Notes from America with Kai Wright

Dec 09 2024 421 ep. 38 mins 3.7k

Notes from America with Kai Wright Podcast artwork

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

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

Dec 09 2024 51 mins

Shot and severely injured while visiting family in Vermont in 2023, college student Hisham Awartani grapples with his recovery in the U.S., and an unfolding war at home in Palestine.

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

Dec 02 2024 49 mins

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 and a young man born with HIV.

Writer Ekow Eshun on James Baldwin’s History

Nov 30 2024 30 mins

British writer Ekow Eshun is also a broadcaster and curator whose work, like James Baldwin's, tackles identity, race and Black masculinity.

An America Without Police is Safer Than You Think

Nov 25 2024 50 mins

If we actually abolish the police, would we be safe? Safer? We ask three experts to break down what a world beyond policing looks like.

Writer Hisham Matar on James Baldwin’s Patience

Nov 23 2024 35 mins

Hisham Matar is an award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction. Born in New York to Libyan parents, he trained to be an architect before trading buildings for books.

Presenting This is Uncomfortable: Writer Hanif Abdurraqib on what it Means to “Make it”

Nov 21 2024 36 mins

Abdurraqib's work spans sports, pop culture and politics, often focusing on issues of race and class, while also delving into themes of grief, beauty and love.

It’s Trump’s Policy, But Both Parties Set the Stage for Mass Deportations

Nov 18 2024 48 mins

President-elect Trump has promised to use everything from the law to local police to the military to enforce his immigration policies and make good on his promise of mass deportations.

Nikki Giovanni on James Baldwin's Anger

Nov 16 2024 27 mins

In 1971, Giovanni was a young poet and writer with a job in television. When she was asked who she’d like to record a conversation with, she suggested James Baldwin.

A Majority of Voters Have Endorsed Cruelty. So Now What?

Nov 12 2024 50 mins

What do the results of the presidential election tell us about our country? We asked a veteran movement organizer to reflect on what feels like a rejection of her core values.

Author Colm Toibin on James Baldwin’s Interiority

Nov 09 2024 29 mins

Early on in life, award-winning Irish writer Colm Toibin saw connections between his religious upbringing in Ireland and James Baldwin’s in Harlem.