KalaLea has been producing interviews and narrative features for almost five years for WNYC and the New Yorker Radio Hour, hosted by David Remnick.
KalaLea has a Master’s degree from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where she has taught an Audio Reporting course. KalaLea is also the host of Season 2 of Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, a collaboration with the History Channel, WNYC Studios , KOSU and Focus Black Oklahoma. In 2022, KalaLea and the Tulsa Burning team were awarded a duPont Columbia Journalism Award, two Webby Awards for Best Series and Best Writing, as well as a NAACP Image Awardfor Outstanding News + Information Podcast. They were also nominated for a Peabody Award.
Before becoming a radio journalist, KalaLea worked as a digital producer and before that she was the co-owner of a little cafe in Brooklyn, NY.
Shows:
KalaLea appears in the following:
Jerry Seinfeld on Making a Life in Comedy (and Also, Pop-Tarts)
Friday, April 26, 2024
The comedian could have retired decades ago, but he continues to hone his craft onstage, and at age seventy he’s directed his first feature film, “Unfrosted.”
The Attack on Black History, with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jelani Cobb
Friday, April 05, 2024
Why are so many states restricting what schools can teach about racism? Two leading journalist-historians discuss the efforts to ban or rewrite the teaching of Black history.
Alicia Keys Returns to Her Roots with Her New Musical, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Friday, March 29, 2024
In her musical opening on Broadway, Keys tells a story very much like her own life, using her own hit songs—but don’t call it autobiographical.
Percival Everett and the Reinvention of Mark Twain’s Jim
Friday, March 22, 2024
The author creates a new inner life for a “Huckleberry Finn” character.
Lily Gladstone on Oscar Hopes and Holding the Door Open
Friday, February 23, 2024
The “Killers of the Flower Moon” star talks with Michael Schulman about making history at this year’s Academy Awards, and the challenges facing Native actors in Hollywood.
Jacqueline Novak Is Giving Audiences “Everything She’s Got”
Friday, February 09, 2024
In her Netflix special, the comedian uses an act of oral sex as a springboard for a rapid-fire rant about the human condition, along with human anatomy.
The Immigration Battle in Washington, and the Real Crisis at the Border
Friday, February 02, 2024
Now that the border crisis has migrated into blue cities, the White House cannot avoid addressing a political liability. The staff writer Jonathan Blitzer talks with David Remnick.
The Oscar Nominee Cord Jefferson on Why Race Is so “Fertile” for Comedy
Friday, January 26, 2024
“American Fiction,” nominated for five Academy Awards, satirizes the literary world, and upends Hollywood conventions about Blackness.
For Journalists, “Gaza Is Unprecedented,” and Deadly
Friday, January 26, 2024
The president of the Committee to Protect Journalists discusses whether Israel is targeting Palestinian reporters, and looks at threats to the safety of journalists around the world.
Pramila Jayapal: Biden’s “Coalition Has Fractured”
Friday, January 19, 2024
The chair of the powerful Congressional Progressive Caucus looks at whether Joe Biden can put the Democratic Party back together again in time to achieve victory in the 2024 election.
Ava DuVernay Wants Her Film “Origin” to Influence the 2024 Election
Friday, January 05, 2024
The celebrated filmmaker is back with a challenging new movie intended to provoke a political response.
Dexter Filkins Reports on the Border Crisis
Friday, December 29, 2023
The last major overhaul of the immigration system was in 1986. Changing conditions and a political impasse have created a state of chaos that the Biden Administration can no longer deny.
A Harrowing Detention in Gaza
Friday, December 15, 2023
Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian writer and New Yorker contributor, was detained by Israeli forces while he tried to flee Gaza with his family.
Geoffrey Hinton: “It’s Far Too Late” to Stop Artificial Intelligence
Friday, November 17, 2023
The so-called godfather of A.I. believes we need to put constraints on the technology so it won’t free itself from human control. But he’s not sure whether that’s possible.
Will the Government Put the Reins on Amazon?
Friday, November 10, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission is suing the company. Lina Khan, the chair of the F.T.C., tells David Remnick that Amazon exploits its position as a monopoly to invisibly drive up costs.
Nicole Sealey Erased the Ferguson Report So That You Will See It
Friday, November 03, 2023
When the poet read the damning report on the police who killed Michael Brown, she imagined a different future embedded in it by erasing it into a work of lyric poetry.
Sybrina Fulton: “Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Anybody’s Son”
Friday, November 03, 2023
The mother whose teen-age boy’s death inspired a movement a little more than a decade ago continues to grieve his loss, and to demand accountability.
Is a “Win-Win” Still Possible in Policing?
Friday, November 03, 2023
Kai Wright leads a roundtable discussion about the attempts to reform policing in the wake of Black Lives Matter and whether those efforts have had a positive impact.
Hernan Diaz’s “Trust,” a Novel of High Finance
Friday, September 22, 2023
The author was nearly unknown when his second novel—about a shady, mega-rich financier—won the Pulitzer Prize. He talks with David Remnick about the “pure abstraction” of money.
Will the End of Affirmative Action Lead to the End of Legacy Admissions?
Friday, August 11, 2023
The U.S. Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, and the contributor Jeannie Suk Gersen on the movement to end legacy admissions—and the larger problem of equity in college acceptance.
