Ishmael Reed has been played on NTS over 20 times, featured on 20 episodes and was first played on 21 November 2022.

Ishmael Scott Reed (b. February 22, 1938) is an American writer known for his novels, poems and essays, which are characterized by the biting satore and a penchant for controversy. Reed was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but grew up in Buffalo, New York, and spent his early years as a writer in New York City. He has published dozens of books including the novel Mumbo Jumbo (1972) and the poetry anthology From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas. Reed currently lives in Oakland, California.