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PODCAST

Color Commentary

Dr. Charles Cole III

Color Commentary with Dr. Cole is where the news meets perspective. Each episode begins in black and white—straight facts, clearly laid out, no spin—before shifting into full color, where Dr. Charles Cole III brings his voice, expertise, and lived experience to unpack what it all really means. From courtroom battles to cultural flashpoints, from education to entrepreneurship, this show gives you both the record and the reflection. Sometimes it’s just Dr. Cole, sometimes it’s with guests, but always

news news commentary

All Episodes

00:44:45

Ep 31 | Office Hours: What Do You Do With a Kid the...

Color Commentary ·

2026/04/22

This week on Color Commentary, Dr. Cole opens up Office Hours, a new lane on the show where he takes a real situation and works it live using the A.N.D. framework. This one is a composite drawn from more than ten real cases he's seen over the years as a social worker, scholar, organizer, and entrepreneur. A middle school teacher is fighting to keep a brilliant 12-year-old Black boy out of an alternative school, and she has ten days. Frameworks are meaningless if you can't use them on a Tuesday

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00:36:53

Ep 30 | They Made the Promises. Here's What the Data...

Color Commentary ·

2026/04/15

In 2020, American philanthropy made a lot of noise about supporting Black-led nonprofits. New research from Candid and ABFE just dropped — and it shows that for most Black-led organizations, those promises amounted to a brief surge and a hard landing. The money was temporary. The relationships never formed. The structural gap never closed. And now, with the Trump administration rolling back DEI support across the board, Black-led nonprofits are navigating the most hostile funding environment in

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01:14:17

Ep 29 | Inside the Manosphere — What It Means for...

Color Commentary ·

2026/04/09

This week on Color Commentary, Dr. Charles Cole is joined by education activist, Brightbeam CEO, and fellow 8 Black Hands host Chris Stewart to break down the Netflix documentary Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. The film — which hit number one on Netflix — takes viewers inside a growing world of online male influencers who profit from messages about masculinity, dominance, and distrust. But Charles and Chris go deeper: What void is the manosphere filling that schools, fathers, and communities

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01:00:06

Ep 28 | Beautiful and Jealous — The Truth About Ambition

Color Commentary ·

2026/04/01

This week on Color Commentary, Dr. Cole gets personal. From sleeping in a Tenderloin shelter at nine years old to earning a doctorate, speaking across the country, and helping more than a thousand kids get to college — he traces the origins of an ambition that has driven everything and cost him plenty. This is not a success story. This is an honest reckoning with the most faithful and most dangerous force in his life.We would love to hear from you. Email Dr. Cole at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com.

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00:35:20

Ep 27 | Don't Tell Me What Young People Can't Do

Color Commentary ·

2026/03/26

Today I want to make an argument. It is one I believe in deeply — both because of the work I do every day and because of the evidence that history gives us when we bother to look. The argument is simple: do not underestimate young people. Do not put a ceiling on what they are capable of creating. Because the next time someone tells you that youth is a limitation, I want you to think about two names. Nasir Jones. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Let me give you the facts first.__We’d love to hear from

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01:01:22

Ep 26 | The Oscars, the Manosphere, and the Boys...

Color Commentary ·

2026/03/18

We have two things today. First — the Oscars happened Sunday...and I need to say a few words. Then we're going deep on something I watched this weekend that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Louis Theroux just dropped a documentary on Netflix called Inside the Manosphere. I watched it. I have thoughts. And I think you need to watch it too — especially if you have a son, a nephew, a little brother, or a student. Let's get into it.--We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at

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00:42:03

Ep 25 | The Oscar 10 & What We Built: Energy...

Color Commentary ·

2026/03/11

I want to revisit the BAFTA conversation one more time — because the comments have not stopped coming in and there is one more thing I need to say. Then we are going to walk through all ten Best Picture nominees ahead of the Oscars this Sunday — what they are, whether I've seen them, what I actually think. I'll be honest about which ones I've seen, which ones I haven't, and which one I started and had to walk away from. And in the back half of the show, I want to introduce you to something personal

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00:27:07

Ep 24 | MBJ Wins, and We Need to Talk About Those...

Color Commentary ·

2026/03/04

Last week we talked about the BAFTAs — Ryan Coogler's historic win, and what Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo had to endure on that stage. Well, this week MBJ went and won the Actor Award — formerly the SAGs — in one of the biggest upsets of the awards season. And the Oscars are twelve days away. We're going to celebrate that. But I also need to address some of the comments from last episode — because some of y'all had me in my feelings. Let's get into it.We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles

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00:42:18

Ep 23 | The BAFTAs: Sinners, History, and the N-Word

Color Commentary ·

2026/02/25

This week on Color Commentary, Dr. Charles Cole III breaks down the 2026 BAFTAs — Ryan Coogler's historic Best Original Screenplay win for Sinners, what Tourette syndrome and Coprolalia actually are, and why the real story isn't John Davidson. It's what BAFTA and the BBC chose to do — and chose not to do — while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were standing on that stage.--We'd love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com

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00:19:20

Ep 22 | Remembering Rev. Jesse Jackson & Tyler...

Color Commentary ·

2026/02/19

Today we’ve got two stories:Eulogizing Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr.Tyler Perry's Joe's College Road TripLet’s get into it.---We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.comAnd check out our merch here!

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01:11:29

Ep 21 | Bad Bunny's Halftime Show and the Problem...

Color Commentary ·

2026/02/12

This week, we're talking about proxy wars. And I don't mean the kind where countries fight each other through intermediaries — though we'll get to that. I'm talking about how almost every cultural fight you're seeing right now is a proxy war for something deeper. Something people can't or won't say out loud.Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show? That's not really about the performance. J. Cole's new album? That's not really about the music. These are battlefields for fights about identity, power, and

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00:34:54

Ep 20 | The High Price of Poverty

Color Commentary ·

2026/02/04

Today, we're talking about something that doesn't get enough attention: the high price of poverty. How it costs more to be poor in America. How the system doesn't just ignore poverty—it profits from it.--We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.comAnd check out our merch here!

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57:49

Ep 19 | Sinners, Ye, and Wonderman

Color Commentary ·

2026/01/29

In this episode of Color Commentary, Dr. Charles Cole, III discusses the recent Oscar nominations for the film 'Sinners', the public apology from Ye regarding his past comments, and the premiere of Marvel's 'Wonder Man'. He reflects on the significance of these events in the context of the film industry, mental health, and the evolving landscape of superhero narratives.-We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.comAnd check out our merch here!

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56:23

Ep 18 | California’s Grading Wars: Grade Inflation,...

Color Commentary ·

2026/01/21

Today's story is about a question schools don't ask out loud enough: What is a grade actually supposed to mean?We're looking at two connected developments out of California—one focused on grade inflation and the incentives driving it, and another focused on grading reform that's spreading across high-performing districts, even when they avoid naming it directly.Don’t blame California’s teachers for inflated grades. Look at school officials (CalMatters, 1/16/26)Why some top schools in the Bay Area

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40:13

Ep 17 | Will Sinners Keep Getting Snubbed?

Color Commentary ·

2026/01/14

Ryan Coogler made a $368 million vampire thriller with a nearly all-Black cast. Michael B. Jordan delivered a career-defining dual performance. Warner Bros. had the biggest original Black film of the year. And the Golden Globes gave it two awards - one of which wasn't even televised.Meanwhile, a table tennis movie made $79 million and won Best Actor. A 2 hour 41 minute PTA film about anarchists made $200 million and won Best Screenplay.Is Sinners bound to get snubbed at the Oscars?---Thank you for

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53:23

Ep 16 | "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" - The Real...

Color Commentary ·

2026/01/07

Today we're talking about a book that's shaped how I think about activism, sacrifice, and what it really means to fight for change: "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" by Sam Greenlee.--We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com

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45:31

Ep 15 | The A.N.D. Model—Awareness, Navigation, and Duty

Color Commentary ·

2025/12/18

A recent study examined three Black men who earned doctoral degrees despite growing up during the crack epidemic. Despite meaningful cultural differences—two African American, one Caribbean diaspora—all three demonstrated remarkably similar patterns of development across three dimensions Awareness:NavigationDutyLet's talk about it. --Thank you for listening to Color Commentary. We’d love to hear from you, so us drop an email at colorcommentarypod@gmail.comAnd if you like what you hear, please

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43:44

Ep 14 | From YN to Quarter Zip - When Young Black...

Color Commentary ·

2025/12/11

Today we're talking about the Quarter Zip movement - young Black men trading in their Nike Techs for business casual, their coffee for matcha, their "YN" identity for something they're calling "Young Gentlemen." But to understand why this matters, we need to talk about what a "YN" actually is. These teenagers are calling themselves "Young Niggas," and I have complicated feelings about how adults are responding to this. Let's talk about it.Thank you for listening to Color Commentary. We'd love to

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32:45

Ep 13 | Dr. Howard Fuller: The Revolutionary Who...

Color Commentary ·

2025/12/04

This week, we're talking about Dr. Howard Fuller. I was just at the Black Male Educator Convening in Philadelphia last week, and I posted a clip of Dr. Fuller speaking. It went viral on TikTok—a new generation discovering an 83-year-old revolutionary who refuses to rest. Watching young educators discover him moved me in ways I wasn't prepared for. Dr. Fuller is one of my most faithful advisors, and today I want to introduce him to those who don't know his story. Not as a historical figure, but as a

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26:34

Ep 12 | The Ballad of Eddie Murphy: The Architect We...

Color Commentary ·

2025/11/20

This week, we're talking about Eddie Murphy. Netflix just dropped a documentary called "Being Eddie," and while I knew most of what was in there—what can I say about myself knowing that?—it got me thinking about something bigger. Eddie Murphy isn't just arguably the greatest comedian of all time. He's the kind of architect I respect—the quiet kind. The one who changes the landscape without needing a title or a speech. Let me explain.--We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at

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30 results

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