tristan mcallister

When Why Here started in May of 2020, amid a global pandemic, the hosts had no idea what the next few months would look like. On this week's episode of Why Here, contributors Claudine Ko and Dr. Virat Madia join hosts Benton Whitley and Tristan McAllister to look back on the podcast's first season. The four reflect on big moments that changed how they saw the conversation around them and how their thinking has evolved during a summer that none of us will ever forget. 

When Why Here contributor Claudine Ko reports a story she always finds an angle that provokes intrigue with readers. She's spent years seeking the truth in a story about Me Too and the the pottery world. In 2004 she wrote THE American Apparel story that made some feel as though founder Dov Charney should become a pariah for his overtly candid and sexual management style. On this week's episode of Why Here, Claudine sits to chat with hosts Benton Whitley and Tristan McAllister about her take on these stories and what it means to be an objective journalist in the time of cancel culture. Special guest Jane Pratt, former editor-in-chief at Jane magazine, joins the conversation to talk about how the American Apparel story might have had a different outcome today.