What Does It Mean To Be Free?

What Does It Mean To Be Free?

Author Ayana Mathis' new novel, The Unsettled, is an intergenerational story centered around one Black family’s struggle to find freedom in the 1980s. Like her previous work, migration and movement are major themes in the book. But this time, her characters are at a crossroads, unsure of their next step in search of self-determination. Mathis joins host Kai Wright to reveal the questions that torment the characters in her gripping novel, and discuss her own journey grappling with those themes.

During this episode, Kai refers to a previous episode about our Future of Black History series featuring Saidiya Hartman, which can be found here.

This episode was originally published September 25, 2023.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Episoder(424)

Alone Together During COVID-19: Live Call-in

Alone Together During COVID-19: Live Call-in

Part of the mission of our show is to address our collective anxieties. The COVID-19 pandemic has already drastically reshaped our lives, our politics, and our health -- both physical and mental. Righ...

13 Mar 20201h 16min

Black Power at the Polls

Black Power at the Polls

A lot of people have a lot of opinions about the choices black people are making in the Democratic primary. But as we've seen in other election cycles, when the dust settles, the country seems to move...

12 Mar 202027min

Keeping White Power at the Polls

Keeping White Power at the Polls

The United States of Anxiety presents: What Next "One person, one vote" has not always been a given in America. After the Civil War, there was some debate over who should be counted in a congressional...

5 Mar 202022min

A Secret Meeting in South Bend

A Secret Meeting in South Bend

Mike Jackson, like many descendants of the Great Migration, has a family home that was built from protest, resilience and ingenuity. In the spring of 1950, his parents met in secret with 25 other fami...

27 Feb 202044min

Fragility in Liberty

Fragility in Liberty

Many of us associate the Statue of Liberty with the poem mounted on her pedestal: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The monument has become a symbol of imm...

20 Feb 202041min

Paralysis at the Crossroads

Paralysis at the Crossroads

As primary season kicks off, Democratic voters around the country face a deeper choice than electability: Is the best response to Donald Trump a return to comity and unity in our politics, or must the...

13 Feb 202022min

Two Schools in Marin County

Two Schools in Marin County

Last year, the California Attorney General held a tense press conference at a tiny elementary school in the one working class, black neighborhood of the mostly wealthy and white Marin County. His offi...

6 Feb 202051min

40 Acres in Mississippi

40 Acres in Mississippi

Elbert Lester has lived his full 94 years in Quitman County, Mississippi, on land he and his family own. That’s exceptional for black people in this area, and some family members even say the land cam...

30 Jan 202043min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
forklart
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
det-store-bildet
rss-ness
nokon-ma-ga
hanna-de-heldige
fotballpodden-2
aftenbla-bla
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-utenrikskomiteen-med-bogen-og-grasvik
e24-podden
bt-dokumentar-2