Soledad O'Brien's "Matter of Fact Listening Tour" Takes on the Hard Truth About Bias

The journalist's new virtual forum brings experts like Jemele Hill and Alicia Garza together for poignant discussions about race and justice.

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(Image credit: Matter of Fact)

A contentious election, a brutal pandemic, and waves of protests condemning racism and police brutality have made 2020 a year like no other. While it's been challenging—to say the least—the year has also brought us unprecedented movement and motivation to create real change.

Bringing different voices together—and giving them the platforms and power to make a lasting impact—is crucial for helping society move forward, or so believes acclaimed journalist and philanthropist Soledad O'Brien (opens in new tab). To extend one of the biggest conversations in America today, O'Brien is expanding her half-hour weekly talk show, Matter of Fact (opens in new tab), to launch the Matter of Fact Listening Tour, an ongoing series of forums that dig into the most pervasive problems surrounding race and injustice in the United States. (You can read Marie Claire's interview with O'Brien about the tour here (opens in new tab).)

Starting October 8, 2020, at 7 p.m. EST, O'Brien will lead four virtual broadcasts, each available to livestream at matteroffact.tv and below. Expect to see a number of familiar faces: The first episode, which will hone in on bias, will feature White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo (opens in new tab), Stanford social psychologist Jennifer Ebarhardt (opens in new tab), former NBA athlete Etan Thomas (opens in new tab), sociologist Rashawn Ray (opens in new tab), and journalist Jemele Hill (opens in new tab). Subsequent episodes will include appearances from journalists Wes Lowery (opens in new tab)Maria Hinajosa (opens in new tab), and Joie Chen (opens in new tab), as well as activists including Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza (opens in new tab) and Brenda White Bull, the great-great-granddaughter of Lakota leader Sitting Bull.

Bookmark this page and watch the broadcast below.

Lauren Puckett-Pope

Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers news and culture.