Farai Chideya (; born July 27, 1969, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States) is an American novelist, multimedia journalist, and radio host. She produced and hosted Pop and Politics with Farai Chideya, a series of radio specials on politics for 15 years. She is the creator and host of the podcast Our Body Politic, which launched in September 2020. Additionally, since 2012 Chideya has held the position of distinguished writer in residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, where she teaches courses in radio production and media economics. Early life Chideya was born on July 27, 1969, in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother is from Baltimore, and her father is from Zimbabwe. Chideya holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Harvard College. She graduated from Harvard in 1990, magna cum laude. Career Chideya was a member of the improv comedy troupe The Immediate Gratification Players. In 2000, she was distinguished as the most honored alumna from Harvard. Her academic life includes being a professional in residence at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California, in addition to her current position as distinguished writer in residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. Chideya is also the founder and president of one of the earliest pop culture blogs in the US, PopandPolitics.com. During the 15 years of its existence, PopandPolitics.com was a training ground for young arts and culture journalists. In addition to her radio, video and online journalism, Chideya appears as a political analyst on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News, Fox News, BET and HBO. She began working as a senior writer for the website FiveThirtyEight in 2015, covering issues including the 2016 presidential election. In May 2009, Atria Books published Chideya's first novel, Kiss the Sky, which details the life of a black female rock musician making a career comeback in New York. The book takes place just months before 9/11 and is rooted in the ethos of the Black rock movement and the New York club scene. Chideya is also part of The Finish Party writing group, and is the author of three non-fiction books about race and politics: Don't Believe the Hype, The Color of Our Future and Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters. Prior to