Three mothers who shaped American history

TED Radio Hour

NPR

Society & Culture, Social Sciences, Science, Technology

4.3 • 21.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

MLK Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin are household names, but what about their mothers? This hour, author Anna Malaika Tubbs explores how these three women shaped American history. Original air date: February 27, 2026.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the TED Radio Hour.
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0:39.0	I'm Manushe Zamorodi.
0:46.3	On the show today, one of my favorite conversations with sociologist and author Anna Malika Tubbs.
0:55.6	Last year, she released her bestseller Erased, where she examines why women's contributions to American history have been erased.
1:02.5	I interviewed her back in 2022 about her first book, which is called The Three Mothers.
1:13.2	It seems to me that the only thing that the mother can do, the Negro mother, is to try from the beginning to instill in the child a sense of somebodyness.
	...

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