The “Aspen Ideas to Go” podcast is a weekly show featuring fascinating speakers who have presented at the Aspen Ideas Festival and other public programs offered by the Aspen Institute — including Aspen Words, the Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series, and various events around the country. For a curated listening experience, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or listen to each episode on the Aspen Ideas website.
In his book “The Black Presidency,” Michael Eric Dyson explores the powerful, surprising way the politics of race have shaped President Barack Obama’s identity and groundbreaking presidency. How has Obama dealt publicly with race as the national traumas of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott have played out during his tenure? What can we learn from Obama’s major race speeches about his approach to racial conflict and the black criticism it provokes?
Dyson is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University. A former factory worker, an ordained Baptist minister and a onetime church pastor, Dyson earned a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University, and has also taught at Brown University, Columbia University, the University of North Carolina, DePaul University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Dyson has written 17 books, including national best sellers on Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and the rapper Tupac Shakur. This episode features his conversation with the Aspen Institute CEO and president Walter Isaacson.
Catch up on previous episodes by visiting the Aspen Ideas Festival website.
Marci Krivonen is associate editor and producer of public programs at the Aspen Institute.
