Left of Black Digital Series Wins Two Telly Awards for Video Excellence
DURHAM, NC — September 3, 2025 — Duke University’s Black studies digital series, Left of Black, won two 2025 Telly Awards over the summer for video excellence. The series, produced by the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI), won Silver in the “Interview and Talk Show” category and Bronze in the “Education and Discovery” category.
Hosted by now former Chair of Duke’s African & African American Studies Department, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, the show features conversations with Black studies scholars, artists, and activists, highlighting their work and insights on culture, history, and social justice.
Established in 1979, the Telly Awards have evolved from honoring local, regional, and cable television commercials to encompassing documentaries, social media, and a wide range of communications and marketing campaigns.
With the rise of digital media, the 46th Annual Telly Awards received over 13,000 submissions from six continents and all fifty states this year. The Telly Awards Judging Council, a group of 250 executives and industry leaders from network television, advertising agencies, production companies and streaming platforms, applies a high bar of excellence when judging entries.
The hard work and dedication spent to make this series a reality every season is well worth the effort to reach audiences across academia and beyond. -Series Producer Eric Barstow, M.F.A.
FHI, named after the famed Duke historian John Hope Franklin, has become a leader in cultivating a space for interdisciplinary projects and scholarly research to thrive. It plans to continue producing new episodes of Left of Black in its ongoing efforts to amplify humanities research that innovates conversations in the public sphere.
“The hard work and dedication spent to make this series a reality every season is well worth the effort to reach audiences across academia and beyond,” said series producer and director, Eric Barstow, M.F.A. “These wins from the Telly Awards further cements the effectiveness of our outreach into digital spaces that value intelligent, elevated conversations and where critical thinking is most sorely needed in this new age of disinformation.” Mr. Barstow also works as the multimedia director for the humanities institute at Duke.
Notable competitors in these categories included the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) with ASC Clubhouse Conversations, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with Teek and Tom Explore Planet Earth, and social media giant LinkedIn, which produces The Path with Ryan Roslansky that stars the company’s CEO.
Article written by Micah Edwards & Andy Kavul of the Charmaine McKissick-Melton Communications Fellowship at Duke
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