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.
KalaLea appears in the following:
A Visit with Thundercat
Friday, March 06, 2020
Briana Younger talks with the bassist and producer who helped make the Kendrick Lamar album “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
Pam Grier, from Blaxploitation to Black Excellence
Friday, February 21, 2020
Outrageous, raunchy, and empowered, the star of “Foxy Brown” helped change the way black lives were presented onscreen.
Tyler Foggatt Picks Three
Friday, February 07, 2020
A New Yorker staffer picks three things she can’t stop thinking about.
What Would a World Without Prisons Be Like?
Friday, January 24, 2020
Kai Wright sits down with two advocates of prison abolition to discuss the why and the how of ‘decarceration.’
Life After Prison
Friday, January 17, 2020
A few months ago, Jonathan was released from prison. Our producer shadowed him to learn what emancipation feels like after two decades of being locked up.
Ten Years After “The New Jim Crow”
Friday, January 17, 2020
In 2010, Michelle Alexander’s best-selling book spelled out how mass incarceration harms communities of color. Assessing its impact, she looks back, and forward, with David Remnick.
Peter Dinklage on Cyrano, and Life After “Thrones”
Friday, December 20, 2019
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” made him a superstar; now Dinklage can return to the stage.
The Chef Niki Nakayama Does It Her Way
Friday, December 06, 2019
The chef at one of Los Angeles’s best restaurants on how to build a woman-friendly kitchen.
Lena Waithe on Police Violence and “Queen & Slim”
Friday, November 15, 2019
The screenwriter’s new film is about a first date that goes terribly wrong when a police officer is accidentally shot. “We create the heroes we need,” Waithe tells Jelani Cobb.
Charlamagne Tha God Speaks Frankly about Mental Health
Friday, November 08, 2019
A radio personality describes his struggles, and the links between racism and stress.
Helen Rosner Picks Three
Friday, November 01, 2019
The New Yorker food correspondent shares three current food-world favorites with David Remnick—and brings samples.
Can Mayor Pete Be a Democratic Front-Runner?
Friday, November 01, 2019
Pete Buttigieg is positioning himself as the moderate to watch for in the Democratic race. Can he overcome his lack of support from black voters?
Charles Addams’s American Family
Friday, October 25, 2019
Addams set out to write a pitch-dark satire of suburban life, and ended up creating one of the most beloved cartoons of all time.
Elizabeth Strout’s View from the Top
Friday, October 04, 2019
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Olive Kitteridge” returns to a favorite haunt: a steep hill on her college campus, where she’d look out over the world.
Kate Tempest, Against Numbness
Friday, September 27, 2019
The singer and spoken-word poet performs live.
Brittany Howard, of Alabama Shakes, Talks with David Remnick
Friday, September 13, 2019
Putting her popular band on hold was difficult, Howard says, but, “Wherever creativity leads my ship, I can’t force it. Once I start forcing it, it’s not going to be no good, anyway.”
Stephen Cheng’s Chinese-Jamaican Music
Friday, August 23, 2019
The staff writer Hua Hsu on the singular career of a Chinese vocalist with global ambitions.
The Rippling Effects of China’s One-Child Policy
Friday, August 09, 2019
Nanfu Wang grew up under China’s one-child policy. But it wasn’t until she became pregnant that she began to question the law.
Jelani Cobb Picks Three Recent Historical Books
Friday, July 26, 2019
The historian and staff writer suggests three compelling recent works of history.
Aaron Sorkin Rewrites “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Friday, July 05, 2019
Adapting a classic novel for the stage, the writer had a few bones to pick with the heroic figure of Atticus Finch.
