We Disrupt This Broadcast

In this episode, the first of our Legendary Disruptors series, we celebrate ‘90s comedy icon Keenen Ivory Wayans and the legacy of In Living Color, the revolutionary sketch series on FOX, how it centered the Black American experience, and its impact on comedy and culture. We dig into how Wayans hired the writers and performers who would become legends, the way he used satire to upend stereotypes, and his refusal to water d...

In this episode, we examine the four-part Peabody Award-winning HBO documentary series Stax: Soulsville USA through a conversation with the film’s director, Jamila Wignot. The series chronicles the incredible rise and fall, and rise and fall again, of Stax Records, the Memphis soul record label that brought us incredible artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave, and Booker T. & ...

This episode, we’re getting to the heart of what drives producer, writer, and showrunner John Wells. Wells is the legend behind such Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series as The West Wing, ER, and now the breakout hit The Pitt. Exploring the challenges facing ER doctors and the American healthcare system, each season of The Pitt takes place over the course of a single 24-hour shift. Wells’ dedication to accuracy and our sh...

This episode, we’re talking about the Peabody Award-nominated animated children’s series Spirit Rangers, a superhero show about Native siblings who use their powers to protect the national park they call home. Showrunner and creator Karissa Valencia joins us to discuss how the show’s team came together and became the first U.S. preschool show that features an all-Native writers' room. Through this process, they created an ...

In the season three premiere of We Disrupt This Broadcast, Jeffrey Jones, Executive Director of The Peabody Awards, leads a live-recorded conversation with this year’s Peabody Trailblazer Award winner, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Thompson is a musician, documentarian, author, podcaster, feature filmmaker, and DJ. As the co-founder and drummer of The Roots, he revolutionized hip-hop by introducing live instrumentation and b...

We Disrupt This Broadcast is back for season 3! Join us as we talk to the creative powerhouses that help reinvent and reimagine the kinds of stories we see on TV and who disrupt what we’ve come to expect on our screens and in our culture. We Disrupt This Broadcast is co-produced by The Peabody Awards and Center for Media & Social Impact and is produced and distributed in partnership with audio production group PRX. Hos...

The Peabody Award's Executive Director Jeffrey Jones sits down with Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, the minds behind the gripping mini-series Adolescence. The Emmy-winning crime drama explores the aftermath of a brutal crime committed by a young boy against a girl classmate. With its unflinching exploration of grief and confusion in the wake of such a horrific event, the show sparked worldwide conversations regarding onlin...

This week, We Disrupt This Broadcast is excited to share an epiode of American Masters: Creative Spark. In this episode, actress, comedian and writer Natasha Rothwell shares how she connects to her character Belinda’s journey of self-discovery and how she collaborated with creator Mike White to bring greater nuance to the character. She reflects on the importance of diverse storytelling in Hollywood, the inspiration she dr...

Host Gabe González introduces us to the shocking true story of the British Post Office scandal, and how the Peabody Award-winning series Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office led to real-world justice for the victims of this horrific abuse of government power. Jeffrey Jones sits down with the show’s Executive Producer Patrick Spence to understand the scandal, what it took to bring this story to screens, and the real-world impact t...

Host Gabe González introduces us to the brilliant, absurdist, hilarious Peabody Award-winning HBO series Fantasmas. In a funny, enlivening conversation with creator, writer, and comedian Julio Torres, they explore how Torres uses humor to uncover the real absurdity of our immigration, healthcare, and economic systems. They discuss how creating fiction – like the “proof of existence” that the fictional Julio is so desperate...

The Peabody Award-winning Disney+ movie Out of My Mind employs Jennifer Aniston’s voice alongside actress Phoebe Ray Taylor’s stellar performance to reveal the lack of accessible public school education in the early 2000s. Host Gabe González speaks with director Amber Sealey about what sparked her interest in this story, the state of accommodations in public schools, and how making her sets accessible improved working cond...

Writer, comedian and showrunner Sharon Horgan joins Executive Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact Caty Borum for an in-depth conversation regarding the themes of her critically acclaimed shows. From Catastrophe to Divorce to the Peabody Award-winning Bad Sisters, Sharon’s work is singularly focused on showcasing messy, strong women as they navigate critical junctures in their lives and chart new paths. Aft...

Gabe González is joined by Soo Hugh, showrunner of the Peabody Award-winning series Pachinko, Apple TV’s trilingual series set in Japan and Korea. Pachinko is an epic family drama spanning more than sixty years of history, during and after the Japanese occupation of Korea. Through the eyes of protagonist Sunja, who moves to Japan with her husband and raises her children and grandchildren there, the series asks the question...

Executive Director of the Peabody Awards and resident musician Jeffrey Jones talks with Nida Manzoor, creator and writer of the Peabody Award-winning We Are Lady Parts and the action comedy film, Polite Society. They dive deep into the show’s delightful use of punk music; Nida’s musical inspirations, as well as teaming up with her siblings to write hilarious songs for the show; the joy and burden of representing muslim wom...

Host Gabe González sits down with Jen Statsky, co-creator of HBO’s Peabody Award-winning series Hacks. We talk with Statsky about the complex relationship between the show’s two central characters - and their stark generational divide and friendship, while delving into broader themes of the complex history of women in comedy and the importance of female mentorship. In our second interview, the pod’s executive producer Caty...

This week on We Disrupt This Broadcast, we’re talking about one of the most thrilling and politically thoughtful shows out right now - Andor. Peabody Awards Executive Director Jeffrey Jones talks with Andor creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy about the ideologies explored in the Disney+ series in the Star Wars story universe. They dive into how revolutions are formed, what pushes someone to become a revolutionary leader, an...

Host Gabe González takes a dive into the unsettling corporate world of the Peabody award-winning show Severance. Through the dystopian and satirical concept of splitting one’s consciousness into an “innie” (work self) and “outie” (home self), Severance explores the lengths corporations will go to dehumanize its workforce and the ways in which workers alternate between accepting these degradations and fighting back. To take...

Comedian, writer and actor Mo Amer joins host Gabe González to talk about his Peabody-award winning show Mo. The show is a heartfelt yet hilarious glimpse into the lives of a Palestinian-American family waiting to be granted asylum in the US. The show explores grief, trauma, and our complicated immigration system while also depicting Amer’s deep love of his hometown, Houston, Texas. They talk about Amer’s comedy roots, his...

Jeffrey Jones, Executive Director of the Peabody Awards, dives into the topic of men’s mental health with guests Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein. Bill Lawrence is the showrunner and creator of the Peabody-award winning series, Scrubs and Ted Lasso, as well as the current Apple+ hit Shrinking. His series have a central focus on the importance of male friendships in redefining traditional masculinity and on the importance ...