W Kamau Bell & Mike Pesca

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Jesse Thorn

Society & Culture

4.5 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2018

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we've got another Emmy-nominated guest - W.Kamau Bell! He's known for his stand-up comedy. But he might be even more beloved for the television shows he's hosted. "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," was kind of a hybrid between a political satire show and a talk show. But unlike, say, "The Daily Show" Kamau wasn't inclined to be the star. Rather, he let his guests do that. Kamau just asked questions - both funny and serious ones. That made the show really special. W. Kamau Bell's, "United Shades of America," airs on CNN and is up for three Emmys. He'll tell us why he's particularly proud about the series. Then, we'll talk to Mike Pesca about his newest book: "Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History". It's a collection of essays from over 30 different writers - people like Robert Siegel, Nate DiMeo, Jesse Eisenberg and more. They all ask hypothetical questions about the most pivotal moments in sports history... and what would have happened if things had gone differently. Pesca also talks about what it was like working for NPR as one of two sports reporters and about the time he was the guest host of "Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me!" (including the outcry he received for having Kim Kardashian-West on that program). And finally, for this week's Outshot, Jesse breaks down "Aretha Live at the Fillmore West" and why the San Francisco-recorded live album might be the perfect showcase for the late Queen of Soul.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:13.4	I'm Jesse Thorn.
0:14.8	So W. Kamau Bell is a successful guy.
0:17.3	He's a stand-up comic.
0:18.3	He's had a few albums, some specials.
0:20.6	He's hosted not one, but two television shows.
0:23.6	His latest, the United Shades of America won him an Emmy.
0:28.0	But his dad's no-slouch either.
0:30.2	He was the insurance commissioner for the state of Alabama, which at the time made him the
0:34.5	highest-ranking black public official in the state.
0:38.1	And Kamau's dad's journey wasn't easy.
0:40.4	He was a college dropout at one point.
0:42.2	He had kids at an early age.
0:44.4	Life was tough for a while.
0:46.4	And so enter a teenage Kamau who had it much easier growing up.
0:50.8	His dad saw it of that.
0:52.4	Kamau's in college, a really good one, and he's having second thoughts about school.
0:57.9	And I think he's looking at me like, you don't have to go through all that.
1:00.4	You don't have to be a college dropout.
1:02.4	And you can actually just start out and just go to college, finish.
1:05.4	I got into an Ivy League college.
1:07.0	He was like, oh my God, your whole life is set.
	...

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