Dave Chappelle’s fourth time hosting on January 18, 2025 featured a markedly mature appearance that balanced the political and the personal. We discuss his progressively classic Stand-Up Monologue and political aesthetics, journalism’s struggle in the current communication environment with MSNBC Special Coverage Cold Open, and the power of ambiguity and backstory in Evacuation Alert. We are joined in the virtual studio by friend of the pod, Chuck Hayward for an exciting conversation about Chappelle’s trajectory. Readings include a 15-year-old article from Oprah.com, a lesser known MLK speech from 1965, and Gramsci’s essays while imprisoned by the Italian Fascist regime in the 1920s.
Listen on Libsyn: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/34994715
Readings
Abdurraqib, H. (2022). A little devil in America: in praise of black performance. Random House Trade Paperbacks. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/592315/a-little-devil-in-america-by-hanif-abdurraqib/
Corsbie-Massay, C.L. & Thompson, R.J. (2024), Love It and/or Hate It, Journalism as Entertainment. In N. Bowman (Ed). Entertainment Media and Communication; Handbooks of Communication Science. DeGruyter. degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110792935/html
Gramsci, A. (2011). Prison notebooks volume 2 (Vol. 2). Columbia University Press. https://uberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/gramsci-prison-notebooks.pdf
Husbands’ Secret Lives. (2010 Jan 8). www.oprah.com/relationships/husbands-secret-lives-revealed/all
King, Jr., M.L. (1965 March 25). Our God is Marching On! https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/our-god-marching; via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqky7Wcobbo
Additional Resources
Revisit Immigrant Dad Talk Show from Season 49: https://snl101.info/2024/04/05/s49-e15-ramy-youssef/
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