DC
Dolly Chugh
Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and Author of The Person You Mean to Be
Baratunde Thurston
Emmy-Nominated Host, Writer and Creator of How to Citizen
Citizenship · Race and Culture · Technology
Speaking Fee
Fee on request
Based In
United States
Signature Topic
How to Citizen
Format
Keynote and Moderated Conversation
About Baratunde
Baratunde Thurston makes subjects discussable that a room has decided to be careful around, which is a specific skill and largely a comedic one.
How to Be Black, his New York Times bestseller, is the clearest example: a memoir and satire that treats race as something to be examined out loud rather than approached at a distance, and that gets an audience laughing before it gets them thinking, in that order and for a reason.
How to Citizen, the podcast he co-created and hosts, argues for citizen as a verb. Its premise is that the useful question is not which side someone is on but what they actually do, and it reframes participation as a practice with four components rather than as an opinion held quietly. That framing is what makes him a fit for an audience tired of being told what to believe and unclear on what to do.
He hosted and executive produced the PBS series America Outdoors, which put him in parts of the country and in conversations that a media career in New York and Washington usually does not, and he now hosts Life With Machines, on what artificial intelligence is doing to human agency. Earlier he worked at The Onion, produced for The Daily Show and advised the Obama White House. His 2019 TED talk on the language used to describe racial confrontations was called one of the greatest TED talks by MSNBC's Brian Williams.
He is booked for events that want the room loosened without the subject being trivialized, and he is comfortable across race and culture, civic engagement and technology, which is an unusually wide range for one speaker and makes him a practical choice for a conference with a mixed program.
Keynote Topics
How to Citizen: Participation as a Practice
Talking About Race Without the Room Freezing
Technology, Democracy and Human Agency
Comedy as a Way Into Hard Conversations
Best For
- Conference keynotes with a mixed or general audience
- Company-wide inclusion and belonging events
- Technology and AI conferences
- University and civic engagement programs
- Media, marketing and creative industry events
Booking Baratunde Thurston: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Baratunde Thurston's speaking fee?
Baratunde Thurston's fee is not published here and is quoted per event. It is driven by event date, location and travel, session length, and whether a moderated conversation, panel hosting or audience Q&A is added to the keynote. Submit an inquiry with your date and audience size for a current quote and availability.
What does how to citizen mean?
It treats citizen as a verb rather than a legal status. The premise is that the useful question is not which side a person is on but what they actually do, and the material reframes participation as a practice rather than an opinion. It suits audiences tired of being told what to believe and unclear on what to do.
Is the session a comedy set?
No, though comedy is the method. The humor is what gets a careful room to relax enough to engage with a subject it has been avoiding, and the substance follows. Organizations book him when they want the topic opened without it being trivialized.
Can he speak on technology as well as culture?
Yes, and the range is unusually wide for one speaker. He hosts Life With Machines, on what artificial intelligence is doing to human agency, alongside his work on race, culture and civic participation, which makes him a practical booking for a conference with a mixed program.
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Baratunde Thurston
Emmy-Nominated Host, Writer and Creator of How to Citizen
Fee on request
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