17 2025 July
An Important Lesson About Youth Culture from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Every summer on the National Mall in DC the Smithsonian hosts their Folklife Festival. Typically, the weekend-long event brings craftspeople from around the world to...
Read Now
15 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Afrofuturism by Kevin M. Strait and Kinshasha Holman Conwill
“There are Black people in the future.” That’s the brilliant reminder on the back cover of this book I recall reading and selecting for our...
Read Now
11 2025 June
Why Boys Are Falling Behind In School (And How To Fix It)
American schools and kindergarten specifically are not designed for boys … But they should be. That’s the conclusion from a piece in the New York...
Read Now
20 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard
From all the “30 under 30” lists to the stories of tech billionaires who made their fortunes in their early 20s it can seem like...
Read Now
02 2025 May
Why the Nike Backlash May Be Just the Beginning
When Jennifer and I wrote Beyond Diversity, one of the first things we talked about was blind spots. We knew that there would be things we...
Read Now
14 2025 February
The Super Bowl Halftime Show Went Over Many People’s Heads. Here’s What It Meant …
Recently it seems like stories about social media often center on the negative impact of various platforms making it easy to spread misinformation, fuel hate...
Read Now11 2025 February
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Negotiating While Black by Damali Peterman
If you are an avid follower of our Non-Obvious Book Awards program, you might recognize this week’s selection: Negotiating While Black. It was our pick...
Read Now27 2025 January
DEI May Be Dying … But Here’s What Could Replace It
When Jennifer Brown and I first published our book Beyond Diversity in 2021 it was moment of big momentum for DEI. Amongst the many other books published...
Read Now14 2024 November
Is All-Blind Narration the Future of Audio Description for Films & TV?
“He looks ahead, his dark eyebrows overshadowing his dark eyes. One of his several gold teeth gleams in the dim light.” This is the audio...
Read Now30 2024 October
Victoria’s Secret Brought Back Their Runway Show as an Example of How They’ve Changed. Did It Work?
Six years ago, Victoria’s Secret shelved their popular runway show after significant blowback from media and consumers alike who felt the show was objectifying women....
Read Now24 2024 September
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
This is the best kind of book about important questions. One that doesn’t preach or try to convert with the answers, but rather focuses on...
Read Now23 2024 September
UK Non-Profit Ties Baby Slings on Statues to Fight for Paternity Leave
Across London this week, people have been encountering an unusual sight. Statues of famous men are adorned with wraparound baby carriers filled with dolls. The exhibits...
Read Now19 2024 September
How the Black List Changed Hollywood, and Might Change Publishing Too
Nearly twenty years ago, Franklin Leonard started publishing his Black List which collected “an annual survey of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays.” The goal was to help undiscovered...
Read Now