June 3, 2016

EP. 8 — Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander speaks from the heart. An accomplished author and playwright, she delivered her poem, Praise Song for the Day, to an audience of millions at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Alexander, a professor of African-American Studies at Yale, speaks with David about how everyone can learn to appreciate poetry, how students on campuses are fighting a necessary fight for a more accurate depiction of history, and how poetry helped her know she was still alive after the death of her husband.

This episode is sponsored by Urban Dapper Club, The Great Courses, and Ibotta.

Recent Episodes

December 23, 2016

Former NBC CEO Bob Wright lost his wife, Suzanne, to pancreatic cancer earlier this year, and on this episode, he wants to know why so little progress has been made in the last 50 years against a disease with such a high mortality rate.

December 16, 2016

Bishop Michael Curry is the leader of the Episcopalian church, and as we head into the new year, he’s here to tell us how the teachings of Jesus just might help create change.

This episode is brought to you by Children International (www.children.org/give).

December 9, 2016

In 2007, everything changed. At least, that’s according to journalist Tom Friedman, who tells David in this episode how 2007 was the single greatest technological inflection point since the printing press—and how we all missed it.

This episode is brought to you by Proper Cloth (www.propercloth.com/gregory).