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Thurston to speak at ISU’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Dinner

Baratunde Thurston hosts the program at the National Portrait Gallery's 2022 Portrait of a Nation Gala on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Joy Asico/Invision for National Portrait Gallery
/
Associated Press
Baratunde Thurston, seen here hosting the National Portrait Gallery's 2022 Portrait of a Nation Gala, will be the featured speaker at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Dinner Feb. 15 at Illinois State University.

Emmy-nominated television host, storyteller and content producer Baratunde Thurston will be the featured speaker at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Dinner Feb. 15 at Illinois State University.

Thurston is the creator of the “How To Citizen with Baratunde” podcast, and last year he launched the “Life With Machines” podcast exploring the human side of artificial intelligence. His comedic memoir “How To Be Black” was a New York Times bestseller.

Thurston also hosts the series “America Outdoors” on PBS, and was featured in the Hulu docuseries, “Black Twitter: A People’s History.” His storytelling integrates themes of race, culture, politics, and technology.

The cultural dinner event is Saturday, Feb. 15 in the Brown Ballroom at ISU’s Bone Student Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the dinner begins at 6 p.m.

Reservations are required in advance, with seats costing $20 for students and $35 for non-students. The registration deadline is Jan. 31, or when tickets are sold out.

Joe Deacon is a reporter at WCBU and WGLT.