Keith Knight of “Woke,” and Jia Tolentino Picks Three

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

News, Wnyc, David, Arts, Yorker, Society & Culture, Storytelling, Books, New, Remnick, Politics

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2020

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Woke,” a new comedy on Hulu, is inspired by the life of its creator, Keith Knight. The show, which blends reality and animated fantasy, follows Keef, a Black cartoonist who is on the cusp of mainstream success when an ugly incident with the police changes his life. Suddenly, Keef is learning about racism from a chatty trash can and other talking cartoon objects, and he experiences a belated political awakening. Knight describes his work to his fellow-cartoonist Emily Flake as “accessible yet subversive.” “Making people laugh and then punching them in the face with a serious issue is the way to work,” he says. Plus, at home with a newborn, the staff writer Jia Tolentino recommends a book, a record, and a reality show that have been entertaining her lately.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:08.6	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:12.1	The TV series called Woke has an unusual premise.
0:15.9	It's about a cartoonist who experiences a racial and political awakening after an episode of police violence.
0:23.3	Don't move.
0:24.1	Don't move.
0:24.5	What's your hands up?
0:26.7	Six-foot-tall black male?
0:28.0	What's in the bag?
0:29.2	He's got a weapon.
0:29.8	No, no, no, no.
0:30.2	Just the stable.
0:30.9	No, no, no, because you got the wrong guy.
0:36.9	Lamorne Morris plays Keith, who's based on the show's creator Keith Knight.
0:42.2	Knight draws the Kay Chronicles and other syndicated strips,
0:45.4	and he's contributed to the New Yorker as well.
0:48.0	Now, the world of cartooning, as you might imagine, is pretty small.
0:52.6	So Emily Flake, a fellow cartoonist, wanted to talk with Keith Knight
0:55.9	about what it means to break into television. I haven't seen you since Moca, maybe last year or the
1:05.4	year before. Remember comics festivals? I know. It's such a, and Mocha was actually the first time where I got the idea that I had accomplished
1:19.7	something with the show, which I had already shot the pilot.
1:24.2	And there were so many cartoonists that came up to me and said, I can't believe you actually
	...

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