KalaLea has been producing interviews and narrative features for almost five years for WNYC and the New Yorker Radio Hour, hosted by David Remnick.
KalaLea has a Master’s degree from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where she has taught an Audio Reporting course. KalaLea is also the host of Season 2 of Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, a collaboration with the History Channel, WNYC Studios , KOSU and Focus Black Oklahoma. In 2022, KalaLea and the Tulsa Burning team were awarded a duPont Columbia Journalism Award, two Webby Awards for Best Series and Best Writing, as well as a NAACP Image Awardfor Outstanding News + Information Podcast. They were also nominated for a Peabody Award.
Before becoming a radio journalist, KalaLea worked as a digital producer and before that she was the co-owner of a little cafe in Brooklyn, NY.
Shows:
KalaLea appears in the following:
The New Yorker’s Political Writers Answer Your Election Questions
Friday, June 28, 2024
David Remnick asked listeners for their questions about the Presidential election, and a crack team of The New Yorker’s political writers came together to answer them.
Cécile McLorin Salvant Finds “the Gems That Haven’t Been Sung and Sung”
Friday, May 31, 2024
Though rooted in the jazz tradition, the singer's interests and repertoire reach across eras, languages, and continents.
Salmon in the Dishwasher? Hannah Goldfield’s Highlights of Culinary TikTok
Friday, May 10, 2024
The food writer on the joys of watching cooking— good and horrible alike—on social media.
Wired’s Katie Drummond: The TikTok Ban Is “a Vast Overreach, Rooted in Hypocrisy”
Friday, May 10, 2024
A prominent tech journalist sees Silicon Valley corporations making policy in Washington—and lawmakers refusing to regulate social media properly.
Randall Kennedy on Harvard Protests, Antisemitism, and the Meaning of Free Speech
Friday, May 03, 2024
“The word ‘safety,’ ” the legal scholar tells David Remnick, has “been very much inflated,” and defining antisemitism too broadly will have a chilling effect on academic freedom.
Jerry Seinfeld on Making a Life in Comedy (and Also, Pop-Tarts)
Friday, April 26, 2024
The comedian could have retired decades ago, but he continues to hone his craft onstage, and at age seventy he’s directed his first feature film, “Unfrosted.”
The Attack on Black History, with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jelani Cobb
Friday, April 05, 2024
Why are so many states restricting what schools can teach about racism? Two leading journalist-historians discuss the efforts to ban or rewrite the teaching of Black history.
Alicia Keys Returns to Her Roots with Her New Musical, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Friday, March 29, 2024
In her musical opening on Broadway, Keys tells a story very much like her own life, using her own hit songs—but don’t call it autobiographical.
Percival Everett and the Reinvention of Mark Twain’s Jim
Friday, March 22, 2024
The author creates a new inner life for a “Huckleberry Finn” character.
Lily Gladstone on Oscar Hopes and Holding the Door Open
Friday, February 23, 2024
The “Killers of the Flower Moon” star talks with Michael Schulman about making history at this year’s Academy Awards, and the challenges facing Native actors in Hollywood.
Jacqueline Novak Is Giving Audiences “Everything She’s Got”
Friday, February 09, 2024
In her Netflix special, the comedian uses an act of oral sex as a springboard for a rapid-fire rant about the human condition, along with human anatomy.
The Immigration Battle in Washington, and the Real Crisis at the Border
Friday, February 02, 2024
Now that the border crisis has migrated into blue cities, the White House cannot avoid addressing a political liability. The staff writer Jonathan Blitzer talks with David Remnick.
For Journalists, “Gaza Is Unprecedented,” and Deadly
Friday, January 26, 2024
The president of the Committee to Protect Journalists discusses whether Israel is targeting Palestinian reporters, and looks at threats to the safety of journalists around the world.
The Oscar Nominee Cord Jefferson on Why Race Is so “Fertile” for Comedy
Friday, January 26, 2024
“American Fiction,” nominated for five Academy Awards, satirizes the literary world, and upends Hollywood conventions about Blackness.
Pramila Jayapal: Biden’s “Coalition Has Fractured”
Friday, January 19, 2024
The chair of the powerful Congressional Progressive Caucus looks at whether Joe Biden can put the Democratic Party back together again in time to achieve victory in the 2024 election.
Ava DuVernay Wants Her Film “Origin” to Influence the 2024 Election
Friday, January 05, 2024
The celebrated filmmaker is back with a challenging new movie intended to provoke a political response.
Dexter Filkins Reports on the Border Crisis
Friday, December 29, 2023
The last major overhaul of the immigration system was in 1986. Changing conditions and a political impasse have created a state of chaos that the Biden Administration can no longer deny.
A Harrowing Detention in Gaza
Friday, December 15, 2023
Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian writer and New Yorker contributor, was detained by Israeli forces while he tried to flee Gaza with his family.
Geoffrey Hinton: “It’s Far Too Late” to Stop Artificial Intelligence
Friday, November 17, 2023
The so-called godfather of A.I. believes we need to put constraints on the technology so it won’t free itself from human control. But he’s not sure whether that’s possible.
Will the Government Put the Reins on Amazon?
Friday, November 10, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission is suing the company. Lina Khan, the chair of the F.T.C., tells David Remnick that Amazon exploits its position as a monopoly to invisibly drive up costs.
