Baratunde Thurston is a comedian, writer, and media entrepreneur. He has eyes open to the contradictions, strangeness, and beauty of being human. He looks for learning happening even amidst our hardest cultural tangles. And he intertwines all of this, innovatively and searchingly, with his lifelong joy in the natural world.
The kaleidoscopic view of life and love and the world that is Baratunde's builds and builds in this conversation Krista had with him around the edges of the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival — towards an exuberant glimpse of how we can all be more fully human and socially creative.
Baratunde Thurston's latest adventure is hosting the fascinating PBS series America Outdoors. He's been Director of Digital at The Onion, produced The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and advised on digital strategy at The White House. He's a founding partner of the media start-up Puck, and creator and host of the podcast How To Citizen. He's the author of several books, including How To Be Black.
Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.
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Nicholas Christakis — How We’re Wired for Goodness
[Unedited] Nicholas Christakis with Krista Tippett
Robert Macfarlane — The Worlds Beneath Our Feet
[Unedited] Robert Macfarlane with Krista Tippett
Tracy K. Smith and Michael Kleber-Diggs — ‘History is upon us... its hand against our back.’
[Unedited] Tracy K. Smith and Michael Kleber-Diggs with Krista Tippett
Jill Tarter — 'It Takes a Cosmos to Make a Human'
[Unedited] Jill Tarter with Krista Tippett
Joy Harjo — The Whole of Time
[Extended] Joy Harjo with Krista Tippett
Daniel Kahneman – Why We Contradict Ourselves and Confound Each Other
[Unedited] Daniel Kahneman with Krista Tippett
Living the Questions — We’ve been enmeshed with our technologies. Tech Shabbat for everyone?
Hanif Abdurraqib — Moments of Shared Witnessing
[Unedited] Hanif Abdurraqib with Pádraig Ó Tuama
Layli Long Soldier — The Freedom of Real Apologies
[Unedited] Layli Long Soldier with Krista Tippett
Resmaa Menakem — ‘Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence’
[Unedited] Resmaa Menakem with Krista Tippett
Bryan Doerries — "You are not alone across time."
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