Black Excellence: Rodney Carmichael
https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/people/rodney-carmichael
Rodney Carmichael is a storyteller, journalist and cultural critic, covering hip-hop at NPR Music since 2017. He often works at the intersection of race and inequality, telling stories across mediums that combine reporting and criticism to spotlight the sociopolitical significance of Black cultural production. As co-host/co-creator of NPR’s first narrative music podcastLouder Than A Riot, he and co-host Sidney Madden traced the collision of hip-hop and inequality across two seasons that respectively exposed how mass incarceration and misogynoir impacted the culture. Louder’s investigative reporting helped former No Limit rapper Mac Phipps gain clemency in 2021 after serving 21 years in prison for a murder he maintains he didn’t commit. In 2024, Louder Than A Riot became the first podcast team to receive Journalist of the Year honors from the National Association of Black Journalists.