Wed, Jan 2, 2019
Susannah was the love of Prince's life. Nothing Compares 2 U is about her. If I Was Your Girlfriend is about her. They started dating before Purple Rain. They got engaged just before he started shooting Under The Cherry Moon. She talks all about the relationship and the story behind "Starfish and Coffee"-which was a song from a story from her childhood.
Tue, Mar 26, 2019
Jodie Patterson wrote one of the great books of the year-The Bold World, a beautiful and gripping memoir that turns at the moment her three-year-old tells her, "I don't feel like a boy, I am a boy." From that moment she evolves into a fierce advocate for him and trans people everywhere. She's an amazing woman.
Wed, Apr 3, 2019
She is one of the great musicians of her era, a woman who Ava Duvernay calls "a goddess." She's a brilliant funk and soul singer/songwriter/bass player who's also now scoring Queen Sugar. She started the neo-soul movement that gave you D'Angelo, Erykah, Lauryn, Maxwell, and them. And she's an amazing person who's been through a lot. She's a phenomenal woman who I'm proud to call a friend.
Wed, Apr 17, 2019
Dr. Melina Abdullah is an original member of Black Lives Matter and the staunchest and most public critic of the LAPD. She recently faced a year in prison for allegedly touching an LAPD officer, a very scary situation, but she fought through it. She is one of the freest people I know and one of the fiercest activists I've ever met. She's amazing.
Wed, May 8, 2019
Fab 5 Freddy is the director of a new Netflix doc about marijuana called the Grass Is Greener and he's a legend. He was a graffiti artist in the 80s when hip-hop was forming. He was the original host of Yo. MTV Raps when that show really mattered. He's an OG in hip-hop, art, and the NY scene.
Wed, May 22, 2019
Jemele Hill is a national icon. She went into ESPN as a journalist and came out a star. In the process she became Trump's least favorite journalist but who cares what he thinks. She's now got a podcast on Spotify called Unbothered and she's writing for the Atlantic and she's about to get married. Jemele is definitely living her best life. Here we talk ESPN, sports, Trump, fame, her wedding, and more.
Wed, May 29, 2019
Boots Riley is one of the most exciting directors in Hollywood today. His amazing debut Sorry To Bother You is one of my favorite films of the last few years. It was original and powerful and an engrossing anti-capitalism story. Here we talk about his film, Hollywood, growing up in the Bay Area, his amazing rap group The Coup, and his criticism of Spike Lee's Black Klansman.
Wed, Jun 5, 2019
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is one of the most important people in Congress today because he knows how to push things through Congress, despite historic dysfunction. We talk a lot about impeachment, the insanity of Trump, the First Step Act, and how Senator Mitch McConnell is "a disgrace." Hear, hear.
Wed, Jun 12, 2019
Elaine Welteroth is fierce. She was the editor in chief at Teen Vogue, now she's on Project Runway, and she's written an amazing memoir about her young life called, "More Than Enough" that's inspiring and funny and will teach the children a lot about how to get ahead. Elaine is the role model we need right now.
Wed, Jun 19, 2019
Dr. Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana are two of the Central Park 5, men who are portrayed in the amazing new film When They See Us. They lost their freedom, their dignity, and their lives but they persevered and now they're exonerated and they're the subjects of a film by Ava Duvernay. We talk about everything in this almost two hour interview.
Wed, Jun 26, 2019
Billy Porter is the star of Pose and Kinky Boots and one of the most captivating actors working today. We talk about him kissing on camera, wearing a masculine dress to the Oscars, and escaping his childhood home where he was molested for years. This is powerful, revealing, and riveting. Billy is amazing.
Wed, Jul 3, 2019
Shangela is a drag queen superstar who blew up on RuPaul's Drag Race and has been crushing it ever since. It's not just about the amazing outfits, the death drop dance move, the comedy-Shangela, aka DJ, is a performer and an entrepreneur who figured out how to turn a love of entertaining, dance, and drag into a real big time career.
Wed, Jul 24, 2019
He's running for President, he's a superstar Senator, he was a superstar Mayor-Cory Booker can do anything. What's his superpower? How have his parents shaped his life? Why is he out here shoveling driveways and rescuing people from fires? And what does he think when people say he seems white? We cover everything in this no holds barred interview.
Wed, Aug 7, 2019
Dapper Dan is a fashion legend, a hip-hop legend, and a Harlem legend. He's the man who made the clothes that define the height of early hip-hop style by chopping up clothes made by the high fashion houses and turning the fabric into something new, bold, and fresh. He went to prison for that and hit bottom but he's rebounded and now he's got a partnership with Gucci. His story is amazing.
Wed, Aug 14, 2019
Sandra Bernhard is one of my favorite actress/comic/singers of all time. Long before she was Nurse Judy on Pose, she was on the Richard Pryor Show and in Martin Scorsese's the King of Comedy and so much more. I interviewed her at the very beginning of my career and made a total mess out of it, one of the most embarrassing professional moments ever so I'm thrilled I had a chance to re-interview her and show her I can be an actual professional. Sandra's a treasure who can do anything onstage. I hope you learn a lot from her.
Wed, Sep 11, 2019
DMC is one-third of Run-DMC the most important group in hip-hop history. Run-DMC were rap's first superstars and their success helped the genre become a global phenomenon. But through all the triumphs, DMC was unhappy. He was an alcoholic who became depressed and then suicidal. He thought about how to kill himself all the time. Then he found out he was adopted. This is an amazingly honest life story.
Wed, Oct 2, 2019
Brittany Howard is the leader of the Alabama Shakes, an amazing blues band, and she's just released her first solo album Jaime, named for her older sister who died when they were children. The album is deep and so is Brittany. I love this conversation with her about music and life and family and race and so much more.
Wed, Oct 9, 2019
Ambassador Susan Rice was President Obama's National Security Advisor for four years. She was the first one from the administration to go on TV and talk about the Benghazi attacks and the Republicans made her pay for that with an unending series of attacks that cost her a chance to become Secretary of State and ended up making her 9 year old daughter have frightening hallucinations. The Republicans' attack on Rice was political, and personal, and had nothing to do with the actual tragedy that took place in Benghazi. Rice talks about all of this and more in her new memoir Tough Love and on this show.
Wed, Oct 23, 2019
Cyntoia Brown got out of prison just a few months ago. She did 15 years of a life sentence in prison for murder and she admits to having shot and killed a man but she was 15 years old and she had been forced into prostitution by a much older man after years of being raped, abused, and led astray. When the world learned about her case there was an outcry-the system had failed her, everyone failed her. Her story is amazing and it's chronicled in a heartbreaking book called Free Cyntoia. We talk through her unbelievable story and try to understand how she made it through.
Wed, Oct 30, 2019
Michael Smith was at ESPN for 15 years, he grew up there and became the co-anchor (along with Jemele Hill) of one of the net's marquee shows, the 6pm SportsCenter. But as soon as they started, things started going downhill. It was a very rough end to his time at ESPN but he's grateful for every moment and now that he's out he feels liberated. Here he details the what happened when they got the show and how everything fell apart. This will take you inside the world of TV and ESPN like nothing you've ever heard. It's Michael's deepest and most revealing interview ever.
Wed, Nov 6, 2019
Lawrence O'Donnell is one of the best TV hosts in cable news. He's a man of passion and intelligence who prosecutes his subjects and sometimes his guests in a way that recalls a lawyer doing a cross examination. He's had a fascinating life-he's hosted The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC for almost ten years, he wrote for the legendary TV show the West Wing, he was an advisor for New York Senator Daniel Moynihan in the 90s. We get into all of that and disdain for Donald Trump in this fascinating conversation. I've known Lawrence for a long time so this was a treat.
Wed, Nov 13, 2019
Politicon is an annual multi-day political festival that now takes place in Nashville. I conceived and moderated a panel where I wanted to get some of my smartest Black friends onstage to talk about how they feel about being Black in the Trump era. I feel under siege, I feel rejected, and I feel like the country is in an era that's painful and frightening to me and people who like me. I feel like the MAGA hat is the new Klan hood and it scares me to see it worn so brazenly and thoughtlessly. I wondered how others were feeling about being Black in the era of Trump. We had six awesome panelists-April Ryan the White House reporter, Malcolm Nance the superspy who just published the Plot To Betray America, Elie Mystal the legal analyst, Lexi McCammond the Axios reporter, Maya Wiley the activist and legal analyst, and Briahna Joy Gray the national press secretary for Bernie Sanders. The panel was attended by hundreds.
Wed, Nov 20, 2019
The Lucas Brothers are a pair of twins, Keith and Kenny, who are amazing stand-up comedians and comedy writers. They're hysterical, they're highly intellectual philosophers, they're stoners, they're everything. They've got a sitcom coming out and they're working on another standup special and they're part of Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show and they're two of my favorite comics-well, they're one act, so actually they're one of my favorite comics-so for the 100th episode of this show, it's something special.
Wed, Nov 27, 2019
Malcolm Nance is the author of a powerful new book about how Russia lured in and controlled Trump called The Plot To Destroy America. He knows Trump isn't gripped by a fear of kompromat but a love of money. He was also in the Navy for over 35 years, reaching the highest levels and fighting in combat on multiple continents. He talks about Trump, combat, guns, crazy war stories, and how to survive being taken as a hostage. He's an amazing American. Great conversation.
Wed, Dec 4, 2019
The intellectual heavyweight champion is back with a book breaking down the genius of Jay-Z called Jay-Z: Made In America. Dyson is an old friend of mine, he wrote the introduction for my book Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness, so we get into a deep conversation here. We talk about Jay-Z and the next MC he could write a whole book about and Kaepernick and his struggle to bury two brothers in the last few years. This is powerful and personal and brilliant and fun.
Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Kim Fields has had an amazing acting career-she started as a kid on The Facts of Life, in her 20s she was a part of the iconic Living Single, she's done the Real Housewives of Atlanta, and now she's a director as well as an actor starring in Lifetime's You Light Up My Christmas. I grew up watching her play Tootie on on The Facts of Life so it was a thrill to meet her. That said, I did not expect this conversation to get so deep.
Wed, Dec 18, 2019
Yvette Nicole Brown makes me happy every time I see her onscreen. She's a ray of sunshine. That's probably why she made it from growing up with nothing in Cleveland to having a long, steady career acting in Hollywood. She was on Community, she was in Avengers: Endgame, she's done movies, sitcoms, kids shows, all kinds of things. We had an amazing talk about life and acting and walking away from her career to care for her Dad and much more. She's an incredible person.
Tue, Dec 24, 2019
Phillip Youmans is 19 years young and he's already written and directed a powerful film starring Wendell Pierce called Burning Cane that's on Netflix right now. Ava Duvernay has called it a must see film. It's a mature drama that does not seem like it was made by a teenage newbie. This conversation is about filmmaking in general, meant to help anyone who wants to direct, write, or make film, and it's led by a filmmaking prodigy who seems destined to become a major filmmaker.
Mon, Dec 30, 2019
Sandra St. Victor is a legendary singer who led a group called the Family Stand and sang the 90s classic "Ghetto Heaven." She worked with Prince, Chaka Khan, Roy Ayers, and many more. This is almost a master class in how to sing because she goes deep into the physical and spiritual things you need to think about if you want to be a singer or if you just want to understand singing a little better.