meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Takeaway

Producer Appreciation Weeks: Morgan Givens

The Takeaway

WNYC and PRX

Politics, Wnyc, Daily News, Radio, Takeaway, National, News, News Commentary

4.6716 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We continue our Producer Appreciation Weeks with Host Melissa Harris-Perry, who peels back the curtain and speaks with the talented folks that make The Takeaway every day. Today we're highlighting some of Morgan Givens' favorite segments produced during his time with The Takeaway: What Makes a Black ManElectric Literature Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris Makes History and Makes SpaceAward Winning Poet Danez Smith Rises to the TopWhy Titus Kaphar Won't "Shut Up and Paint"Level Up: Accessibility in Gaming Morgan joined The Takeaway team in late 2022, and initially made his way into radio in a roundabout way. He spent years as a police officer in Washington, D.C., where he helped rewrite the training curriculum for the D.C. Police Academy before leaving the department for the non-profit sector, where he did work to eliminate sexual violence in the nation's prisons. Eventually, he interned with WAMU and NPRs 1A before becoming a producer for the program.  Morgan is a graduate of the Transom Storytelling Workshop, Neon Hum and Sony's Editor Bootcamp, and is an AIR New Voices Scholar and Mentor. He’s been named one of Variety’s Storytellers to Watch, has been featured in The Washington Post, NPR, Buzzfeed, NPRs Invisibilia, Crooked Media’s Work Appropriate and is frequently called upon to host The Moth storytelling events and perform for The Moth Mainstage in venues around the country. A frequent audio conference panelist, he's also spoken at the AFI Documentary Film Festival about the art of creating great audio. Morgan is also the creator of the award winning and critically acclaimed hopepunk fiction podcast Flyest Fables. Currently repped by CAA, he's hard at work on his debut memoir. Find him occasionally on Twitter at @Optimus_Mo and at MorganGivens.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is The Takeaway. I'm Melissa Harris Perry. Thanks for joining us. As I'm sure you know by now,

0:10.8

we're counting down to the final episode of The Takeaway, which will air on June 2nd.

0:17.2

And before we go, we're using this time to introduce you to the dedicated team of the takeaway,

0:23.6

who are responsible for all the stories you've come to appreciate and love.

0:28.8

Yes, y'all, these are producer appreciation weeks, and today we're showing some serious

0:34.8

appreciation for a truly capital producer, Morgan Givens.

0:40.5

When I say capital, I'm not just referring to Morgan's first-rate radio making.

0:46.2

I also mean that Morgan works out of Washington, D.C.

0:50.1

And yeah, y'all, he's a big part of what makes the takeaway.

0:54.9

Go, go, go.

1:03.1

Hey, Morgan, welcome to this side of the mic.

1:08.2

Thanks, Melissa.

1:09.8

It was like I'm a tourist or something.

1:11.6

Welcome to the mic's other side.

1:13.4

Trippy.

1:16.6

Listen, I am going to so miss your sense of humor, bro.

1:21.4

Oh, you know, I appreciate that, especially because the conversation that we're going to revisit is a pretty serious one.

1:29.4

And it's one that as a black transmasculine person is pretty close to my heart.

1:34.0

I'm constantly fascinated by the way society teaches us to separate parts of ourselves

1:38.6

and to limiting expressions of the gender binary.

1:41.9

And for a moment, Jonathan Majors seemed somewhat interested in

1:46.1

existing outside of, or at least peering outside of, those confines. Remember the Ebony

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC and PRX, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC and PRX and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.