John L. Hanson Jr.
Host, Producer, In Black AmericaJohn L. Hanson is the producer and host of the nationally syndicated radio series In Black America. It’s heard on home station KUT at 10 p.m. Tuesdays and 6:30 a.m. Sundays — and weekly on close to 20 stations across the country. The weekly podcast of IBA, the only nationally broadcast Black-oriented public affairs radio program, is one of KUT’s most popular podcasts.
Hanson’s love of radio started in his hometown, Detroit, as a teenager. He began as a music programmer and youth reporter for the student station in his school. Upon his high school graduation, he traveled to Austin, Texas, to attend Huston-Tillotson College, and landed a DJ slot at a small, low wattage station in nearby Lockhart where he offered a popular nightly program of jazz and soul music. Eventually he was hired by KUT radio in 1974 where his first assignment was to produce a nightly program called “Soul on FM” which became an immediate success and ultimately earned him recognition as “Best DJ in Texas” by Texas Monthly magazine in 1976.
In 1977, Hanson received a Minority Training Grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which he used to learn the ropes for setting up a public affairs program for KUT. Upon his return from the CPB workshops, Hanson turned his attention to improving and increasing information about the Black community, which was not effectively reaching the local media outlets.
He soon created Access, a weekly, live, phone-in program on KUT, which allowed experts in various fields and endeavors to address the public about their intended impact on the Austin community. From there, Hanson was promoted to the producer of In Black America after its previous host left the city in 1980.
Since that time, Hanson has served many roles at KUT, including being the station’s interim GM on two occasions. He retired from KUT in 2011, but has continued to work on IBA and host the Old School Dance Party on sister station KUTX 98.9 Friday afternoons from 4-7 p.m. Hanson is married to the former Latischa M. Merritt; he has two children, Kacey and Michael.
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On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Michelle Adams, Law professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and the author of The Containment. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Phillip Washington, Jr., founder and CEO of Stone Hill Wealth Management. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a 1985 conversation with the late Robert C. Maynard, journalist, newspaper publisher, editor and former owner of the Oakland (CA) Tribune newspaper. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a tribute to the late Alexander Murray Palmer Haley, recorded in February 1988. Haley’s quest to learn more about his family history resulted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Roots: The Saga of an America Family. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Jessica Norwood, financial activist, investor, social entrepreneur, founder and CEO of RUNWAY, and author of ‘Believe In You Money: What Would It Look Like If the Economy Loved Black People?’ -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Jeffery L. Williams, real estate broker; creator of the shoe and fashion brand, Mentor; model and author of My Feet Are Off The Ground: Turning Tragedy Into Triumph. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. pays tribute to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have turned 96 this week. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Chuck Bishop, senior vice president , Head of Diverse Segments, Wells Fargo Home Lending. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents his second, and final, discussion with Destin George Bell, the co-founder and CEO of Card.io. -
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a tribute to the late Dr. John Hope Franklin, a native of Oklahoma and alumnus of Fisk University and Harvard, and the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History and Professor of Legal History at Duke University Law School.
