A More Perfect Union with Nii-Quartelai Quartey

Latest Episodes:

Power, Politics & Pop Culture: ICE Surveillance, AI Money in Elections & the GOP's Marriage Crisis Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

From the White House hallway to your living room — Dr. Nii-Quartelai brings in two of the sharpest minds in the game to cut through the noise. Vincent Jones, CEO of Beyond Impact, and Politics & Pop Culture Contributor Al Reynolds join the conversation for a ride through the week's most urgent — and most revealing — stories: ICE's expanding surveillance state, the flood of AI money quietly reshaping primary elections, a Republican Party that can't decide what it actually believes about marriage, and a rare congressional honor bestowed on the Artemis II astronauts pushing humanity back to the stars. Smart. Fast. Unfiltered. This is the conversation you didn't know you needed.

"There's Only One Sin in Hollywood": Showrunner Rasheed Newson on Power, Secrets & Surviving the Industry Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

Hollywood has rules. Unwritten ones. And the most dangerous rule of all? There's only one sin that can end your career — and it's not what you think. Rasheed Newson knows the industry from the inside out. As a television drama writer, producer, and showrunner, he co-developed Bel-Air and left his fingerprints on some of the most critically acclaimed series of the past decade — The Chi, Animal Kingdom, Narcos. Now he's telling the truth about Tinseltown in a way only historical fiction can: his novel, There's Only One Sin in Hollywood. Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey sits down with Newson for a conversation about power, storytelling, and what it really costs to survive — and thrive — in one of the most cutthroat industries in the world. Is his story ripped from the headlines? Or are the headlines catching up to his pages? You decide.

Author John A. Jenkins Puts Modern SCOTUS in Historical Context Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

The Supreme Court didn't become a political battleground overnight. Award-winning journalist and SCOTUS historian John A. Jenkins joins Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey to put today's court — and this moment in American history — in the context we're missing. Jenkins, author of the forthcoming Summer of '71: Five Months That Changed America (on sale June 30), traces the roots of a court that has gutted voting rights, green-lit mass deportation, and reshaped American democracy — and asks the question we all need to sit with: have we been here before? The answer may surprise you. And it just might change how you fight back.

New Doc on Eaton Fire & Black Altadena's Fight for Survival Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

For generations, Altadena was a sanctuary — a place where Black families could own homes, build wealth, and put down roots when doors were closed everywhere else. Then came the Eaton Fire. NAACP Pasadena President and fourth-generation Altadenan Brandon Lamar joins Dr. Nii-Q to talk about Beneath the Ashes: The Past Reimagined — the documentary that refuses to let Black Altadena's story disappear. With the community's Black population projected to fall below 5% as developers move in and families struggle to rebuild, this isn't just a disaster story. It's a story about who gets to stay. Premieres Saturday, June 27th at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Tickets at beneaththeashes.com.

Supreme Court Ends Haitian TPS: Civil Rights Attorneys on What Comes Next Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 — and 350,000 Haitian families felt it. Broadcasting live from the White House, Dr. Nii-Q is joined by Civil Rights Attorney Todd Belcore and Black Alliance for Just Immigration Executive Director Nana Gymfi to break down today's landmark TPS ruling: what it means legally, why it's rooted in anti-Black racism, and what Haitian and Syrian TPS holders need to do to protect themselves right now. This isn't just an immigration story. This is a Black story. And we're telling it from the lawn of the people's house.

BRAKE LINES, BALLOT LIES & LAPD BADGE-WEARING GANG Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

A federal whistleblower exposed DOGE's unauthorized data grab — and within hours of Elon Musk publicly targeting him, someone cut his brake lines. California's primary ballots are still being counted, and Donald Trump is already on Truth Social at 1 a.m. screaming fraud before a single race is called. An LAPD internal report just used a word you never want to see attached to police officers: gang. Hunter College Professor and Author Dr. Calvin John Smiley joins us to break it all down.

FROM GRIEF TO GLORY: HE LOST HIS FATHER. THEN HE MADE A FILM ABOUT IT. Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Debut filmmaker Toroes Thomas joins Dr. Nii-Quartelai fresh off the premiere of his narrative feature Sr. at the 2026 American Black Film Festival (ABFF) — and he came to tell the truth. Drawn directly from Toroes's own life and the sudden, shattering loss of his father, Sr. is a film about love, grief, fatherhood, and what it means to find your footing when the person who was supposed to hold it together — couldn't. We go deep on the craft of storytelling, the raw economics of Black independent film, the emotional weight of turning personal pain into public art, and what Toroes wants every young filmmaker watching to hear. This isn't just a conversation about movies. It's a conversation about what we carry, what we create, and how we survive.

THEY TOLD HIM TO BE LESS. HE WROTE A MEMOIR INSTEAD. Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Phill Branch sits down with Dr. Nii-Quartelai to go deep on his powerful new memoir, The Double Dutch Fuss — a searing, unflinching account of what it truly costs to be a queer Black boy in a world designed to punish you for it. Branch doesn't flinch, doesn't sanitize, and doesn't apologize. This is a conversation about survival, identity, creative resistance, and what happens when you refuse to shrink yourself to make others comfortable. You don't want to miss this one.

KAREN BASS, THE WORLD CUP & THE FRIED CHICKEN DEBATE WE CAN'T IGNOR Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Two powerhouse voices on the mic today — #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign and Color of Change Advocate & Attorney Michael Huggins. We're covering the World Cup and what it means for Los Angeles, a stunning story at the intersection of Africa and immigration you haven't heard anywhere else, Iowa's latest attack on Black scholarship funding, and the growing pressure surrounding Mayor Karen Bass. And yes—before we're done, we are settling the fried chicken debate once and for all.

ACTOR GREG MATHIS, JR. TAKES CENTER STAGE AS BLACK MAGA Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Actor Greg Mathis Jr. on What Survives — a world premiere play at the Hollywood Fringe Festival about a child taken by ICE and the community left to reckon with it.