Van Lathan: podcast appearances and interviews

Van Lathan Jr. born on April 16, 1980, is an American journalist, producer, podcaster, and political commentator. He gained prominence as a senior producer and cohost on TMZ, notably for confronting Kanye West during a 2018 interview concerning comments about slavery in the United States. After departing TMZ in 2019, Lathan expanded his work in film production, contributing to the short film Two Distant Strangers, which received the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards and the Best Short Film award from the African-American Film Critics Association. He hosts the television series Hip Hop Homicides and several podcasts, including The Red Pill Podcast, The Wire: Way Down in the Hole with Jemele Hill, The Midnight Boys, and Higher Learning with Rachel Lindsay. The latter podcast has been nominated multiple times for the NAACP Image Awards, and all but The Red Pill are part of The Ringer podcast network. Beyond his media career, Lathan has appeared as a panelist on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip. In 2022, he published a memoir titled Fat, Crazy, and Tired: Tales from the Trenches of Transformation, sharing personal insights and experiences.