It’s been three years since George Floyd was murdered by the police. After a swell of action followed by inaction, an important question remains: What still needs to change to break the cycle of police violence in America? Khalil and Ben talk to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison about prosecuting the officers who killed Floyd. The three also debate their visions of what justice looks like. This conversation was recorded live at the Chicago Humanities Festival.  Order Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence here To learn more about Chicago Humanities, visit their website: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of My Best Friends Are

Ending the Cycle of Police Violence with Keith Ellison

Khalil talks to Ben about a recent trip he took to South Africa and what America can learn from the country’s efforts to reckon with its racist past. Nearly 30 years after apartheid ended, reconciliation remains elusive and reparations are still unpaid.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Truth and Reconciliation: A Lesson from South Africa

Friendships like Ben and Khalil's are rare in America, according to the numbers. In this episode, they talk about the social science on interracial friendships, and about the particular conditions that made their friendship possible. Plus, why these friendships are important in bridging our deeply divided country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

Romance across race and religion has been the focus of a bunch of movies – some comedies, some dramas. Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill are taking a swing at it now, with their new movie, ‘You People.’ Ben and Khalil talk about its attempts to address the intricacies of a relationship between a Black, Muslim woman and a white, Jewish man. Is this a successful update to the 1967 classic ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s Wrong with ‘You People’?

Sports have always been political, despite what some fans might like to believe. So what role should athletes play in political movements? Malcolm Gladwell joins Ben and Khalil to discuss the history of activism in sports, including his recent podcast, Legacy of Speed, about Tommie Smith and John Carlos – two Black sprinters who raised their fists in protest at the 1968 Olympic Games.  Listen to Legacy of Speed at pushkin.fm, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taking a Knee with Malcolm Gladwell

Here’s a special episode from a new Pushkin podcast, Started From the Bottom. Host Justin Richmond interviews successful people with humble origins who managed to scale the summit of success – people who grew up on the outside, people of color, people who weren’t part of the old boys’ network. Justin recently sat down with media firebrand Charlamagne Tha God – over his 25 year career, he’s clawed his way to the top of the radio industry. Justin asked the long-time host of The Breakfast Club what it took for him – a young man suffering from anxiety, constantly in and out of jail – to become an icon of modern media. Hear more from Started From the Bottom at apple.co/thebottom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Started From the Bottom: How Charlamagne Turned Failure Into Success

Matthew Guterl is a historian of race and nation at Brown University, and also Khalil’s other white best friend. He joins the show to discuss his powerful new memoir, Skinfolk. It’s about his experience growing up in New Jersey during the 1970s, part of a large family with multiracial and adopted siblings. The three of them have a frank conversation about family dynamics and the limits of transracial adoption.  You can order a copy of Skinfolk here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324091714See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can Multiracial Adoption End Racism?

Ben and Khalil throw it back to the 1970s to talk about the TV shows they loved growing up – two of the greatest and most important sit-coms: Sanford & Son and The Jeffersons. They discuss how the shows handle race, class and comedy. And how the small screen and the world it reflects have changed since then.  If you’d like to rewatch Sanford & Son or The Jeffersons, both are available on Amazon Prime Video. Further Reading: The Media Dramas of Norman Lear - Michael J. Arlen, The New Yorker Jake Austen’s zine Roctober on the vast comedic work of Redd FoxxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jeffersons vs. Sanford & Son

Khalil and Ben go to the movies with the perfect partner: Jacqueline Stewart, the director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. They talk about how movies shape our lives, and why representation matters… on the big screen and at awards shows (Oscars still so white). To learn more about the museum, visit their website: https://www.academymuseum.org/en/  To see the full clip of Sacheen Littlefeather rejecting the Best Actor award on behalf of Marlon Brando click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUacU0I4yU&ab_channel=Oscars See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why We Love and Hate Hollywood

Author and poet Clint Smith joins Ben and Khalil to talk about his new collection of poetry, “Above Ground.” They also discuss his previous book, “How the Word Is Passed,” a series of essays evaluating how America reckons with and memorializes slavery. To learn more about Clint Smith and order his books, go to his website: https://www.clintsmithiii.com/ Further reading:  Tyre Nichols Wanted to Capture the Sunset - Clint Smith, The Atlantic  Monuments to the Unthinkable - Clint Smith, The AtlanticSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to Write the Past & Future with Clint Smith

Jamal Simmons spent a year working as the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris. In his first podcast interview since leaving the job, Jamal talks with Ben and Khalil about everything it takes to be vice president. What is the role of a VP? What challenges has Vice President Harris faced as the first woman of color to have the job? What should we make of criticisms of her from both the left and the right? What are VP Harris's prospects as a likely future presidential candidate?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kamala Harris for President?

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis succeeded in stripping important ideas and essential people out of the new curriculum for the national Advanced Placement African American Studies course. Khalil and Ben discuss why people like DeSantis are working so hard to obscure parts of our history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida Man Attacks ‘Woke’ Curriculum

Legendary Chicago Mayor Harold Washington is the subject of a new documentary called “Punch 9 for Harold Washington.” In this week’s episode, Ben and Khalil discuss the legacy of the city’s first Black mayor. They are also joined by Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, a Chicago alderwoman, who is working to revive a multi-racial alliance of progressive voters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is a New Rainbow Coalition of Voters Possible?

There are roughly 600,000 people experiencing homelessness -- “houselessness”-- in the United States. Ben and Khalil talk with Dr. Heidi Behforouz about how to address a problem that is immense but not intractable. She is the Medical Director of Housing For Health in Los Angeles County, which creates a safety net for people that includes housing, medical care, social services and also dignity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We Know How to Solve Homelessness. We Just Need to Do It.

Eve L. Ewing is a renowned scholar, poet, teacher and cultural organizer. She also writes Marvel comic books, including Ironheart, which came to life on the big screen in the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Eve joins Ben and Khalil to discuss the importance of increasing racial representation in the superhero universe, and the backlash against it. Plus, why creatives should write for kids and take them seriously.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eve L. Ewing Into the Multiverse

Some of My Best Friends Are… is a podcast hosted by Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Ben Austen, two best friends who grew up together on the South Side of Chicago in the 1980s. Today a Harvard professor and an award-winning journalist, Khalil and Ben still go to each other to talk about their experiences with the absurdities and intricacies of race in America. In Some of My Best Friends Are..., they invite listeners into their unfiltered conversations about growing up together in a deeply-divided country, and navigating that divide as it exists today.

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Some of My Best Friends Are

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