Podcasts by The Assignment with Audie Cornish
Each week on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish pulls listeners out of their digital echo chambers to hear from the people whose lives intersect with the news cycle. From the sex work economy to the battle over what’s taught in classrooms, no topic is off the table. Listen to The Assignment every Tuesday and Thursday.
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Trump’s Second Term Plans from 2023-11-28T22:00
Mass deportations, a weaponized justice department, purges of civil servants: these are among the plans that former President Trump and his allies are making for a second term in the White House. C...
ListenWhat Does It Mean to Be Patriotic? from 2023-11-23T10:00
The number of Americans who would say that they’re “extremely proud to be American” is at a record low, according to a recent Gallup poll. Perhaps that’s not surprising, given widespread political ...
ListenCan Anyone Beat Trump? from 2023-11-20T20:00
New polling shows that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has moved into second place in New Hampshire, behind Donald Trump. Haley's momentum hasn’t gone unnoticed by the anti-Trump fund...
ListenMeet The Students Challenging Book Bans from 2023-11-16T10:00
We are revisiting the public school culture wars – this time, from the perspective of students. What have we learned from the kids who are fighting against book bans? How has the war over books spa...
ListenChina’s Disinformation Campaign Against Americans from 2023-11-14T22:00
Ahead of President Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi, CNN spoke to Americans who are being hounded and harassed by the Chinese government's brazen online disinformation campaign. Correspond...
ListenThe Army's Recruitment Challenge from 2023-11-09T10:00
Last year the Army missed its recruitment goal; it had 65,000 spots to fill and came in 10,000 short. Audie talks with a former recruiter about what he saw as some of the challenges the Army faces ...
ListenShould Biden Bow Out? Axelrod Weighs In from 2023-11-07T23:23
New polling shows President Biden trailing Donald Trump in key battleground states, and that has many Democrats worried about his re-election prospects. Can anything be done to turn the numbers aro...
ListenHow Ordinary People Exposed January 6th from 2023-11-02T09:00
Dive into the world of online detectives tracking down January 6th insurrectionists. How did a dedicated community of digital sleuths help the FBI bring thousands to justice? Audie sits down with R...
ListenWhy Trump’s Ex-Lawyers are Flipping from 2023-10-31T16:00
Lawyers who represented former President Donald Trump face a tough choice: cooperate with prosecutors or face the wrath of the MAGA movement. CNN’s senior reporter of crime and justice Katelyn Pola...
ListenThe Serious Business of Romance Novels from 2023-10-26T09:00
Book sales — in general — are down, but one genre is bucking that trend: romance. Romance novel sales surged a whopping 52% in 2022. So what’s behind the popularity? How did romance become the reig...
ListenHow The Young Guns Lost the GOP from 2023-10-24T21:00
More than a decade ago, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor pitched themselves as the future of the Republican Party. They even gave themselves a nickname: The Young Guns. Now those dreams ar...
ListenWhat It's Like to Evacuate in Gaza from 2023-10-19T09:00
Thousands of people have already been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict. And Israel has told residents of northern Gaza to evacuate roughly 20 miles to the south for their own safety. This week A...
ListenHow Americans Feel About Israel from 2023-10-17T21:02
How do Americans feel about Israel? Broadly, there is deep sympathy for Israel and its response to Hamas in Gaza. But polling shows that among America’s more diverse, younger generation, attitudes ...
ListenRoxane Gay Reflects on 10 Years of Opinions from 2023-10-12T09:00
Writer Roxane Gay comes from a generation of what you might call “very online.” She gained international fame because she had a distinctive voice that stood far from the madding crowd on social med...
ListenDoes Fact-Checking Work? from 2023-10-10T21:00
The political landscape has never been more confusing, and to some, even overwhelming. How do we determine fact from fiction? What keeps fact-checkers up at night? And what’s a democracy to do when...
ListenAn Epic Translation for a Modern Audience from 2023-09-28T09:00
How do you take a story everyone thinks they know, and look at it through a new lens? What role – if any – does the identity of the translator play in the retelling of a story? And what is it like ...
ListenThe Free Speech Wars on Campus from 2023-09-21T09:00
Between student protests, controversial speakers, and debates over “safe spaces,” complaints about free speech on campus are louder than ever. How do school leaders respond to these gripes? And how...
ListenGreek Life Gone Viral from 2023-09-14T09:00
In recent years, Greek life faced a crisis as the pandemic cast a shadow on recruitment, and the “abolish Greek life” movement grew across campuses. But then came #RushTok — a flurry of TikToks doc...
ListenWe’re Taking Your Assignments: Money, Marijuana, and Montana from 2023-09-07T09:00
Is there a coin shortage in the U.S.? Is there an increase in kids smoking weed at school? And: what’s the deal with Montana politics? All of these questions were asked by you, our listeners. Thr...
ListenHollywood’s Hot Strike Summer from 2023-08-31T09:00
For Labor Day — the unofficial end of summer and the official holiday celebrating the American worker — we are checking in on the state of the striking actors and writers demanding more from the st...
ListenThe Fight Against Digital Hate from 2023-08-24T09:00
Imran Ahmed is a man in the middle of the disinformation wars. He is the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an organization dedicated to researching online hate speech and disinf...
ListenFighting Fires on the Frontlines of Climate Change from 2023-08-17T09:00
Devastating wildfires like the ones in Maui could become more common in our future due to a host of several factors, including climate change. But what about the folks who are already grappling wit...
ListenSex and Sensibilities: Let’s Talk About Puriteens from 2023-08-10T09:00
Have you heard about the “puriteens”? That’s the nickname for Gen Z’ers who are uncomfortable with sex and sexuality, and discuss that discomfort, largely online. Well, the media is obsessed with t...
ListenThe Assignment presents The Axe Files with David Axelrod from 2023-08-03T09:00
When Audie Cornish first crossed paths with David Axelrod, she was a young radio reporter with no clout and he was the big-shot campaign manager of then-candidate Barack Obama. No wonder she couldn...
ListenThe Assignment presents Chasing Life with Sanjay Gupta from 2023-07-27T09:00
Why is there such stigma attached to getting older? How can we prepare to transition through the different stages of life? Those are some of the questions CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanj...
ListenTikTok Is Changing Music, One Song at a Time from 2023-07-20T09:00
TikTok has turned the traditional music industry on its head. Users on the platform are dictating hits before they reach the charts and revolutionizing the way artists are discovered. But what happ...
ListenCourting Controversy: Inside the Supreme Court from 2023-07-13T09:00
The Supreme Court just completed a historic term that sent the country spinning and CNN’s own Joan Biskupic is here to help make sense of it all. Joan’s 30-year career reporting on the court has af...
ListenLarry Wilmore: A Candid Conversation on Television, Culture, and Creativity from 2023-07-06T09:00
Larry Wilmore’s influence as a writer and producer spans shows from “In Living Color” to “The Bernie Mac Show” to “The Daily Show.” He’s acutely aware of the role that television plays in our lives...
ListenMeet the New Homeschoolers from 2023-06-29T09:00
The pandemic kicked off a dramatic rise in homeschooling. And who had the largest increase? Black families. This week, Audie talks with two parents who chose to homeschool their children, Carlos Bi...
ListenAfter Roe: Navigating the Legal Landscape of New Abortion Laws from 2023-06-22T09:00
One year after Roe v Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, we were wondering: what is happening to people caught up in the web of changing law? It's been a tumultuous and uncer...
ListenGratuitous Gratuity? The Truth About Tipping from 2023-06-15T09:00
This week, Audie visits a restaurant that got rid of tipping, and looks into the movement to get rid of the practice all together. Our guests are Amanda Cohen, chef and owner of Dirt Candy, a no-ti...
ListenWired for Trouble: Kara Swisher on Big Tech from 2023-06-08T09:00
Today, we explore the perils of social media on kids and the way families are fighting back against big tech. First, how the experience of Candace Wuest and her daughter CeCe show the consequences ...
ListenFlying This Summer? Pack Your Patience from 2023-06-01T09:00
Staffing shortages caused major disruptions for air travelers last summer. Now air crew unions are pushing back against their bosses and losing patience with customers. From "no toe nail clipping"...
ListenWhat’s Your Sign? Astrology's Modern Renaissance from 2023-05-25T09:00
Why is astrology having such a moment? The business of astrology — estimated to be worth more than $2 billion — is booming: apps, classes, conferences, startups. All being fueled by the social medi...
ListenNavigating Misinformation at the Border from 2023-05-18T09:00
How has technology reshaped the migrant journey? When the Trump-era immigration policy called Title 42 expired, misinformation proliferated on social media platforms that migrants use to communicat...
ListenThe Rise and Fall of “Woke” with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi from 2023-05-11T09:00
What’s it like to be at the forefront of a cultural backlash? Academic and author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi certainly knows. His books, “How to Be an Antiracist,” and its follow-up, a youth-friendly versi...
ListenAI in the time of Loneliness from 2023-05-04T09:00
This week, the Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy addressed the epidemic of loneliness Americans are facing. As a way of combatting the feelings of isolation, Dr. Murthy laid out a six-pillar plan ro...
ListenYes, We're All Being Spied On from 2023-04-27T09:00
Remember the Chinese spy balloon? Since then, we’ve seen leaked Pentagon spy documents on Discord and the discovery of fake Chinese police stations used for surveillance in the U.S. The line betwee...
ListenClickbait Fashion Is Taking Over Your Feed from 2023-04-20T09:00
Are we cycling through fashion trends faster than ever? Cores, aesthetics, and those big red boots! Our Assignment this week is a deep dive into how the social media algorithm is turning each of us...
ListenLouder Than Guns from 2023-04-13T04:00
Can Country music help lead the U.S. out of the gun debate? There is a long history of famous country musicians using their platforms to comment on social and political issues. But since the lead s...
ListenHolding Space for Therapy Speak from 2023-04-06T09:00
Why is everyone talking about their “attachment style” or “boundaries” and “triggers”? Therapy speak, both online and IRL, has become a normal part of our daily discourse – especially since the pan...
ListenRun, Hide, Fight from 2023-03-30T09:00
We have trained a generation of people how to think about, respond to, and survive a mass shooting, including children. Educators and law enforcement officials have developed curricula for schools ...
ListenYes, This Economy Is Confusing from 2023-03-23T09:00
The past few weeks have been head spinning: U.S. job numbers? Solid... except for those layoffs in the tech sector. Inflation? Slowly dropping... but still high. Not to mention the bank failures......
ListenThe Assignment Returns March 23rd from 2023-03-16T09:00
The Assignment is returning with new episodes every Thursday, and we're taking some of our assignments from you, including: trying to figure out our baffling economy, the rise of therapy speak onli...
ListenThe Assignment presents Story of the Week from 2023-03-09T10:00
The Assignment is hard at work reporting more stories about the people living the headlines. We’ll have new episodes in the feed starting March 23rd. In the meantime, here’s a special episode of an...
ListenNew Year, New Assignments from 2023-01-05T10:00
Happy New Year! We’re still on our holiday break but wanted to take a moment to reflect and set some new goals. In this episode, Audie listens to your voicemails, feedback, and ideas for future ass...
ListenMeet The Parents Taking Over School Boards from 2022-11-17T09:00
For decades, parents have been passionate about what their children learn in school. In 1970s West Virginia they protested over diverse textbooks, in 2022 it’s the handling of the pandemic and issu...
ListenIntroducing: The Assignment from 2022-11-04T19:33:45
Fiery Twitter threads and endless news notifications never capture the full story. Each week on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish pulls listeners out of their digital echo chambers to hear from th...
ListenRemembering Trayvon Martin from 2022-02-23T09:00
The death of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012 sparked a social justice movement that still reverberates today. In this special episode of CNN's 5 Things, Don Lemon examines why the killing initi...
ListenHow the King of Calypso Helped Change the World from 2021-07-15T08:00
For nearly 70 years, superstar actor and singer Harry Belafonte has used his platform to advocate for freedom and equality in America and around the world. Don Lemon speaks with Belafonte about his...
ListenWhen Catwoman Met Lady Bird from 2021-07-08T08:00
Don’t call Eartha Kitt an “angry Black woman.” That’s how Eartha was portrayed when she spoke truth to power and criticized the Vietnam War and wealth inequality in front of President Johnson and t...
ListenThe Team That Took on a Senator from 2021-07-01T08:00
What would you risk to fight racism? In 2020, the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream put paychecks on the line to speak up for Black Lives Matter and against their owner, former Senator Kelly Loeffler. It was an...
ListenA Gay Civil Rights Leader Pushed into the Shadows from 2021-06-24T08:00
Bayard Rustin organized the March on Washington and advised Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on direct nonviolent action, but this Civil Rights hero didn’t get his proper due at the time because he was ...
ListenThe Officer Who Didn't Stand By from 2021-06-17T08:00
When former Buffalo police officer Cariol Horne saw a colleague put a handcuffed Black man in a chokehold, she said she knew she had to do something. Her intervention cost her job and her pension. ...
ListenFifteen-Year-Old Freedom Fighter from 2021-06-10T08:00
Everyone’s heard the story of Rosa Parks, but few know of Claudette Colvin, the 15-year-old girl who was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a White passenger... nine months before...
ListenSeason 2: Rabble-Rousers and Truth-Tellers from 2021-06-04T13:13:41
Change doesn’t happen without taking risks, without fearless activists who stand up for what’s right even when it’s uncomfortable. This season, Don shares the stories of those who used their fame t...
ListenLift Every Voice and Sing from 2021-02-11T09:00
The so-called Black National Anthem was composed in 1900, and it’s provided a soundtrack to Black life ever since. For this special Black History Month episode, CNN’s Don Lemon speaks with Rep. Jam...
ListenThe Axe Files: Nikole Hannah-Jones from 2020-12-31T09:00
When Nikole Hannah-Jones was a high school student at a predominantly white school in Waterloo, Iowa, she complained to a teacher that the school newspaper wasn’t covering stories that mattered to ...
ListenBlack to the Future from 2020-11-19T09:00
A record number of Black candidates ran for office this year, representing not only their constituencies, but also the diversity of perspectives that exist among Black Americans. Don talks to two n...
ListenBlack Women Did That from 2020-11-12T09:00
Black women are largely responsible for electing America’s next president. They have been one of the Democratic party’s most reliable voting blocs for a long time. Why? Don talks with LaTosha Brown...
ListenYes, Voter Suppression is Alive and Well from 2020-10-22T08:00
Why is still so hard for Black communities to vote in this country? Massive early voter turnout has led to hours-long waiting lines, and Black and other voters of color can expect to wait the longe...
ListenCan You Vote Your Way to Change? from 2020-10-15T08:00
If injustice occurs in America no matter who is leading the country, is voting really as powerful as we say it is? Election day is so close, yet not everyone is convinced that voting will lead to m...
ListenRaising an Antiracist Generation from 2020-09-10T08:00
School is back in session as protests and calls for racial justice continue across America. So how should parents and teachers talk to kids about this national reckoning? Don speaks with clinical p...
ListenThe Color of Love from 2020-08-27T08:00
Amidst a summer of unrest and calls for social justice, Don talks with host of CNN's United Shades of America W. Kamau Bell about matters of the heart. More than five decades have passed since the ...
ListenClearing the Air: Environmental Justice from 2020-08-20T08:00
As the 2020 presidential election approaches, environmental protections, natural resource management and climate change are a big part of the conversation. Protecting the environment goes way beyon...
ListenDo Black Lives Matter in Sports? from 2020-08-13T08:00
The NBA and Major League Baseball have restarted their seasons and NFL training camps are underway. As professional leagues and college teams navigate how to play safely during a pandemic, they are...
ListenAmerican Caste with Isabel Wilkerson from 2020-08-06T08:00
Lately everyone has been talking about race, but Pulitzer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson wants us to look at caste as well. We may associate that strict social hierarchy with India, but Wilkerson ar...
ListenReimagining the Police from 2020-07-30T08:00
As protests against police brutality continue across the country, there are calls to reform, defund, and even abolish the police. So, what does it all mean? Don talks to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka abo...
ListenFinding Common Ground from 2020-07-23T08:00
In the wake of antisemitic comments from prominent Black athletes and entertainers, we examine the strong alliances and deeply ingrained tensions between the Black and Jewish communities. How does ...
ListenDefining What Matters from 2020-07-16T08:00
When racial tensions flare, people often call for a conversation about race. But do we all share the same definition of racism? Don speaks with recent college graduate, Kennedy Mitchum about changi...
ListenMonumental Conversations from 2020-07-09T08:00
Confederate statues and symbols are being removed all over the country. This is long overdue for some, while others say that it’s a dangerous effort to erase history. Don speaks with the descendant...
ListenSchooling the System from 2020-07-02T08:00
It’s been over 60 years since the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. But in 2020, some classrooms are still pretty segregated. Don reflects on his o...
ListenBeyond Mammy: Misrepresentation in Film from 2020-06-25T08:00
In the midst of protests for racial justice and calls for police reform and defunding, why should we care about the movies? Well, representation matters and the media we consume influences the way ...
ListenWhy Not Being Racist is Not Enough from 2020-06-18T08:00
We live in a society where it's no longer enough to simply not be racist—we must proactively choose to be antiracist. And that choice means showing up and doing the work, every single day.In this e...
ListenThere is No Going Back From This Moment from 2020-06-15T21:11
Whether you're protesting in the streets or at the voting booth, we all recognize the need to disrupt generations of racism in our country. Knowing what to do is harder. Each week, Don Lemon will t...
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