Notes from America with Kai Wright

Our final episode is dedicated to the people who are too often left out when we celebrate the past.

Transcribed - Published: 30 December 2024

Washington, D.C.’s newest museum is an homage to go-go, a music genre born and bred in the District, exploring how the music became a rich culture reflecting the city's heritage.

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2024

From holiday sing-alongs to your personal stories, the best part of this show is hearing from our listeners. Before we wrap up, we revisit some special moments — led by you.

Transcribed - Published: 16 December 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 9 December 2024

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

Transcribed - Published: 30 November 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 23 November 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 16 November 2024

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.

Transcribed - Published: 12 November 2024

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

Transcribed - Published: 9 November 2024

No matter the outcome of the 2024 race, the damage done by disinformation campaigns on the right will have a lasting effect on our democracy.

Transcribed - Published: 4 November 2024

David Leeming was asked by James Baldwin to be his biographer after a friendship of more than 25 years, which began in Turkey in the early 1960s.

Transcribed - Published: 2 November 2024

Dearborn, Michigan is also known as the "capital of Arab America." We hear from voters there who say the war in Gaza is the key issue on their minds as they consider how to cast their ballots.

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2024

The widening gender gap in our politics may sway the 2024 presidential election. We travel to the heart of one swing state to discuss the factors contributing to the divide.

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2024

Caryl Phillips was first a student studying James Baldwin, then the two became friends.

Transcribed - Published: 26 October 2024

More people are questioning the belief that college is a necessary stop on the path to a better future. Instead, they are looking toward careers in booming skilled trade professions.

Transcribed - Published: 21 October 2024

Shafak and Baldwin share a deep connection to Turkey and a commitment to belonging and empathy in storytelling.

Transcribed - Published: 19 October 2024

The newest Supreme Court Justice talks about her ambition from a young age, being an inheritor of Civil Rights Movement, the court she entered and so much more.

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2024

Darryl Pinckney is an award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction inspired by James Baldwin since his teenage years.

Transcribed - Published: 12 October 2024

Two long-time friends have spent the past year having difficult conversations about the Middle East. They share how to have these hard dialogues in times of crisis.

Transcribed - Published: 7 October 2024

Siri Hustvedt is a celebrated writer of fiction and nonfiction who is inspired by the connections between the humanities and science.

Transcribed - Published: 5 October 2024

Meet members of Gen Z — the youngest group of Americans eligible to vote in this year’s election — and learn about what drives them to engage with politics right now.

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2024

Bryan Stevenson finds courage and compassion in James Baldwin’s writing, which helps him face some of the hardest realities of being Black in America’s brutal criminal justice system.

Transcribed - Published: 28 September 2024

Two political strategists — one conservative, one progressive — talk about the opportunities candidates miss when seeking support from Latino voters.

Transcribed - Published: 23 September 2024

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is considered, by some, as James Baldwin’s natural heir, filling the intellectual void after Baldwin’s death in 1987.

Transcribed - Published: 21 September 2024

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is considered, by some, as James Baldwin’s natural heir, filling the intellectual void after Baldwin’s death in 1987.

Transcribed - Published: 21 September 2024

More than 20 women say a man who went by Officer “Champagne” sexually assaulted them while they were held at the Rikers Island women's jail.

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2024

A new investigation reveals that millions of Latino voters in the U.S. are being exposed to disinformation on Spanish radio stations. Who or what is behind the lies and propaganda?

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2024

“Notes on a Native Son” is a new audio series on James Baldwin and his words, as read by those who love and appreciate their power and continuing relevance.

Transcribed - Published: 14 September 2024

Elie Mystal joins Kai “On the Call” to break down how the vice president used classic trial lawyer tactics to take apart Donald Trump in their debate on ABC News.

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2024

The environment has been a cornerstone for the Biden White House, but it isn’t a source of much conversation this election cycle. Journalist Amy Westervelt tells us why that may be.

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2024

Kai gets on the call with historian Arash Azizi to discuss the path to a ceasefire deal in the Middle East for the current administration and the road ahead for the next one.

Transcribed - Published: 5 September 2024

Choreographer Bill T. Jones is preparing to bring his powerful work “Still/Here,” based on stories of people with terminal illnesses, back to the stage for the first time in 30 years.

Transcribed - Published: 2 September 2024

What if the next insurrection is led by radicalized active duty troops? A new documentary called “War Game” uses role-playing to explore how U.S. government officials might prepare.

Transcribed - Published: 29 August 2024

What we know about each political party’s economic policies.

Transcribed - Published: 26 August 2024

Seven swing states will be decisive in the 2024 election. Kai gets “On the Call” to ask a pollster how voters in those states feel about the economy, safety and presidential leadership.

Transcribed - Published: 22 August 2024

The Vice President came of age inside collegiate institutions that have shaped Black, middle-class culture for generations. She says they imprinted deeply upon her as well.

Transcribed - Published: 19 August 2024

Journalist Aymann Ismail gets “On the Call” with Kai to share his reporting on “uncommitted” Democrats pushing Harris for an arms embargo on Israel — and awkward exchanges from the RNC.

Transcribed - Published: 15 August 2024

From “Hotties for Harris" to “American Bad Ass,” this year’s presidential election has quite a soundtrack. We add everything in between to this year’s NFA Summer Playlist.

Transcribed - Published: 12 August 2024

Commentator Anand Giridharadas gets “On the Call” with Kai to argue that the Harris-Walz campaign has fundamentally changed the way Democrats do politics — and for the better.

Transcribed - Published: 8 August 2024

Kamala Harris is the self-proclaimed “top cop”. Would a future President Harris have the ability to implement police reform to prevent police killings like that of Sonya Massey?

Transcribed - Published: 5 August 2024

Harlem-born writer James Baldwin would have been 100 years old in 2024. A new podcast explores how his novels, essays and ideas remain both inspiring and eerily resonant today.

Transcribed - Published: 3 August 2024

Elie Mystal gets “On the Call” with host Kai Wright to weigh the pros and cons of Biden’s SCOTUS plan — and make a case that Kamala Harris is uniquely suited to rein in the high court.

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2024

Attorney Abdeen Jabara’s life and work in the U.S. movement for Palestinian rights tracks a long history of Arab American activism.

Transcribed - Published: 29 July 2024

Mere hours after Joe Biden announced he was bowing out of the 2024 election, an estimated 44,000 Black women connected via Zoom to celebrate and strategize a win for Kamala Harris.

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2024

Joe Biden’s decision to not seek re-election had been weeks in the making as Democrats battled each other over whether he was well-positioned to defeat Donald Trump a second time.

Transcribed - Published: 22 July 2024

A re-election campaign rally for former president Donald Trump turned deadly in Pennsylvania, prompting the question: are we in a new era of political violence in America?

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2024

WNYC’s 100-year-old audio archive includes voices of Black celebrities throughout history like Josephine Baker, Althea Gibson, Dick Gregory and Malcolm X.

Transcribed - Published: 8 July 2024