Oprah Winfrey is following up the televised town hall special “OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?” with further discussion about America’s fraught relationship with race. Winfrey’s new interview series, “The Oprah Conversation,” premieres this Thursday on Apple TV+, per The Hollywood Reporter. The first episode will feature “How to Be an Antiracist” author Ibram X. Kendi, and subsequent episodes will also address discourse on race in America.
Thought leaders from all over the world will join Winfrey for “The Oprah Conversation.” “Episodes will be filmed remotely and feature audience engagement,” the source details. “In the first episode, Winfrey and Kendi will speak with White readers who have confronted their racist beliefs. Following the episode featuring Kendi, Winfrey will speak with athlete and activist Emmanuel Acho (“Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man”) in a two-part interview that will discuss his web series and take questions from viewers.” Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, whose memoir is the basis for the Michael B. Jordan film “Just Mercy,” will appear in a future episode.
“Where Do We Go From Here?” aired on OWN and 18 other channels last month, as Black Lives Matters protests swept the globe. Winfrey spoke with Black leaders, activists, and artists such as Ava DuVernay, politician Stacey Abrams, and “1619 Project” founder Nikole Hannah-Jones. Eleven million people tuned in for at least some of the two-night town hall.
“The Oprah Conversation” comes from Winfrey’s content deal with Apple. The pact has also produced “Oprah’s Book Club” and “Oprah Talks COVID-19.”
Next, the mogul is teaming up with Hannah-Jones to develop the “1619 Project” — the groundbreaking New York Times magazine issue which considers American history via the lens of slavery — for multiples features, TV projects, docs, and cross-platform content.
Winfrey executive produces Ava DuVernay’s OWN series “Cherish the Day” and “Queen Sugar.” She also acted in DuVernay’s “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time.” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “The Color Purple,” and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” are among her other acting credits.
