Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

4.3 (1.5K)
NEWS COMMENTARY
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

Notes from America with Kai Wright is a show about the unfinished business of our history, and its grip on our future.

12/30/2024

Not Just Forgotten, but Erased From History: A Final Note from Notes from America

This is the last episode of Notes from America with Kai Wright. If you’ve been with the show through its multi-year history and iterations as a NYC-based narrative podcast and local call-in show called The United States of Anxiety before becoming a nationally distributed program, then you may remember the conversation in this finale. It’s with cultural historian, Columbia University professor and MacArthur fellow Saidiya Hartman, who introduces host Kai Wright to young women whose lives were obscured by respectability politics. Hartman is the author of "Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals," which offers an intimate look into some of the Black people that have been seemingly erased from the history books. Through a series of readings, they explore the complicated role of Black intellectuals like W.E.B DuBois, the Black family and how a damaging moralism continues to inform the policing of marginalized communities, public space and American cultural politics today. This episode was originally published as “The ‘Beautiful Experiments’ Left Out of Black History” on February 8, 2021. Find Notes From America’s archive of episodes here, including the following companion listening for this episode: “Faith Ringgold Creates Space for Black Americans” (1/5/2023) Faith Ringgold’s art is an intimate dialogue and debate between generations of Black women, stretching from the formerly enslaved to today. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

53 min
12/23/2024

The Real Heartbeat of D.C. Isn’t Politics. It’s Go-Go Music.

The drumbeat of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area is not politics. It’s go-go music. The genre developed by Chuck Brown in 1976 features syncopated rhythms, a large ensemble of musicians and a rich drum beat to create a live experience that has fans dancing ’till they can't dance no more. Go-go has been nurtured by D.C. natives for decades, from the time the District was considered a majority Black “Chocolate City,” and the music has significantly influenced the broader region into Maryland and Virginia, known as the DMV. Its influence can be seen from fashion to food to lingo, especially among Black residents of the region. Go-go became the official music of Washington, D.C. in 2020, and in early 2025 the Go-Go Museum and Café will open in the southeast neighborhood of Anacostia — the cultural heart of Chocolate City. However, it wasn’t an easy road for go-go to become widely celebrated in the District. Its evolution mirrors the trials and transformations of a rapidly changing D.C. and the feeling of many Black people who have found it harder and harder to call Washington home. In this episode, host Kai Wright hands the mic to producer Siona Peterous, who grew up in the DMV and has spent much of her adult life immersed in D.C.'s vibrant arts and culture scene. With a deep love for go-go, Peterous sits down to learn more about it from the co-founders of the Go-Go Museum and Café, Ronald Moten and Dr. Natalie Hopkinson. She also talks with Chris Proctor, lead talker of the Take Over Band (T.O.B.), which will celebrate 20 years in the go-go scene this Christmas Day. This episode serves as a primer to the complex and rich history of go-go, taking listeners on a journey to explore how the genre was born, how it became a cultural touchstone during some of D.C.'s darker times, and breaking down the elements that make go-go so unique. Whether you’re new to the sound or already a fan, this episode will help you better understand what makes go-go such a powerful, enduring force in the city’s identity. After you listen to the show, check out our playlist of go-go essentials here. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

52 min
12/16/2024

Dear Listener: A Celebration of Our Best Moments with You

Host Kai Wright celebrates the many years and iterations of Notes from America by revisiting some of the show’s most engaging listener moments. He’s joined by producer Regina de Heer to open up the listener mailbag of responses to recent episodes and highlights from live events and focus groups. Then, we listen back to a conversation with Lindsay Kimball, program director for Minnesota Public Radio’s renowned music station The Current, accompanied by a holiday music playlist curated with the help of listeners (who also graced us with some impromptu live performances). Dear Listener, thank you for always spending time with us and adding your voice to our show. Check out our original holiday playlist here! Companion Listening: “Nikki Giovanni and Kimberly McGlonn on space travel, sustainable fashion and Black liberation” (November 13, 2023) Guest host Janae Pierre sits down with legendary poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, who is the subject of a new documentary, “Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.” Giovanni reflects on the legacy of Black storytelling, gospel music, what she describes as original libraries, and why she’s working to get more Black women involved in space travel. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

50 min
12/09/2024

A Year After Being Shot in Vermont, Palestinian Student Hisham Awartani Sets His Sights on Home

College student Hisham Awartani, 21, was visiting family in Vermont over Thanksgiving break in 2023 when he and two of his friends were shot. All three victims are of Palestinian descent and were wearing traditional Palestinian scarves when the attack happened. Awartani and the other two young men, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmed, all survived. However, Awartani was left paralyzed from the waist down and over the past year, he’s been learning how to live a new life that involves using a wheelchair. Over that year, Notes From America has spent time with Awartani, following his physical recovery and the emotional hurdles he’s grappled with at Brown University where he became a reluctant poster child of the movement for the university to divest from companies associated with the Israeli military. As Awartani prepares to return home to the West Bank for the first time since his injury, producer Suzanne Gaber takes us through his year in recovery and what he hopes for next as the war in his homeland continues to escalate. CORRECTION: A previous version of this piece incorrectly attributed an anecdote about the Awartani family in the Middle East being forced to leave their homes in 1948 when many Palestinians, including the family, were pushed out during an expansion of Israeli territory. The story is in reference to a 1967 evacuation of their village and the piece has since been updated to reflect the correct year. Series Coverage of Hisham Awartani's Story: A Palestinian-American Victim of American Gun Violence Becomes A Reluctant Poster Child (February 19, 2024) Still In Recovery From Being Shot, Hisham Awartani Commits To a Summer of Activism (June 6, 2024) Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

51 min
12/02/2024

We Could End AIDS. So Why Are People Still Dying?

This episode was originally published March 1, 2024. Host Kai Wright started his career covering the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities in America. A new project brings that experience full circle. Kai hosts the latest season of the Blindspot podcast, “The Plague In The Shadows,” which introduces listeners to people who were affected in the early years of the HIV and AIDS epidemics. Decades later, AIDS is still with us and its status as an epidemic remains accurate. In this episode, we learn why that is from two women whose careers have centered around this disease in different ways. Journalist Linda Villarosa is the author of “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation;” and June Gipson, Ph.D. is the director of the organization My Brother’s Keeper, which works on both HIV prevention and access to treatment in Mississippi. They discuss the medical achievements in the field of HIV and AIDS treatment, as well as the barriers to eradication. Plus, listeners from across the country weigh in with their own stories and we hear from one of the people you meet in the Blindspot podcast, Victor Reyes, who was born with HIV in Harlem in 1989. To hear more of Blindspot: The Plague In The Shadows, listen and subscribe here. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

50 min
11/30/2024

Writer Ekow Eshun on James Baldwin’s History

Our guest on the final episode of “Notes on a Native Son” is British writer Ekow Eshun. He has been described as a cultural polymath. At a startlingly young age, 29, he became the first Black editor of Arena, a mainstream magazine in the UK. He continued to break new ground when he became the first Black director of a major cultural institution, London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace. These days, as chair of the Commissioning Group for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, he leads one of the world's most famous and sometimes controversial public art projects, always worth a visit if you're in London. Eshun’s choice of Baldwin's work for our conversation is informed by a book he's recently written called “The Strangers,” about five prominent Black figures and their sense of isolation and exile. Host Razia Iqbal meets with Eshun at Princeton University where he was lecturing about art, curation, and happily for us, James Baldwin. You can find the entire "Notes on a Native Son" series here. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

30 min
11/25/2024

An America Without Police is Safer Than You Think

The public debate over policing has made more of us more familiar with ideas like defunding or abolishing the police, but these ideas are still often dismissed as infeasible. In this episode, host Kai Wright is joined by three experts who have seen communities sustain and improve public safety absent of law enforcement. First, we meet Dennis Flores, a Nuyorican multimedia artist, activist and educator born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He is the co-founder of El Grito de Sunset Park, a grassroots community-based organization that advocates around issues of discriminatory policing and housing rights. Flores is also the lead organizer of the Sunset Park Puerto Rican Day Parade, which, entering its third year, has created a celebration of Puerto Rican culture safe from police harassment. Flores shares how own experience with our justice system led him to find alternatives to police presence to keep his community safe. Next, Kai is joined by Philip V. McHarris, an assistant professor in the Department of Black Studies and Frederick Douglas Institute at the University of Rochester, and author of the book, “Beyond Policing.” McHarris breaks down the history of our police system and how learning about the white supremacist origins of law enforcement can help us discover better alternatives. Then Danielle Sered, executive director of the award-winning organization Common Justice, talks about developing and advancing solutions to violence that meet the needs of those harmed and foster racial equity without relying on incarceration. Sered is the author of “Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair” and her organization is at the forefront of alternatives to prison. She shares her takeaways from working on the frontlines — both with victims and perpetrators. Companion Listening: “People Feel Unsafe–and It’s More Than Crime” (March 14, 2022) The social fabric is torn. People nationwide are scared, some going so far as to arm themselves. What can we learn from our history as we react to this fear? Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

51 min
11/23/2024

Writer Hisham Matar on James Baldwin’s Patience

In the 10th episode of “Notes on a Native Son,” host Razia Iqbal sits down with writer and former architect Hisham Matar. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his profound and painful memoir, “The Return,” which chronicles his return to Libya after the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi. Gaddafi had his father Jaballa kidnapped and thrown into jail, never to be seen again. This has haunted Matar's life and work, an overshadowing that he has transformed into books of extraordinary power and beauty. For this episode, Matar speaks with Iqbal about one of Baldwin’s profound television appearances in which Baldwin breaks down the foundational flaws of America’s racial hierarchy. Matar says Baldwin’s calm and patient demeanor on the program strengthens his powerful arguments, making it an even more compelling watch. Matar teaches at Barnard College in New York. His first novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and his third novel was longlisted for the same prize. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here. Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

36 min

See All (424)

Kai Wright

Host

4.3

out of 5

1,540 Ratings

I LOVE Kai Wright & team’s work!

12/17/2024

ASBehn

This show has fantastic educational, interesting content that I do not hear elsewhere. I have been listening since 2016 and have enjoyed each show. Thank you Thank you for your work! I want this show to continue! With Love, +a+
Baldwin

11/19/2024

The Honesty Critic

I wouldn’t be able to write in words how James Baldwin changed my life. And as we go through this time in America, I have been yearning to hear his words now more than ever. So I stumbled upon this podcast. And it is a great one. Also, there is a bookstore dedicated to Baldwin in New Orleans. Definitely check it out!!
Great Podcast For Discussion & Debate

12/09/2024

AutymnCynn

As someone who is majoring in Psychology and Political Science, but who is required to take heavy Sociology classes, I would like to ask and Cottom a question. She states the White Male Political Patriarchy is afraid of beautiful Latino politicians because they are attracted to them. That’s a blanket statement and untrue. Also, VP Kamala Harris marrying a white man, and choosing a white man as her running mate (which I realize may NOT have been her choice COMPLETELY). Trump admits that AOC is attractive, and even calls her “Evita” “beautiful, always around the people, but a liar.” Yes, she does weaponize her beauty. Unfortunately, beauty fades, as society puts an expiration date of 22 on you. I love how we are seeing politicians NOT afraid to be beautiful. They made Jackie O wear hats even though she DESPISED them. And what do we know her for? The Pill Box Hat. Beauty is definitely a desired weapon of many, and achieved by few.
Loving the James Baldwin episodes

11/02/2024

nick from islip

Six episodes talking to people who met Baldwin, know his work, are writers and critics themselves…offers a depth and level of reflection I didn’t know I needed. He was such a man of his time, and a tormented soul of his century, and he grappled with so much, long before the shortcuts of our recent generations of slogans. He returned to be such a worthy, striving public figure at such a critical time - these shows have been a good tribute, and both balm and inspiration in these crazy, noisy, divided, sometimes nonsensical times of our own.