An Argument
This American Life

An Argument

B1IntermediateSeptember 26, 20261 hr 3 min

Nikole Hannah-Jones made an argument 10 years ago in The New York Times Magazine that became famous. She wrote about choosing a public school for her daughter, Najya, in one of the most racially and economically segregated school systems in the country: New York City. Nikole chose a regular public school, one that most wealthy and middle-class parents wouldn’t consider, and she challenged other parents to do the same. She revisits that argument, and that choice, in a series of conversations with producer Chana Joffe-Walt and with her daughter, Najya, who’s now 16 and has her own very different views...

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So our show today is something that producer O'Connor Joffrey-Walt has been collaborating

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Hey there everybody, I have a glass here. So our show today is something that producer O'Connor Joffrey-Walt has been collaborating on with reporter Nicole Hannah-Jones. And Nicole's version of this story, which is in the New York Times Magazine, is something

0:14

that many, many people are discussing online right now. And I just want to say that if you have seen that article, there are a lot of things in what you're about to hear that are not in the article, particularly you'll get to hear at length from Nicole's daughter. And there are things that commenters are

0:31

raising online that get interestingly addressed in our version. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, all of this will become clear. And with that, here's Hannah Joffe-Wald talking with Nicole Hannah-Jones. These are recordings made as Nicole was in the process of writing that article.

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