Podcasts about Race in America
The Indicator from Planet Money: Race, Racism, and Tax Law
In this short podcast (it only has a 9:27 run time), you can learn about the history of tax law and why it is has historically been unfair for marginalized groups. Tax laws have many benefits for people who are able to take advantage of them (think mortgage interest deductions, retirement plan deductions, head of household benefits, tuition deductions), and these things were not benefits that marginalized groups were able to take advantage of for many years, inhibiting their ability to accumulate wealth. If you would like to read the transcript, go here: Race, Racism, and Tax Law
The Washington Post: Broken Doors
One of my favorite podcasts to listen to every morning is Post Reports published by The Washington Post. It just has great stories and relevant content. I first heard Broken Doors on this podcast, and was excited to see that it was a standalone show. It is about the use of no-knock warrants in communities that are almost always underserved, and usually also Black and Brown. The use of these no-knock warrants, usually in the deep of night, leaves people traumatized, fearful of their own homes, and in the most tragic of cases cases, dead. This podcast explores no-knock warrants, who they target, and why for all of our sakes, they should be under much more scrutiny. To go to the podcast, you can click on the image or here: Broken Doors (2022) by Washington Post
Soul of a Nation: Tulsa’s Buried Truth
This short podcast series (only 3 episodes) explores the history behind the Tulsa massacre, which creators say is “one of the most violent attacks in American history, and also the least talked about.” The part of Tulsa that was burned was known as Black Wall Street, a reputation it gained by being financially dynamic and self-sufficient. Though, some say a better name for it would be “Black Main Street” because it had so many shops and that people there could get whatever they needed without leaving town. The creators of this podcast were specifically focused on the unearthing of unmarked graves in Tulsa, and the role the town will play in trying to determine who those graves belong to and how to contend with their past. Here’s a link to the show on Apple Podcasts: Tusla's Buried Truth and you can watch a documentary of it here: Soul of a Nation Documentary
Planet Money: Patent Racism
Planet Money does a great job at relating very complex economical problems to our everyday lives. In this episode, they explain why the era of Jim Crow still haunts us today and why it matters that Black Americans weren’t able to use their inventions to accumulate wealth. The guest in this show is Dr. Lisa Cook, from Emory University, who was recently nominated to the Federal Reserve Board. In this episode, she talks about the history of patents and why for years, Black Americans weren’t able to make money off of the patents. She also describes how the history of lynching and fire-bombing houses discouraged inventions and patent claims from Black Americans. The researchers for the project also determined that 1800s were “peak per-capita” for Black inventions and that we have not reached those levels since. You can listen to the episode and view the transcript here: Planet Money: Patent Racism
Louder than a Riot
This is an interesting podcast—it, like many of the podcasts I listen to, is released by NPR, and it focuses on the relationship between hip-hop music and mass incarceration. The goal of this podcast is to study the power dynamics at play in the hip-hop music industry. From their own description, they look at “the power the music industry wields over artists, the power of institutional forces that marginalize communities of color, the power of the prison industrial complex, and the power dynamics deep-rooted in the rap game.” That’s a lot for one podcast! Try as I might—I don’t think I can wrap all of that up into a neat package and explain it to you; you’ll just have to listen. It’s a 12-episode podcast, and it taught me more than I ever even expected about the complexities of hip-hop industry’s relationship with Black America. To listen to Louder than a Riot, you can go here: Louder than a Riot (2020-2021)
The Daily: The Rule at the Center of the NFL Discrimination Lawsuit
Even if you don’t watch NFL, you might find this interesting. It’s an episode dedicated to the Rooney Rule, which was created in an effort to more diversity into the NFL head coaching position. This episode follows the path of Cyrus Mehri who worked with Johnny Cochran to do a study that found that while Black coaches won more games, they were hired as head coaches far less-frequently than their white counterparts. Mehri and Cochan famously told the NFL to negotiate or they planned to litigate, and the NFL came together to develop the Rooney Rule, which required the NFL to interview Black coaches for head coaching positions. The rule had not been a large part of the NFL conversation until 2022, when it was found that the New York Giants interviewed Bryan Flores after the team had made their selection of a white coach. Flores sued, and new changes were made to the rule. Listen to it here: The Rule at the Center of the NFL Discrimination Lawsuit
Some of My Best Friends Are
This is a gem of a podcast! Some of My Best Friends Are is hosted by Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Ben Austen. One White, one Black, these two are grew up as best friends in the 1980s on the South Side of Chicago. Ben is a journalist and lecturer at the University of Chicago, and Khalil is a professor at Harvard. They explain that their friendship has survived because they choose to talk about the elephant in the room—race. When you listen to these two, it is as though you are sitting in the living room or at dinner with them, and the conversations make you want to join in. Their talk about movies, prisons, going to the beach, and occasionally they talk about how other races play into American Society. It’s a really honest but sincere look at the way these two guys have carried a friendship across decades and how they have navigated the deep divides that exist between their two worlds. You can listen to all of the current episodes here: Pushkin: Some of My Best Friends Are.
Code Switch: A Makeup Company gets a Facelift
So, Code Switch in and of itself is a great podcast. It has relatively short, fast-paced podcasts that discuss race and how race impacts some of our most relatable parts of society—think music, food, politics, etc. This episode is one of my favorites—it’s about makeup and the history of the makeup company Fashion Fair. It gives the history of how Women of Color used to have to “spice rack” their makeup because nothing was designed for the multitudes of skin colors. Once Fashion Fair came along, there was finally a solution and the marble pink compact became a symbol of Black culture and pride. You can listen to this phenomenal episode here: A Makeup Company gets a Facelift and you can read more about it here: Fashion Fair is Back