Site • RSSDescription (podcaster-provided):
A Pod Called Quest is a podcast taking on everything that people concerned about injustice care about from the wealth gap to voting rights, to police brutality, to reparations, to health and well-being, to climate change, to state repression and much more. Sage and Science want listeners to think with them about problems of injustice, just futures, and evidence-based solutions. Derrick Darby (aka Sage) is a philosopher. Christian Davenport (aka Science) is a political scientist and sociologist. Join our quest to impose logic as well as data on the struggle for justice in America and globally. Give us your time, we give you power, wealth, and culture.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ social justice and systemic racism • US elections, democracy, and political violence • economic inequality, wealth gap, and economic violence • reparations debates • policing and racialized violence • youth and hip-hop activism • coalition-building for equitable policyThis podcast examines contemporary struggles over justice and democracy through a mix of philosophical argument and social-scientific analysis. Hosted by a philosopher and a political scientist/sociologist, it centers on how injustice is produced and maintained—racially, economically, and politically—and what evidence-based approaches might address it. Across conversations, the show regularly connects headline political events to deeper historical structures, asking how power operates through institutions, public policy, and culture.
A recurring focus is the health of American democracy: elections, transitions of power, political legitimacy, and the conditions under which political conflict turns into violence. The podcast also probes how different forms of violence—particularly state and political violence as well as “economic violence”—shape racial inequality, including through slavery’s legacy, policing, and the distribution of wealth and opportunity. Alongside this, it frequently considers what “racial equity” and “just futures” mean in practice, and how policy agendas can become constrained or redirected by political incentives, messaging, and coalition dynamics.
The show often explores strategies for political change, including movement-building, accountability for elected officials, and the role of participation beyond voting. It highlights activism as both a historical and current force—especially youth and student organizing—and pays attention to how cultural actors and popular culture can influence political engagement and public narratives.
Another prominent theme is reparations and related debates over remedies for racialized harms: what reparations could look like, how eligibility and distribution might be defined, and how reparative policies intersect with broader efforts aimed at poverty, working-class conditions, and concentrated wealth.
While centered on the United States, the podcast also draws transatlantic and global lines, including discussions of British imperial history, racism and migration, and how lessons from past political thinkers and organizers can illuminate present-day conflicts. Overall, it aims to help listeners think through justice claims with both moral reasoning and empirical scrutiny.