Coffee giant Starbucks was skewered earlier this month when it introduced a campaign trying to get customers to talk about race (not surprisingly, it fizzled out after less than a week.) Sharp public criticism over the campaign made it clear: a national conversation on race couldn't happen over a latte. But could it happen over late night?
This week, it was announced that Jon Stewart's replacement as host of "The Daily Show" would be Trevor Noah, a a 31-year old comedian who grew up in South Africa at the height of apartheid. Noah is biracial, with a white mother and black father, and race is a subject that frequently informs his own comedy.
In an age when satirical news programs like "The Daily Show" are almost just as influential among Americans as the real deal, could having a comedian willing to discuss race in the host's chair spur a national conversation on the topic? Dr. Peniel E. Joseph, a professor of history at Tufts University and author of Stokely: A Life, joined Boston Public Radio to discuss.
"I think Trevor is great. He's only 31 years old. He's got a global, multiracial perspective," Joseph said.
To Joseph, Noah's new gig—along with another new high-profile Comedy Central host, Larry Wilmore, who replaced Stephen Colbert in January—suggested that television may finally be catching up with the rest of the country.
"In a way, the landscape of television is catching up with the demographic changes. You see this with the popularity of shows like 'Empire,' of shows like 'Black-ish,' in how demographics have gone ahead of television," he said.
To hear more of our conversation about Trevor Noah, race, and the future of late night television, tune in to Boston Public Radio above.
