Third Rail Eps 54: Black Brooklyn Oscars

In a special post Academy Award edition of Third Rail, we indulge our twin loves, BK and movies, by paying homage  — and occasional shade — to Black Brooklyn through the lens of cinema. Specifically, we pose the question, what are the best Black Brooklyn movies ever made? Joining Third Rail host Mark Winston Griffith […]

School Colors

School Colors is a documentary podcast series about race, class, and power in American cities – told through the story of one public school district in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Produced and hosted by Mark Winston Griffith and Max Freedman. School Colors is a co-production of Brooklyn Deep and the NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and […]

Third Rail Eps. 53 Central Brooklyn Food: Unifier or Gentrifier?

Food, one of the most potent cultural forces in American life, represents our ability to come together across tribal lines, especially during the holidays. At the same time, in Central Brooklyn and other gentrifying cities, where restaurants and groceries stores are not just markers of distinct tastes and cuisines, but of race and class privilege, […]

Third Rail Eps 44: Summer Black

If there is any question about what Black culture remains in Brooklyn, all you have to do is check out the summer scene on the streets of Brownsville, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Fort Greene and even Dumbo where festivals and block parties celebrate Brooklyn negritude. Mark, Veralyn and guests, Zawadi Morris, Editor of BK Reader, and […]

Brooklyn Deep is LIVE on Kickstarter – And We Need You To Act

We are proud to announce our first-ever crowdfunding campaign, now live on Kickstarter.   Here’s the thing: this is an ALL OR NOTHING campaign – if we don’t hit our goal of $15,000, we don’t get a dime.   That $15k will help us keep Third Rail going, hire additional journalists, and help us lay […]

Third Rail Eps 39: By Any Means Necessary?

Mark and Veralyn sit down with Alicia Boyd, the fiery founder of Movement to Protect the People, and pose the question: Are there limits to what an activist should be willing to do in the fight for social justice? Also informing the discussion is an interview with Daniel Goldstein, who looks back on his controversial […]

Third Rail Eps 38: Dear White Friend

Through this provocative lens, Mark and Veralyn explore what it looks like to show up for racial justice as a white person, and how Black people should position themselves relative to white folks figuring that out.  This is a candid discussion about action and solidarity around combatting racial violence, privilege and institutionalized oppression.  Segment One: […]

Third Rail Eps 36: Family Affair, Living a Bed-Stuy Gentrification Story

This month we focus on 17-year-old Corinne Bobb-Semple’s reporting for the Radio Rookie series, not just as an act of journalism, but as something that springs from her family’s legacy of community entrepreneurship and civic action. We explore what it was like to discuss the intricacies of race, class and place in the Bobb-Semple home […]

Learning Curves: A New Generation of Parents and Educators Take on Change in Bed-Stuy’s District 16

Shaila Dewan, a reporter for the New York Times who covers the criminal justice system, moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant with her husband in 2012, when she was “very pregnant” with their first child. “I didn’t really know that much about the schools,” she said, “except that nobody I knew went to any of them. I asked […]

Reporting On Gentrification: Teen POV

In partnership with WNYC’s Radio Rookies, Brooklyn Deep has been working with five Central Brooklyn teens to produce stories about themselves, their communities and their world. And in the process, they’re learning radio journalism: how to conduct an interview, develop a story, and edit audio. One of those young people is 14 year old, Corinne […]