Welcome to a new decade (we’re in the 20’s folks!) and another episode of How Do You Like it So Far?! Join us in celebrating our 52nd episode of the podcast! Why are we celebrating #52, you ask? Well, we’ve been so excited to record our episodes that we … um … kind of forgot about our 50th episode. No biggie, right? We can start a new tradition of 52 being the new 50. This week we have Akilah Hughes, a founding Civic Media Fellow at the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, author of Obviously: Stories from My Timeline, and co-host of What a Day, Crooked Media’s first-ever daily news podcast that contextualizes the day’s news in a mere 15 to 20 minutes. (50, excuse us, 52 podcast episodes are definitely in their immediate future). Hughes and co-host Gideon Resnick break down the biggest headlines of the day into digestible segments, but with a twist. They use Hughes background in sketch comedy and experience with making YouTube videos with Resnick’s expertise with political journalism to point out the news that feels absurd in today’s landscape. Debuting in October, 2019, What a Day keeps in line with Crooked Media’s ethos and give listeners actionable insights about what can be done such as online resources, petitions, and fundraising opportunities. According to Hughes, the news of the world is distressing and What a Day distills the distressing parts of the world through different comedic tactics. Listen in as Hughes talks about the influence other female comedians like Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling have had on her work and how she started with making YouTube video after YouTube video after YouTube video (after YouTube video) before going viral. Looking for some good podcast and show recommendations? Take a look in our show notes for Hughes’s recommendations!
Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:
Impeachment has only happened twice in American history (until now)
Other podcasts mentioned in this episode:
On the Media – Andrew Johnson episode
Nicole Byer’s Why Won’t You Date Me?
Alie Ward’s Ologies
Akilah’s YouTube videos mentioned in the podcast:
Meet Your First Black Girlfriend – Akilah’s video that went viral in 2013
Intersectionality Between Pizza and Burgers
Books Mentioned in this podcast:
Tina Fey’s Bossypants
Mindy Kaling’s Collection of Essays
Why Not Me?
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Gideon Resnick, Co-host of What a Day
Comedy makes news a lot less distressing
Making money with YouTube videos
Britney Spears, “I want to be an inspiration for people, not a role model.”
Astronomy Club on Netflix – Full black team of sketchwriters
Internet a great place for representation
People are looking for diverse content
Internet as being toxic – Trolls
Terence Nance’s Random Acts of Flyness
Space Jam 2 – Terence Nance as a director for a week
Vine and TikTok – kids in the suburbs providing funny commentary
Working with Milana Vayntrub
Made a mini documentary on Syrian Refugees
Akilah’s TV Show Recommendations:
Watchmen on HBO
Euphoria on HBO
Mr. Robot
Ozymandias – Breaking Bad episode
Cold Read (Starts around 11:30 after the episode)
Akilah’s activist work surrounding YouTube and YouTube policy
2020 Oscars:
Parasite – first Korean film to be nominated for best film
Lack of female directors nominated
One performer of color nominated
Stacy Smith on number of female directors growing in Hollywood
Joanna Russ’s How to Suppress Women’s Writing
Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry and Colin and also through email at annlab@usc.edu!
