Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an activist, educator, popular TV commentator—and a trusted voice for the millions of Americans who want a better world, and a group chat to help them get there. On UNDISTRACTED, a weekly show from The Meteor and Wonder Media Network, she aims her focus on the most pressing issues of our time, from the latest headlines to deep dives with today’s most fascinating changemakers, UNDISTRACTED is your weekly guide to the revolution that’s happening in our politics, ...
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We’re in Holy Sh*t Territory, with Sunny Hostin
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As co-host of The View, Sunny Hostin spends her time working with and speaking to a bipartisan audience. So how’s that going? With a week to go before the election, Brittany and Sunny talk about dividing lines, political surprises, and Sunny’s epic clapbacks on behalf of Puerto Rico and the people she cares about. Plus: Brittany decodes this week’s…
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A Girl’s Girl Fights for Abortion, with Kaitlyn Joshua
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Two years ago, Kaitlyn Joshua was desperately trying to obtain abortion care in Louisiana, which had enacted a severe ban after Dobbs. Today, she’s telling her story to anyone who will listen, in an effort to help turn the election. She took a pit stop to hang with Brittany and talk about her fight for reproductive justice in the South and the chal…
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Hip Hop's Promise and Pain, with Drew Dixon
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With new accusations against Diddy dominating the headlines, Brittany sits down with Drew Dixon—who has shared her own powerful story of surviving abuse in the music industry. Together they get into the emotional toll of speaking out, the specific pushback Black women survivors face, and how Drew stopped living in “the fetal position” and reclaimed…
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Everybody Watches Women’s Sports, with Cari Champion
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Everybody watches women’s sports…it’s true! Brittany talks to iconic sports broadcaster and host of "The Making of a Rivalry" Cari Champion about what all these new eyes mean for the athletes, and the league. Plus: a new report on the mental health toll of anti-trans policies, the October 7 anniversary of the war in Gaza, and the Country Music Awar…
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We’ve got company! This week Brittany is joined by the group chat to cover the week’s UNtrending news. Dr. Brittney Cooper and Dr. David Johns help us break down Hurricane Helene’s real impact…the latest on college free-speech moves…and the voter suppression tactics afoot in swing states. It’s a conversation full of our favorite cocktail: hard trut…
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Our Right to Party with Rep. Ruwa Romman and Maurice Mitchell
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On this week’s episode, Brittany sits down with Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, and Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who wrote a speech we never got to hear at the DNC. Maurice talks strategy, Ruwa gets us inspired, and they answer that pressing question: What do you say to folks who still want to vote third party?…
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"We Elect Partners, Not Saviors:" Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Brittney Cooper
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As Kamala Harris became the first Black and South Asian woman to receive a major party nomination for the presidency, Brittany sat down with Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Dr. Brittney Cooper at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. They unpack the highs and lows of this political moment, plus talk about what it means to be a Black woman in powe…
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It’s our first episode back! And Brittany knew who she wanted to talk to: Ava DuVernay, the visionary director who excels in “big-sister wisdom.” They get into everything about the state of the world now, from the DNC (cookout energy!)...to the way DuVernay’s most recent film, Origin, reframes the world…to why DuVernay wishes Democrats would get “a…
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It’s a brand new season of UNDISTRACTED, starting September 12th! Join host Brittany Packnett Cunningham as she tackles and makes sense of the news of the week—the bits you heard about, the bits you didn’t, and what we’re going to do about all of it. A lot has happened since we were last together, so make yourself comfortable; Brittany’s got some e…
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Exclusive: Vice President Kamala Harris On A Year Without Roe
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One year ago this week, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—a momentous decision that has enabled 14 states to outlaw abortion so far. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham knew exactly who she wanted to talk to about that, and in this special episode, she sits down with Vice President Kamala Harris to talk about the chaos, the confusion, and what…
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“Every Hashtag is a Human Being”: Honoring the Five-Year Anniversary of #MeToo
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It’s been five years exactly since millions of people, most of them women, stepped forward to say #MeToo. What have we learned since then? In our season finale, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Tarana Burke, the woman who started the movement back in 2006, along with playwright/attorney Mary Kathryn Nagle, and organizer/attorney Mon…
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The End of the World as We Know It? Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Rates our Climate Future
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The floods, the hurricanes, the wildfires…if you feel like you’re living through a climate apocalypse, you’re not wrong. But it’s not all hellfire, says marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson—there are signs of progress if you know where to look. In this episode, the “climate futurist” sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to give …
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“You Can’t Win if You Don’t Start”: Rep. Cori Bush on Running for Office—and Making a Difference
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Congresswoman Cori Bush doesn’t have the usual political resume: no Ivy League alma mater, no law degree, no generational wealth––but she’s an organizer, a mother, a pastor and a survivor, and she’s brought all those pieces of herself with her to Washington. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Rep. Bush to talk about her brand-new memo…
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Derecka Purnell On Living (and Loving) Outside the Police State
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What do Stranger Things, social media and sexual violence all have in common? They all figure into Derecka Purnell’s brilliant world philosophy about abolition—the effort to move beyond police, and the violence too often associated with them. In this episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with her friend, the writer and professor, to …
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The Queen Died. Now What? Three Brilliant Women on Colonialism and the Future
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The funeral is over. The pomp has died down. But the conversations—not just around the monarchy, but around the legacy of imperialism—continue around the world. So host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with three women with different perspectives on the empire: writer Luvvie Ajayi Jones, professor and scholar Caroline Elkins, and the Meteor’s…
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The Hidden Latinx Stories We Don’t Hear, with Julissa Natzely Arce Raya
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It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! And Julissa Natzely Arce Raya has complicated feelings. The author of You Sound Like a White Girl sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about why some stories get told so much more than others—and what that costs us. You’ll hear about rebel cheerleaders, solidarity between activists, the pressure to …
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The Kids Are All Right. The Adults Are F***ing Up!
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It’s all about the young folk this week: We’ve got Gen Z protestors disrupting anti-abortion galas…a student reporter holding colleges to task…and clever TikTokers lobbying for debt relief. And that’s just in the first ten minutes! Then, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham talks to school librarian Jennisen Lucas and author George M. Johnson about th…
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Will We Be Smarter About the Next Epidemic? Two Experts Break it Down
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COVID taught us a lot of lessons—or did it? With MPV (aka monkeypox) here in its wake, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Dr. Monica Gandhi and Dr. David Johns to talk about what we’re getting wrong, the rise of homophobic disinformation, and why it’s still so hard for us to care for our neighbors. But first, this week’s UNtrending ne…
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A Future Without Police? Andrea Ritchie on Crime and Abolition
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The headlines say crime is up. And our politicians say more police are the answer. What’s the truth? And what happened to all those abolitionist promises made in the summer of 2020? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down to answer those questions with two brilliant guests: Pulitzer-winning journalist Wesley Lowery, who explains what the media’…
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“People’s Kids Are the Center of Their World”- Caitlin Dickerson on the Horrors of Family Separation
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On this week’s episode, Undistracted host Brittany Packnett Cunningham talks to journalist Caitlin Dickerson about one of the darkest policy moments in American history: the “Zero Tolerance” family separation initiative. Caitlin spent 18 months investigating family separation for The Atlantic. She conducted over 150 interviews in order to unpack th…
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Beyoncé’s Renaissance, According to Four Brilliant Black Women
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“This started off as a conversation about Beyoncé,” says host Brittany Packnett Cunningham, “but like her music, it became about so many other things: the evolution of womanhood, our queer siblings, spiritual sexuality and giving Black women their things.” So settle in and listen to legendary music writer Danyel Smith, NPR reporter Ayesha Rascoe, a…
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“The System Works For Those Who Occupy It”: Maria Teresa Kumar on Voting Rights
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The majority of Americans didn’t want to see Roe v. Wade overturned—but it was. Most Americans want gun reform—but it doesn’t happen. So the big question is: What’s going on here? Maria Teresa Kumar, cofounder of Voto Latino, understands the answers, and she lays them out here, in conversation with correspondent Treasure Brooks. They talk gerrymand…
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Phoebe Robinson is Writing Her Own Rules (on TV and in Life)
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"The media has such a limited understanding about Black femaleness,” says Phoebe Robinson, the actress, comedian, writer, podcast host and producer. “But the complexity is always more interesting!” So she and Brittany Packnett Cunningham go complex (and hilarious) in this episode, talking about Robinson’s new show, “Everything’s Trash”; the prospec…
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“Covering the End of the World”: A Reporter on Gun Violence
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You know gun violence is an American epidemic. But…why? And how do we get out of this mess? Jennifer Mascia understands those answers better than almost anyone. As a reporter with The Trace, her entire beat is gun violence. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with her to talk about the highs and lows of the last few weeks, the threat of civ…
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Written and narrated by award-winning author and Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, “History is US” is a 6-part audio documentary produced and developed by C13Originals that asks questions about who we are as a nation, and what race might reveal about our current crisis. Through the voices of disting…
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Tiffany Cross on Roe, Resistance and What Comes Next
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“I would rather be a voice and an advocate for my people than sit and smile in the face of bullshit.” That’s host Tiffany Cross’ philosophy—and the reason she consistently centers BIPOC voices on her MSNBC show. In this episode, recorded live in Washington, D.C., she and Brittany (colleagues *and* friends) get real about everything from the Supreme…
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Michelle Colón is Living Through The Last Days of Legal Abortion in Mississippi
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It’s been six days since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But activist and “abortion freedom fighter” Michelle Colón has been defending pregnant people and providers in Mississippi for years—and she’s not going to stop now. She tells host Brittany Packnett Cunningham exactly what a post-Roe future looks like, and why her only w…
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In the shadow of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, what do hope and faith mean? In this bonus episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham joins journalist Phillip Picardi, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, and Jamie L. Manson, president of Catholics for Choice, to talk about religion, and the revolution ahead. This conversation originally a…
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Having a Baby While Black: Martina Abrahams Ilunga and Gabrielle Horton Know *All* The Stories
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You probably know the data about what Black women face when they give birth. But do you know the stories? Martina Abrahams Ilunga and Gabrielle Horton are committed to telling them, through their podcast NATAL. Brittany Packnett Cunningham sat down with the journalists to talk about what they’ve learned, what they advise, and her own journey to mot…
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You Can Be Successful Where You Are: Majora Carter on Reclaiming Communities
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To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesBy Pineapple Street Studios, The Meteor
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“God is Big Enough for Our Questions:” Candice Benbow on Faith, Feminism and Lipstick
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What does having faith mean in 2022? Candice Benbow has become an icon for answering that question—especially for those of us who’ve fallen off the prayer wagon somewhere along the way. This week, the writer/theologian/educator and author of Red Lip Theology sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about her rituals (some of them ha…
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During a Dark Time, A Little Light with Bevy Smith
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In this week’s episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham honors the victims and the tragedy of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting. Then, the Undistracted team sits down with TV personality and business icon Bevy Smith to talk about women, aging and why she wants to be “one of the old dolls.” Plus, Smith IDs the factors that helped her navigate the predom…
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“Tell the Truth to Set Us Free”: Kimberlé Crenshaw on White Supremacy, CRT and Lies
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It’s been a long week, y’all—and we’ve been grieving the victims of the Buffalo shooting. On the heels of that violence, we’re bringing you an interview that host Brittany Packnett Cunningham did with Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw last summer, as the anti-CRT laws began to sweep the country. As always, the professor makes it all makes sense, and her …
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WTF, TEXAS?! Cisneros, Crockett and O’Rourke on The Madness (and Promise) of The Lone Star State
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What happens in Texas matters everywhere. As the state becomes a testing ground for extreme policies (abortion! immigration! CRT!) we hear from three people fighting for a better Texas. Congressional candidate Jessica Cisneros, State Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke talk about what's at stake, how we got here—and why…
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What Happens Now? Gloria Steinem and Renee Bracey Sherman on the Future of Abortion
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In the shadow of the leaked SCOTUS decision on Dobbs v. Jackson, we're re-airing this conversation between host Brittany Packnett Cunningham, legendary activist Gloria Steinem and the “Beyonce of Abortion storytelling,” Renee Bracey Sherman. Late last year, the trio sat down to talk about the future of Roe—and how to protect the people behind the p…
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The Senator of TikTok: Morgan Harper’s Run for Office (and Our Hearts)
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There are a lot of closely watched midterm races. But in Ohio, Morgan Harper is making news with her run for U.S. Senate—and her TikToks eviscerating her primary opponent. In this week’s episode, the dynamic attorney tells host Brittany Packnett Cunningham about what it means to run as a young woman of color, the nuances of mounting a second campai…
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Motherhood, Love and the “Trayvon Generation,” with Elizabeth Alexander
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How do you parent—lovingly and well—in the age of technology and police violence? That question is on host Brittany Packnett Cunningham’s mind as she settles into motherhood—and for this episode, she sits down with Elizabeth Alexander, the inaugural poet at Obama’s 2009 inauguration and now author of The Trayvon Generation. They talk about what it …
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“I Want To Raise a Free Black Child”: Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Reginald Cunningham On Parenthood
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It’s a different kind of episode this week—”our most personal, most gut-wrenching, most triumphant,” says host Brittany Packnett Cunningham. The reason? Four months ago, she became a mother, to a son born at just 24 weeks. Now she sits down to tell that story, with a guest who was there with her the whole time: her husband, Reginald Cunningham. The…
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“I’ve Been Proud So Many Times”: A Texas Family Fights the Anti-Trans Laws
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Willow Egerton is 13 years old, an aspiring filmmaker, and a trans girl in Texas in 2022—which means that “people in power want me gone,” she says. This week, Willow and her father Owen Egerton sit down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about how that feels, and about the joy and celebration of being trans. (Says Owen of parenting: “It…
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"We See Who Pays the Price": Muzoon Almellehan on War and Refugees
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Nearly four million Ukrainians have fled their homeland—and around the world, 21 times that number of people have been displaced from their homes because of war or other disasters. So: What has Ukraine taught us about what all refugees face, and how you can survive when your life changes in an instance? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down w…
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“You Deserve to Be Safe”: Nicole Chung on Parenting in a Wave of Anti-AAPI Violence
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Crimes against AAPI women are in the headlines—and for parents like writer Nicole Chung, the challenges of how to talk to kids about racism, violence and safety are very real. In this episode, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Chung, the author of All You Can Ever Know and a contributing writer at The Atlantic, for a thoughtful discu…
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Kimberlé Crenshaw on the Origins of Critical Race Theory
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This week, we’re sharing something special from our friends over at Pushkin. It’s an episode of a new podcast from Anita Hill called Getting Even. On the show, Professor Hill tackles the tough questions about equality; she talks with people on the frontlines of improving our imperfect world—and finding solutions. In this episode, she sits down with…
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"Buckle Up": Sen. Elizabeth Warren Still Has a Plan for Change
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This week, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham is joined by Elizabeth Warren - the senator from Massachusetts and the president we coulda had. They unpack the student debt crisis, the child care crisis, the filibuster crisis—all of it. Plus, Warren breaks down “what really chaps my fanny,” and why she is hopeful for the midterms. And, Brittany breaks…
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“I Don't Believe In The Guilt”: Real Climate Talk, with Mary Annaïse Heglar
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Last week, the IPCC released a report finding that the planet is getting “clobbered” by climate change. What does that mean? And what should we do? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Hot Take cohost Mary Annaïse Heglar—who sets the record straight on what’s so alarming, how climate change and white supremacy are connected, being Black…
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Anita Hill on The Supreme Court’s Future—and its Past
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It’s a historic moment: America has its first-ever Black woman Supreme Court nominee, and host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with a legend, Professor Anita Hill, to talk about the law, and why she’s “elated” at the possibilities ahead. Also on the table: Hill’s new podcast, Getting Even, and her memories of her mother. Plus, journalist Jos…
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“We Are Here to Fight Disinformation”: Sara Lomax-Reese and Akoto Ofori-Atta Build the Future
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“Mainstream media” (whatever that is) might be struggling, but you know who’s leading the revolution to do better? “Women, and especially women of color,” says host Brittany Packnett Cunningham. She sits down with Sara Lomax-Reese of URL Media and Akoto Ofori-Atta of Capital B, two media organizations run by Black and brown women. They talk about w…
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Ai-jen Poo on Caregiving: “We Take for Granted That Women Will Just Figure It Out”
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Do you have parents? Children? Someone who cares for you, or who you care for? With Build Back Better on the line, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Ai-jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance to talk about what it’ll take for the US to start treating caregiving like the crucial infrastructure it is. Plus, Brittany has thoug…
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Jemele Hill and Cari Champion on Racism (and Liberation) in Sports
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Sports are beautiful and transformative. Also racist and corrupt! This week, with the Olympics in full swing, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham is joined by journalists Jemele Hill and Cari Champion. They talk about what athletes are going through in China, what it means to represent “America”—and here at home, about discrimination in the NFL and t…
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Dr. Uché Blackstock on Pandemic Fatigue—And the New COVID Normal
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As the two-year anniversary of the pandemic looms, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Dr. Uché Blackstock to discuss all things COVID-19—from why “Omicron is a gift” (she’ll explain) to the “pandemic privilege” that perpetuates the risks Black and brown communities face. Plus, Brittany takes on this week's Un-Trending news…starting wi…
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Elaine Welteroth on the Great Resignation and Rewriting Your Own Definition of Success
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What does the Great Resignation mean for women of color? Elaine Welteroth—the best-selling author and former Teen Vogue editor who’s built a career out of charting her own path—has a lot of thoughts. She sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about why we’re leaving jobs (or being pushed out of them), and how “times of destruction…
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