Solving systemic racism and buying sensible cardigans with comic Phoebe Robinson

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2022

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

Comic Phoebe Robinson told NPR's Rachel Martin that she doesn't wake up every day thinking "time to dismantle systemic racism!" But since she has a platform, she might as well use it to bring about some positive change. She also told Martin that her dream life involves buying sensible cardigans, getting day drunk with Kathy Lee and Hoda, and a loving marriage with Robert DeNiro. Robinson's book You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain goes into the racism she experiences and why she would like to date either Michael Fassbender or Michael B. Jordan (sorry Mr. DeNiro).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Today on the pod, we've got
0:06.7	Phoebe Robinson, the comedian, and host of the old WNYC podcast turned HBO series to
0:12.7	Dope Queens. In 2016, she talked to NPR's Rich Martin about her book, You Can't Touch My Hair
0:18.2	and other things I still have to explain.
0:25.8	And in this interview, she shares this anecdote that I think a lot of you will be able to relate to.
0:31.4	She was in a creative writing class when someone did something wild, not like outright racist,
0:35.8	but something definitely worth critiquing in a creative writing class.
0:38.6	But before she speaks up, she has to do that mental math of like, okay, how is speaking up going to make me look? Is it worth it? Will many people
0:43.3	see me as like an angry black woman if I say something? It's heavy, but it's also a delightful
0:49.0	interview where she gets into her longtime dream of marrying Robert De Niro. Because, you know, we contain multitudes.
0:56.2	Give it a listen.
0:57.2	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
1:02.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
1:06.5	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:08.5	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:15.9	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:22.0	I don't wake up every day going, ah, time to break down institutional racism to people before Kathy Lee and Hoda
1:29.2	drink their body weight and phronsia and host the fourth hour of the Today Show.
1:33.3	That's Phoebe Robinson, reading from her new book titled, You Can't Touch My Hair and other
1:37.5	things I still have to explain. So because I, like many of my friends and family, am on the
1:42.9	receiving end of racism, and I, unlike many of my friends and family, have a platform, stand-up comedy and writing, it only makes sense to use it to affect some positive change when it comes to racism.
1:53.5	And eventually, one day be right alongside Kathy Lee and Hoda, day drunk out of my mind, and ordering sensible cardigans from Netta Porter.
	...

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