Dan Slepian, an award-winning NBC News journalist and veteran producer of Dateline, will be the featured speaker at Kalamazoo College’s Flesche Lecture at 8 p.m. May 11 at Stetson Chapel. A livestream will also be available.
In more than two decades at NBC, Slepian has earned 11 Emmy nominations by spearheading dozens of documentaries, hidden-camera investigations and breaking news reports. Referred to as “a TV news gumshoe” by the New York Times, Slepian’s investigations have helped solve cold cases, assisted in exonerating the wrongly accused, and sparked changes in laws.
In February, NBC News released “Letters from Sing Sing,” an eight-episode podcast hosted by Slepian that documents his 20-year journey investigating the wrongful conviction claim of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. The podcast hit No. 1 on Apple’s top charts the day of its release. Velazquez will be a guest of Slepian at the lecture.
Slepian also conceived, developed and produced “Justice for All,” an NBC News/MSNBC series about the criminal justice system. The weeklong event included the first town hall from a maximum-security prison as well as Dateline’s Emmy-nominated “Life Inside” about mass incarceration.
In February 2021, NBC premiered Dateline’s first docuseries, “The Widower,” a five-hour network primetime series airing over three nights, detailing Slepian’s 13-year investigation into Thomas Randolph, an eccentric homicide suspect who had been married six times.
In May 2019, Dateline debuted its first podcast with Slepian. The eight-episode series “13 Alibis” helped exonerate an innocent man of homicide. In 2018, Slepian was granted exclusive access to film rapper Meek Mill on the day of his highly publicized release from prison. The Dateline special “Dreams and Nightmares” featured journalist Lester Holt’s exclusive interview with Meek just hours after his release.
As a volunteer, Slepian works with incarcerated men at Sing Sing prison where he helped create “Voices from Within,” a video featuring testimonials intended to help reduce gun violence. Slepian introduced the project, which is now a long-term program at the prison, during a TEDx talk at Sing Sing.
Before joining NBC News, Slepian began his career with the Phil Donahue Show.
K Professor Emeritus of Political Science Donald C. “Don” Flesche has been a longtime voice of the Hornets at countless athletic events and a beloved teacher. The Donald C. Flesche Visiting Scholars and Lectureship Endowment was started by Flesche’s former students, ensuring the conversations among learners on campus include the best scholars and newsmakers in the world. The Flesche Lecture is free and open to the public.
