Kai Wright is host and managing editor of The Stakes, a podcast about social change, produced by the Narrative Unit of WNYC’s newsroom.
He was also the host of the podcasts The United States of Anxiety, Caught, and There Goes the Neighborhood, as well as a co-host of Indivisible, a live national call-in show that WNYC convened during the Trump administration’s first 100 days.
Kai’s journalism has focused on social justice throughout his career. He is a former editor for The Nation, as well as the former editorial director of Colorlines. As a fellow of Type Investigations, he covered economic inequality, access to healthcare, and racial inequity for years. Kai is the author of Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York and two surveys of black American history.
Shows:
Kai Wright appears in the following:
Paralysis at the Crossroads
Thursday, February 13, 2020
We talk to voters about their fear of making the wrong decision, and remember an election so consequential it split a major party - and the country - in two.
OTM Presents: U.S. of Anxiety's "40 Acres in Mississippi"
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Our WNYC colleagues fact-check a family legend about "40 acres and a mule," and find a story about the promise and peril of the American Dream at the end of Reconstruction.
America, Are We Ready? New Hampshire Edition
Monday, February 10, 2020
WNYC's Brian Lehrer and NHPR's Laura Knoy join forces as the polls close in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary with calls from NH and around the country.
Two Schools in Marin County
Thursday, February 06, 2020
In the classrooms and town meetings of Marin, California we witness a community grappling with what desegregation and reparations might look like in the 21st century.
The United States of Anxiety: School Desegregation
Thursday, February 06, 2020
Kai Wright, host of The United States of Anxiety from WNYC Studios, joins us to discuss their latest episode, which focuses on the difficulties of school desegregation.
History's Unfinished Business and the 2020 Election
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Kai Wright on unresolved issues in U.S. history, like wealth distribution and racial equity, and their impact on the election.
40 Acres in Mississippi
Thursday, January 30, 2020
We fact check a family legend about "40 acres and a mule," and find a story about the promise and peril of the American Dream at the end of Reconstruction.
Can We Finally Build a Multiracial Democracy in 2020?
Thursday, January 16, 2020
After the Civil War ended, America set out to build the world's first multiracial democracy. More than 150 years later, we’re still trying to pull it off.
The Stakes' Visit to The Legacy Museum
Friday, January 03, 2020
The Stakes’ host, Kai Wright, and Karen Frillmann, the shows’ executive producer, on their trip to The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery, Alabama.
Buttigieg's Campaign for Black Votes
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Will comparing LGBTQ discrimination to racism take him far?
There Goes the Neighborhood: Miami, Part 3
Thursday, November 07, 2019
Life and loss in Little Haiti, where residents find themselves in the path of a land rush.
The Land Rush
Thursday, November 07, 2019
Life and loss in Little Haiti, where residents find themselves in the path of a land rush.
There Goes the Neighborhood: Miami, Part 2
Wednesday, November 06, 2019
The fear of mass displacement isn’t paranoia for black people in Liberty City. It’s family history.
Buying into Black
Wednesday, November 06, 2019
The fear of mass displacement isn’t paranoia for black people in Liberty City. It’s family history.
Premium Elevation
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
The sea level is rising -- and so is the rent. It’s the first episode in our three part series on “climate gentrification.”
There Goes the Neighborhood: Miami, Part 1
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
The sea level is rising -- and so is the rent. It’s the first episode in our three part series on “climate gentrification.”
The Next Debt Crisis That No One's Talking About
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
An ambitious young immigrant is scammed into a buying a used car he can’t afford. But selling people unaffordable loans is big business and more consumers than ever can’t pay them back.
Denial at the Trump Hotel
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Climate change skeptics are finding it harder to deny the Earth is warming. So what's their plan now?
White Like Me
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
One family’s generational journey into whiteness, and the shifting roles white identity politics have played in American elections.
A History of Persuasion: Part 3
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Silicon Valley’s “millionaire maker” is a behavioral scientist who harnessed the power of persuasion in a booming tech industry. But it might not be too big to rein in.
