Inaugural List Celebrates Alex Trebek & Jean Trebek, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bubba Wallace, Becky Hammon, José Andrés, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, the Inspiration4 Crew and America’s Teachers
‘Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List,’ Hosted by Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, will Air Saturday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Telemundo
Encore Presentations to Air Sunday, May 2 at 3 p.m. ET on CNBC and 10 p.m. ET on MSNBC, Will Also Stream at 9 p.m. ET on NBC News NOW and On Demand on Peacock
April 28, 2021 — NBCUniversal News Group reveals the honorees on The 2021 Inspiration List, an all-new annual division-wide, multiplatform franchise recognizing extraordinary people who have made a positive impact during an unusually challenging and dividing year.
The first-ever Inspiration List includes: philanthropists Alex Trebek and Jean Trebek, award-winning songwriter, actor and director Lin-Manuel Miranda, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés, CEO of Feeding America Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, the Inspiration4 Crew and America’s teachers.
Their stories will be told during Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List, airing Saturday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Telemundo (Inspirando a América) and on Sunday, May 2 on CNBC at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) and MSNBC at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT). Hosted by NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt, along with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, the hour-long special program will also stream on NBC News NOW on May 2 at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT) and will be available on Peacock on demand. Click here to view a preview.
The 2021 Inspiration List:
- Alex Trebek & Jean Trebek: The Givers – Jean Trebek speaks with Savannah Guthrie about continuing her late husband Alex Trebek’s legacy of charitable works across the world. She recently dedicated the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission’s Trebek Center, a “bridge housing” facility in his honor, to help combat homelessness in Los Angeles. This is just the latest project of the Trebek family’s decades-long humanitarian work of giving back.
- Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Uniter – Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks with Lester Holt in Washington Heights, where he grew up and still resides, about paying it forward and helping artists achieve their dreams. In the last year alone, he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for both his out-of-work Broadway colleagues and minority communities hit hard by the Covid pandemic, and also started a digital fundraising campaign, Raise Up, with his family to benefit immigrant communities. Additionally, his family is helping to build a bigger pipeline of artists of color through the Miranda Family fellowships.
- Bubba Wallace: The Game Changer – Bubba Wallace, the only African American driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, talks to MSNBC’s and TODAY’s Craig Melvin about the momentous stand he took asking NASCAR to ban confederate flag displays at races, becoming a leader in a sport facing its own reckoning over racial injustice. Raised to treat everyone with equal respect, he is now devoted to mentoring other drivers of color in the hopes of encouraging more diversity in the sport.
- Becky Hammon: The Trailblazer – As the first woman to lead an NBA basketball team as acting head coach and the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history, Becky Hammon sits down with Hoda Kotb to talk about what drives her and how her belief in herself, combined with her innate talent and fierce persistence, defined her groundbreaking career, paving the way for women in a male-dominated league.
- José Andrés and Claire Babineaux-Fontenot: The Providers – Noticias Telemundo’s and NBC Nightly News’ José Díaz-Balart profiles two inspiring individuals dedicated to solving the devastating problem of hunger and food insecurity. Renowned celebrity chef and restaurateur José Andrés launched World Central Kitchen, a charitable organization that feeds people around the world in the wake of disasters, including during the pandemic. Claire Babineaux-Fontenot left her job as a corporate executive to become the CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization that distributed more than six billion meals last year.
- Inspiration4 Crew: The Dream Chasers – The first all-civilian space mission crew, Inspiration4, led by the commander Jared Isaacman, sits down with CNBC’s Shepard Smith to talk about this historic mission to space, which is raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. One of the crew members, Hayley Arceneaux, is a physician assistant at St. Jude, and was a patient there herself when she was a child battling bone cancer. She’ll be the first person to travel to space with a prosthesis, and hopes to open the door for others who also have physical challenges.
- America’s Teachers – NBC News’ Vicky Nguyen profiles a Dallas elementary school teacher, representing the many teachers throughout the country who rose above extraordinary challenges this past year to educate, motivate and inspire their students during both in-person and virtual learning.
Clips of the interviews, along with other Inspiring America stories, are airing throughout the week across TODAY, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Noticias Telemundo, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC News NOW, NBCLX, and are also featured on a new dedicated website: NBCNews.com/InspiringAmerica.
The stories will also be shared on demand on Peacock. To sign up, visit peacocktv.com.
NBCUniversal News Group
More Americans watch NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC than any news organization in the world. NBC News’ leading and award-winning television news broadcasts include TODAY, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and Dateline NBC. MSNBC is the #2 network across all of cable and the premiere destination for breaking news, award-winning content, in-depth analysis and informed perspectives. CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage, business and general news content, and primetime reality programming, consumed by more than 557 million people per month across all platforms. The rapidly-growing NBC News Digital Group – including its streaming news services NBC News NOW and TODAY All Day – and the network’s award-winning original podcast and audio unit provide continuous content to consumers wherever they are, whenever they want it.
NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC are part of the NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corporation. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit www.NBCUniversal.com.
About Noticias Telemundo
Noticias Telemundo is a leading news provider for U.S. Hispanics. Its award-winning television news broadcasts, airing from the Telemundo Center, include the newscasts “Noticias Telemundo” with José Díaz Balart, “Noticias Telemundo” with Julio Vaqueiro, “Noticias Telemundo Fin de Semana” with Vanessa Hauc, and “Noticias Telemundo Mediodía” with Felicidad Aveleyra. The “Noticias Telemundo Digital Team” provides continuous content to U.S. Hispanics via its growing online and mobile platforms. “Noticias Telemundo Investiga” produces investigative reports and in-depth documentaries. “Noticias Telemundo Planeta Tierra” offers environmental and climate change related information. In addition, “Noticias Telemundo” produces award-winning news specials, documentaries and news events such as political debates, forums and town halls.
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