Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes) - W. Kamau Bell

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

Ted Danson has a ton of respect for stand-up comic and activist W. Kamau Bell and the choices he’s made in life. The “United Shades of America” host talks to Ted about his path to melding comedy and activism, dealing with those his disagrees with, discerning how best to use his voice, staying joyful in the face of the world’s sadness, working with educators, and more.To help those affected by the Southern California wildfires, make a donation to World Central Kitchen today. Like watching your podcasts? Visit http://youtube.com/teamcoco to see full episodes. 

You want those kids in all those schools to be as smart and prepared for the world as possible because they're going to be adults someday and you're going to run into them. So you want all the kids. You want them to be as smart as they possibly can be. Helping those kids is a selfish act. Welcome back to Where Everybody Knows Your Name. Welcome back to Where Everybody Knows Your Name. Today I am talking with W. Kamau Bell. And I have to say, it was very hard for me during this podcast not to just, you know,

totally go to church around him because I have so much admiration for what he does in the world and he makes me laugh and he astounds me with his courage. Kamau is a stand-up comic, activist, and TV host. He was the host of the United Shades of America, which ran for seven seasons on CNN and won five Emmys. Check out his book with Kate Schatz, Do the Work, an anti-racist activity book. Anyway, let's get into it. Meet W. Kamau Bell. Alright, first off, let me just get over it and we can cut this part out, whatever.

I am in awe of you. I have so much respect for what you do. So I'm a little nervous, but I'll get over that pretty quickly. I promise. I promise. Now let's get over this part. You are one of the defining, like as a kid watching television saying I wanna do comedy,

I wanna be in that business, Sam Malone was one of my like heroes as a kid. Wow. So like it was like, and me and my mom watched it, I mean so, this for me, like, and I don't know how you'll feel about this, but like I'm excited to like, I wanna call my mom at some point and be like, wah, and I don't know how you'll feel about this, but like, I'm excited to, like, I want to call my mom at some point,

be like, WAAAHHHHH! And the only other time I've ever had that was Alan Alda. So I don't know if that makes you feel good or... Really good. My mom, I did an Alan Alda podcast, and I was like, I have to let my mom know that, talk to Alan Alda. One of my heroes.

Yeah, so like, like in that era of television, yeah, you're, yeah, you're the best. And then The Good Place, it's just like, and that was like me and my wife bonded over there. It's just, yeah, you're the best. And then The Good Place, it's just like, and that was like me and my wife bonded over, it's just, yeah, so anyway. Are your kids old enough for The Good Place or not yet? Oldest is about to turn 13, and I just had the thought recently of like,

yeah, you're, I think you're, yeah, she watched Ted Lasso, I feel like that's a good segue into The Good Place. Yeah, definitely. Ted Lasso keeps her pretty, but yeah, yeah, yeah. A part of who I am in this business and how I am is because of watching so much Ted dancing as a kid, so. Well, first off, thank you for just telling me that, because my blood pressure just went

down a couple notches, and I was just like, oh, he complimented me. I'm all right. I'll be fine. They told me they compliment him right away, even if you don't mean it. I was like, okay. I just Googled him. I am the person that asks for a compliment, gets it, and chooses to believe it,

even though I forced them to say it. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, that works for me. That's fine, that's fine. I don't know, my wife, Mary Steenburgen, I don't know if you know who she is, but. Did he just do that to me, everybody back here? My wife, Mary Steenburgen, I don't know if you know

who that is. Yeah. I've read. Okay, all right. In the tabloids. Well, as I love- You guys are always in the tabloids. Yes, we are. You guys are always- Doing something horrible. Kicked out of a restaurant or starting a fight. Yeah, I followed you on page six in PerezHilton.com. Anyway, as I was leaving, she said, please give him my respect, huge amount of respect. But then he said, he's a leaving, she said, please give him my respect, huge amount of respect.

But then he said, he's a lovely, lovely man. Mary and I were talking about your courage. Now, I don't know if it feels courageous to you, but from where we sit, it is courageous what you do. I mean, I think, I'll say this, I think I get too much credit for, there are times where I do feel like, here we go, come on, Kamau, but I think I get too much credit for that. For the most I do feel like, here we go, come on, Kamau. Like, you know what they are.

But I think I get too much credit for that. For the most part, I'm just a super curious person. And so for me, it's like, my curiosity overwhelms my common sense, I would say that. So there are things where I've done, my wife is very aware of this, like I'll get halfway through a project and be like, why did I do this?

And she'd be like, I told you, this is what you do. It's like, I get so far in that I can't, that I sort of need to finish it. So like I just, but my curiosity overwhelms my common sense. So like the famously on the first episode of United Shades, I went to the Ku Klux Klan. There's a certain amount of courage in that, but then I also try to keep some perspective of like,

I chose to do this. So it's not like I, you know, the number of people who run into the Klan in this country where they don't choose to, like that's real courage to deal with that situation yeah I'm with a camera crew like so I sort of try to keep some perspective my current running joke is every time I feel like I'm being overwhelmed by my life choices the ghost of Harriet Tubman shows up like oh is this hard? Oh is it hard to direct and to be in television that's hard?

Yeah so I try to I'm I think I'm pretty good at keeping perspective. Certainly I have an ego. Certainly I wouldn't be in this business without an ego. But I think even the fact that like I didn't sort of make it, whatever that is, until I was a little bit older, I'm more connected to the person before I made it than the person who had quote unquote made it. So yeah, I'm more like,

that person who was like, didn't know that he would ever have a career It was like I don't know what I'm doing. I tell these jokes. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't I Want to try to make it I want to try to make an impact, but I don't know how to do it like that guy I'm still I'm more than when did that I want to make an impact Hit you it's funny cuz I I'm the Saturday Night Live generation So Saturday Night Live had been here, not my whole life, but most of my life.

I've been saying it hasn't been funny since the first cast. Like, you know, like I'm the guy who's like, ever since Lorraine Newman left, it just hasn't been the same. So I'm like, I've been, so, you know, I would have been like, I want to be, like when Eddie Murphy's on Saturday Night Live, I remember that.

And he looked to be the same age as me. So that was what I wanted to do. I want to be on Saturday Night Live. At the same time, my mom is like, you know She was born in Indiana in 1937 went to the entire civil rights movement So when I'm born in the early 70s, that's like black people America's having like a what do we do now moment? And so I'm hearing all these conversations. I'm an only child. My mom takes me everywhere. So I hear all these grown-up conversations So there's always conversations about racism

and the movement and how do we do this and da da da, and can we achieve our way out of it? And I'm just a kid who likes comedy, you know, and comic books. And so I just would have thought I was gonna become a comedian and whatever my mom and all that was talking about was over here. But as I got older, it's like I just got,

whatever I was doing in comedy kept pulling me back to this stuff that was like in my house, know so it didn't you know I didn't really like I would have not told you when I was a kid I would have been this kind of comedian I would I would not have thought I'd been some whatever this is and also I think there wasn't this kind of comedian in the same way when I was a kid I couldn't have been like I hope to become a comedian get a TV show on CNN like that's, so the world opened up and I just had more opportunities.

But yeah, I just wanted to be funny. I wanted to be like my comedy heroes, you know? Do you still consider yourself comedian first? That's my, I would say that's my like operating system. So even if, no matter what I'm doing, the operating system is like based on like being a comedian. Well, let me tell you about comedy acting and comedy Ted. No, but it's about like building connections.

Different, different. I work with writers who are really talented and funny. You're up there on your own, which is part of that courage thing. Well, that's the thing. I think it is about like building connection with people. So if you're a comic and you go on stage in front of an audience, you have to build connections. So the fact that like, no matter whatever interview I'm in or talking to somebody, I'm always trying to build connection with them. And humor is a great way to build connection.

So it can relieve tension, it can let people sort of like have a moment of rest and a little bit of a hard story. So yeah, I think my operating system is that of a comedian. And I'm always thinking about jokes and ways to like make people laugh, because it just sort of lubricates the conversation So yeah, yeah Even though I I started to do a stand-up again I've been saying I'm like five years and I started doing again this year because I feel like I want to be a comedian

Again, but we'll see Okay, so you bump into a lot of you in difficult situations you you bump in purposefully into people who don't think like you or seem on a unreasonable unapproachable, whatever. What do you do with your anger? I mean, is there? There's gotta be. There's a ton of anger. I'm laughing because there's a ton of anger.

No, it's funny. I think, well, I think one of the reasons that some people become comedians is to deal with their anger or their disappointment or their sadness or their shame. And so certainly there's a tremendous well of like, sort of like, I don't even know, melancholy that's inside of me that I use comedy to get out of.

And, but when I'm in the moment with those people, I'm very actively aware that like, this conversation isn't really about me and you. it's about me giving you the space to talk so the people over here can see what's happening. So it's not about me debating you, which people think it is. It's about me drawing you out so that the audience watching can hear things they weren't going to hear. So it is very rare that I would be in a conversation and get angry with somebody. I did see in that first, the KKK episode.

Now this is just purely my impression, but there was one moment when the grand whoopty-doo said something just, you know, just out and out. Yeah. Horrible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this is me putting myself into your shoes. There was such a sadness. And there was a moment of just your game face

just dropped for a second, but it wasn't anger and fuck you. It was this deep sadness. There is that episode, there was a deep sense of like, this is really what it is. This is really what it is. is and also like I don't spend a lot of time with the clan So to see it that close up. It's more like oh man I was hoping for something. Oh man. I was hoping you had a good argument

I was hoping maybe I'd walk and be like you've made some good points I was hoping that there was something I could hang my hat on and be like well Okay, I don't agree, but no. There was no, it was just like, you're really that guy. It's interesting in that episode, one of the things that I asked to do, which we did do, was there was a kid in that episode, if you remember, and the family signed off.

He was like the grandson of the grand whoop-de-doo. And the family signed off so that we could put his face in it. And I was like, we're blurring that kid's face. Like I just did, cause I was like, I don't know what that kid's gonna grow up into. This is, I feel bad for this kid, even if his family doesn't, I'm gonna let them go. So I do have empathy for people,

even those who don't have empathy for me a lot of times. Where do you think that came from? Family, kid, mother, father? Do I hear father in there or is it mother? Most of it. Mother, I mean, so I grew up with my mom mostly. My dad lives, so my mom lived all over the states. My dad spent his time in Mobile, Alabama.

He's from Mobile, Alabama. I would see him every summer. So my dad was in my life. I lived there for two and a half years when I was in eighth grade in high school, freshman year high school. But I definitely was raised by my mom. I am a mama's boy.

Much to my dad's chagrin. He just can't be too mad because he was actually a mama's boy too. But so even though he would wish I wasn't, he was like, well. It's really the only way to go. It's what you're gonna do, not be a mama's boy? Yeah, so where did the empathy come from?

I actually think that a lot of it came from because I was with my mom and I moved around a lot. And so I sort of understood very early on that there were lots of different types of people out here. And I think traveling, and I remember talking to Bourdain about this when I was on his show, it's really a way to make you think,

oh, the world's bigger than me. Yeah. Oh, and people think you have to travel the country. I don't think, in America, if you just travel around America, because we're like 50 different countries, the world's bigger than me and the way I do things is not the way everybody does things. I think it really was like seeing lots of different people in lots of different situations from a very early age. I just learned that like the world was not all about me, you know?

Right. And so, which is what I tried to do. Wait, can you say that again slower? Yes, sure. So, I see... Wait, it's not Yeah, the world is not all of and I think If you don't move around a lot if you sort of stuck in a routine and not everybody has the privilege of traveling You sort of start to think your version of reality is the version of reality

Even if you don't like your reality you think this is the way it is and then when you hear about something over here You're like, well, that's wrong because that's not what I'm doing but the more you travel around the more you start to realize that like think this is the way it is. And then when you hear about something over here, you're like, well, that's wrong, because that's not what I'm doing. But the more you travel around, the more you start to realize that like, everybody's on their own separate track and everybody's doing the best they can. Even the people you don't agree with

generally are doing the best they can. And so- And CNN doesn't always have it right. CNN doesn't always have it right, which is their new slogan. CNN, we don't always got it right. Yeah, and that there are certain things that I'm not gonna, like certain things that like with the,

like when I was with those Klan members, I could see like, I don't agree with any of your race, things you say, any of the racism, but I also see a bunch of people who live in an economically deprived area, who don't have access to good jobs, good education, good city services, good social services, and somebody has weaponized that into the clan.

Which is, that's where the word evil is on the tip of my tongue. Not the people who live in hard, hard, hard times, not the people who may look at the West Coast, East Coast, and go, well, that's stupid. I get up at four and work a farm and da da da da da. But the people who then make use of that fear, anger. Who step into that hole that these people haven't filled

and fill it with evil. So I'm not down with the evil, but I am down with the fact that like, I do wish you had a better job, so you just had less time to be so racist. Like I do wish you had, I wish your community was better so that you could have a better life,

because I think it would sort of lighten up your political perspective, you know? And also living in the Bay Area, when I moved to the Bay Area when I was 24, and just the Bay, still, but maybe not as much as you used because it's so expensive now, but like the Bay is just, there's just so many different types of people stumbling across each other,

and if you take advantage of being in those positions, you just can't help but be like wow, I've never seen that Okay. All right. Guess that's how the world is Just like you start it just opens it opened up my perspective a lot and I got to learn From that point that there were many times I'd be in Congress or in rooms of people having conversations That had nothing to do with me and the best thing I could do was shut up and listen. So living in the Bay Area, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco Right. I just was always around. I was hanging out with comedians My girlfriend now wife was a modern dancer and we'd go to these performance art shows where people are like, you know

Like literally the things you see in sketch comedy about performance art You know like blood and my head's a television and whatever. And then I would hang out with my friends who were like, my East Bay lesbian friends and they'd be talking about the patriarchy and I'd be like, I have an opinion about, oh, no, you're right, I should just listen.

You're right, I should just probably set this one out. And just hanging out with lots of different types of people and just learning that like these things, we can have disagreements, but we don't have to pull in opposite directions. Really helped a lot. Yeah. Yeah.

I grew up, my father was an archeologist, anthropologist. He was the director of a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona. And my best friends were Hopi Navajo kids and ranchers, sons and daughters, and we lived outside of town. So I would go to the Hopi Pueblos and watch where they had lived. The Hopi never went to war with the United States, so they are still in the villages that they've been in for a thousand years. And you'd see them celebrate their gods

in the dirt plazas, you know, every weekend I'd go up and play and I wasn't conscious or educated or, you know, you could read a book about the Hopi and probably know more than I do factually, but in my heart, I got Hopi. Then I'd go back on Sunday to the Episcopal Church, and it was all the same. And my parents didn't, I don't think they encourage it.

They just lived that, that it is all the same. We all worship differently. We're all different colors and shades and cultures. And it wasn't even taught, it just kind of was how I grew up. So then when you go out into the real world and you bump into people, it feels to me like, and this is a cynical thing to say that they're,

all right, sorry, I'm rambling. In race, I probably should be quiet and sit and talk, listen to other people talk. But I can do the same conversation with the environment, with social justice, with people who refuse to believe in climate change. And I've gotten to the point where I'm going, I don't think I should be wasting my time

trying to convince somebody. I don't mean chalk them off as whatever, but don't get into the conversation to convince them that they're wrong. Because I don't know that I ever could, if they're that entrenched. But all right, let's not talk about climate change, not even say those words,

but let's talk about your neighborhood that just had 400 more tornadoes rip through it, or more floods, or more drought, or more, what do we do? How can I help you figure out how to not suffer quite so much by what's happening with our weather? Is there a, I don't know if there's a correlation. No, when you say that, I think about the fact that one,

I think there's a time in our lives where we are in the debate when we're like, I need to do, and I think a lot of that is with youth, like I just learned this thing and I want to tell you about this thing and if you don't know, and I think that's, thank God there's new young people every day to do that. Right.

And there's a time in our life where we're like, what's, that's not my role anymore. My role, I said this morning, my role is not to fight in the comments anymore. That's not my role anymore. And my role is to really know what is the best, what is my best use of my time and my energy and just put it there. And then, and give myself some grace around,

like not fighting with people in the comments anymore. Cause you feel like I should probably fight with that person who said that ignorant thing. And you just start to realize, I am too, I'm not that guy anymore. Somebody is that person and they can go fight in the comments. So I think there is a connection. I think the other thing I would say about what you said is like, when you say talking about race, I should keep my mouth shut.

I think that might be true unless you're with a group of white people. Yes. Then you need to be. Because then you're with a group of white people. Yes. Then you need to be, then you're the black guy. Yeah, yeah. Because you know something that maybe a lot of white people don't know. Yeah.

So yeah, and that's what I would do with my friends. I would hear like my East Bay lesbian friends having all these conversations about like patriarchy and male privilege and da da da, and I would be quiet. And then I'd be in a conversation later with some of my male friends and be like well actually then I'm that asshole you know what I mean so I think that's what we should learn is like in conversations we have where we don't know anything listen but if you don't

take that knowledge somewhere else then you're not then you've wasted that time yeah yeah it's not good I'm glad I know that now no it's not about that so I think you're doing the right thing I I think that. But then you, here's what happens to my brain. Oh, you have some cowardice working here. You know, you're not being courageous. You're not, but I have to admit, I had a moment where I could have done something like we're talking about.

And I realized I'm not Jane Fonda. Exactly, yes. At 86, she's leaping onto the ramparts and tearing down the walls of ignorance, and I'm not her. No, you're not. And I have to, with humility, accept that. I like that humility.

I'm humble enough to say I'm not Jane Fonda. That's a good thing. It's a big moment for you, Ted. I'm glad we got to a breakthrough. She is one of my heroes, man. No, Jay Fonda's great. Unbelievable. But I think that we also have to understand

I see friends of mine who are really good at engaging people in debate, and people would sometimes get mad at me at the United Shades on my CNN show that I wasn't yelling at the neo-Nazi. And I was like, that's not, and I'd be like, should I be doing that? But I was like, that's not my role here.

I don't think that's my job skill. I'm not the debater. I'm more the listener and the like poking holes in the thing, like, well, what about, are you sure? And also I'm the person who's there to draw you out again so other people could hear. For example, if I got on my, when I go back to Oakland on Saturday,

if I get on my Southwest flight and a Klansman is sitting down next to me, I'm not gonna talk to that guy because there's no TV cameras around. I'm not like trying to have that conversation all the time. But if there's a productive way to have it, if it's going to be for somebody else, if it's going to be a way we can take this conversation and show it to people, then I'm that guy. And I think that we get caught up in like, I try not to get caught up in what I think

I'm supposed to be doing. Well, if I was like, and really get zeroed in on I think I'm supposed to be doing. Well, if I was, and really get zeroed in on what am I actually supposed to be doing? And perhaps have some degree of effectiveness. Yes, yeah, where is my best, where am I, we have limited resources, especially the older we get, what's the best use of my resources? And also, I sometimes give myself some grace,

like, come out, don't forget, you still have three daughters who are like 13, six, and nine. Like they need some of your time too, so you can't be like out fighting in the comments all the time. Are you home a lot or is your job just? I mean, they think I'm gone all the time. I don't.

Well, let's check that out. Coming here, I was like, I gotta go for, and I said an hour, but I was, you know, it's more than an hour, but I was like, I'll be back in an hour or so, and my six year old was just like, no, and I'm like, you know, and so there is a narrative in my house that I'm always gone.

I am gone a lot, but I'm not gone as much as, but it means that I can't even like, take a walk around the block sometimes. You're leaving again. No! So, and I respect it, and I don't want them to feel that way. So yeah, I do travel a lot, but it also means that if I come to LA, I'll go up and back in a day sometimes

if I can just, so I can be home, you know? Yeah. So you do have, you do get enough time, more, I mean, not to please everybody, but you do take time? Yeah, I mean, I could, I mean, the, you know, the problem with sort of my career too is that I'm basically like, like with CNN, people thought I worked there full-time,

but I was basically a seasonal employee. So there's never time that I feel like I'm, there's never an off time for me. So I'm always like, I'm always like ideating on the next thing because I don't know if the last thing is really, you know, it's just, you're always like, you know how it is. So it's a little bit like an actor's life, but it's even more so

because I have to be the writer too generally. I have to be the person who comes up with the idea. ["The Last Thing"] Do you write everything down or do you give it a treatment kind of this is where I hope it goes? I'm a big external processor so I will like and then because I'm a stand-up comic eventually the things that stick stay in here and then I will go write it down and also surrounded by like you just met Kelly who's my production partner.

Kelly's great at like gap like if I'm just like she's great at like, if I'm just like, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Catastrophizer. Now, is that your, did someone label you with that or is that your own kind of- It sounds like something I would have done. It sounds like my use of words. I'm just trying to remember where that came from, but catastrophizer. I mean- Which means, give it a definition.

Someone who doesn't veer away from catastrophe. Someone who's always thinkinger away from catastrophe. Someone who's always thinking through the worst case scenario and always preparing for the worst case scenario. So yeah, but I'm not a pessimist, but I am like, how badly could this go? What's the worst that could happen here? There's something that I find peace in that. I kind of do that. Because it's like, is this the worst that could happen here. There's something that I find peace in that. I kind of do that.

And because it's like, is this the worst that could happen? Yes. Could you live with it? Yeah. Yeah. And then I can relax and go, doesn't mean I'm planning for that. Or I want that. No, I don't want the worst. Or attracting it.

That's why I'm not a pessimist. I want the best that can happen. But if I sit around and think about all the great things that'll come out of something, that's pretty much guaranteed to like be bad news for me. If I sit around and think about all the great things that'll come out of something that's pretty much guaranteed to like be bad news For me if I sit around and think about all the worst things he had happened Then usually those things don't happen and I can be pretty happy with the results Didn't go as badly as it could have gone. Good job everybody

For me, I thought I was gonna be banished from society after that project But I still live in society our little defense mechanism at night will watch CNN or MSNBC or, you know, our guys until we're just thoroughly depressed and fearful and, you know, they've done their work. Yes, they've done their work. If you're not depressed, you're like, I don't think they did their job. So immediately change to HGTV and watch somebody build a house and there's a big problem that they over out come

and then they're all very happy. That's how we go to sleep listening to that. What do you do? Cause you do, I'm not trying to pick on myself here, but I do prefer to have joy and happiness and gratitude in my body, because not to be a goody two shoes,

but because my body feels better that way. For sure. But then there's the real world. There are things, there are oil companies who want to drill a hole right next to the people who have no money to fight them, and their kids get cancer. And on the other side, they wanna build a highway

on the other side of their house. Yeah, because they don't have enough money to fight them. In my community, we keep oil companies out because we have enough money. Boom. That's actually how I got involved, trying to keep Occidental Petroleum from digging slant drilling into the Bay

here in Santa Monica and we won but they're anyway sorry nothing about me where was I going you were talking about who's your co-producer again because she seems really good Kelly yeah Kelly come in remind me where she's watching right now she probably couldn't tell you exactly if you you ask too many times, she will come in here. I mean, yeah, she will, she's very good at that. How do you keep love, joy, hope in your heart when you're really way more than me bumping into hardcore, hardcore issues

that bring so much suffering and sadness? How do you do that? So one, I actually, as a, I do really enjoy joy and happiness and laughter I think one of the reasons you become a comedian is because you want to be around that more So I'm not a person who's like looking Not to be around that I do get weighed down by the issues of the day sometime But one thing I do and this is something that it's important for me with my kids is before they go to sleep at night If I'm putting them to bed, I will ask them, tell me three things you're grateful for from today.

That's great. And it's the thing we've been doing for like, their whole lives, and it's just a way, it's ostensibly for them, but it's for me to heat, to like, practice, like every day something good is happening. Every day something happens, we're like, ooh, that was pretty lucky, ooh, they just brought me this watermelon juice,

I didn't even ask for this watermelon juice, it's just shit, like, thinking about, it doesn't have to be big things but ways so I'm always trying to be aware of like of Like the little things that make life easier that happen that I'm not responsible for and I'll say to my kids all the time Like we didn't deserve that we just got that so we should be grateful for it So I'm always thinking about that. I'd say that my news diet is opposite of yours I do all my Harvey sad news in the morning. Smart. So by the end of the day I'm in like YouTube

videos watching like you know somebody get their impacted ear drained or something. I'm done with news. I'm way off of that by the end of the day. So I'm dying to know if you ever did see an impacted ear drained. I talked about this Conan. I'm a big YouTube person and you can find, you know, there's like YouTube videos of people in like other countries like making their, like there's like somebody runs like a food truck and you'll watch them and it shows them show up at like three in the morning and make all the food for the food truck and you watch it for like an hour and it's just somebody making like like breakfast burritos. Yeah they're not there's no

talking there's no words you just watch and you sit there like look at them getting that job done yeah it's making breakfast burritos it's HGTV it is it is it's just like it just slows you down yeah just it just calms you down so I'm a big fan of like random YouTube YouTube videos where people cooking food or people, there's one where this guy's like, look how rusty this knife is, I'm gonna clean it up. You just watch a guy clean up a rusty knife for 20 minutes. I, at 76, am just discovering YouTube.

My kids will look at me when I go, I don't know how to put this thing together, and they go, YouTube. No, everything is like. Literally everything is. Yep, everything. How do I put this together? You can just say this and your phone will be like,

I know exactly what you're talking about. You don't have to say what it is. No, I told Conan, I taught my daughter how to ride a bike based on a YouTube video. I was like, how to teach a kid to ride a bike quickly. And YouTube's like, here you go. Isn't that amazing? So I'm a big fan of like,

like I said, I was an only child. By nature, I think that makes you more curious because you have more time with your thoughts. And so I'm a big like following a rabbit hole to its illogical conclusion. It's just that generally that work doesn't like, like there's lots of things I'm interested in. I just, when it's time to do the work of my career,

those things tend to not be the ways generally how I do the work of my career, those things tend to not be the ways, generally, how I do the work of my career. And the other thing I do is when you ask, like, how do you keep enjoying your life, I do try to keep perspective of, like, I made these choices. Like, I didn't, nobody assigned me this career. It's not like I was like, man, I was so close to getting assigned Kevin Hart. Like, that didn't, you know. So when something, so if I'm ever going to go, man, I wanted to be like on Saturday Night Live like Eddie Murphy. I never auditioned for Saturday Night Live. I was never in that track. So I have to be like, relax.

You like, you were at CNN, you know. So I try to keep perspective because it can be easy to be frustrated and just, but yeah, I'm also like spend a lot of time in therapy, you know, like I said, you know, and it's spend a lot of time in therapy. Have you been in therapy from a young age? Oh yeah, my mom was like a Shirley MacLaine person back in the day, so I've been in therapy since high school. You know what I mean, but when Shirley MacLaine was like, past lives. I was right there.

Yeah, no, so I was right there by default because I was my mom's kid. So I haven't been in therapy consistently since I was a teenager, but I have been in therapy. You know one of the world's greatest lecturers. Yeah, no, it's a super and and and yeah, I feel like it should be you know I feel like one if we're gonna start to talk about reparations I think black people getting free therapy would be a great just a great place to start. It's not the end of it I would like cash but also That would be a great way to start be a great place to start My my one of my go-to's which sounds so

Sorry, I just under the corner my eye Saw Nick's signal that my hands in my face. This is how I talk to people This is me on television, Ted, take your hand. Wait, I don't want people to- They call him the Ted Danson, yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody do the Ted Danson. I just look and- My go-to is, and then you die, Ted.

So it's not like if you save the ocean single-handedly that you get a immortality card or if you solve this problem or whatever. No, and then you die. So give it your best shot. Give it your best shot. Stay happy and joyful and do as much as you can. There was a great phrase somewhere in the Good Place.

Just try to do better every day. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's, yes, yeah. That just try, yeah. I, you know, I do, I mean, so yeah, there's two, there's my two versions of Ted Danson are the Cheers, which was like, taught me about comedy and just didn't taught me about good times.

And then the Good Place, which really was like, how did this show get on television? I know. Like, how did this show get on television? And it's still on and people are watching it. Yeah, yeah. And can you imagine the pitch to NBC? Yeah, I can't. I mean, yeah, so thank you for all that. But I do think part of that show,

which is what I always so appreciate, it was just the fact of like, life is good. I do accept life is gonna be hard. Nobody's promised, most of us aren't promised anything and you have to do the best with what you can. And I'm also very aware that like, wherever my career is at, I have a chain, the level of privilege that I should appreciate

and then use and sometimes use means like, try to make sure you're helping other people who don't have this level of privilege And I try to engage in that a lot and the other part of it is like your kids want to go to universal Email your manager and see if you can get free tickets to universal If you're famous enough to get free day and universal said we'll give you some tickets put post on Instagram fine universal Oh, you know, uh, so I by the way, I got charged up the wazoo Universal I hadn't thought of that That's what see that's I'm trying to like I forget about the good side sometimes because like I said, I live in Oakland

So I'm not in but even in Oakland like people like hey come out people feel like they know me because I've been there for A long time and sometimes you get a free cup of coffee and you're like, this is good living you know what I mean? So I do try to remember that like, I did fight for this career, whatever it is. I do feel better when I am engaged in the big conversations of the country than if I'm not. And I don't begrudge other comedians who are not. I think there's all kinds of ways to live this life.

But for me, I feel like if I'm not actively engaged in one of those big conversations, then I'm kind of wasting my skill, because that's where my skill is at. You know, so, but I would, I would, you know, like I saw the trailer for Beverly Hills Cop Four, and I was like, oh, 13 year, yeah, yeah. I was like, 13 year old me is pretty mad at me right now

that I'm not in Beverly Hills Cop Four. 13 year old me doesn't want to hear about any of this other stuff. Maybe you didn't ask, all you had to do is Four. You know, like 13-year-old me doesn't want to hear about any of this other stuff. Maybe you didn't ask. All you had to do was ask. I know. Just like 13-year-old me is like, you didn't even audition? Like you didn't even, I just would have thought I would have been in Beverly Hills Cop Four.

I just would have assumed if you'd said you will be a somewhat famous comedian by the year 2024 and Beverly Hills Cop Four is coming out, I'd be like, well, clearly I'll be in Beverly Hills Cop Four. So it's funny. I have to understand it. Like that's not the path you're on. Do you notice yet the water you swim in, meaning the people that,

when people see you on the street, Oh yeah. do you notice the expression on their face? I can see people seeing me before they realize I see them seeing me. I'm sure you have this too, where you see somebody be like, ha, and you're not even looking,

or I can feel it. Yeah. And then you sort of have to feel like, how do I engage with this? Generally I will engage with it, because again, I'm more connected to the guy who wasn't famous, whatever fame, I feel like sitting across from you, it's funny to call this famous, but anyway, known, before I was known,

than the guy who was known, so I will, yeah, my kids are sort of like, come on, dad, we gotta go, but I generally wanna one that engages people. But is the, I mean, when I walk around, people smile at me because they're remembering a funny joke that I was, or a moment that I was part of. Or several.

Or near, even. Yeah. I learned early on in Cheers, you don't have to have the joke, just be in the two shot with the joke. And you'll get all the credit in the world. Yeah, yeah, joke, just be in the two shot with the joke. And you'll get all the credit in the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just be around the laughter. Yeah, exactly.

But they smile and that's an amazing water to swim in. I'm so blessed to walk around with that. I'm just wondering what you feel you're swimming in. So I noticed it used to be, there's like eras, where it was like every time I ran in somebody would be like, oh man, you're Kamau Bell. I loved, and I'd be like, don't say clan, don't say clan, don't say, that episode with the clan.

And I was like, oh man, I've done a lot of things, but that is my, I'm the clan guy. Yeah. At some point, not that I don't hear about anymore, it shifted to thank you for your work. Which I actually appreciate more because it means there's like a body of work that they've engaged with.

It's not just the fact that the crazy guy went and talked to the KKK. And I really appreciate, and so it's very much like people sort of say, they'll look me in the eye, they'll shake my hand, they'll lean in like, thank you. Like it's a very sort of like, and so I really appreciate that

because it's hard to know where it's landing all the time. And then the thing I get, which is like, thank you for your work, you need to do a story and they start telling me what I need to do. I'm just like. Because you can make a better. Yeah, I can make, and sometimes it's about like, I think you need like a city councilman.

I'm not that, like, you know, we need help building this thing and there's not in the media. It's like, I think you've confused, I'm not that you know, we had we need help building this thing and there's not in the Media it's like I think you've confused. I'm not that guy, you know, but uh, but yes I'll get that a lot like you need to do a story about blah blah blah It's like I don't even have a job right now, but thank you for that. You said your mom's alive, right? Yes, very much. So yeah, she must be tickled pink There's I mean

She loves well, she loves this moment. She has moment a lot She'll be around people and they'll be and especially happens the bay in the Bay Area. Oh, what do you do? I do this. I'm here. My granddaughter's live nearby to my son And then at some point like I'll come up be like hey mom. They're like wait. Yeah, that's why didn't you tell me? She's like ah I'll be like, hey mom, they're like, wait, that's, why didn't you tell me? And she just went like, ah. Like, you didn't tell me that was your son. So yeah, she loves, and like I said, it was just the two of us.

My mom was my best friend when I was a kid, so she's really living her best life. I don't even mean the fame. I mean, you are, sorry if I'm. Ted Danza, don't apologize to me again. Okay, all right, well. If you apologize again, I'm walking out. All right, listen to what, good note, good't apologize to me again. If you apologize again, I'm walking out. Listen to what I...

Good note, good note. Seriously. But you're gonna feel that way. Your kindness. You have a kind face. You walk in and there's kindness in the room. That's what I meant about your mom. Must be really kind of proud of who she raised.

Yeah, yes, 100%. Yes, I think she, my mom always had great belief in me. She thought, you'll figure something out, but to see what has happened and to see how, yes, she's very proud of the type of person that I am and the type of dad that I am too. I think it's an angel. I was about to say, do you see yourself passing that? I love that you'll figure it out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a wonderful thing to pass on to your kids. For sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, I mean I tell that to my kids all the time, it's very clear like, this is about your journey. So my teacher said, I don't know, I'm not worried about that. Let's figure this out. Yeah, yeah. We're not, I don't want you to think that I'm ever worried about what your teacher said, you don't know, I'm not worried about that. Let's figure this out, yeah. I don't want you to think that I'm ever worried about what your teacher said, you know? So it's about what do you need? So yeah, it's really important to me that my kids, my mom was clearly like my friend,

now she was my friend who paid the rent, so I had to respect her, but she was my friend, so I could tell her anything. And I knew if I said, mom, I need help with this, she was gonna be there. And it's very, with my kids, it's very important to me that they feel like if I call my dad into a situation, he's got my back.

Right. Yeah. God, I'm checking myself every time you say something. Did I do that? Did I do that? You did it. Am I coming up? Yeah, you're not. I mean, you're Ted.

Be the best Ted dancing you can be. It's turned out pretty well. ["Best Ted Dancing"] Are you church? As a kid I was, I'm not- What were you, if I may, was it Alabama church or- It was a little both, cause it was like Northern church with my mom and then Methodist church with my mom

and then AME church with my, in the South, of course. Much more fun. Yeah, yeah, a lot more fun, yeah, a with my, in the south, of course. Much more fun. Yeah, yeah, a lot more fun, yeah, a lot more. Yeah, yeah, a lot better choir. Southern churches can be scary as shit or joyfully astounding. I mean, my grandmother's church was the kind of church where every week a big black woman

would catch the Holy Spirit and pass out and have to be carried out of the church every week. And I don't know if it was the same woman, but every week there was a woman who would catch the Holy Spirit and pass out and have to be carried out of the church every week. I don't know if it was the same woman, but every week there was a woman who would catch the Holy Spirit in the middle of the sermon and have to be carried out into the next room. And how old were you when you were watching that? Six, seven, eight, nine, 10, you know?

You're just sort of like, whoa, whoa, every week. It's like it, so yeah, it was like very fire and brimstone, basement where they served fish after funerals. You know, it was very like, yeah, I'm really happy with the fact that, cause even, cause you know, most of, all black people in this country who are, who could trace their lineage back to time of enslavement,

we came through the South. But a lot of us are disconnected from it so we don't spend time in the South. I'm really, as much as it annoyed me now as a kid, I'm really happy that I've spent so much time in the South so I know how to speak Southern. I know how spend time in the South. I'm really, as much as it annoyed me now as a kid, I'm really happy that I've spent so much time in the South so I know how to speak Southern, I know how to be in the South. And I'm not, it's again, like we said earlier,

I have empathy for the South in a way that like, people who don't go to the South sort of just condescend to the South. Yeah, from states that are far worse. Yes, yeah, yeah. I mean, Little Rock, Arkansas, Mary's from North Little Rock. She has the North part's important

because that was called Dogtown. She was on the wrong side of the tracks, but she's very proud of it. But because of the high school there in the 50s, no, but 60s, yeah. You had to choose. There was no, no one was on the fence. You either bought it and went with it

Mm-hmm, and or you at an early age went no. Yeah, that's wrong I you know, she she was about to go to first grade or second grade or something when The first kids black kids Integrated the school. Yeah. Yeah and she people were throwing stuff at them and yelling. And she was watching TV and she would not go to school the next day. She burst into tears. I don't want to go to school. I don't want people to throw rocks at me or something. But you didn't you didn't have a choice.

Yeah. And now when you go to Little Rock, it's not true all over Arkansas, obviously. But when you're in Little Rock, you're you're eating dinner with more black people than you do in Westwood, I'll tell you that. Yeah, that's exactly it. You are side by side and they, you know. There's an expression from the Civil Rights era or even before, and it's about, black people would say to each other,

in the north, they don't care how high you get as long as you don't get too close. In the south, they don't care how close you get, as long as you don't get too close. In the South, they don't care how close you get, as long as you don't get too high. So in the South, they're fine to eat dinner with you, but they don't want a black doctor. In the North, you can be a black doctor, but don't come over to my house.

It's a version of, all right, you're gonna be my president, but I'll be goddamned if I'll do what you tell me. Exactly, yeah, so it's very much like, and my daughters have spent time in the South, especially my oldest daughters, and I'm really happy that they will have had that experience so that they don't feel like cut off or intimidated by the South

in the way that a lot of people do, yeah. I know it's silly that I was sitting there when you came in reading your workbook. I had not prepared myself for you to have a copy of my book. But I think it's brilliant. came in reading your workbook. I was, I had not prepared myself for you to, for you to have a copy of my book. But I, I think it's brilliant. You know, I will take the,

I will take the thank you or the compliments for the whole team of people that put that together, especially I gotta remember, I gotta mention Kate Schatz, who's my co-author, who, Right. You know, we really collaborate. She's prominent, I mean, it's a dialogue with you guys.

For sure, for sure. But what's great is it's a dialogue with you guys. For sure. But what's great is it doesn't matter where you are on the spectrum, if you're white. You are on the spectrum. Yeah, it will meet you where you're at. That's where you really wanted to make the book. And push you in a gentle, kind way so far. I haven't gotten to the end. No, it stays. I mean, I feel like I was talking to that book,

like a book that tells you how to do sit-ups. It's not gonna help you unless you do the sit-ups. Yeah, but also if you're if you already have good abs, it's gonna you sort of just do more of the sit-ups. But if you don't you can start at a low. You know what I mean? So it's like I really feel like it meets people where they're at and sort of like by making it interactive. We just found during 2020 after George Floyd's murder, there was a lot of those books, a lot of the anti-racist books went to the after George Floyd's murder, there was a lot of those books, a lot of the anti-racist books went to the top of the bestseller list.

And a lot of those are great books, but they're tomes. They're really sort of analytical. And we felt like, but do people know what to do next? Like after you read those books, do you know how to like enact what it taught you in the world? And coming from a background in the community of activism, I need white people to do things. I don't need people to know, I don't need you to, if it's between knowing something or doing something,

I'd rather you do something than just, I know it. Yeah, all right, I'm a racist, no, you're a racist, no I'm not, yes you are, no I am. But even if you saw that little conversation, the next thing is, what are you gonna do? There's still a public school across town that's mostly black that doesn't have enough resources. Can you help them?

Is there some way you can help them? So there's still- What is the name of the, sorry. No problem. The foundation. Didn't I just tell him not to apologize? No, I didn't apologize to you. I was apologizing to Nick because I put my hand on him. Okay, I'll write that one down.

That's one Nick apology, but you only getizing to Nick. Okay. All right. Okay. I'll write that one down. That's one Nick apology, but don't you only get to to Nick What is the name of the not foundation but organization nonprofit donors choose donors? Tell me about that a little bit So donors choose an organization that helps teachers in classrooms raise money for whatever their resources they need in their classroom It could be books like we need books of the books so the kids can read. It can be like hygiene supplies because some kids don't have that stuff at home. So it could be, or it could be a trip to DC or it could be musical instruments. But the way it is set up is that you can just put in a zip code. So put in your zip code and it'll tell you all the schools in your area and what they

need. It's for public school. Oh, that is brilliant. So yeah, it's really great, because to me it's like a video game that helps people, because you feel fun, and also some teachers need $5,000, some teacher needs $40. So it's really like you can help in whatever way you can. It's like the micro grants.

Yes, micro loans, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can do all over the world. And you can find a teacher who's like, oh, they need a tuba, but they're $40 away from completing the tuba yeah. You can do all over the world. And you can find a teacher who's like, oh, they need a tuba, but they're $40 away from completing the tuba. I'm gonna put them over the top. And then if you want, the kids will, the teacher will have the kids send you thank you cards

and things. And so you really, I think right now, especially right now, people are like, how do I help? What can I do? And I think sometimes what can I do is a check, but you're like, I just, and I am with the ACLU, but like you send the ACLU a check, it just sort of like goes.

You tend to wash your hands, perhaps. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're just sort of like, okay, I did that. Yeah, I gave. But you, but this, it's like, literally I know that the thing I'm doing is going to impact this. Which will help you to keep doing it.

Tell me the name again. DonorsChoose, like donor, like someone who donates something. DonorsChoose.org. Yeah. And it's just, I find like, especially if you're having a bad, if you're like reading an article about how bad America is, you need a little dopamine rush to feel better. Just help a teacher on DonorsChoose. You'll be like, okay, I helped a little bit. Yeah.

I crawled out of the hole. I don't know if everyone knows, they probably must, that most schools, the teachers are taking out of their meager paycheck to deliver books to their children. The percentage is, it's well over 50% of teachers who go into their own pockets to support the students. Like they can't not do it because they want the kids to have what they need. I mean, it could be pencils. It could be erasers. It could be crayons. And teachers would rather go into their own pockets generally than have the kids

go without. So this is a way to like let the teachers keep whatever meager income they're making and to get the kids something extra. Cause it's also about like, you know, public school can mean a lot depending upon your community and your zip code some public schools look like basically function like private schools and some public schools don't have enough for the kids to like have the supplies they need and so this is to help until our government closes that gap this is that what we have to do

it's really brilliant I'm sitting here thinking about the well you said it you can write a check, but the tendency is to wash your hands. With this, you're gonna get engaged. Yes, and if you stay engaged, you'll hear from the teachers and the kids, and you can give to whatever school you went to when you were a kid,

or whatever school's in your neighborhood that you walk past every day and don't know what's good. So it's not even about whether or not you have kids in the school district. I think it's more important for people who don't have kids in school right now to think you want those kids in all those schools to be as smart and prepared for the world as possible because they're going to be adults someday and you're going to run into them. So you want all the kids.

You want them to be as smart as they possibly can be. Helping those kids is a selfish act. I think we think of this stuff as being some sort of like, I'm a good person. So no, no, no. I want you to be smart and to be prepared and to be well fed because I'll be running into a happier adult. Yeah. I know greed is not gonna go away. But there's smart greed and there's stupid greed that'll come back and bite you in the ass. Yeah, no, this is the kind of greed that's like I selfishly, I want everybody to have everything they need because then that means I have everything I need

Think of it that way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you don't want to walk around with a bunch of people pissed off No, you don't want a bunch of uneducated hungry people Each one with two or three guns, yeah Yeah, who never learned which is the good in which is the bad end? So yeah, like I think it's important. For me, this is where a lot of the activism comes from. It's like, actually just selfishly, I want a better community.

I want a better world, you know? And when I think about my mom, like I think about my mom's parents, the racism they suffered is pretty much unimaginable to me. And then when my mom tells stories sometimes, I'm like, that is almost unimaginable to me. I hope and I think of it as a baton. So my grandparents handed my mom the baton, it was lighter than when they got it because their grandparents, their parents were enslaved, you know.

And then you go another generation, my mom handed it to me, it was way lighter than when she got it. But now I think about my 13 year old daughter and I'm like, when I hand it to you, is the baton gonna be heavier or lighter? Oh yeah. Because America's in a special place right now. And that baton might get heavier because of what we're about to go through. So it's my job to do everything I can to make sure,

at least hope the baton weighs the same. So that's where I sort of am at now. It's really important to me to think about, because whatever my kids do, I think I have done the same job my mom did where it's like my oldest daughter wants to be a singer and is a singer, she's still gonna be engaged in this work somehow

because that's what we do. Batons. You're not a baby boomer, right? No. I'm a baby boomer and baby boomers don't pass the baton. They just keep holding on. They hold the baton. They drop it and don't realize it and keep running. Where you pass the baton they just keep holding on they drop it and don't

realize it and keep running. I'm a Gen Xer, hey can we get the baton? Nah I can't find it but I don't want you to have it. No I'm a proud Gen Xer who was called a slacker his whole generation and now now we're angry. Wow This is such a cool conversation for me. I really, really appreciate it. I, you know, it's been absolutely one of the thrills of my whole career to be able to sit across and have this conversation. When I got the invitation, I was like,

I mean, everybody who was with me when I got it was like, yeah, of course you're doing that. Like, there was no, like, yeah, so. Just so you know, I'm always in character I went why is he coming here? Did you know you invited me did somebody else yes, okay, okay I didn't know sometimes people like it's like a blind podcast date. But uh, no, I was super I've I have been a fan from as long as I can remember I've been invested in your career and you're and I've

Followed you. I was so happy for every time I see you. It makes me happy We're gonna have to facetime my mom after this is over. I hope you're okay with that Yeah, okay, cuz that's what I need to do if I can't do that, then I take back everything I said, but no it's a it's you know, and and just to be clear part of this is about the fact that like you are a white person in the world white man in the world who I see giving a shit and I've seen give a shit and I've seen make mistakes and bounce back from them and I've seen like thank you for that Yes, yes and I've seen you like use your privilege for good and

so even if I hadn't met you I just felt good about you and you're a talented performer and it's and to think that whatever even though I did not end up in Breville Hills Cop Four, I still get to talk to you, makes me feel like I did the right thing. Somehow I haven't made too many mistakes in this career. Kind of have to get out and hug you again. Mission accomplished. Thanks. Thank you.

Yeah. That was the amazing W. Kamao Bell. Really means a lot to me that he was here. So thank you Kamao. To help support Kamao's important work with schools, visit his DonorsChoose page at DonorsChoose.org. That's it for this week's show. Special thanks to our friends at Teen Coco. If you enjoyed this episode, send it to a friend.

Subscribe, rate, and review. And you can always watch full episodes of this podcast on Teen Coco's YouTube channel, if that's your thing. I'll be right back here next week where everybody knows your name. See you soon. ["Where Everybody Knows Your Name"] You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows Your Name

with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Leal. Executive producers are Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and myself. Sarah Federovich is our supervising producer. Our senior producer is Matt Apodaca. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Graw.

Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Battista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Genn, Mary Steenburgen, and John Osborne. We'll have more for you next time where everybody knows your name.