The Study Hall Podcast

Wilbert L. Cooper is a staff writer at The Marshall Project. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Cooper discussed his new book "The Black Shield: An American Memoir of Family and Power."
The book delves into the story of how Coopers' parents became police officers and offers a comprehensive account of the legacy of Black police officers in the United States. In addition, the book spotlights the story of The Black Shield — an association of Black police officers in Cleveland, Ohio. In this conversation, Cooper discussed his writing process and also weighed in on the mainstream media's reporting of the Black Lives Matter movement.
 
More info about "The Black Shield": https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-black-shield-an-american-memoir-of-family-and-power-wilbert-l-cooper/1946609d297d5060
 
More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz
 
Music by KT The Terrible
 
 

Katie Notopoulos is a senior correspondent at Business Insider. She covers technology and culture. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Notopoulos discussed her reporting on social media bans, clipping, Google Zero, AI chatbots, and the future of tech journalism. 
 
Keep up with Katie's work: https://www.businessinsider.com/author/katie-notopoulos
More info about Study Hall: www.studyhall.xyz
 
Music by KT The Terrible

Tyler Donohue's writing has appeared in The Cut, Business Insider, and The Guardian. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Donohue reflected on her The Cut essay about leaving her ex-fiancé due to his affiliation with an alleged cult. She also discussed her feature for The Guardian on women who engage in non-monogamy.  Donohue offered insight on how to approach personal topics and utilize social media tools like TikTok to find a writing community.
Subscribe to Tyler's Substack newsletter: https://tylerdonohue.substack.com/
More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz
Music by KT The Terrible
 
 

Lux Alptraum is a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Verge, Wired, and numerous other outlets. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Lux discussed her approach to covering the sex industry and writing about #MeToo. Lux discussed what the mainstream media gets wrong about the industry, and how writers can take a more nuanced approach to the topic.
 
Sign up for Lux's class on writing about the sex industry.
 
Music by KT The Terrible 

Khoa Ha and Victor Velle are the co-directors of the documentary "Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon." The documentary is about Khoa Ha's search for her grandfather's musical legacy in Vietnam. Khoa Ha's grandfather was a musical composer who had a crucial impact on Vietnamese cultural history. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Khoa Ha and Victor Velle discuss their research process and the enduring significance of physical media. 
Keep up with "Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon": https://www.instagram.com/yvan.film
More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz
Music by KT The Terrible

Gaby Del Valle is a policy reporter at The Verge. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, she discussed her reporting on far-right conservative movements.  She also discussed her Harper's feature about her experience at a conservationist conference. In addition, Gaby Del Valle offered tips on how writers can break down complex ideologies. 
 
More about Gaby Del Valle: https://www.theverge.com/authors/gaby-del-valle.
 
More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz
 
Music by KT The Terrible

Brock Colyar is a features writer at New York Magazine. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Colyar discussed their approach to scene reporting and profiling everyone from Bethenny Frankel to rave theorist McKenzie Wark. Colyar also reflected on their feature — from the start of the second Trump administration — about the conservative Gen Z vibe shift. 
Keep up with Brock's work: https://nymag.com/author/brock-colyar/
More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz
Music by KT The Terrible

Elie Mystal is a justice correspondent at The Nation. He's the author of "Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America."
 
In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Mystal discussed how he pursued a career as a legal analyst and what the mainstream media overlooks when covering the Supreme Court. In addition, Mystal broke down recent Supreme Court rulings and what he finds particularly ominous. 
 
Read Mystal's column on the 250th anniversary of the U.S.A: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/250-anniversary-fixing-the-constitution/
 
Learn more about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz
 
Music by KT The Terrible 
 

Andrew Durbin is the editor in chief of Frieze. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Durbin chats about his new book The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek.
The book chronicles a multi-decade friendship between two queer artists and analyzes their enduring influence. In this conversation, Durbin discusses how researching and writing this book made him reassess his own role as an art critic and the dynamic of curation. He also discusses what contemporary queer artists and writers can learn from these two artists' legacies. 
Learn more about The Wonderful That Almost Was. 
Learn more about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz.
 
Music by KT The Terrible 

Suzy Exposito is an editor at Los Angeles Times' De Los section. Previously, she founded Rolling Stone's Latin music section. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Exposito discussed how Bad Bunny's career transformed Latin music journalism and the dynamic of advocating for more diverse coverage. In addition, she discussed her essay about her recent humanitarian trip to Cuba. 
 
Suzy's essay on her trip to Cuba: https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2026-04-03/cuban-americans-for-cuba-against-us-embargo-nuestra-america-convoy
 
Music by KT The Terrible
 
More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz 
 
De Los Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-de-los-podcast/id1896780516