Episode 388

with W. Kamau Bell, Karen Russell, and Kishi Bashi

Host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello contemplate a life on Mars; acclaimed author Karen Russell explains why she creates fantastical worlds in her stories to get at truth; comedian and television host W. Kamau Bell describes how his CNN show "United Shades of America" is really about gentrification; and multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi performs “Summer of ’42” from his latest album "Omoiyari."

Karen Russell

Author

Karen Russell’s heightened, vivid, and revelatory writing taps straight into your imagination. Her first book, Swamplandia! was a high-lauded Pulitzer Prize finalist that tracked a family that lived in a gator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades. Her latest, Orange World and Other Stories, weaves eight compelling tales that range from deals with the devil to falling in love with girls made of peat, along with other feral, slippery situations that mirror our inner lives. Russell won the National Magazine Award for Fiction in 2012 and 2018 and has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships. Website

W. Kamau Bell

Television Host

W. Kamau Bell is a multi-talented, multi-faceted, multi-award-winning storm of sociopolitical comedy. He’s the host and Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-winning CNN docuseries “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell,” made his Netflix debut with the standup special “Private School Negro,” and published a book with the brief title “The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian.” Bell directs, writes, has three critically acclaimed podcasts, and serves on the board of Hollaback! and Donors Choose, also while being the ACLU Celebrity Ambassador for Racial Justice. Website • Twitter

Kishi Bashi

Multi-Instrumentalist

Kishi Bashi can’t be contained be any one genre of music. The singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter blends pop, rock, electronica and other forms together across his multitude of musical endeavors. A founding member of the New York electronic rock outfit, Jupiter One, he studied film scoring at Berklee College of Music before going on to become a renowned violinist. In 2012, Bashi released his debut album 151a to immediate fanfare and critical acclaim, with live shows featuring anything from violin to vocal looping to beat boxing. Bashi’s fourth studio album Omoiyari will be released in May 2019, and only one thing’s for certain – it will beyond anything you’re expecting. Listen • Twitter