With control of statehouses and Congress on the line, the upcoming midterm elections mark a defining moment for Black representation in America. Leading that charge is Keisha Lance Bottoms, who could make history as the first Black woman governor in U.S. history. To give voters a direct look at the leaders driving this election cycle, The Root is launching “What’s Popular?” on Monday (Oct. 19)—a new digital series hosted by publisher Ashley Allison featuring exclusive high-stakes interviews with major candidates, including Bottoms and Michigan Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and more. Check out a teaser of the series here:
@therootnews Abdul El-Sayed says he wants an America that works for all her children.
The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate says the focus should be on the issues affecting people’s everyday lives, from gas prices to access to health care, rather than his name and faith. Hear more from El-Sayed on the first episode of What’s Popular?
Premiering tomorrow on The Root’s YouTube channel. #WhatsPopular #AbdulElSayed #Michigan #Election2026 #Midterms
Across four episodes, Allison sits down with various political figures involved in key races across the country and asks the questions constituents want to know and spearheads the hard but necessary conversations about the importance of this upcoming election and Black Americans’ civic engagement. Episodes will stream across our social platforms.
Related: Inside Black Men’s Campaign to Get Keisha Lance Bottoms Elected
“What’s Popular?” launches one week after the premiere of our first web series, “America Amended.” In that six-episode series, host and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist/author Trymaine Lee explores what our constitutional rights mean more than 200 years after the document that serves as the foundation of America’s federal government was written. Through the lens of the Black American experience, the series examines the distance between a legal promise and lived reality. Each episode pairs a constitutional amendment with a city and a cultural lens, following the people and institutions that fought to make those rights real.
Both series come as part of The Root‘s commitment to reinvesting in our newsroom. Since our inception, our work has consistently advanced our national dialogue, challenged dominant narratives, and served as a vital platform for nuanced, unapologetically Black storytelling. And now, with our site being back under Black ownership—and with October 2026 marking one year since the milestone transition and Allison’s direction—these initiatives are more important now than ever.
