Call It Like I See It

About Call It Like I See It

Call It Like I See It proves that news and social commentary does not have to be manipulative or sensationalist to be interesting, so join hosts James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana as they take a weekly look at notable news stories, opinion pieces, or products of our culture and break down what they see.

Publisher

James Keys, Tunde Ogunlana

Category

news · science · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Oct 2019

Latest episode

3 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

390 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Oct 2026

   Best Of - Cracking the Code: How Politicians Use Hierarchy to Empty Your Pockets

   Why do people support leaders who pick their pockets? In this clip, Tunde Ogunlana and James Keys break down the profound and disturbing Lyndon B. Johnson quote on social hierarchy, the psychology of transference, and how modern political movements weaponize status to distract from massive financial grift. The LBJ quote: “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” Full episode : Here

2. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Was Nikole Hannah Jones Wrong to View Public Schools as Our Shared Responsibility? Also, Macklemore vs Robert Kraft: Who Gets to Speak and What Can They Say?

   James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss Nikole Hannah Jones’ decision to send her own daughter to an under resourced public school and how her effort to be a part of the solution to the problems facing inner city public schools and consider whether the systemic issues in American education are solvable.  The guys then take a look at the controversy involving Macklemore, Ed Sheeran and Robert Kraft and discuss why our society has trouble dealing with an issue at the intersection humanity and antiwar sentiment, antisemitism, and oligarch control. In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (NY Times) Why I’m Sending My Black Son to Private School (The Atlantic) The Macklemore And Ed Sheeran Situation Explained (Forbes) Macklemore apologized for 2014 costume featuring antisemitic tropes (Snopes)

3. 

   26 Sept 2026

   Best Of - Is It Fair to Say Jay-Z Keeps Selling Out Black Americans?

   Excerpt from the episode "Jay-Z Selling Out Mainstream Black America Is Understood Through Eugene Robinson’s 'Disintegration' " In that episode, James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discussed the Jay-Z’s deal with Target to exclusively release the 30th anniversary edition of his first album Reasonable Doubt despite (or taking advantage of) efforts from black activists to maintain boycott against Target for its rollback of DEI initiatives. The guys then considered how this illustrates a consequence of the “Splintering of Black America” Eugene Robinson talked about in his 2011 book “Disintegration.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2026/06/22/jay-zs-target-deal-a-career-built-on-contradiction/ https://balleralert.com/jay-z-target-deal-proves-he-always-shows-up-when-we-boycott/ https://bookshop.org/p/books/disintegration-the-splintering-of-black-america-eugene-robinson/5afcbcba66f0f34f https://www.npr.org/2010/10/05/130333806/-disintegration-of-america-s-black-neighborhoods

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

250,562

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.6 / 5

11 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 81 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

97

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

77

Contact Call It Like I See It

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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