Our Body Politic

This week, Farai speaks to the filmmakers of a new documentary The Big Payback Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow along with a key voice from the film founder and executive director of FirstRepair, Robin Rue Simmons. The film follows the growing movement for reparations for centuries of government policies blocking Black wealth. Then in the “Our Body Politics Presents...” series, we feature a conversation between “This Day in Esoteric Political History” podcast hosts Jody Avirgan, Nicole “Niki” Hemmer, and Kellie Carter Jackson with special guest Jelani Cobb, New Yorker writer, about the evolving language used to describe Black Americans. Plus, in our weekly segment, Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai speaks to Mutale Nkonde, CEO of AI for the People and Kelsey Butler, equality reporter for Bloomberg News about the growing presence and impact of disinformation online and how the government could effectively intervene and curb it.

Who deserves and enjoys access to “America the Beautiful?” This week OBP guest host and veteran broadcast journalist Celeste Headlee interviews Baratunde Thurston, writer, activist and host of the new six-part PBS series, America Outdoors, about the new series and how we can collectively increase diversity in outdoor recreation and lean into more sustainable practices in nature. Then in the weekly segment, Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai speaks to Washington Post opinions columnist and OBP contributor, Karen Attiah and public defender for Legal Aid Society of New York and political commentator, Olayemi Olurin about the latest news in the Jan 6 Committee hearings, President Biden’s alleged tactics to address high gas prices, and the controversy around Senator Tiara Mack twerking on Tik Tok.

Welcome to the first episode of Our Body Politic, created by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya. This episode digs into the controversies surrounding the Census with actor and activist Alfre Woodard. Farai talks to two lawyers leading the campaign to put a Black woman on the Supreme Court. Errin Haines of The 19th and Jess Morales Rocketto of the National Domestic Workers Alliance discuss the power of Black and WoC voters this November. Plus, our weekly Covid update about the pandemic’s impact on communities of color.

Episode Rundown

1:57 April Reign and Sabriya Williams talk about the death of Supreme- Court- Justice Ruth-Bader-Ginsberg.

4:14 Why representation in the Supreme Court matters.

5:35 Republicans’ plans to rush a new Supreme Court Justice.

8:38 “There’s already names that are being circulated of Black women who might be Supreme Court justices and nominees.”

13:51 Errin Haines and Jess Morales Rocketto talk about the importance of the Women of Color vote in the upcoming presidential election.

15:18 Oh my gosh. Absolutely. Women of color are key to winning elections.

17:18 Erin Haines - “I mean, you don’t have Joe Biden as your presumptive Democratic nominee weeks ahead of schedule without Black women, right?”

18:58 Jess Morales Rocketto - “To my Latina sisters and fems, honestly, I think the most important thing is that we can really make the difference in this election.”

20:43 Covid news and how essential workers are disproportionately affected by the virus.

22:07 Last month, the CDC abruptly changed its testing guidelines, saying people who weren’t showing symptoms of COVID-19 didn’t need to be tested, even if they thought they’d been exposed.

24:09 Dr. Kavita Trivedi talks about her background iat the CDC as an epidemic intelligence service officer, and helping to manage outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections and manage infection control.

26:56 “We have now clearly seen that African Americans, Latinx communities, are disproportionately affected by the pandemic in so many different ways. “

29:05 Dr. Trivedi stresses the importance of the flu vaccine this upcoming winter, so that doctors can rule out the sickness when COVID symptoms arise.

32:16 An interview with Soraya Nadia McDonald about Naomi Osaka.

37:25 Naomi Osaka repping Black Lives Matter masks during the US Open.

40:02 An interview with Alfred Woodard about the importance of the Census.

42:29 “So many people are putting their lives on the line daily to keep the country rolling.”

49:25 Alfred Woodward says, if those enslaved can show up for the Census, so can we.

47:48 “I tell stories because I want to lift all of my sisters and my brothers the same way that griots have always done.”

48:49 “Black Lives Matter was a hashtag that started after the death of Trayvon Martin to find each other online.”

What does it mean to age with purpose? In this week’s show, we are invited to hear a past conversation between Farai and author of Sign My Name to Freedom Betty Reid Soskin, who recently retired at age 100 from her work as a National Park Ranger and community historian. Then in “Our Body Politics Presents,” we hear more from Tonya Mosley’s podcast “Truth Be Told” where she speaks to Ayanna Brown, a mother who graciously details her cycle of loving, losing, grieving, and persevering. On the weekly segment, “Sippin’ the Political Tea” Farai speaks with professor and Vice Chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, Dr. Mercedes Carnethon and author of 55, Underemployed and Faking Normal, Elizabeth White on how to age well, physically, emotionally and financially.

The Turkish government's weak response to the region’s devastating earthquakes may signal the beginning of a political shift away from the current administration. We speak with Prof. Ali Tekin, a political scientist on the ground. Then we pivot to a conversation about apologies–how to give and how to receive– with co-authors of the book “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies", Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy.