Introducing: Before & After with Lester Holt

Introducing: Before & After with Lester Holt

Author: NBC News September 14, 2026 Duration: 1:55
Hey Southlake fans! As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Before & After with Lester Holt, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline. Before & After with Lester Holt is a deeply personal interview series about moments that divide a life into before and after. In each conversation, Lester sits down with someone whose life was transformed in an instant by an unexpected twist of fate. The episodes explore what it takes to endure the unimaginable, rebuild a life, and find meaning and purpose in the aftermath.  If you like what you hear, just search Before & After with Lester Holt to listen to the first episode now, completely free. Or subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com. Subscribers get early access to new episodes and can listen to all Dateline podcasts ad-free. swap.fm/l/bapfd

In the affluent suburb of Southlake, Texas, a community known for its top-ranked schools and tight-knit pride, a single video cracked the carefully maintained facade. Southlake, this documentary podcast from NBC News, delves into the profound conflict that erupted after that 2018 footage showed local high school students chanting a racial slur. The series follows what happened when Black families and students began sharing their own experiences with racism and harassment, prompting the school district to propose a diversity and inclusion initiative known as the Cultural Competence Action Plan. Instead of unifying the community, the plan ignited a fierce and ongoing backlash, pulling parents, educators, and political activists into a heated national debate over race, education, and identity. Each episode of this podcast is built on intimate reporting, featuring the voices of residents at the center of the storm-those advocating for change and those resisting it. Listeners will hear how a local school board struggle became a microcosm for America's cultural battles, revealing deep divisions beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect town. The narrative explores the real-world consequences of political rhetoric and the personal costs for families caught in the middle, making this more than just a news story. It's a sustained, character-driven look at how a community grapples with its own conscience.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 18

Southlake
Podcast Episodes
Protect the Tradition [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:23
It’s Election Day in Southlake, Texas — time to see if the fight over the Carroll school district’s Cultural Competence Action Plan translates into votes.
The Debate Channel [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:24
As school board candidates debate Southlake’s future, a queer 16-year-old faces off with her principal over his handling of a harassment complaint.
The Circus Comes to Town [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:41
A new fixation on critical race theory muddies the debate in Southlake, drowning out the voices of students who’d come forward with stories about racism.
The Not-So-Silent Majority [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:43
The Southlake Families PAC raises more than $100,000 to fight against what the group calls a “liberal takeover” of the schools — and starts building an army.
Home of the Dragons [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:39
A viral video of students in wealthy Southlake, Texas, yelling the N-word after homecoming brings Black families’ concerns about racism to the surface.
Just a Word [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:47
Southlake’s leaders try to unite the town after the N-word video. But the pandemic — and backlash to a local Black Lives Matter protest — upend their plans.
Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:37
Parents in Southlake, Texas, wanted to confront racism in their schools. Instead, the suburb is being consumed by a national backlash over critical race theory.