America Outdoors host Baratunde Thurston is a “writer, activist and occasional comedian” who will debut the title show on PBS on July 5, 2022 at 9/8c. In the episode, Baratunde Thurston travels across the country to study how landscapes affect how Americans live, work and interact with the outdoors. Thurston is also an Emmy-nominated host who has worked for The Onion, advised the Obama White House and wrote the New York Times bestselling book How To Be Black. He also received the Social Impact Award at the 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 2020 for co-creating and hosting How To Citizen along with Baratunde.
Baratunde Thurston, host of All About America Outdoors
Baratunde Rafiq Thurston was born in Washington; his father died when he was a youngster, and his mother supported the family by working as the currency controller. He also has an older sister. After graduating from Sidwell Friends School, he received a degree in philosophy from Harvard University in 1999. He started his career in 1999 as an Associate at The Management Network Group, where he worked for four years before joining Unravel Media as a Contract Producer and Consultant.
He also co-founded Jack and Jill Politics, a black political blog whose coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention was preserved by the Library of Congress. He even worked as the digital director of The Onion before founding the comedy/tech company Cultivated Wit. According to his biography, Thurston also serves on the boards of BUILD.org and the Brooklyn Public Library.
According to Brian Williams of MSNBC, the 2019 Brooklyn native’s statements were hailed as “one of the best TED lectures of all time.” Other honors include a Bill Hicks Award nomination for Thought Provoking Comedy, inclusion in The Root’s list of the 100 Most Important African Americans, and inclusion in Fast Company’s list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. His extraordinary ability to integrate themes of culture, race, politics and technology to explain the present and future of the country is widely recognized. Thurstone’s position and important work prompted the former US president to label the latter as someone he “needs to know.”
America Outdoors by Baratunde Thurston
Part2 Pictures is producing the six-part new series America Outdoors for Twin Cities PBS (TPT). According to PBS, viewers of America Outdoors will:
“Follow bestselling author and podcaster Baratunde Thurston as he travels across the country’s diverse landscapes to explore how they impact the way people work, play and interact with the outdoors.” Discover a deeper understanding of our passionate and intricate connection to the natural environment, from coal workers becoming beekeepers in Appalachia to black surfers catching waves in LA”
Watch Episode 1 of America Outdoors, titled Death Valley: Life Blooms, on July 5 to tour the hottest area on Earth, witness an ultra-marathon runner running in the summer heat, and many more intriguing facts about the region to learn.
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