74. The Story of Us 2026, Part 1

About this episode

This episode explores the impact of McCarthyism on artistic careers through conversation and performances.

This episode is an act of recovery, uplifting the artistic careers that McCarthyism upended through an immersive blend of conversation and artivism performances. Host Kimberlé Crenshaw is joined by award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen; and former President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and film scholar Jacqueline Stewart. Hear powerful artivism performances by two-time Tony Award winning actor Kara Young (Purlie Victorious, Purpose) and Tony-nominated actor Jon Michael Hill (Purpose, Elementary, Detroit 1-8-7, A Man in Full), directed by Professor of Theatre and Africana Studies at Oberlin College Justin Emeka. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Connect with us: ⁠⁠Donate to our show⁠ Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Watch an extended cut of this presentation on Youtube⁠ ⁠Read the Sundance 2026 Directors' Cut⁠

People in this episode

Host: Kimberlé Crenshaw

Guests: Ava DuVernay, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jacqueline Stewart

Topics covered

• artivism
• McCarthyism
• artistic careers
• performance
• conversation
• film
• theatre

Keywords

• McCarthyism
• artivism
• performance
• theatre
• film
• artistic careers
• conversation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Blue Dot Sessions

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