Kai Wright is host and managing editor of Notes From America with Kai Wright, a show about the unfinished business of our history and its grip on our future. The show airs live on WNYC, Sundays at 6p eastern.
The Atlantic hailed the show as one of the “The Best Podcasts of 2018,” declaring that it “has always been able to swiftly explain current events through the lens of the past.”
In addition, Wright was the host of WNYC Studios’ other limited edition podcasts with social justice themes: The Stakes, There Goes the Neighborhood, and Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice, which was honored with an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. He also served as one of the hosts of Indivisible, a national live radio call-in show that WNYC convened during the first 100 days of the Trump Administration to invite Americans to come together across divides.
Wright’s journalism has focused on social, racial, and economic justice throughout his career. Formerly, he was an editor at The Nation and the editorial director of Colorlines. As a fellow of Type Investigations, he covered economic inequality, access to healthcare, and racial inequity. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Mother Jones, and Salon, among other outlets, and his broadcast appearances include MSNBC and NPR. Wright is the author of Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York, as well as two surveys of black American history.
Shows:
Kai Wright appears in the following:
Thursday, September 28, 2023
The model for amassing obscene wealth, pioneered in 19th century California, may be finally hitting its limits.
Monday, September 25, 2023
In her latest novel, best-selling author Ayana Mathis unpacks what it means to be free in America.
Monday, September 18, 2023
When the movement that doubts the reality of climate change began — and how scientific consensus has been perpetually undermined.
Thursday, September 14, 2023
It was the largest mass closing in U.S. history. Chicago promised a chance to revitalize communities. 10 years later, it’s a different reality.
Monday, September 11, 2023
“The Death of Public School” author Cara Fitzpatrick tells the story of a movement, six decades in the making, that’s picked away at the very idea of public education in the U.S.
Thursday, September 07, 2023
On the 50th anniversary of hip hop, how one corner of rap from the ‘80s and ‘90s shaped our culture for decades to come.
Monday, September 04, 2023
You’re in the U.S., you’re an immigrant, but when others try to group you in with a particular diaspora, you don’t feel it fits. Where does your community exist?
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Vivek Ramaswamy labeled Trump the best president of the 21st century. Chris Christie compared Ramaswamy to ChatGPT. Conservative callers reflect on the first Republican debate.
Monday, August 28, 2023
From Stone Mountain to Alpharetta, we hear from listeners around the state and unpack what Trump’s indictment means for future elections and our democratic process.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
From Polynesian DJ remixes to the Isley Brothers, our listener-generated summer playlist is still bumping.
Monday, August 21, 2023
Fatalism is becoming as harmful as denial in our effort to face climate change. So, let’s talk solutions.
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Davids Wallace-Wells calculated the cost to fix our climate. It requires us to reconsider what needs to change and who’s responsible.
Monday, August 14, 2023
What hippies, civil rights activists and anarchist punks put on their plates and how it might be the key to imagining a different climate future.
Monday, August 07, 2023
Understanding its origins is the first step in understanding the evolution of civil rights and whether racism could be a permanent fixture of society.
Friday, August 04, 2023
Guests take turns reading the Donald Trump indictment from the Department of Justice special counsel, probing into the former president's 2020 election interference and Jan. 6, 2021
Thursday, August 03, 2023
The story of the first Black doll to have the name Barbie.
Monday, July 31, 2023
A disastrous period in the 1980’s. Where we went wrong and what we keep doing wrong today.
Thursday, July 27, 2023
All great punk is a reaction to something. For artist James Spooner, he created Afro-Punk when he saw a room filled with nazis, and decided to make his own.
Monday, July 24, 2023
Which music speaks to your life in the U.S. when you’re part of a diaspora? Listeners tell us.
Thursday, July 20, 2023
We’re gonna need a bigger bench.