After five years of serving as lead staff writer for Black-focused news media outlet The Root, Michael Harriot ended his tenure there with a farewell piece titled “Deuces.” Beyond going down the line referencing some of his greatest hits from his thoughts on controversies regarding Dr. Umar Johnson and social media beef with Fox News or even challenging President Joe Biden’s Corn Pop story, there was loads of optimism in the final words.

“This is the longest I have ever stayed with one company and I have no idea what happens next,” wrote Harriot. “All I ever wanted to do is to tell our stories and, if I was lucky, piss off a few tapioca hobgoblins along the way.”

According to the multi-hyphenated creative and journalist, he knew where he was going. As someone who never stayed at a job for more than five years, he’d eventually serve as a writer for The Grio while finishing his book. “It was kind of a brave new world stepping out into the unknown," said Harriot. “The transition was exciting to me because it meant a new chapter in my life, a new position, and the new opportunity to learn new things and to start new adventures.”

Most importantly, Harriot is still finding new fascinating ways to tell Black stories and irritate certain types of white folks simultaneously.

One includes his narrative podcast series Drapetomaniax: Unshackled History, which began in May this year. Named after the false mental illness created by Dr. Samuel Adolphus Cartwright in 1851 to diagnose runaway slaves, the weekly series humorously tells various untold moments of Black history.

Some of the episodes include KevOnStage stepping into the role of Charlie Case, a Black man who many consider the first standup comedian. Other episodes revolve around questioning who is the first African American and the origins of the term Drapetomania itself. One future episode Harriot is excited for dives deep into the many ideological beefs Ida B. Wells had through the lens of battle raps. This even includes using a popular unnamed female emcee to voice the legendary activist. Harriot describes the podcast series as real storytelling blended with a conversational tone one might hear at a Black barbershop.

“I think the way we relate to each other, the way Black people talk to each other is embedded in this podcast,” explained Harriot of the podcast made in collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment and Pharrell’s Othertone. “I always describe it as a combination of The Chappelle Show meets The 1619 Project because it’s so hard to describe it. It’s something that has never existed before because you have a staff of Black people from around the globe telling these stories and using sound and language and imagery. I think it’s really revolutionary.”

Harriot’s other big project this year comes through Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America. Set for release September 19 through HarperCollins, the book retells American history through Blacks in America in a way only Harriot can. Chapters will explore everything from Black Americans’ relationship with South Carolina, as 40% of slaves came through Charleston, to why white people cook the way they do.

A segment Harriot is looking forward for readers to check out the most is a chapter titled “Something Else.” It’s the story of reconstruction, how segregation was invented, and how America transformed from a slave-based economy into an oppression-based economy.

“I thought about telling the story of America from a Black person’s perspective and not just from a historian’s perspective,” Harriot explained. “I think just in the way I write in itself, I use humor and slang. I make it relatable. I think this book, an average person could read it and learn about history and can learn details that they might not have been familiar with.”

Between having one of the most unique podcasts out today and an upcoming book looking to appropriately re-write American history, Harriot also hasn’t forgotten his title as “The Dean of Black Twitter.” Though things for the popular social media platform have changed following its purchase by controversial mogul Elon Musk, he engages it the same way he always has.

“I feel about Twitter the same way I feel about America,” said Harriot. “America is as racist as Twitter is. Twitter is just a reflection of the people who live in this country and around the world. Twitter kind of attacks Black people just like how America attacks Black people. You hear the same slurs on Twitter that you hear in America. I live in Twitter and I live in America so that’s how I engage with it.”