From COVID-19 to protests to legal battles with the federal government, college and university leaders have been in the spotlight a lot in the last five years. Because of that attention, if we want to understand the news, we need to understand higher education.

Disrupted first aired five years ago this week. Thank you to our listeners for returning week after week and making these five years possible.

GUEST:


Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum: President Emerita of Spelman College in Atlanta. She recently served as interim president of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She's also bestselling author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race. Her latest book is Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times.

From COVID-19 to protests to legal battles with the federal government, college and university leaders have been in the spotlight a lot in the last five years. Because of that attention, if we want to understand the news, we need to understand higher education.
Disrupted first aired five years ago this week. Thank you to our listeners for returning week after week and making these five years possible.
GUEST:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.beverlydanieltatum.com/">Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum</a>: President Emerita of Spelman College in Atlanta. She recently served as interim president of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She's also bestselling author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race. Her latest book is <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/beverly-daniel-tatum/peril-and-promise/9781541606616/?lens=basic-books">Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times</a>.
</li>
</ul>

Disrupted is about the changes we all encounter and the forces driving those changes. Some disruptions spark joy and possibility. Others move us to take action and re-evaluate our world. But the show isn't just about those disruptions; it’s about embracing them, exploring new perspectives, and feeling more connected to ourselves and our communities. Host and political scientist Khalilah Brown-Dean creates a place where changemakers come together to help us see the world differently and challenge us to grow together.

Visit ctpublic.org/disrupted for more! 

Disrupted is about the changes we all encounter and the forces driving those changes. Some disruptions spark joy and possibility. Others move us to take action and re-evaluate our world. But the show isn't just about those disruptions; it’s about embracing them, exploring new perspectives, and feeling more connected to ourselves and our communities. Host and political scientist Khalilah Brown-Dean creates a place where changemakers come together to help us see the world differently and challenge us to grow together.
Visit <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/disrupted">ctpublic.org/disrupted</a> for more!

Disrupted

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum reflects on the 'Peril and Promise' of being a college leader today

In Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning, author Vanessa Priya Daniel writes about the challenges that women of color face. She includes a satirical section formatted like a job description, where she details the duties of women of color leaders. They include “Be likable at all costs,” “Work with zero margin of error” and “Be a willing screen onto which your staff can project the other women authority figures who ever disappointed them in life.”

These are just a few of the barriers that women of color in leadership deal with. But despite these barriers, Daniel also points out that women of color are also often drivers of change.

GUEST:


Vanessa Priya Daniel: Principal at Vanessa Daniel Consulting, LLC. She has worked in social justice movements for 25 years, and her book Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning came out in March, 2025.

Vanessa Priya Daniel will be speaking at the Community Fund for Women & Girls' 30th Anniversary Celebration on November 13th in New Haven. You can find out more at this website.

In <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/721759/unrig-the-game-by-vanessa-priya-daniel/">Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning</a>, author <a href="https://www.vanessapriyadaniel.com/">Vanessa Priya Daniel</a> writes about the challenges that women of color face. She includes a satirical section formatted like a job description, where she details the duties of women of color leaders. They include &ldquo;Be likable at all costs,&rdquo; &ldquo;Work with zero margin of error&rdquo; and &ldquo;Be a willing screen onto which your staff can project the other women authority figures who ever disappointed them in life.&rdquo;
These are just a few of the barriers that women of color in leadership deal with. But despite these barriers, Daniel also points out that women of color are also often drivers of change.
GUEST:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.vanessapriyadaniel.com/">Vanessa Priya Daniel</a>: Principal at Vanessa Daniel Consulting, LLC. She has worked in social justice movements for 25 years, and her book <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/721759/unrig-the-game-by-vanessa-priya-daniel/">Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning</a> came out in March, 2025.
</li>
</ul>
Vanessa Priya Daniel will be speaking at the Community Fund for Women &amp; Girls' 30th Anniversary Celebration on November 13th in New Haven. You can find out more at <a href="https://manyvoicesonevision.org/vision-in-action/">this website</a>.

Vanessa Priya Daniel on the three superpowers women of color bring to their leadership

The United Nations General Assembly is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its founding this month. This hour we look at the status of the organization today, and the challenges it faces.

Plus, historian Thant Myint-U has a new book out about his grandfather, U Thant, who was the UN’s first non-European secretary-general, and a leading ambassador of peace during the Cold War. Myint-U joins us to talk about his grandfather's role in the history of the United Nations and the lessons we can take from his example for the present.

GUESTS:


Thant Myint-U: Author of Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Senior Fellow at UN Foundation, and he formerly served on three UN peacekeeping operations


Eugene Chen: Senior Fellow at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. He is a former UN official

The United Nations General Assembly is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its founding this month. This hour we look at the status of the organization today, and the challenges it faces.
Plus, historian Thant Myint-U has a new book out about his grandfather, U Thant, who was the UN&rsquo;s first non-European secretary-general, and a leading ambassador of peace during the Cold War. Myint-U joins us to talk about his grandfather's role in the history of the United Nations and the lessons we can take from his example for the present.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>
Thant Myint-U: Author of <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324051978">Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World</a>. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Senior Fellow at UN Foundation, and he formerly served on three UN peacekeeping operations
</li>
<li>
Eugene Chen: Senior Fellow at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. He is a former UN official
</li>
</ul>

Pushing for peace: A look at the past and future of the United Nations as it marks 80 years

This hour, we’re talking to a journalist and a member of the Biden administration to try to understand both sides of the press briefing podium.

CNN Senior Writer Matthew Vann tells us about how D.C. journalists are covering the current presidential administration. And former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's new book is Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines. She talks about the challenges she faced as she broke barriers to become the first Black person, first openly queer person and first immigrant to serve as White House Press Secretary. She also discusses why she's leaving the Democratic Party.

GUESTS:


Matthew Vann: Senior Writer at CNN and Adjunct Professor of Journalism Ethics and First Amendment Law at NYU’s Washington D.C. campus.


Karine Jean-Pierre: White House Press Secretary in the Biden Administration. She was the first Black person, first openly queer person and first immigrant to hold that role. Her new book is Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.

This hour, we&rsquo;re talking to a journalist and a member of the Biden administration to try to understand both sides of the press briefing podium.
CNN Senior Writer Matthew Vann tells us about how D.C. journalists are covering the current presidential administration. And former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's new book is <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/karine-jean-pierre/independent/9781538777084/">Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines</a>. She talks about the challenges she faced as she broke barriers to become the first Black person, first openly queer person and first immigrant to serve as White House Press Secretary. She also discusses why she's leaving the Democratic Party.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>
Matthew Vann: Senior Writer at CNN and Adjunct Professor of Journalism Ethics and First Amendment Law at NYU&rsquo;s Washington D.C. campus.
</li>
<li>
Karine Jean-Pierre: White House Press Secretary in the Biden Administration. She was the first Black person, first openly queer person and first immigrant to hold that role. Her new book is <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/karine-jean-pierre/independent/9781538777084/">Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines</a>.
</li>
</ul>

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum reflects on the 'Peril and Promise' of being a college leader today

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