Black Writers Read

Send us Fan Mail This episode features our conversation with Johnisha Matthews Levi, which was live-streamed on September 27, 2026. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Johnisha Matthews Levi brings a critical eye to her writing based on her experiences as a development professional for social impact nonprofits, a former litigation attorney, and a culinarian. She graduated from Harvard University, New York University School of Law, and Johnson & Wales University. Her writing has appeared in...

Send us Fan Mail A companion podcast to our award-winning series, Black Writers Read, Recasting the Culture highlights the work of BIPOC innovators and other co-conspirators, offering an inside look into the practice and process of writers, musicians, visual artists, curators, community leaders, and educators whose work challenges conventions, re/defines culture, and promotes social transformation. This episode features my conversation with Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian jazz musician...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features our conversation with Desiree Cooper, which was live-streamed on September 8, 2026. Desiree Cooper is a 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, former attorney, and editor of the groundbreaking 2026 anthology, Black Summers: Growing up in the Urban Outdoors. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Oprah Daily, MSNBC Daily, Flash Fiction America 2023, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, River Teeth, and noted in The Best Am...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Season Seven! Check out this trailer to get a sneak peek of the upcoming season. Black Writers Read showcases, celebrates, and elevates the words, work, and traditions of the African Diaspora. Launched on Juneteenth in 2020, we've hosted over 100 authors representing over 20 genres from six countries and 28 states. Lucky #7! This season, we're focusing on the work of public intellectuals. As Nicole embarks on her first year as a tenure-track professor at a communit...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features our conversation with Dr. Rachel Laryea, which was live-streamed on June 26, 2026. Dr. Rachel Laryea is a thought leader who specializes in race and money, ethical entrepreneurship, and social good. After cutting her teeth on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs, she went on to receive her dual Ph.D. in African American Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology at Yale University. Her ethnographic research aims to understand nuanced forms of Black participation in ...