History at Barnard College, Columbia University. Educated at Harvard College, Cambridge University, and (as a Rhodes Scholar) at Oxford University, Basker taught at Harvard for seven years before coming to Barnard. His scholarly work spans […]

Ep. 41 – Lessons from LBJ’s America: A Conversation with Mark Lawrence

Mark Atwood Lawrence is Associate Professor of History, Distinguished Fellow at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and Director of Graduate Studies at the Clements Center for National Security at The University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1988 and his doctorate from Yale in […]

Ep. 40 – Black Lives Matter 2.0: A Conversation with Dr. Marc Lamont Hill

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is one of the leading intellectual voices in the country. He is currently the host of BET News and a political contributor for CNN. An award-winning journalist, Dr. Hill has received numerous prestigious awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. […]

Ep. 39 – George Floyd, Racial Justice, and Hope: A Conversation with Michael Eric Dyson

Michael Eric Dyson is a renowned scholar, ordained Baptist minister, and public intellectual born in Detroit, Michigan. His innovative scholarship, combining cultural criticism and biography, focuses on race, religion, popular culture, and contemporary issues in the African American community. Dyson’s most recent book is April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death and How It […]

Ep. 39 – Michael Eric Dyson on George Floyd, Racial Justice, and Hope

Michael Eric Dyson is a renowned scholar, ordained Baptist minister, and public intellectual born in Detroit, Michigan. His innovative scholarship, combining cultural criticism and biography, focuses on race, religion, popular culture, and contemporary issues in the African American community. Dyson’s most recent book is April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death and How It […]

Ep. 38 – The Black Vote and the 2020 Election: A Conversation with Brencia Berry

Brencia Berry is a San Antonio native who recently served on the Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign as the Deputy Director of Public Engagement as well as the National Deputy Advance Director. During her time on the campaign trail she had the opportunity to work as a national advance associate for Secretary Clinton, former […]

Ep. 38 – The Black Vote and the 2020 Election: A Conversation with Brencia Berry, former Deputy Director of Public Engagement to Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Brencia Berry is a San Antonio native who recently served on the Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign as the Deputy Director of Public Engagement as well as the National Deputy Advance Director. During her time on the campaign trail she had the opportunity to work as a national advance associate for Secretary Clinton, former […]

Ep. 37 – The Future of Democracy, Capitalism, and Equality: A Conversation with Andrew Keen

Named as one of the “100 Most Connected Men” by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world’s best known and controversial commentators on the digital revolution. He has written five books including the best-selling Cult of the Amateur, The Internet Is Not The Answer and How To Fix The Future.  He directed and wrote the […]

Ep. 36 – The Black Arts as a Human Right: A Conversation with Art Scholar Dr. Cherise Smith

Dr. Cherise Smith is a professor of art history specializing in American art after 1945, especially as it intersects with the politics of identity, race, and gender. She is the Chair of the Department of African & African Diaspora Studies and is the founding Executive Director of the Art Galleries at Black Studies, which consist […]

Ep. 36 – The Black Arts as a Human Right: A Conversation with Dr. Cherise Smith

Dr. Cherise Smith is a professor of art history specializing in American art after 1945, especially as it intersects with the politics of identity, race, and gender. She is the Chair of the Department of African & African Diaspora Studies and is the founding Executive Director of the Art Galleries at Black Studies, which consist […]

Ep. 35 – Racial Justice and Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus: A Conversation with Sabeel Rahman

K. Sabeel Rahman is the President of Demos, a dynamic think-and-do tank that powers the movement for a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy. Through cutting-edge policy research, inspiring litigation, and deep relationships with grassroots organizations, Demos champions solutions that will create a democracy and economy rooted in racial equity. Rahman is also an Associate Professor of […]

Ep. 34 – Criminal Justice Reform in the Trump Era: A Conversation with Michele Deitch

Michele Deitch holds a joint appointment as a senior lecturer at the LBJ School and the Law School, and is an attorney with over 30 years of experience working on criminal justice and juvenile justice policy issues with state and local government officials, corrections administrators, judges and advocates. She specializes in independent oversight of correctional […]

Ep. 33 – Why Do Americans Distrust Government: A Conversation with Dr. Gordon Abner

Gordon Abner is a public management scholar whose research focuses on improving citizens’ perceptions of public employees and government service, and on improving the morale and performance of public employees — which he is particularly interested in within the sphere of social policy. Professor Abner has employed a variety of methods in his research including […]

Ep. 32 – Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Reconstruction and American Democracy

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has authored or co-authored twenty-one books and created fifteen documentary films, including Wonders of the African World, […]

Ep. 32 – Reconstruction and American Democracy: A Conversation with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has authored or co-authored twenty-one books and created fifteen documentary films, including Wonders of the African World, […]

Ep. 31 – The Future of Criminal Justice Reform and Voting Rights: A Conversation with NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill

Sherrilyn Ifill is the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. LDF was founded in 1940 by legendary civil rights lawyer (and later Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall, and became a separate organization from the NAACP […]

Ep. 31 – The Future of Criminal Justice Reform and Voting Rights: A Conversation Sherrilyn Ifill

Sherrilyn Ifill is the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. LDF was founded in 1940 by legendary civil rights lawyer (and later Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall, and became a separate organization from the NAACP […]

Ep. 30 – Dr. Dorn on Race and the State of American Politics

Edwin Dorn teaches defense policy and courses about the relationship between race and immigration policy. He was dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs from 1997 to 2005. Prior to that, Dr. Dorn spent 20 years in Washington, DC. He worked on civil rights and education policy in the Carter administration and served as […]

Ep. 30 – Race and the State of American Politics: A Conversation with Dr. Edwin Dorn

Edwin Dorn teaches defense policy and courses about the relationship between race and immigration policy. He was dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs from 1997 to 2005. Prior to that, Dr. Dorn spent 20 years in Washington, DC. He worked on civil rights and education policy in the Carter administration and served as […]

Ep. 29 – The Descent of Democracy and the Promise of African American History: A Conversation with Dr. Khalil Muhammad

Khalil Gibran Muhammad is a professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. He is the former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library and the world’s leading […]

Ep. 29 – Dr. Khalil Muhammad on the Descent of Democracy and the Promise of African American History

Khalil Gibran Muhammad is professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. He is the former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library and the world’s leading library and […]

Ep. 28 – Inequality in Austin: A Conversation with Kevin Cokley

Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. is a Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Educational Psychology, as well as a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas-Austin. Dr. Cokley’s research and teaching can be broadly categorized in the area of African American psychology. His research interests include […]

Ep. 28 – Kevin Cokley

Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. is a Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Educational Psychology, as well as a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas-Austin. Dr. Cokley’s research and teaching can be broadly categorized in the area of African American psychology. His research interests include […]

Ep. 27 – James Baldwin’s Life, Legacy, and Influence: A Conversation with Ed Pavlic

Ed Pavlić (Ph.D. Indiana University) is the Distinguished Research Professor of English and African American Studies. Affiliated faculty in Creative Writing, author of eight collections of poetry, two critical studies, and a novel, he twice served as Director of the Creative Writing Ph.D. Program in English (2006-2011, 2015-2017). His most recent books are Another Kind […]

Ep. 27 – Ed Pavlic on James Baldwin’s Life, Legacy, and Influence

Ed Pavlić (Ph.D. Indiana University) is Distinguished Research Professor of English and African American Studies. Affiliated faculty in Creative Writing, author of eight collections of poetry, two critical studies, and a novel, he twice served as Director of the Creative Writing PhD Program in English (2006-2011, 2015-2017). His most recent books are Another Kind of Madness (Milkweed Editions, 2019), a novel set mostly in […]

Ep. 26 – Keffrelyn Brown on Teaching about Racial Slavery and 1619

Keffrelyn D. Brown (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is a Professor of Cultural Studies in Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She holds a faculty appointment in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Center for Women and Gender Studies. […]

Ep. 26 – Teaching About Racial Slavery and 1619: A Conversation with Dr. Keffrelyn Brown

Keffrelyn D. Brown (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is a Professor of Cultural Studies in Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She holds a faculty appointment in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Center for Women and Gender Studies. […]

Ep. 25 – The Contradictions of Barak Obama’s Presidency: A Conversation with Dr. Ricky Jones

Dr. Ricky Jones is a Professor and the Graduate Director & Chair in the Pan-African Studies Department at the University of Louisville. His research focuses on African American Politics and Leadership, Political Theory, African American Nationalism, Violence and Resistance, and the African American Male.

Ep.25 – Dr. Ricky Jones

Ep. 24 – Black Harassment in the Post-Civil Rights Era: A Conversation with Dr. George Musgrove

Professor Musgrove teaches courses in Post-WWII United States History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with an emphasis on African American politics. He is the author of Rumor, Repression, and Racial Politics: How the Harassment of Black Elected Officials Shaped Post-Civil Rights America (U. of Georgia, 2012) and co-author, with Chris Myers Asch, of Chocolate City, […]

Ep.24 – Dr. George Musgrove

Professor Musgrove teaches courses in Post-WWII United States History with an emphasis on African American politics. He is the author of Rumor, Repression, and Racial Politics: How the Harassment of Black Elected Officials Shaped Post-Civil Rights America (U. of Georgia, 2012) and co-author, with Chris Myers Asch, of Chocolate City, A History of Race and Democracy in the […]

Ep. 23 – Chloe Latham Sikes

Chloe Latham Sikes is a doctoral student in the Educational Policy & Planning program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Grinnell College, and a M.A. in Curriculum & Instruction from UT-Austin. Her research interests include the intersections of immigration […]

Ep. 23 – Chloe Latham Sikes on Brown v. Board of Education

Chloe Latham Sikes is a doctoral student in the Educational Policy & Planning program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Grinnell College and an M.A. in Curriculum & Instruction from UT-Austin. Her research interests include the intersections of immigration […]

Ep. 23 – Brown v. Board of Education: A Conversation with Chloe Latham Sikes

Chloe Latham Sikes is a doctoral student in the Educational Policy & Planning program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Grinnell College and an M.A. in Curriculum & Instruction from UT-Austin. Her research interests include the intersections of immigration […]

Ep. 22 – Dr. Michael Ezra

Michael Ezra is professor of American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University. He is the author of the book Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon (2009) and editor of the books Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives (2009) and The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power. Ezra is also the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed Journal […]

Ep. 22 – Dr. Michael Ezra on Civil Rights Historiography

Michael Ezra is professor of American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University. He is the author of the book Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon (2009) and editor of the books Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives (2009) and The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power. Ezra is also the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed Journal […]

Ep. 22 – Civil Rights Historiography: A Conversation with Dr. Michael Ezra

Michael Ezra is professor of American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University. He is the author of the book Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon (2009) and editor of the books Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives (2009) and The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power. Ezra is also the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed Journal […]

Ep. 21 – The 400th Anniversary of Jamestown: A Conversation with Dr. Pero Dagbovie

Pero Gaglo Dagbovie is a University Distinguished Professor of History and Associate Dean in the Graduate School.  His research and teaching interests comprise a range of time periods, themes, and topical specialties, including black intellectual history, the history of the black historical enterprise, black women’s history, black life during “the nadir,” the civil rights-Black Power movement, […]

Ep. 21 – Dr. Pero Dagbovie

Pero Gaglo Dagbovie is University Distinguished Professor of History and Associate Dean in the Graduate School.  His research and teaching interests comprise a range time periods, themes, and topical specialties, including black intellectual history, the history of the black historical enterprise, black women’s history, black life during “the nadir,” the civil rights-Black Power movement, African American […]

Ep. 21 – Dr. Pero Dagbovie on the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown

Pero Gaglo Dagbovie is a University Distinguished Professor of History and Associate Dean in the Graduate School.  His research and teaching interests comprise a range of time periods, themes, and topical specialties, including black intellectual history, the history of the black historical enterprise, black women’s history, black life during “the nadir,” the civil rights-Black Power movement, […]

Ep. 20 – Dr. Ashley D. Farmer on the Black Power movement and the future of African American intellectual history in the 21st century

Ashley D. Farmer is a historian of black women’s history, intellectual history, and radical politics. Her book, Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era  (UNC Press, 2017), is the first comprehensive study of black women’s intellectual production and activism in the Black Power era.  She is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual […]

Ep. 20 – The Black Power Movement and the Future of African American Intellectual History in the 21st Century: A Conversation with Dr. Ashley D. Farmer

Ashley D. Farmer is a historian of black women’s history, intellectual history, and radical politics. Her book, Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era  (UNC Press, 2017), is the first comprehensive study of black women’s intellectual production and activism in the Black Power era.  She is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual […]

Ep. 19 – Black Student Athletes, Leadership, and Social Justice: A Conversation with Professor Daron Roberts

Daron K. Roberts is a Harvard Law grad turned NFL coach. Currently, he is a university lecturer and founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation at the University of Texas. He also serves as a lecturer in the Plan II Honors program where he teaches courses on sports leadership and innovation. His […]