Hopeton Hay Podcasts

Hopeton Hay
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Hopeton Hay Podcasts is the founder, producer, and host of Diverse Voices Book Review (formerly known as KAZI Book Review) which features interviews with a wide range of culturally diverse authors of recently published fiction and nonfiction, and Economic Perspectives, an audio interview show featuring discussions on finance, economic,  and small businesses and policies.

  1. Restoring Upward Mobility for Families

    1H AGO

    Restoring Upward Mobility for Families

    Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed A. Mechele Dickerson, author of THE MIDDLE CLASS NEW DEAL: RESTORING UPWARD MOBILITY AND THE AMERICAN DREAM. In this wide‑ranging conversation, law professor Dickerson discusses how her earlier work on homeownership and affordable housing led her to examine the broader erosion of economic security for low‑ and middle‑income Americans. She explains how rising costs across housing, education, and healthcare are interconnected—and what policy changes are necessary to restore genuine upward mobility in the United States. A. Mechele Dickerson is the Arthur M. Moeller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the author of HOMEOWNERSHIP IN AMERICA’S FINANCIAL UNDERCLASS  Her scholarship focuses on consumer finance, housing policy, and the economic challenges facing working‑ and middle‑class families. Follow Diverse Voices Book Review on Social Media: Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreview Instagram - @diverse_voices_book_review Bluesky - @diversevoicesbooks.bsky.social

    41 min
  2. Immigration, Family, and Finding Your Voice: Karan Mahajan on THE COMPLEX

    MAR 29

    Immigration, Family, and Finding Your Voice: Karan Mahajan on THE COMPLEX

    In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay speaks with novelist Karan Mahajan about his latest novel, THE COMPLEX. Mahajan discusses how the book examines immigration, marriage, family hierarchies, and the unspoken emotional lives that shape personal relationships. Set primarily in the late 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in India and the United States, the conversation explores how private family dynamics intersect with larger political and social forces.Karan Mahajan is also the author of THE ASSOCIATION OF SMALL BOMBS, which was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and he was named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. He is an associate professor of literary arts at Brown University.Follow Diverse Voices Book Review on Social Media: Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreview Instagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewBluesky - @diversevoicesbooks.bsky.social Email: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com

    50 min
  3. The Coroner’s Silence

    MAR 15

    The Coroner’s Silence

    Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Terence Keel, author of THE CORONER’S SILENCE: Death Records and the Hidden Records of Police Violence.  In the interview, Keel discussed how the current system of death investigation operates as a mechanism of institutional safeguarding and how communities can hold coroners and medical examiners more accountable.  He also shared his experiences working with families that have experienced these losses and community organizations advocating for more accountabity.Terence Keel is an award-winning scholar, the founding director of the BioCritical Studies Lab, and a professor of human biology, society, and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science and co-editor of Critical Approaches to Science and Religion.  Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media: Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreview Instagram - @diverse_voices_book_review Email: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com

    43 min
  4. Mirta Ojito Remembers the Past: Identity, Family, and Migration

    MAR 7

    Mirta Ojito Remembers the Past: Identity, Family, and Migration

    In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Kimberly Lau interviews Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist Mirta Ojito about her novel DEEPER THAN THE OCEAN.In the interview, Lau and Ojito discuss the book’s dual narrative and its inspiration: the 1919 sinking of the Valbanera, a Spanish ship carrying hundreds of immigrants to the Americas that was lost at sea during a hurricane, with no survivors. The conversation explores how this tragedy help shape a story about migration, inherited trauma, memory, and family history.Mirta Ojito is a Cuban-born journalist, professor, and author. She is the recipient of both a Pulitzer Prize and an Emmy Award and has written two nonfiction books. Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media: Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreview Instagram - @diverse_voices_book_review Email: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com

    40 min
  5. Behind the Movement: Clyde Ford on Hidden Black Voices

    MAR 5

    Behind the Movement: Clyde Ford on Hidden Black Voices

    In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay welcomes author and historian Clyde Ford for a conversation about his book A HIGH PRICE FOR FREEDOM: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past. Ford challenges familiar narratives about Black history, including the meaning of Juneteenth, the overlooked leadership of Black women, and the hidden figures behind pivotal moments in the Black Freedom Struggle, urging listeners to confront historical myths and engage the truth. Learn more about Clyde Ford at https://www.clydeford.com and explore the book on the publisher’s page at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-high-price-for-freedom-clyde-w-ford. About Clyde Ford Clyde Ford is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction and nonfiction and serves as director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library Publishing Project. He is an award-winning writer and sought-after public speaker whose work centers on Black history, myth, and social justice. Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media: Facebook – @diversevoicesbookreview Instagram – @diverse_voices_book_review Email – hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com

    47 min
  6. Jennifer Chow Blends Warmth, Culture, and Magic in Telltale Treats

    FEB 21

    Jennifer Chow Blends Warmth, Culture, and Magic in Telltale Treats

    Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Jennifer Chow, author of the cozy mystery novel TELL-TALE TREATS. They discussed the importance of food to Asian and Asian American culture, how Jennifer found her way into the cozy genre, the delicate balancing act of tackling serious themes in a whimsical tone, and why everyone loves to pet bunnies. Follow Jennifer on Instagram at @jenjchow and learn more at jenniferjchow.com. Jennifer Chow writes cozy mystery series filled with hope and heritage. She has been a finalist for the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Awards. She has also been a past president of Sisters in Crime and she’s currently an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America. Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook: @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram: @diverse_voices_book_reviewEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com  Amran Gowani Social Media:Instagram: @amrangowaniLinkedIn: @amrangowaniSubstack: amrangowani.substack.com

    32 min
  7. Waiting for Change: A Brazilian Story of Resistance

    FEB 18

    Waiting for Change: A Brazilian Story of Resistance

    Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Johnny Lorenz, translator of the Brazilian novel THE FRONT by Edimilson de Almeida Pereira. Set in Brazil, the novel follows an unnamed narrator standing in line, using memory, poetic language, and philosophical reflection to confront hunger, racism, and the everyday violence of social systems. In the interview, Lorenz said he was inspired to translate more of the literary work of writers of color to speak to the moment after the rise of Black Lives Matter protests against the murder of George Floyd.About Johnny Lorenz:Johnny Lorenz is a poet, translator, and scholar, and a professor of English at Montclair State University. He has translated several major works of Brazilian literature, including novels by Clarice Lispector and Itamar Vieira Junior, and focuses on bringing Afro‑Brazilian and diasporic writers to English‑language readers.About Author Edimilson de Almeida PereiraEdimilson de Almeida Pereira is a Brazilian poet, scholar, and novelist whose work engages Afro‑Brazilian history, philosophy, and myth.

    54 min
  8. Black History Month Best of: Dana Williams Recounts Impact of Toni Morrison on Black Writers As Editor

    FEB 14

    Black History Month Best of: Dana Williams Recounts Impact of Toni Morrison on Black Writers As Editor

    In celebration of Black History Month, we're reposting Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay's  interview with Dana A. Williams, author of TONI AT RANDOM: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship. It was was originally posted on July 3, 2025.In the interview, Dr. Williams discussed Toni Morrison's path to becoming a book editor, some of the Black writers she edited at Random House including Angela Davis and Toni Cade Bambara, and what inspired her to write the book.Dana A. Williams is Professor of African American Literature in the Department of English and Dean of the Graduate School at Howard University. She is former president of the College Language Association and the Modern Languages Association and is the author of In the Light of Likeness—Transformed: The Literary Art of Leon Forrest.  Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:  Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreview  Instagram - @diverse_voices_book_review

    40 min
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About

Hopeton Hay Podcasts is the founder, producer, and host of Diverse Voices Book Review (formerly known as KAZI Book Review) which features interviews with a wide range of culturally diverse authors of recently published fiction and nonfiction, and Economic Perspectives, an audio interview show featuring discussions on finance, economic,  and small businesses and policies.

Information

  • Creator
    Hopeton Hay
  • Years Active
    2012 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Hopeton Hay
  • Show Website
    Hopeton Hay Podcasts