Kai Wright & Carter Sherman Host Guardian's Stateside

Award-winning journalists navigate America's complex landscape

The Guardian's innovative US video podcast Stateside features two of journalism's most accomplished voices working in tandem to dissect contemporary American affairs. Kai Wright and Carter Sherman bring complementary expertise and perspectives to their role as co-hosts, creating a dynamic platform designed to help audiences understand the multifaceted challenges facing the nation today. Their partnership represents a convergence of rigorous reporting, thoughtful analysis, and accessible storytelling that has become increasingly rare in modern media landscapes.

Kai Wright stands as a decorated Peabody award-winning journalist whose career has been defined by his incisive exploration of the intersection between historical context, political power structures, and the evolving definition of American identity. His body of work demonstrates a sustained commitment to illuminating the stories and experiences that shape national discourse, particularly those often marginalized in mainstream media coverage. Throughout his career, Wright has consistently demonstrated the ability to contextualize contemporary issues within their historical frameworks, enabling audiences to grasp the deeper significance of current events.

Prior to joining the Guardian, Wright hosted Notes From America with Kai Wright, an acclaimed live call-in program that aired on WNYC public radio and reached stations nationwide. This show showcased his distinctive ability to facilitate meaningful conversations between diverse audiences and expert guests, creating a space where citizens could grapple with pressing national questions. The program's success underscored Wright's talent for moderating complex discussions while maintaining accessibility and engagement with his audience.

Throughout his tenure at WNYC Studios, Wright has conceptualized and led numerous critically acclaimed limited-run podcast series that have garnered industry recognition. Blindspot Season 3: The Plague in the Shadows stands as a compelling historical documentary that meticulously examines the early years of the AIDS epidemic within the United States, combining archival research with personal narratives to create a comprehensive portrait of this transformative period. The series demonstrated Wright's capacity to handle sensitive historical subjects with both rigor and compassion.

His podcast Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice investigated the American juvenile justice system through the experiences of young people caught within its machinery, earning the prestigious Alfred I duPont-Columbia University award for excellence in broadcasting. Over multiple seasons, The United States of Anxiety provided extensive original reporting on the rise of the MAGA movement and its profound ramifications for American political culture, establishing Wright as one of the nation's foremost analysts of contemporary political movements.

Beyond his broadcast journalism work, Wright has authored numerous books that have expanded his reach as a public intellectual. His memoir, Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York, offers a deeply personal narrative of identity formation against the backdrop of New York City's complex social landscape. Additionally, Wright has written two comprehensive surveys of Black American history, contributing significantly to the public understanding of African American experiences throughout the nation's past.

Wright's editorial and curatorial work extends to prestigious collaborative projects, including his contributions to Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African American Achievement, a best-selling collection that presents diverse perspectives on Black American accomplishment and resilience. His involvement in such projects reflects his standing within the broader journalism and publishing communities as a trusted voice capable of synthesizing complex narratives into engaging and educational formats.

Carter Sherman brings his own distinctive expertise to the Stateside co-hosting role, complementing Wright's analytical approach with his investigative acumen and reporting background. Together, the two hosts create a dynamic that allows for both deep dives into specific issues and broader contextual understanding of American affairs. Sherman's reporting experience adds another dimension to the show's investigative capacity, enabling the program to pursue stories with the rigor expected of Guardian journalism.

The partnership between Wright and Sherman reflects a broader evolution in podcast journalism, where collaborative hosting formats allow for richer discussions and more nuanced exploration of complex topics. Rather than presenting a single perspective, the co-host structure enables audiences to witness different journalistic approaches and analytical frameworks applied to the same stories, fostering a more sophisticated understanding of the issues at hand.

Stateside with Kai and Carter represents The Guardian's commitment to producing innovative multimedia journalism that serves American audiences seeking to understand their nation's contemporary challenges. The show's format as a video podcast allows for a visual dimension often absent from traditional audio programming, enabling more comprehensive storytelling through interviews, field reporting, and visual documentation. This multimedia approach acknowledges how modern audiences consume news across multiple platforms and formats.

The show's tagline of "trying to make sense of it all" captures the essential mission of contemporary journalism in an era of information overload and political polarization. Rather than simply reporting events or aggregating news, Stateside positions itself as a space where journalists and audiences can collectively work toward understanding the underlying patterns, historical precedents, and systemic factors that explain American political and social developments. This interpretive approach distinguishes the show from straightforward news reporting.

Both Wright and Sherman have built their careers on the principle that American journalism serves its highest function when it illuminates connections between disparate events, contextualizes present challenges within historical frameworks, and amplifies voices typically underrepresented in mainstream media. Their work at the Guardian continues this tradition while adapting to contemporary media consumption patterns and audience preferences. The show's existence underscores the continued demand for thoughtful, in-depth analysis of American affairs from trustworthy journalistic sources.

As the political and social landscape continues evolving, shows like Stateside fulfill an increasingly vital function in helping citizens navigate complexity and understand the stakes of current debates. The combination of award-winning journalists, rigorous reporting, and multimedia storytelling creates a platform capable of reaching audiences hungry for substantive engagement with the issues shaping their communities and nation. Wright and Sherman's leadership of this initiative positions the Guardian as a forward-thinking news organization committed to innovative approaches to audience engagement and public understanding.