Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu’s July 24th address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress was skipped by roughly half of the Democratic caucus, including the party's new presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. This marks a shift in Democratic Party politics around Israel and Palestine after nearly 10 months of mass protest…

Perhaps you’ve noticed: the news is newsing in overdrive lately. Notes from America is meeting the moment with an extra podcast drop on Thursdays starting today. Welcome to On the Call, a pop-up podcast series of conversations about politics, voters and democracy right now. While most of America was still processing the news that President Joe Bide…

“The call was coming from inside the house,” says Fordham University political scientist Christina Greer about the pressure campaign Democrats applied to President Joe Biden in the weeks since his debate against Republican contender Donald Trump. Biden’s fitness for another four-year term had been called into question, and although he seemed determ…

In this episode, the first of a two-part series, we discuss the life and times of Paul "The Waiter" Ricca, who was born Felice De Lucia in Apricena, Italy in 1898. Paul Ricca was one of the most powerful underworld figures in the history of Cosa Nostra in this country, his career spanning from the Capone Era into the 1970's. For over 30 years, Ricc…

Federal investigators are charged with uncovering how a 20-year-old man was able to use an automatic rifle from a rooftop just outside of a campaign rally for Donald Trump to open fire, killing one attendee and injuring others, including the former president. The horrific images from the rally flooded social media timelines, followed by conspiracy …

WNYC, the most listened-to public radio station in America and the production home of this podcast, turns 100 years old this year. Its audio archives are full of gems from history — including voices, interviews and performances from some of the most well-known Black Americans of the 20th century. In this episode, host Kai Wright digs through some o…

When President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump shared the stage for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season, it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Namely, it displayed a concern of many Americans: Biden’s age and acuity. We watched two men, both in the late years of their lives, both of whom have already spent de…

"To the rules that hold us together" In this episode, we discuss a comprehensive 1967 FBI Intelligence Report distributed across all FBI field offices within the United States. This report provided an overall picture of the American Cosa Nostra across the entire country and provided reports, taken from the accounts of 190+ informants, around the fo…

Minority rule – by which a few get to decide the outcomes for many – is eroding American democracy at nearly every level, according to veteran journalist Ari Berman, author of Minority Rule: the Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People―and the Fight to Resist It. In this episode, host Kai Wright talks to Berman about how the U.S. has been in a p…

Send us a Text Message. In our 2nd episode we cover Smackdown June 21st and much more here at WWCC! Support the Show.By Colby Jenkins: TikToks "ColbyCheese"

Send us a Text Message. In our first episode we review RAW for June 17th 2024 from Corpus Christi, Texas. Support the Show.By Colby Jenkins: TikToks "ColbyCheese"

Send us a Text Message. Here is our first intro attempt! lol Support the Show.By Colby Jenkins: TikToks "ColbyCheese"

The promise of American democracy could not be fulfilled until all Americans were free. Following the moment of Black liberation marked by Juneteenth, Black Americans began the ongoing project of securing and protecting their rights to vote, and to lead. In this special Juneteenth episode, host Kai Wright traces the lineage of our democracy being a…

Back in April, some of our listeners told us they were “Trump curious.” A few months later, the former president is now a convicted criminal and other listeners have lingering questions. The Notes from America inbox is always teeming with interesting takes from our audience and in this episode, host Kai Wright is joined by producer Regina de Heer t…

Ten years after its original staging, “Appropriate” has received eight Tony Award nominations. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins talks about the moments of his life that inspired it. The play tells the story of three siblings reuniting in their family home after the death of their father. Charged with going through his belongings, the children disc…

In this episode, the third of this series, we cover several mob hits that occurred in and around Philadelphia's Bruno Crime Family of LCN during the 1960's. This video focuses on the battle that occurred for control of Philadelphia's Teamsters Local 107, between the Mafia and law-abiding members of the union. Our goal of these episodes is to dispel…

Notes from America producer Suzanne Gaber returns to the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, for an update on Hisham Awartani, a 21-year-old student of Palestinian descent, who was paralyzed after being shot during a holiday break in Vermont in 2023. As Awartani continues to work on his physical recovery and navigating life in a…

Last week, a jury in Manhattan handed down a guilty verdict in the hush money trial of Donald J. Trump for 34 counts related to falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election. Even though the verdict made Trump the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes, most American voters say the outcome of the trial doesn’t make muc…

Author Ayana Mathis' new novel, The Unsettled, is an intergenerational story centered around one Black family’s struggle to find freedom in the 1980s. Like her previous work, migration and movement are major themes in the book. But this time, her characters are at a crossroads, unsure of their next step in search of self-determination. Mathis joins…

In this episode, the second of this series, we cover several mob hits that occurred in and around Philadelphia's Bruno Crime Family of LCN during the 1960's. Our goal of these episodes is to dispel the myth that Angelo Bruno—"The Docile Don"—was a non-violent Boss. In fact, evidence will show that he likely handed down many hit contracts, which we …

We should all know by now how foolish it is to underestimate youth. Gen Z, the generation of people born between 1997 and 2012, has already changed the world in ways that no one could have anticipated, from mass protests against gun violence to international movements to reckon with climate change. For members of this generation who are part of the…

In this jam packed episode, Mr. Jenkins & Mr. Rudolph speak with superintendent of Lewis & Clark Public Schools, Mr. Marc Ritteman and review some different things from the year, we speak with three teachers who have been valuable members of the Bomber Nation and are moving on - preschool teacher Ms. Briana Imler, office secretary Mrs. Brittany Han…