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1 week ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
Hi, readers! I made a mistake when I published this post on Friday. I made the foolish decision to send it out myself, instead of letting Kelly do it, like she usually does. That meant that I accidentally sent it only to my paid subscriber list, instead of my entire subscriber list. If this writing already made its way to you, please forgive the double email, and thank you for your ongoing support. It means a lot in these challenging times. - WKBI have some really bad news for you.
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2 weeks ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
I have some really bad news for you. I apologize in advance for what I have to tell you. But here goes. No one is going to stop the ongoing fascist takeover of America except for you. You, the person reading this, right now. In the movie about this moment, you’re the hero. The camera is zooming in on you. You are the one – despite not being ready, not being prepared, not being trained (or not yet finished with your training) – on whom the fate of the universe rests.
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4 weeks ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
Earlier this week I had the immense pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite bands ever, Fishbone, at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. It was a great evening. I interviewed them. We did an audience Q&A, and then Fishbone played some of their classic songs and a few songs from their new album, Stockholm Syndrome. It comes out June 27. Needless to say, I took this assignment very seriously. I wanted the band to have fun. I wanted the audience to have fun.
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1 month ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell |Embassy Davies
I knew I’d learn a thing or two from Michael Davies, the executive producer of Jeopardy! (and other beloved game shows) but this conversation far exceeded my expectations. Check it out. Join me for next month’s office hours in the app:Get more from W. Kamau Bell in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android
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1 month ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
I can’t imagine being Michael B. Jordan. On the surface, of course I can’t imagine being him. He seems like he was built in a laboratory to be a 21st century A-list movie star. He’s handsome, but not intimidatingly so. Broadshouldered but not weighed down with muscle…unless he needs to be. He’s one of the few adult men who can somehow pull off having a mustache without looking like a creeper. Also he can act. In fact, he can really, really act.
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1 month ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
I remember the first documentary that totally blew my mind. It features all the qualities of the best documentaries. It is smart, surprising, informative, sublime, beautifully filmed and scored. And just like the best documentaries, it makes your next conversation better, because you have something new and interesting to talk about. “I just saw this amazing documentary. You must see it.”Of course, I’m talking about Mr. Rogers’ How Crayons Are Made. Actually, I don't know if that is what it is called.
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1 month ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
The cat’s finally out of the bag! I am the winner of season 3 of Celebrity Jeopardy! When I say “finally” I mean finally. I’ve been holding this secret since the finals were taped in November 2024. I hope you all forgive me for not telling you. I was sworn to secrecy. (And I’m guessing I signed stuff saying I couldn’t tell.) It has been slightly maddening to regularly talk about being on Celebrity Jeopardy! and not be able to say, “I’M NOT JUST ON IT.
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2 months ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
It’s been an especially heavy couple of weeks in politics. Trump keeps doubling down on disappearing people. RFK Jr. keeps doubling down on eugenics. And there was all of that (likely) insider trading that happened right out in the open?! Secretary of Defense and Future Fox News host Pete Hegseth is addicted to texting government secrets to people who shouldn’t have government secrets. So for the sake of sanity, today you’re getting a silly video from me.
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2 months ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell |Kathleen Hanna
In my role as the self-appointed official (unofficial) spokesperson of Substack, I was thrilled to welcome the legendary Kathleen Hanna to the platform. You know and love her from Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, The Julie Ruin, and her book Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk. Well, she has a new newsletter, Future Windows, that you should check out. She even made the intro video to beat all intro videos.
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2 months ago | 
wkamaubell.substack.com | W. Kamau Bell
Earlier this month when I was on Marc Maron’s podcast WTF, Marc and I had a rollicking good time. We talked about everything under the American sun… but mostly the fall of America. At one point, Marc shifted the conversation and asked me about being a dad, something we had never really talked about in the years I have known him. I was excited to let him know about my three girls, but then somehow — as always seems to happen in conversations these days — we made it back to the fall of America.