Compiled by Audrey J. Bernard
Women’s Editor
Karen Hunter is the best kept secret in radio broadcasting, publishing and social
activism. A New Jersey native, Hunter is a change agent, influencer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, professor, New York Times best-selling author, and host of the popular, The Karen Hunter Show on Sirius XM Channel 126, Urban View, five days a week, 3-6 pm eastern standard time (EST). Named one of the “Heavy Hundred” (The 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America) by industry bible Talkers Magazine, Hunter has blazed a trail, bringing more action and less talk to the radio circuit. This over achiever not only has some of the most provocative interviews, with some of the biggest movers and shakers in the world, she is also challenging her listeners to participate in the success they want to see and be. 
The eponymous show has scored numerous viral highlights coupled with star power — interviewed the cast of the movie Fences, including Denzel Washington and Viola Davis; a no-holds-barred interview with then-presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson (October 2015), which went viral. The #TechTuesday movement created The Party of Lincoln app through crowdfunding. In December 2016 The Party of Lincoln was named the No. 1 influencer in the #govtech space. “My listeners and I are on a path to make changes, one moment at a time. We took down the Confederate flag, now we will diversify the electoral body with a major voter registration drive to commence in early 2018. I value my platform and know that change will only happen via truth, information, and voting. Each election is important, from grassroots, local politics to the national stage,” says Hunter.
Following the massacre of the Charleston 9 in June of 2015, Hunter authored a petition calling for the removal of the Confederate Flag from the statehouse of South Carolina. Within three days, more than 500,000 people signed that petition. Within a week, Gov. Nikki Haley vowed to take down the flag and the flag came down. This is the power of The Karen Hunter Show as stated in a New York Times article, “By the afternoon of the day after the massacre, people in the governor’s office were taking notice. Around noon, Hunter, a radio host whose once-obscure show on Sirius XM Radio has been transformed by her outspokenness about white police officers’ killing young Black men, posted her petition online. Within a day, its host, HYPERLINK “http://moveon.org/” \t “_blank” Moveon.org, a liberal advocacy group, told her that it was receiving 5,000 signatures an hour”. As she often proclaims, “The Karen Hunter Show is not a talk show, it is an ‘action’ show!”
A former sports and news reporter with New York’s hometown newspaper, the New York Daily News, for 16 years, Hunter served four of those years on the editorial board of The News, where she was a member of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize- and Polk Award-winning teams. She was also the paper’s first American female news columnist. “Storytelling and creating is my heartbeat; and, marrying my love for words with writing and business has allowed me to lend my talent to working with many celebrities to tell their stories authentically,” laughs Hunter.
As the head of Karen Hunter Books (KHB), an imprint with Simon & Schuster, Hunter has published No. 1 New York Times, True You, by pop icon Janet Jackson, New York Times best-selling, Kris Jenner and All Things Kardashian by Kris Jenner, and New York Times best-selling, Mama Dearest by the late E. Lynn Harris.
Hunter made her name penning autobiographies for celebrities, churning out numerous best-selling books including: I Make My Own Rules (1997) with LL Cool J, Ladies First (1999) with Queen Latifah, and Wendy’s Got the Heat (2003) with nationally syndicated talk show host Wendy Williams. Her book, On the Down Low (2004) with AIDS activist JL King, put a face to and highlighted a phenomenon that has plagued society for too long.
In 2014, KHB released My Country ‘Tis Of Thee by Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. And, In the Kitchen with Kris by Kris Jenner and Thinspired by Mara Schiavocampo. Hunter also published the critically acclaimed autobiographical novel, An Angry-Ass Black Woman by Karen Quinones Miller.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist is one of the most sought-after collaborators in publishing. In 2007, she launched Karen Hunter Publishing (KHP) — an imprint of Pocket Books at Simon & Schuster, and has published titles including: Why Black Men Love White Women, Recipes for The Good Life by Patti Labelle, E. Lynn Harris’s, Mama Dearest. and Don’t Bring Home A White Boy by Karyn Langhorne Folan. KHP also has signed pop sensation Janet Jackson to write her first book.
In addition to writing and publishing, Hunter was a radio talk-show host on a New York City morning show for three years. She is currently a Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College, where she has served as an assistant professor in the Film & Media Department since 2002. She is also a MSNBC contributor, speaking on everything from politics to pop culture.
Hunter won’t be America’s best kept secret for long. Get ready to join her on the front-lines as she spearheads a major voter registration drive in 2018, while bringing the best and most thought-provoking guests daily on The Karen Hunter Show. Tune in to Sirius XM (Channel 126, Urban View) daily.
Hunter, a graduate of Drew University, and a full-time professor/Distinguished Lecturer in Film & Media Department at Hunter College is no stranger to making history.
To learn more about Karen Hunter, visit the website www.karenhuntershow.com. To schedule an interview with Karen Hunter, contact Karen Taylor Bass, TaylorMade Media, HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]” \t “_blank” [email protected], 917-509-3061.
About the show
In June of 2015, Karen Hunter authored a petition calling for the removal of the confederate flag from the statehouse of South Carolina in the wake of the massacre of nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Within three days, more than 500,000 people signed that petition. Within a week, Gov. Nikki Haley vowed to take down the flag. Within two weeks, the flag was removed. This is the power of The Karen Hunter Show. Thought-provoking and cutting-edge, KHS features candid conversations on the topics of the day and segments with guests across a variety of mediums to empower listeners.
