On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. did what he’d done countless times before: he began building a sermon. And in his sermons King relied on improvisation, drawing on sources and references that were limited only by his imagination and memory. It’s a gift — and a tradition — on full display in the "I Have A Dream" speech, but it’s also in conflict with the intellectual property laws that have been strenuously used by his estate since his death. In a segment originally aired in 2011, OTM producer Jamie York speaks with Drew Hansen, Keith Miller, Michael Eric Dyson and Lewis Hyde about King, imagination and the consequences of limiting access to art and ideas.

Charles Mingus - Prayer for Passive Resistance (Live at Antibes)

Sherman Hemsley died yesterday. He was the actor who played George Jefferson on the TV shows "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons"—which ran from 1975 to 1985. Michael Eric Dyson, sociology professor at Georgetown University and the author of many books, puts the character George Jefferson into context and takes your calls.

Listeners: Call us if you saw yourself or your family reflected in George Jefferson or the story of the Jeffersons. Did you define yourself against the Jeffersons? Call us at 212-433-9692 or comment here. 

Michael Eric Dyson, University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University and author of Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, discusses the book Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, written by the late historian Manning Marable.

Manning Marable, a pioneering scholar and author of a highly anticipated biography of Malcolm X, died Friday. He was due to speak with us about his new book, out today. Joining us to discuss Marable’s accomplishments and his final work are Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, and Melissa Harris-Perry, Associate Professor of Politics and African-American studies at Princeton University. Marable considered "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" book his life's work. It is the definitive account of Malcolm X drawn from primary sources, explains Michael Eric Dyson.