Farai Chideya
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Farai Chideya (; born July 27, 1969, in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland, United States) is an American novelist,
multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
journalist, and radio host. She produced and hosted ''Pop and Politics with Farai Chideya'', a series of radio specials on politics for 15 years. She is the creator and host of the podcast ''Our Body Politic'', which launched in September 2020. Additionally, since 2012 Chideya has held the position of distinguished writer in residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, where she teaches courses in radio production and media economics.


Early life

Chideya was born on July 27, 1969, in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland. Her mother is from Baltimore, and her father is from
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
. Chideya holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
. She graduated from Harvard in 1990, '' magna cum laude''.


Career

Chideya was a member of the improv comedy troupe The Immediate Gratification Players. In 2000, she was distinguished as the most honored alumna from Harvard. Her academic life includes being a professional in residence at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School of Communication at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, in addition to her current position as distinguished writer in residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. Chideya is also the founder and president of one of the earliest pop culture blogs in the US, ''PopandPolitics.com''. During the 15 years of its existence, ''PopandPolitics.com'' was a training ground for young arts and culture journalists. In addition to her radio, video and online journalism, Chideya appears as a political analyst on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC,
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
,
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, BET and
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
. She began working as a senior writer for the website '' FiveThirtyEight'' in 2015, covering issues including the 2016 presidential election. In May 2009, Atria Books published Chideya's first novel, ''Kiss the Sky'', which details the life of a black female rock musician making a career comeback in New York. The book takes place just months before 9/11 and is rooted in the ethos of the Black rock movement and the New York club scene. Chideya is also part of The Finish Party writing group, and is the author of three non-fiction books about race and politics: ''Don't Believe the Hype'', ''The Color of Our Future'' and ''Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters''. Prior to 2009, Chideya was the host of the
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
radio program '' News & Notes''. Before that, she hosted '' Your Call'', a daily radio call-in show on San Francisco, California's KALW public radio. She got her start in journalism working for ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' magazine, MTV News, the Oxygen network and the non-profit community news website, The Beehive. She has subsequently written pieces for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', the ''Los Angeles Times'' Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, ''
The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and Progressivism in the United States, progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The America ...
'', the '' San Francisco Chronicle'', ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', '' O, The Oprah Magazine'', '' Vibe'', '' Spin'' and '' Glamour''. From 2014 to 2015, Chideya produced and hosted ''One with Farai'', a podcast for
Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...
(PRI), in which she interviewed distinguished individuals with a range of stories and opinions, including Melissa Harris-Perry, Urvashi Vaid, and Alec Ross. Chideya is the recipient of a Foreign Press Center fellowship that took her to Japan in 2002, a Knight Foundation fellowship based at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
in 2001 and a Freedom Forum Media Studies Center fellowship in 1996. She has won various awards for her work: a special award from the Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for AIDS reporting in 2008; an Enterprise reporting award from the National Association of Black Journalists for a piece on Skid Row in 2007; a North Star Award for covering communities of color in 2006; a distinguished honoree award from the Black Entertainment and Telecommunications Association in 2004; a MOBE IT Innovator Award and an Alternet New Media Hero award for ''PopandPolitics.com'' in 2001; New York Public Library's Best Books for Teens for ''The Color of Our Future'' in 2000; a WIN Young Women of Achievement Award in 1996; a GLAAD Award from '' Spin'' in 1995; and a National Education Reporting Award and an EdPress award for education reporting done for ''Newsweek'' in 1994. Her speeches on civic engagement, electoral politics, digital media, hip-hop, race and politics have taken her around the world—from India to South Africa to Alaska.
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
, the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, the California African-American Museum in Los Angeles, M.I.T., the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley,
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
, De Anza Community College, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Wellesley College, Chicago State University,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and Smith College are just some of the places where she has spoken. Chideya served as a judge for the 2023 American Mosaic Journalism Prize.


Bibliography

* ''Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans'' (1995) * ''The Color of Our Future'' (1999) * ''Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters'' (2004) * ''Kiss the Sky'' (2009) * ''Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology'' (2014) * ''The Episodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption'' (2016)


References


External links


Farai.com

Farai Chideya's Twitter account
* *
Video (with mp3 available) of interview/discussion with Chideya
and John McWhorter on Bloggingheads.tv {{DEFAULTSORT:Chideya, Farai 1969 births Living people American women journalists NPR personalities American writers of Zimbabwean descent African-American journalists African-American radio personalities African-American writers 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Harvard College alumni Harvard Institute of Politics Place of birth missing (living people) American women podcasters American political podcasters 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century African-American women