Kai Wright

Host & Managing Editor, Notes From America with Kai Wright

Kai Wright appears in the following:

The Legacy of Abu Ghraib

Friday, September 10, 2021

One man’s ongoing effort to get justice for the abuse he endured at a U.S. prison in Iraq.

Maybe We Just Want Less ‘Work’

Tuesday, September 07, 2021

The “Great Resignation” appears to be a real thing. But why? We ask workers what they really want. Plus, 45 questions to help us understand each other, and ourselves.

How Zillow Explains Education Inequity

Monday, August 30, 2021

Hundred year old school buildings. Sputtering HVAC systems. Covid revealed a legacy of racism that’s built into the physical infrastructure of education.

The Man, the Myth, the Manipulation

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Why do we equate macho bullying with competent leadership? The cautionary tale of Andrew Cuomo.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Haiti and International Aid

Monday, August 23, 2021

Haiti’s recent tragedies revives a conversation about disaster, aid, and how people recover. Then, a discussion about perspective on the 30th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots.

Affirmative Action: Truths and Lies

Monday, August 16, 2021

“Reverse racism” has haunted the fight for job equity for generations. How’d this bizarre idea become such a bugbear? One Supreme Court case, 50 years ago helps explain.

What the Olympics Taught Us About Us

Monday, August 09, 2021

If sports are a metaphor for life, what are they telling us about our society right now?

‘Ethical People Can Be Effective’

Monday, August 02, 2021

Remembering the life of Bob Moses, and his mission to build a more equitable America from the bottom up.

To Protect and Observe: A History

Monday, July 26, 2021

Today’s viral videos of police abuse have a long political lineage. But what if one of the oldest tools of copwatching is now taken away?

The American Story, in Half a Year

Monday, July 19, 2021

2021 began with an insurrection, and it’s remained quietly intense ever since. We open the phones for a six-month check in on the political culture of the Biden era.

The Short Life and Early Death of Voting Rights

Monday, July 12, 2021

Birth, August 1965. Death, July 2021. So now what for multiracial democracy?

Can America Be Redeemed?

Monday, July 05, 2021

Eddie Glaude and Imani Perry consider the question through the work of James Baldwin and Richard Wright. Plus: How our country could enter a period of “post-traumatic growth.”

David Dinkins vs. the NYPD

Monday, June 14, 2021

How NYC’s first Black mayor tried to balance concerns about public safety with demands for a more accountable police force -- and the violent resistance he faced from the police union.

The Dawn of ‘Anti-Racist’ America

Monday, June 07, 2021

Ibram X. Kendi reflects on a shifting political culture -- and the fierce backlash against it. Plus, a remembrance of the 1921 Tulsa massacre.

The ‘Big Bang’ in Jazz History

Monday, May 31, 2021

Composer Jason Moran takes Kai on a musical journey back to 1918, when a group of Black soldiers reinvented American music.

Reflections on the Anniversary of George Floyd's Murder

Thursday, May 27, 2021

WNYC's The United States of Anxiety host Kai Wright joins us for a reflection on the year since George Floyd was murdered. 

Comment

How NYPD ‘Kettled’ the Spirit of Reform

Monday, May 24, 2021

New Yorkers reacted to George Floyd’s murder with mass protests demanding police accountability. NYPD met them with targeted violence and abuse.

F*&% Robert Moses. Let’s Start Over

Monday, May 17, 2021

We’re finally back in the streets -- but are we ready to reimagine how we share public space? This week, a trip through the century-long fight between cars, bikes, and people.

Ma’Khia Bryant’s Story Is Too Familiar

Thursday, May 13, 2021

We failed her long before the cops killed her. We’re failing thousands more children like her now. In this bonus episode, we meet one of those girls.

No More ‘Selfless’ Moms

Monday, May 10, 2021

Erased from history. Ignored in public policy. This Mother’s Day, we ask how to truly value “motherwork.” Plus: The story of one “woke birth.”