KalaLea is an audio journalist who has produced stories for NPR’s Latino USA, Slate Studios, NPR’s Interfaith Voices, The New Yorker podcasts and KCRW.
She received her Master’s degree from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with a specialization in multimedia storytelling. In 2017, KalaLea was a recipient of the Tow-Knight Entrepreneurial Journalism fellowship.
Before working in audio, KalaLea worked as a digital producer for advertising and publishing companies. And before that, she was the owner of a little cafe in Brooklyn.
Shows:
KalaLea appears in the following:
The Photographer Who Documented a Long-Forgotten Pan-African Festival
Friday, January 06, 2023
Julian Lucas talks with Marilyn Nance about FESTAC ’77, described as the most important Black cultural event of the last century. Why have so few people heard of it?
Pleasure and Politics at the World Cup
Friday, December 09, 2022
“The first ten days were soccer as it is,” Sam Knight writes, “rather than as you want it to be.” He reports on his experience in Qatar.
How Qatar Took the World Cup
Friday, November 18, 2022
Heidi Blake, a co-author of “The Ugly Game,” speaks about FIFA’s dirty business, and how Qatar came to host the games.
U2’s Bono Talks with David Remnick—Live
Friday, October 28, 2022
The singer has written a memoir, “Surrender.” It deals with the early loss of his mother, finding religion in music, and navigating the Troubles while in a rock band from Dublin.
Joshua Yaffa on What’s Next for Ukraine
Friday, September 30, 2022
In recent weeks, we’ve seen a sharp turn of events in Russia and Ukraine. But, even as Ukrainian troops make significant advances, Moscow is threatening nuclear war.
The Actor Jenifer Lewis: Mother, Activist, Hurricane
Friday, August 26, 2022
Wherever she performs, Jenifer Lewis tends to steal the show. Now she’s written a new book and plays a multimillionaire boss on Showtime’s “I Love That For You.”
Emma Green on Understanding the Nuance in the Abortion Debate
Friday, August 19, 2022
The staff writer, who covers the pro-life movement, discusses how individuals’ positions seldom reflect the furious partisan divide. Green shares some nuanced sources.
What’s Driving Black Candidates to the Republican Party?
Friday, August 19, 2022
The Republican Party has made clear that it has no place for Black activism. Yet Black candidates for Congress are running in the G.O.P. in record numbers.
The Writer Dmitry Bykov on Putin’s Russia, the Land of the “Most Free Slaves”
Friday, July 15, 2022
Dmitry Bykov was a force in Russian cultural life; now he’s effectively in exile, probably for as long as Putin remains in power. The regime is “the final stage of Russian decline.”
Forget Dating Apps—the “Marriage Pact” Goes for the Long Haul
Friday, June 17, 2022
At campuses across the country, students are taking an online survey designed to find them a long-term match. Can algorithms point the way to more satisfying relationships?
Sara Nelson on the Drive to Unionize Delta Flight Attendants
Friday, June 03, 2022
The head of the largest flight attendants’ union is leading her members through turbulent times. Nelson speaks with The New Yorker’s Jennifer Gonnerman.
Sheldon Pearce on Three Records that Aren’t Getting Their Due at the Grammys
Friday, April 01, 2022
The New Yorker music writer would like to right some wrongs in the nominations for pop’s biggest awards.
The Chef Bryant Terry on How To “Blackify” Fennel
Friday, March 25, 2022
Helen Rosner talks with the cookbook author and food-justice activist about uplifting diverse traditions in Black cooking and reclaiming veganism from white hipsters.
Returning to the Office . . . While Black
Friday, March 18, 2022
The Radio Hour producer KalaLea talks frankly with some Black workers about returning to the fraught dynamics of the office after two years away.
Jonathan Blitzer on Caetano Veloso
Friday, March 11, 2022
Blitzer recently profiled the living giant of Brazilian music for The New Yorker. Now he picks some key tracks from Veloso’s vast catalogue that illuminate his long career.
'Blindspot: Tulsa Burning' & American History Today
Thursday, February 10, 2022
KalaLea, host of the Dupont award winning podcast, Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, on what it means when the teaching of history is contested.
Black Thought Takes the Stage
Friday, February 04, 2022
The legendary rapper of the Roots turns to musical theatre with “Black No More,” based on a novel from the Harlem Renaissance.
The Olympic Games Return to China, in a Changed World
Friday, January 21, 2022
With COVID-19 restrictions in place and a diplomatic boycott from many nations planned, will anyone watch the 2022 Beijing Games?
Is the Gift of Tuition Enough?
Friday, December 17, 2021
Élite universities want to diversify. A college senior explains how, even when schools give full scholarships, they may misunderstand the needs of the students they seek to recruit.
Life After Prison
Friday, December 03, 2021
In 2019, Jonathan was released from prison. Our producer shadowed him to learn what emancipation feels like after two decades of being locked up.
