African Americans

Hall of Famer Satchel Paige started his career pitching in the Negro leagues and later became a major league star. Author Larry Tye tells his story in Satchel. Originally broadcast in 2010.

Giddens' Freedom Highway is an exploration of African American experiences, accompanied by an instrument with its own uniquely African American story: the banjo. Originally broadcast May 11, 2017.

In the 1960s, Reagon was a founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee's Freedom Singers. In 1988, she spoke to Fresh Air about the songs she sang as an activist.

Jamiles Lartey discusses policing in America. He is a staff writer for The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that covers the U.S. criminal justice system. He previously reported on criminal justice, race and policing for The Guardian, where he was part of a team that created an online database tracking police violence in 2015 and 2016.