Jemele Hill Is Unbothered Podcast Latest Episode: The 1619 Project & the NFL's First Black President

When Spotify decided to hit the gas pedal on its podcast strategy, it certainly didn't play it safe with its shows. A prime example is the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast, which is like an audio martini -- one part intelligence, one part outrage and one part insight.

 Amidst America’s reckoning with racial injustices and an ongoing turbulent political climate, Spotify’s “Jemele Hill is Unbothered” podcast provides listeners with Jemele’s bold, unfiltered take on current events each week in real-time on some of the hottest topics of the day.

In the latest episode, Jemele reacts to the bittersweet fact that the first black President in the NFL’s 100 year history was just announced last week by the Washington Football Team.  

Also, Nikole Hannah-Jones joined the podcast to discuss her Pulitzer-winning 1619 Project for The New York Times; the inspiration behind it, why it’s more than relevant in 2020, the public response, what’s next for her, and shares a lighthearted story about texting with Oprah.  

Hill began her podcast in early 2019 and has released episodes regularly since then on Mondays and Thursdays. Like many interview podcasts, the show is a mirror reflection of the host. Here, Hill doesn't disappoint listeners. Just as she demonstrated on ESPN for 12 years, Hill is smart without being smart-alecky, prescient without being pompous and controversial without cravenly pandering for ratings.

I first spotted Hill as a reporter on ESPN's legacy show The Sports Reporters, which was a Sunday morning show reviewing the week's sports news. With the steady hand of host John Saunders (who died suddenly in 2016) at the helm, the show found an intersection between sports and racial injustice and Saunders changed the tone and the color of the panelists with Hill being joined more and more by well-respected and eloquent black sports reporters such as Howard Bryant, Bryan Burwell, Roy Johnson and Jason Whitlock. 

 The August 28, 2016 episode of the show made history with an all-female edition of The Sports Reporters, with Hill as the moderator and fellow ESPN reporters Sarah Spain, Kate Fagan, and Jane McManus on the panel. It was a refreshing and overdue change for two reasons. First, it proved that sports discussions are not the sole province of men such as Mike Lupica, whose opinions and voice sound like a dental drill. Second, women can offer incisive sports commentary that is often different from that of their male counterparts and at times more insightful. 

In an interview with PopSugar in January 2019, Hill said: "If sports are already one of the big few things that bring us together, then why couldn't we be able to have some really interesting and thoughtful conversations as adults? A lot of the creativity is born out of the fact that it's a much different platform," Hill said of working with Spotify. She explained in the interview that Spotify has a "much broader base" than ESPN and they function differently. "People don't come to Spotify for some deep dive into sports. I think they come expecting a little bit of everything, which gives me an opportunity to have more freedom."

It's about time

In the episode, Hill talks about the Washington Football Team's announcement of its first black president in the the NFL's 100-year history. The former Redskins team was owned by George Preston Marshall, a notorious racist who kept black players off his team until the middle 60s when he forced by the government and the NFL to sign black players. Star running back and receiver Bobby Mitchell was one of three black players signed in 1962 by Washington.
"Back in 2005, when I was a sports columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, I broke an unfortunate racial barrier. I was the only black female sports columnist at a daily newspaper in North America. And notice, I didn't say America, but the North...out of 405 daily newspapers, a lot of people patted me on the back for that, but I didn't really want to be congratulated. I took no pride whatsoever in having that distinction, how I felt about it is this week's word of the week," Hill notes in the episode.

Hill also observed last month, 15 former female employees of the organization told the Washington Post that they were sexually harassed and were subjected to a toxic work environment.

"Now, as a result of these brave women coming forward, Washington announced it was dropping the racial slur nickname, which is something activists have been begging for them to do forever. So what changed?" Hill says in the podcast.

The new Washington football team president is Jason Wright , who has an MBA from University of Chicago and while he's the youngest team president in league history, he was a partner in a global strategy and management consulting firm, and he also played seven years in the NFL,

"I am happy for Jason and I really hope he does a fantastic job, but the fact that it's 2020 and those kinds of firsts are still being reached, says everything about just how many barriers stand in the way of black advancement. That is why the word of the week is embarrassing," says Hill.

The 1619 Project

When Nikole Hannah-Jones joined the podcast to discuss her Pulitzer-winning 1619 Project for The New York Times, Hill didn't waste any time, asking, "Why do you think it's important that in 2020 that we understand what the legacy of slavery is?"

Hannah-Jones responds: "So, um, what leads a white police officer to put his hands in his pocket and kneel on a black man's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds knowing he's being recorded - what leads to that moment? What leads people all across the country and all 50 States to take to the streets, to have to declare a, what should be a fundamental truth, which is that black lives matter. Why do we have a man in the white house right now who is re tweeting supporters saying white power and who today says that he's not going to enforce the fair housing act because black, basically black people moving to the suburbs has ruined the suburbs.

"All of that is because we were a country who engaged in chattel slavery, who believed that it was okay to buy and sell human beings for profit and had to develop a system of racism to justify buying and selling human beings for profit. And we've never parsed ourself with that legacy. Donald Trump got elected because we are a country founded on white supremacy and he spoke to enough white Americans who were worried that they were losing their place in the racial hierarchy. So we can't understand where we are in America without understanding the racism that develops to justify slavery. It all starts there - so much about our country that starts there."

 Texting with Oprah

"I actually would say the coolest experience is Oprah because she loved the project. I had never talked to Oprah in my life, of course, why would I... and she has been super supportive and, we had a conversation about, you know, ways to expand and then I get like this, you know, text message," says Hannah-Jones.
"Oprah texted you?!" Hill asks.
"She did and she asked for my autograph on the 1619 projects," exclaims Hannah-Jones. "And I'm like, you, like, why on earth would you want my autograph? And I was like, Oh my God, it was just like, you know, you’re worried when you meet someone who you have admired and known your whole life that they're going to do something to disabuse you of how you felt about them, but that wasn't the case at all. And I was like, I just wish she would hold me. Which sounds a little crazy right now. "


Bother to listen
Jemele Hill is Unbothered is a podcast that doesn't have tunnel vision. Indeed, the podcast spreads its rhetorical wings with destinations as diverse as discussions with singer John Legend, actor Ellen Pompeo, actor Regina King, comedian Larry Wilmore, Shark Tank entrepreneur Daymond John and Senator Cory Booker.

In a world where the rant is considered routine speech, Jemele Hill demonstrates to her listeners twice a week that she's candid, canny and capable.