In honor of the continuing Black Lives Matter protests and the movement as a whole, we’re bringing you some more ways you can educate yourself and broaden your knowledge of black history. We’ve selected 5 great and informative podcasts that will give you a crash course and motivation to do and learn more!
1. "1619"
The New York Times’ fascinating, exquisitely produced podcast about the history of slavery is a tough listen but important nonetheless. The podcast begins with the arrival of African slaves in the United States in 1619 and moves forward and backward in time to examine how we arrived where we are today. It is a part of the larger 1619 Project, which published several pieces of media about the history of slavery and provided educational materials to schools and educators.
This podcast from Stitcher explores a wider breadth of black history than just one topic. Natasha McEachron hosts this diverse, funny exploration into anything ranging from black poets to abolitionists like Fredrick Douglass. In their words, this podcast “explores black pride, excellence, and power all 366 days a year.”
This podcast from NPR isn’t exclusively about black history, but the lessons it teaches and the cultures it dives into do include it. This podcast features hosts of different cultures, nationalities, and races talking about how race, politics, and culture collide -- and what happens when those collisions aren’t good. This is a great way to learn about how cultures are different in general, and how we can make ourselves better at being a global melting pot.
This podcast takes the personal aspect of history and blows it up. Created by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, this podcast takes unique personal artifacts from the museum’s collection and brings them to life. If general history isn’t your thing, this podcast is a more personal way into history that gets emotional and complicated.
5. "Everyday Black History: Afro Appreciation"
This podcast from Anchor explores black historical figures and cultural icons who are worth remembering. But this isn’t just a podcast about people who lived hundreds of years ago. Listen to this episode about Dr. Jennifer Satterfield Siegel and Melissa Harville-Lebron, who own NASCAR racing teams -- not your everyday history lesson, huh?
Get to listening!