CIIS presents
Comedy and Conversation with Baratunde Thurston
If you think you haven't seen the work of Baratunde Thurston, you are most likely wrong. Whether it's The Daily Show, The Onion, Jack & Jill Politics, Cultivated Wit, or his stand-up comedy, odds are good that he has had a hand in creating something that has made you laugh and think about race, politics, technology, and more.
Baratunde is a self-described futurist comedian, writer, and cultural critic. He can also be described as a producer and an entrepreneur—all of these words create some context for his astounding list of accomplishments. To name just a few, he helped re-launch The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, served as Director of Digital and politics editor for The Onion for five years, and wrote the New York Times bestseller How To Be Black.
How To Be Black is a comedic memoir that begins with Baratunde's early childhood raised by an Afrocentric single mother in Washington, D.C. It follows him through his education at The Sidwell Friends School and Harvard, and into his first job. The biographical story is periodically punctuated by satirical lessons learned chapters such as "How To Be The Black Friend," and "How To Be The (Next) Black President." The book includes interviews with a panel of black experts, which is to say, black people (plus one white Canadian male as a scientific control group).
As co-founder of Cultivated Wit, Baratunde works to combine the power of comedy and technology to share stories and ideas. Cultivated Wit hosts hackathon events where developers and comedians work together to build apps that make technology more fun.
Join us for an evening that includes a special stand-up set with Baratunde followed by a conversation about comedy, technology, race, politics, and everything in between.