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What I Hear When You Say is a video series that explores how words can both unite and divide us depending on our own perspective, experience, and interpretation. Each episode covers a different phrase or term that challenges what we think we know about race, class, gender, and identity.
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What I Hear When You Say is available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS app.
Featured Topics and Speakers
We get it. It’s difficult to talk about race and identity.
The topics featured in “What I Hear When You Say…” are challenging and told from disparate perspectives across diverse communities in the United States. And while these topics may be difficult, it’s still important that we connect — if only to be aware of one another’s perspective. Here are the many featured voices and perspectives in What I Hear When You Say.
Episode 1 | "Race Card"
Hadiyah Robinson, Comedian & Writer
Derald Wing Sue, Psychologist
Kiyun Kim, Visual Artist
Episode 2 | "Model Minority"
Helen Hong, Comedian
Pearl Park, Filmmaker
Christopher Punongbayan, Activist
Episode 3 | "White Pride"
Jes Tom, Comedian
Whitney Dow, Filmmaker
Daryl Davis, Activistist & Musician
Episode 4 | "Welfare"
Jordan Temple, Comedian
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Professor
Tracie McMillan, Journalist
Episode 5 | "Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation"
Franchesca Ramsey, Comedian & YouTube Personality
Jamin Warren, Video Game Artist & Developer
Alyasha Owerka-Moore, Designer
Episode 6 | "I'm Not A Feminist"
Phoebe Robinson, Comedian, Writer & Actress
Jasmine Rivera, Filmmaker
Kristen Korvette, Author
Episode 7 | "What Are You?"
Kate Rigg, Actor, Comedian & Writer
Ann Morning, Professor
Soledad O'Brien, Journalist, Documentarian & Executive Producer
Episode 8 | "Code Words"
Hari Kondabolu, Comedian
Pedro Noguera, Professor & Author
Bayeté Ross Smith, Artist
Episode 9 | "Gentrification"
Shukree Tilghman, Filmmaker
Kelly Anderson, Filmmaker
Desiree Cooper, Journalist & Author
Episode 10 | "When Did You Become Gay?"
Kristin Russo, Writer, Speaker, Educator & Consultant
Moya Bailey, Scholar, Writer, & Activist
Tyler Ford, Speaker & Writer
Designer Alyasha Owerka-Moore holds up a shirt, advocating for knowledge of history as a way to prevent cultural appropriation.
1/18
Influential agender social media star Tyler Ford tries on a scarf in a local boutique. Tyler believes identity is an evolving journey.
2/18
Artist Bayete Ross Smith’s son reflects on his father’s “Our Kind of People” project. Smith’s work often deals with perception and identity.
3/18
A young woman holds a sign of a question, depicting a microaggression, that she has experienced in her life. Artist Kiyun Kim’s photo series on microaggressions introduced the concept to many.
4/18
Journalist Soledad O’Brien highlights a question that is often asked of people whose race is difficult to identify by looks alone.
5/18
Comic Jordan Temple believes you can tell the quality of services and safety in a neighborhood by how the produce looks.
6/18
Comic Hari Kondabolu prepares for his video shoot about “Code Words.”
7/18
The crew of “What I Hear When You Say” sets up in the studio of Alyasha Owerka-Moore, the “Godfather of Streetwear,” as he prepares for his interview on cultural appropriation.
8/18
Kristen Korvette, founder of Slutist, on location at her Festival which celebrates sex-positive feminist ideals.
9/18
Director of Photography Chris Lytwyn prepares to shoot comedian Phoebe Robinson, author of You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain.
10/18
Director of Photography Chris Lytwyn and Director Owen Cooper with a gender activist, writer, speaker, and media personality Tyler Ford before their interview.
11/18
The Crew of “What I Hear When You Say” on a shoot with a gender activist, writer, speaker, and media personality Tyler Ford who looks at a display of golden-era Hollywood icons of femininity.
12/18
Behind the scenes with feminist scholar, writer, and activist Moya Bailey
13/18
Actor Peter Wu works with a green screen for the “silhouette” animation effect used throughout the series.
14/18
Director of photography Chris Lytwyn selects the specific glass filters used in the series “What I Hear When You Say” with Stan Wallace of The Filter Gallery Inc.
15/18
Minnie Lee talks about the often ignored, yet consistent, history of Asian American activism in the U.S.
16/18
Professor of Counseling Psychology at Columbia University, Derald Wing Sue, prepares to break down the meaning of the word “microaggression.”
17/18
Clockwise from top: Greg Poole, Jordan Temple, Shaheen Nazerali, Ursula Liang, Israel Nava, Chris Lytwyn, Owen Cooper as they prepare for a shoot.
18/18
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