Bio
Kendall Ciesemier (@kendallciese) was the host of At Liberty and the Senior Executive Producer of Multimedia at the ACLU.
Previously, Kendall worked as a producer and reporter for The New York Times' Opinion section and Mic, a digital media company. Most notably at Mic, Kendall's interview with Alice Marie Johnson, a woman serving a life without parole sentence for a first-time nonviolent drug offense, inspired Kim Kardashian West to get involved in Johnson's case. Kardashian West then successfully lobbied President Trump to grant Johnson clemency and Kendall produced a series of reported pieces alongside the effort, catapulting the story to make international headlines and result in real-world impact.
Kendall has appeared on The Oprah Show with President Clinton, the TODAY Show, and CBS This Morning. She’s was named the 2014 Glamour Magazine College Woman of the Year, a Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, a Zeitgeist Young Mind by Google, and one of Youth Service America’s “Top 25 Most Powerful and Influential Young People.”
Kendall is a graduate of Georgetown University.
Featured work
Nov 23, 2021
Glennon Doyle on Having Hard Holiday Conversations
Nov 2, 2021
Special Edition: Texas Abortion Ban at the Supreme Court
Aug 19, 2021
Ashley C. Ford on Growing Up With an Incarcerated Parent
Jul 22, 2021
Tony Winner Ali Stroker Reframes Disability Representation and Identity
Mar 25, 2021
Writer and Artist Chanel Miller on Surviving, Identity, and Activism
Dec 10, 2020
Glennon Doyle on Telling Loved Ones Hard Truths
Jul 2, 2020
Activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham on Building a Lasting Movement
Apr 8, 2020
Isolation, Before and During a Pandemic