On Rooted, we’re unpacking the “Bluey‑to‑Baddies” pipeline—and why tween media feels impossible to find in a world drowning in YouTube algorithms and AI‑generated slop. Paris taps award‑winning animator Chaz Bottoms to break down the brutal realities of making it in cartoons, especially for creators of color. Then Genie Deez and Thy Than, showrunners of the new PBS Kids series Phoebe & Jay, join her to ask the big question: Can public media’s hand‑crafted, mission‑driven storytelling still compete with the algorithm?

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The federal government just slashed how much future nurses, counselors, educators, and social workers can borrow — a move that hits women, Black students, and entire communities like a punch to the gut. Paris Alston digs into how a bureaucratic “reclassification” could gut the nursing pipeline, deepen care shortages, and widen racial health disparities. Then we head to Roxbury, where Children’s Services is doing what Washington won’t: creating a free, community‑rooted pathway to grow Black and brown mental health providers. When institutions make care harder to access, the community builds its own solutions.

In this episode, we mark 100 years since Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week by asking what Black History Month truly means today—and whether it still matters. We hit the streets to hear how everyday people perceive the holiday’s legacy, then sit down with Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, comedian Jason Cordova, and culture commentator Shane Faiteau for a candid conversation about the ways Black history gets flattened, who should be trusted to tell our stories, and why younger generations often feel disconnected from familiar narratives. We also speak with author and former Minneapolis City Council leader Ralph Remington, whose book Penetrating Whiteness pushes us to confront how policing, immigration enforcement, and the threat of political violence echo through Black life in 2026. Through these layered voices funny, sharp, skeptical, and deeply reflective we explore identity, diaspora, capitalism, community, and the future of resistance, reminding listeners that Black history cannot be contained to February because it shapes and is shaped by every moment we’re living now.

Rooted is brought to you by our sponsor, Britebound—helping middle and high school students to explore their passions, try out career paths, and make confident decisions about their future. To learn more, visit https://bit.ly/britebound