The 21st Show

No Kings and ‘A Protest History of the United States’

Produced by Harrison Malkin, Christine Hatfield, and Brian Mackey
 
a white woman with gray hair and a yellow t-shirt holds a homemade sign with the text

The No Kings protest in Champaign-Urbana on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Reginald Hardwick/IPM (inset portrait: John Jay College of Criminal Justice / book: Beacon Press)

Listen
Download

Millions of Americans took to the streets across the country this weekend for the latest No Kings protest. The event happened in cities across Illinois, including Chicago, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Belleville, and Carbondale.

We’ll talk about what happened this weekend, and put No Kings in the larger context of American history. Our guest is civil rights lawyer Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, whose new book is “A Protest History of the United States.” She also hosted the Your Democracy series for public radio station WHYY in Philadelphia.

Guest

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
Author of “A Protest History of the United States”
Professor of Constitutional Law at CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice