Bio

Baratunde Thurston holds space for hard and complex conversations with his blend of humor, wisdom, and compassion. Baratunde is an Emmy-nominated host who has worked for The Onion, produced for The Daily Show, advised the Obama White House, and wrote the New York Times bestseller How To Be Black. He’s the creator and host of How To Citizen with Baratunde which Apple named one of its favorite podcasts of 2020 and for which he received the Social Impact Award at the 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. He’s also a founding partner of the new media startup Puck and is host of the forthcoming America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston airing on PBS starting July 5th, 2022. In 2019, he delivered what MSNBC’s Brian Williams called “one of the greatest TED talks of all time.” Baratunde is unique in his ability to integrate and synthesize themes of race, culture, politics, and technology to explain where our nation is and where we can take it. Baratunde serves on the boards of BUILD.org and the Brooklyn Public Library and lives in Los Angeles, California.