Call These Times What They Are: Janky with Hasan Minhaj

Two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj joins the show to talk about growing up Indian American Muslim in northern California and the immigrant experience as it stands today. He also opens up about fatherhood and asks Mrs. Obama and Craig for parenting advice. Plus, he explains why magicians are more impressive than comedians, and who is the least respected on a comedy show bill. Have a question you want answered? Write to us at imopod.com http://imopod.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Michelle Obama?

  When we talk about, how do you feel about the country? You know, there are versions of the, the country that happen.

• 0:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:07Michelle Obama?

  Right? And the new version doesn't make the old one bad. It's necessary for growth. And I think we're in just a janky version, right?

• 0:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, janky's right.

• 0:18Michelle Obama?

  It's a janky version right now.

• 0:20Speaker 01

  May I curse Mrs. Obama?

• 0:21Michelle Obama?

  You may.

• 0:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, shit is jank right now. It's super jank.

• 0:25Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 0:25Craig Robinson?

  You're dead, not gonna be happy with that.

• 0:33Michelle Obama?

  This episode is brought to you by Shipt.

• 0:39Michelle Obama?

  What's going on with you these days?

• 0:42Craig Robinson?

  Not much. I'm, I'm enjoying life. Making it through the winter.

• 0:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, the winter is a slog. How's the basketball season going for the?

• 0:54Craig Robinson?

  It, it, we, we have some challenges.

• 0:56Michelle Obama?

  For the Highlanders?

• 0:57Craig Robinson?

  For the Highlanders, yes. We have some challenges, but we're doing all right. We're doing all right. How you doing?

• 1:02Michelle Obama?

  I'm good. I am doing good, but for the world. You know, it's like when you have your health and your family is good and friends are good, then there's not that much to complain about.

• 1:16Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:17Michelle Obama?

  Where are you staying this visit?

• 1:19Craig Robinson?

  I'm staying in an Airbnb, of course.

• 1:21Michelle Obama?

  Once again.

• 1:22Craig Robinson?

  But this, you know, uh, this has been a really fun trip because everybody's here.

• 1:28Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, this has been a fun trip.

• 1:29Craig Robinson?

  My whole family's here.

• 1:32Michelle Obama?

  Even Kelly.

• 1:33Craig Robinson?

  All four kids, and Kelly, which she never comes hardly.

• 1:36Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah. Well, it is her birthday weekend.

• 1:39Craig Robinson?

  It is her birthday weekend. So we have, we're staying in an Airbnb that just happens to be one of my favorite actor's former homes.

• 1:50Michelle Obama?

  Oh, really? Who's?

• 1:51Craig Robinson?

  Orson Welles.

• 1:52Michelle Obama?

  Oh, my goodness. What's that house like? Is it some big mansion? Is it spooky?

• 1:56Craig Robinson?

  It isn't. It isn't. An Orson Welles.

• 2:00Craig Robinson?

  Um, movie posters are all over the place. Books he read.

• 2:05Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 2:06Craig Robinson?

  He has, he has the Encyclopedia Britannica still there.

• 2:09Michelle Obama?

  Oh, I remember that.

• 2:11Craig Robinson?

  You remember those?

• 2:11Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 2:12Craig Robinson?

  Yeah. And it's got a pool table. So the kids were having a blast. We had dinner together. It's, it was a lot of fun.

• 2:18Michelle Obama?

  That sounds good.

• 2:19Craig Robinson?

  Lot of fun.

• 2:20Michelle Obama?

  That sounds good. So they all gave the Airbnb a thumbs up?

• 2:23Craig Robinson?

  They gave it a thumbs up and the kids still don't know who Orson Welles is though.

• 2:28Michelle Obama?

  Well, yeah, it's.

• 2:29Craig Robinson?

  They don't, they don't like movies in black and white, but there was, there was a Citizen Kane poster.

• 2:34Michelle Obama?

  Uh huh.

• 2:34Craig Robinson?

  I mean, it was, it was, it made, I feel warm there. So I'm, it's gonna be a good week.

• 2:39Michelle Obama?

  That's good. That's good. Well, it's gonna be a good episode.

• 2:42Craig Robinson?

  It sure is.

• 2:44Michelle Obama?

  Because we have a funny man.

• 2:48Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 2:49Michelle Obama?

  And I love a funny man.

• 2:53Craig Robinson?

  Yes, you do.

• 2:54Michelle Obama?

  So he better be funny. All right. But why don't you introduce our guest?

• 3:00Craig Robinson?

  Geez, put some pressure on him.

• 3:02Michelle Obama?

  You better come in funny.

• 3:04Craig Robinson?

  No, we, our guest today is Hassan Minaj. And he's a two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian.

• 3:15Michelle Obama?

  Sounds like he could be funny.

• 3:17Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 3:18Michelle Obama?

  You win twice, two-time Peabody.

• 3:20Craig Robinson?

  I mean, that's just not any.

• 3:21Michelle Obama?

  This is gonna be good.

• 3:22Craig Robinson?

  Yeah. But he's best known for his Netflix special, Homecoming King, which I saw.

• 3:29Michelle Obama?

  I saw that too.

• 3:30Craig Robinson?

  Which is very funny.

• 3:32Michelle Obama?

  He was funny then, so I hope he's funny today.

• 3:35Craig Robinson?

  In addition to Homecoming King, you got The King's Jester.

• 3:38Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 3:39Craig Robinson?

  And most recently, Off With His Head in 2024. He created and hosted the Emmy Award-winning political satire Patriot Act with Hassan Minaj and currently hosts the podcast and digital series, Hassan Minaj Doesn't Know.

• 3:58Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, doesn't he know? We'll find out what he doesn't know.

• 4:02Craig Robinson?

  But I'm really excited to talk to him because I, I found out in the research that he was into basketball, but I didn't realize.

• 4:11Michelle Obama?

  Oh my God, are we gonna talk about basketball?

• 4:13Craig Robinson?

  How much he was into basketball.

• 4:14Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 4:15Craig Robinson?

  So you may, you may have to sort of lay back. You may have to lay back for a minute.

• 4:20Michelle Obama?

  Well, let's get him out here.

• 4:22Craig Robinson?

  Without any further ado.

• 4:23Michelle Obama?

  Hassan. Enter.

• 4:26Craig Robinson?

  Come join us.

• 4:27Michelle Obama?

  How are you? It's good to see you. I like the jacket.

• 4:30Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you.

• 4:31Michelle Obama?

  Weird. Look at you.

• 4:33Speaker 01

  No pressure at all.

• 4:34Michelle Obama?

  No pressure.

• 4:35Craig Robinson?

  No.

• 4:35Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 4:36Craig Robinson?

  These are new chairs.

• 4:37Michelle Obama?

  Make me laugh. No.

• 4:40Speaker 01

  Absolutely, Mrs. Obama. I would love to make you laugh.

• 4:43Michelle Obama?

  Now, Craig already told you that you could not spend the whole time calling me Mrs. Obama, but you explained that if you don't...

• 4:51Speaker 01

  My mother and father will be very upset. They've met you before, by the way.

• 4:54Michelle Obama?

  We're at one of the...

• 4:56Speaker 01

  Andrews Air Force Base.

• 4:57Michelle Obama?

  Oh, wait, no.

• 4:58Speaker 01

  You and Mr. Obama hosted a big event.

• 5:00Michelle Obama?

  How were they at Andrews Air Force Base?

• 5:02Speaker 01

  You and your husband, I don't know if you've heard of him. He was the president of the United States for a little bit, about eight years. But you hosted an event at the Andrews Air Force Base.

• 5:11Michelle Obama?

  We did.

• 5:12Speaker 01

  Where you invited a bunch of comedians.

• 5:14Michelle Obama?

  We did.

• 5:15Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 5:15Michelle Obama?

  Oh, my God.

• 5:16Speaker 01

  David Letterman.

• 5:17Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 5:18Speaker 01

  They're way more famous. David Letterman. Because you're like, I don't remember this. Let me...

• 5:23Michelle Obama?

  But now, I just like...

• 5:24Speaker 01

  No, no, let me get their IMDb credits. It's a guy named David Letterman, John Mulaney, very...

• 5:27Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 5:28Craig Robinson?

  Wait, how many comedians?

• 5:29Speaker 01

  I'm gonna keep listening. Jon Stewart, much more famous than me. Mike Wibbiglia, he's about where I'm at. And, yeah. We did, we performed for the troops there at Andrews Air Force Base.

• 5:41Craig Robinson?

  Oh, neat.

• 5:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, and so I brought my parents. My mother works at the VA, so she's worked at the VA for a very long time.

• 5:47Michelle Obama?

  Okay, see, that's why... That's why, see, that's what I was getting at.

• 5:51Craig Robinson?

  Neat, neat.

• 5:51Michelle Obama?

  It was like, they must be in connection with veterans or veterans of some sort. That's what I...

• 5:58Speaker 01

  Yes. But I'm also like, I will unapologetically do a plus two.

• 6:04Speaker 01

  They don't have to be connected or not.

• 6:06Michelle Obama?

  But this is like, with the presidency, you just didn't get a plus two. It wasn't, you couldn't just like...

• 6:12Speaker 01

  Really?

• 6:13Michelle Obama?

  No, no. I mean, there's all the security and the vetting and all that. So, that's, your parents probably were invited because of their status.

• 6:23Craig Robinson?

  Big shots.

• 6:24Speaker 01

  Maybe.

• 6:24Craig Robinson?

  Big shots.

• 6:25Speaker 01

  I mean, Mrs. Obama, I can give you all the tricks. I'm sure you're aware, but if you just reply all to the thread early enough...

• 6:31Michelle Obama?

  Then everybody comes.

• 6:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:33Michelle Obama?

  Great, okay. So, that place wasn't as secure as I thought.

• 6:36Speaker 01

  No. No. I mean, my dad was backstage in the green room, and he was walking up to everybody.

• 6:42Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 6:43Speaker 01

  He walked up to David Letterman, it was pretty awesome.

• 6:45Michelle Obama?

  What did he say?

• 6:46Speaker 01

  So, all the comedians, obviously David Letterman, legend. But what's great is for my dad... Immigrated to the United States in 1982. Organic chemist for 35 years for the state of California. So he kind of treated the backstage the same way he would treat like Costco on a weekend. Are those khakis? So he was like, is that David Letterman? And so all the comedians, me, Mulaney, or Biglia, we're treating him like.

• 7:13Michelle Obama?

  He's the kid.

• 7:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's on the Mount Rushmore of comedy. And my dad's like, he's interviewed a lot of people. So my dad goes up to him and he's like, hey, who's the, who's, who's the favorite president you've ever interviewed? He's like, did you interview Richard Nixon? Oh, yeah. So Najmi got right to it. And I really thought where my dad, you know, obviously where he placed the joke, where he placed the bit. I thought it was quite brilliant to just get right to it. Cause you've gotten this of like, who have you met before that you, but my dad was like, Richard Nixon.

• 7:43Michelle Obama?

  They just went right to it. So what did Dave say?

• 7:46Speaker 01

  And Dave was like, you know, nobody's really asked me about Nixon. And so they, they're just having this long conversation about Nixon and Watergate. And it was really awesome. And, and then all these comedians that I really admire were like, who?

• 7:58Michelle Obama?

  Who's that?

• 7:59Speaker 01

  Yeah. Who's this Indian man talking to this old dude who looks like Abraham Lincoln? And I was like, oh, that's Najmi Minaj talking to David Letterman.

• 8:06Craig Robinson?

  Is he a comedian, your dad? I know he's an engineer.

• 8:09Speaker 01

  He's an organic chemist, but he thinks he's a comedian.

• 8:12Craig Robinson?

  He does think he's a comedian.

• 8:13Speaker 01

  But, but also like, if you meet comedians, they'll tell you they're not even the funniest person in their family.

• 8:20Michelle Obama?

  No, that's right.

• 8:20Speaker 01

  I'm not the funniest person. Like it's, I'm probably the least funny person in my family.

• 8:32Craig Robinson?

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• 11:08Speaker 03

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• 11:11Craig Robinson?

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• 12:45Michelle Obama?

  So when did you know you wanted to go into comedy? And how did your parents feel about it? I mean, I know you've talked about this a bit, but, you know, your father's an engineer.

• 12:55Speaker 01

  My father's an organic chemist.

• 12:56Michelle Obama?

  An organic chemist, which is even more smart guy stuff.

• 13:00Speaker 01

  And then my mother is a physician. I didn't even know it was a thing, to be quite honest. I didn't know it was an industry that... Paid money, that you can make a living from it. Also, I grew up in Davis, California. You know, not to brag, it's the closest city over Sacramento. Again, not trying to city drop and not trying to be elitist. We have two malls. There's a lot, there's a lot happening there. UC Davis, my former alma mater. But so, so showbiz and Hollywood felt a million miles away. To be, my first love was basketball. I really, that was on like my vision board. I really wanted to play varsity basketball.

• 13:37Michelle Obama?

  Did you think you could go pro?

• 13:38Speaker 01

  When you're, when you're in second or third grade, when you're doing the book report.

• 13:43Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, here it's like, this is what I'm.

• 13:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:45Michelle Obama?

  Did you wear, have the, you know, walk around with a ball and wristbands?

• 13:49Speaker 01

  I did have the wristbands and I would, yeah, I would beg mom like every year.

• 13:52Craig Robinson?

  Did you play in high school?

• 13:53Speaker 01

  I played in high school, I played, oh, I played freshman in JV. I didn't make varsity.

• 13:57Craig Robinson?

  That's okay.

• 13:58Speaker 01

  I don't want to be dishonest.

• 13:59Craig Robinson?

  That's all right.

• 13:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, but I did try.

• 14:01Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 14:01Craig Robinson?

  He was about to be and then he thought who he's talking to and he's like, he could probably check.

• 14:07Speaker 01

  No, but everything, what's really cool about it is comedians tend to be very heady people. But if you, there's something really beautiful in having a sport or an activity that articulates what you do in real life. So you can get in your head about a lot of stuff. That's the difficulty of modernity and the difficulty of adulthood I've found. You can spend all this time worrying, not worrying. But what's really great, I found with basketball is, and then later in comedy, you learn a lot about yourself. So you learn about how tall you are, how strong you are, how to position yourself in relation to someone else. Like I sized you up as soon as you walked in.

• 14:50Speaker 01

  I was like, okay, he's much taller than me, but like, I can, I could probably get underneath there.

• 14:56Michelle Obama?

  Is that how you size people up? It's, it's basically what you can get away with on the court.

• 15:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:01Michelle Obama?

  So how you size me up? I'm not, I don't play. Do you size me up in the same way? Did you think I could like get around her?

• 15:09Speaker 01

  Well, see, I, I did, I did try to go to WNBA player once and she did. Swat the S H I T out of me. So this is on Getty Images. I was, yeah. Yeah, I went, I went at Asia Wilson, who was the MVP of the NBA.

• 15:21Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 15:21Speaker 01

  She sent my stuff into the sidelines. Yeah.

• 15:23Craig Robinson?

  All you have to beat my sister, all you have to do is be sweaty and then, and then try and bump into her.

• 15:30Michelle Obama?

  You know, that's the thing. I'm, I'm tall, but the thing, and we went to the All-Star game. And the biggest thing that I saw was like, they're all, there's so much pushing.

• 15:40Speaker 01

  There's a lot of pushing.

• 15:40Michelle Obama?

  I mean, and it's just like, it's just, that big guy just pushed that other big guy. I would be done. It's like, once I got pushed in the back once and didn't know about it, I'd be like, I'm going.

• 15:52Speaker 01

  Can I say something where, where I really felt like Kismet and destiny was on your side, Mrs. Obama? So for those.

• 15:57Craig Robinson?

  If you keep saying Mrs. Obama, we're gonna be here all night.

• 16:00Speaker 01

  Can you give me an alt? In comedy, we call it an alt. Give me an alt.

• 16:02Craig Robinson?

  I, I.

• 16:03Speaker 01

  I cannot call her Michelle.

• 16:04Craig Robinson?

  You can call her Michelle, you can call her Mish, you can call her Mo.

• 16:08Michelle Obama?

  That's my nickname. Mo, that's what they call me, Mo. They call me Mo. My name is Mo, but.

• 16:14Speaker 01

  So, so when you were at the game, there was a possession where the ball came into the stands.

• 16:20Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yes.

• 16:21Speaker 01

  And your husband.

• 16:21Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 16:22Speaker 01

  I mean, this was out of a romantic comedy.

• 16:23Michelle Obama?

  It was, it was good.

• 16:25Speaker 01

  Straight up.

• 16:25Michelle Obama?

  Because all I saw was ball and big guy coming my way.

• 16:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:29Michelle Obama?

  And I'm, I, you know, I'm coordinated, but I was like, I, I, I'm just dumbfounded.

• 16:35Speaker 01

  Right. But how many, you've, how many of these highlight reels have you seen where a basketball player goes diving into the crowd? Jumps on our first lady.

• 16:44Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 16:44Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 16:45Speaker 01

  Like, that could have happened. She could have had popcorn, she could have been drinking a soda. There's, there's a million different ways this could have gone horribly.

• 16:51Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 16:51Speaker 01

  And then for him to just be like, oh, oh, here you go.

• 16:54Michelle Obama?

  My, my honey.

• 16:55Speaker 01

  Yeah. And then Devin Booker comes in for a, it's just like.

• 16:59Craig Robinson?

  Poetic.

• 16:59Speaker 01

  It's poetic, yeah.

• 17:01Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 17:01Speaker 01

  So the, the Plinko ball of possibilities always seemed to just align with like the most charismatic, romantic possibility. Cause I, I've go to Knicks games and dudes have fallen on me. I've like tried to catch them, I missed the ball. So anyways, I was quite envious of them. We digress. Um, but, but what I love about, what I loved about really loving it as a kid is you also learn how to win graciously and lose graciously.

• 17:28Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 17:29Speaker 01

  You, you, you also understand that losing is a part of it.

• 17:31Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Um, and as I pursued a career in show business too. Understanding that failure is just a part of it.

• 17:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 17:41Speaker 01

  But, but the other part of it is also understanding that, and, and this is where I couldn't get to the varsity level, coach. And I'm gonna call you coach now, because you, you've coached at an elite level. Is what really got to me is during summer league, during AAU, I would miss a shot or two. And then I would start to get in my head.

• 17:57Craig Robinson?

  Oh.

• 17:58Speaker 01

  And I wouldn't be focused on the next possession.

• 18:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 18:00Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 18:01Speaker 01

  And so much of life is, is just being like, hey, whatever happened.

• 18:04Craig Robinson?

  Right.

• 18:04Speaker 01

  That, that's over.

• 18:06Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 18:07Speaker 01

  You literally have the ball right now, and you have to figure out, you, you simultaneously have to be present, but also kind of anticipate what could happen in the future and make this possession count. And I didn't realize that, how useful that was in comedy. Which is, if you, if you do multiple sets a night, most comedians working in New York City will do three, four, or five sets a night.

• 18:26Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 18:27Speaker 01

  If you had a bad early show, let it go.

• 18:30Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 18:30Speaker 01

  Now you have to read where the room is at right now, that's your next possession.

• 18:34Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 18:35Speaker 01

  And, and adjust accordingly. And the best comedians are able to just let that previous show go.

• 18:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 18:42Speaker 01

  And be completely in the moment.

• 18:43Craig Robinson?

  I love that.

• 18:44Speaker 01

  And also be able to bomb graciously.

• 18:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 18:45Speaker 01

  Like, alright, I missed that free throw, I had a bad set, like, it happens.

• 18:49Michelle Obama?

  What was your first bomb? Do you, and I know you remember it, you know? And what did it feel like? And, you know, what, you know, did, did you just go blank? Was that the kind of thing where you just forget what you're saying?

• 19:02Speaker 01

  Um.

• 19:02Craig Robinson?

  He was trying to forget it.

• 19:03Speaker 01

  No, no, no.

• 19:04Michelle Obama?

  No, I know you can't.

• 19:06Speaker 01

  You feel it. No, no, no, when you bomb, you, you feel it.

• 19:09Michelle Obama?

  It stays, it's a scar.

• 19:10Speaker 01

  It's also because people are staring at you.

• 19:12Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yes, yes.

• 19:13Speaker 01

  They let you know.

• 19:14Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, right.

• 19:15Speaker 01

  You, you know how there's that old saying where, where everyone's like, nobody's thinking about you that much? When you're bombing, everybody's thinking about you.

• 19:20Michelle Obama?

  And then they go home and they talk about it, right.

• 19:22Speaker 01

  He was really bad. It was awful, you know, they leave reviews. It's, it's, it's, it gets worse.

• 19:27Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 19:28Speaker 01

  You know how when they say it gets, it actually gets worse?

• 19:31Speaker 01

  So I do remember, it was at an Irish pub, it was, it was... It actually was really humbling because my first few shows were amazing. Like, and that feeling was really incredible.

• 19:42Craig Robinson?

  Hmm.

• 19:42Speaker 01

  And that, that feeling of finding your thing is something that I was chasing my entire life.

• 19:48Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 19:48Speaker 01

  And my first few shows went really, really great. And then I think it was my third or fourth show. Um, it was at an Irish pub and I had to follow somebody and then people were leaving. So when you do some of these pub shows, people are watching again. There's, there's a lot of other variables out of your control and you have to learn how to not only have your set, but you have to corral the room.

• 20:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 20:08Speaker 01

  Pay attention to where you are. And, um, it went very poorly.

• 20:12Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 20:13Speaker 01

  And, uh, yeah, I, uh, an older comedian told me, just get, get on stage.

• 20:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 20:18Speaker 01

  Book another show as quickly as you possibly can.

• 20:20Michelle Obama?

  Get back on the horse.

• 20:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, just get back on, that way you can make that a, a memory ASAP.

• 20:26Michelle Obama?

  How, how old were you when you started?

• 20:28Speaker 01

  I was 18, yeah.

• 20:29Michelle Obama?

  You were 18?

• 20:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was just in college. I, I, I didn't know, again, I, it was, it was through just complete happenstance. Funny enough, I got into it through, um, my computers teacher. So I was a bit, I was quite a chattermouth. I was a bit of a nuisance in class.

• 20:46Michelle Obama?

  I can't.

• 20:46Speaker 01

  High school.

• 20:47Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 20:47Speaker 01

  So my, my computers teacher.

• 20:49Michelle Obama?

  I can't see that. Can't picture that.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  My, my computers teacher, this, and this is dating me a little bit. I don't know if you guys remember.

• 20:55Michelle Obama?

  Cause it's called a computers teacher.

• 20:56Speaker 01

  It's called computers teacher, yeah.

• 20:57Michelle Obama?

  That, that.

• 20:59Speaker 01

  Web professor, um, was telling me. But I would, I would always have this like, I would be very talkative and very loud in the back of class. And I, I couldn't pay attention.

• 21:09Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 21:10Speaker 01

  I'd have nine different ideas going at once. And so Ms. Takiuchi had to give me at times detention and, and it started adding up. Um, and Ms. Takiuchi is a Japanese woman, so she knows Indian, Indian culture very well. And she goes, you know, if I keep giving you detention, I have to suspend you, which means I have to call your parents. And I was like, I mean, you could, you could hit me with a ruler.

• 21:30Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 21:30Speaker 01

  Like you could, you could belt me, there's a lot of different things. You could tar and feather me and the quad, there's so many other things you could do. Mrs. T besides call my mom and dad. Like calling my mom and dad is essentially like.

• 21:39Michelle Obama?

  You're just suicide.

• 21:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a death sentence.

• 21:41Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, it's like send me to a Thai black site. Like I'm, I'm never coming home.

• 21:46Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  So Ms. T said, look, there's this thing called FBLA Future Business Leaders of America. There's a, there's a, we go on these competitions, but there's a competition called impromptu public speaking. I know you don't do your homework and I know you have attention issues. Impromptu public speaking allows you to make it up as you go along. And I was like, oh, this is amazing. Sign me up. So Ms. T took me to these competitions and helped coach me through it. And at the competitions for impromptu public speaking, you have to take the affirmative position or the negative position on something. And I just found if you make fun of the person, you're competing again.

• 22:23Craig Robinson?

  No way.

• 22:23Speaker 01

  Or if you make fun of what's happening in the room. So like, for example, like, I remember one of our first competitions.

• 22:29Craig Robinson?

  You're a bully.

• 22:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:32Speaker 01

  Wait. The son is like, no, no, that wasn't the message. Is Gary Payton a bully?

• 22:36Craig Robinson?

  Absolutely.

• 22:40Speaker 01

  So, so like one of the first, I was like a sophomore in high school and, and they make you debate these things that a 15 year old shouldn't be debating. So it was like, we're, we're competing in Redding, California, which is even further north. You're damn near in Oregon.

• 22:54Craig Robinson?

  Right.

• 22:55Speaker 01

  Okay. So we're in Redding, California, and they were like, a, a city initiative has been, you know, has been raised, like to, like to renovate this gymnasium or not, you know? However, if we use the city's funds, it will, you know, it will take money away from whatever the library.

• 23:13Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 23:13Speaker 01

  You have to argue for the gym and you have to argue for the library. So I got up there and I was just like, I basically was like, look, me and him are 15. Like, we shouldn't have a position on this right now. Like, we both got dropped off here. We don't know, like, what a budget is because our parents essentially pay for everything. Also, I think his dad's one of the judges. So that's like a clear conflict of interest. So why are we even having this debate when like, this should be illegal? You know? And so like the judges are, they just started laughing. And then I think, I, I think I won, but what I do remember is after we finished, one of the judges came up to me and he was like, hey, man, I really hate judging these things. I actually judge these things because like, I have my son on the weekend and I have to like spend time with him. But you made it really, really fun. And that was really awesome.

• 23:58Speaker 01

  And then Ms. Taki, she told me on our drive back to Davis. She was like, you're really, you kind of have this gift of gab.

• 24:04Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 24:04Speaker 01

  It's, it's useful.

• 24:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 24:06Speaker 01

  And if you could not say things in class and say things here.

• 24:10Michelle Obama?

  Here.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  That would be very, very beneficial to me.

• 24:14Craig Robinson?

  Are you still in touch with Ms. T?

• 24:17Speaker 01

  I, I recently got her phone number and I've been trying to get ahold of her.

• 24:20Craig Robinson?

  Oh, that'd be great.

• 24:21Speaker 01

  But Ms. T is, you know, life changing. And I, I just want to let her know.

• 24:26Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 24:28Speaker 01

  Because the irony is she's my computers teacher, but she's very offline.

• 24:31Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 24:31Speaker 01

  But up until that point in my life, up 15, 16, um, and I didn't realize this until much later. I was looking to be seen.

• 24:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 24:42Speaker 01

  The reason why I think I was being so talkative or trying to interject in classes. I felt like I had something to say.

• 24:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 24:48Speaker 01

  And I had something to share with the world. And I felt like I wasn't hurt.

• 24:55Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 24:56Speaker 01

  And she saw something in me. All my other teachers thought I was too talkative. They thought I was a bit of a, not a knucklehead, but just, he's not a great student.

• 25:07Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 25:08Speaker 01

  Or he can't focus. He moves around too much in his chair.

• 25:10Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 25:11Speaker 01

  And my report card would be filled with all these, almost like behavioral.

• 25:16Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 25:17Speaker 01

  Issues. And Ms. T was the first person that said, I think you're incredibly capable.

• 25:22Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 25:22Speaker 01

  And I think you have this skillset that I think would be really useful and helpful. And she also helped me get to national competitions. And then we lost, I lost and I was really upset. And she also helped me lose graciously and understand how to come back from losses as well. So she really changed the trajectory of my life. Cause I really thought, um, great things weren't going to be in my destiny.

• 26:00Craig Robinson?

  So I was talking with a friend the other day about how the FIFA World Cup is coming to the US. I know I'll definitely be tuning in, maybe even putting together a few watch parties. Invite some people over and explain what offsides means for any newcomers. Having lived in England, I have some knowledge on what that means. But here's the thing, I actually might be out of town for some of the bigger games. If you're planning on traveling this summer too, consider listing your home on Airbnb. Thousands of people are going to be coming to the US from all over the world. And they're going to be looking for places to stay. Think about it.

• 26:40Craig Robinson?

  The last time you went on a trip, I'm sure you wanted to stay somewhere that offered a taste of the local flavor. Soak up a little atmosphere. Well, now you can offer that to world travelers, all while making a little extra cash on the side. If you've ever thought about hosting, this summer is a great time as we welcome FIFA World Cup fans. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com/host.

• 27:18Craig Robinson?

  Well, I want to talk about, you know, we are very close to our mom.

• 27:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:24Craig Robinson?

  And you and your dad lived in Davis by yourselves while your mom was still in school.

• 27:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, school during her residency and everything, yeah.

• 27:33Craig Robinson?

  Can you just talk to me about how you felt about that? And I don't know what I would have done if I knew nothing was wrong with my mom and she was somewhere not with me.

• 27:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think as a kid.

• 27:51Speaker 01

  It was, you just know what you're living through. So, so basically, my dad has a job with the state. Mm hmm. My mother is finishing her, uh, medical degree and her residency. And then my sister's being raised by our grandparents in, in Delhi. So both my, my grandfather and my grandmother are raising her. And then when I'm eight, my, my grandparents were able to, uh, bring my younger sister back to the US. She was born in the States, but then she, she went over there and she was raised, raised by them. And really what my parents were putting together was their version of the American dream. It wasn't until later that I realized, oh, this was quite different than the way a lot of people grew up.

• 28:32Speaker 01

  But also as an adult, I think the thing that I really seeked and I,

• 28:40Speaker 01

  I think maybe I'm making up for it in my life is I want our place to be the sleepover house. Like I want our home and the situation for my children to be in and my nephews to be in, is that they have a place that's always stable. They don't have to constantly be in transit.

• 29:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:00Speaker 01

  So, I mean, the, the thing that I'm trying to change is, um,

• 29:09Speaker 01

  when you're a child of immigrants, everything that your parents have, uh, basically like wealth, money or opportunity is a, is a depreciating thing. So if you have money, every dollar you spend, you're actually, you're losing money. Right. And, and that asset, i.e. money, is the only asset that matters. Your time is valued at zero. And so my parents spent so much time trying to build themselves in this country that they didn't get to spend a ton of quality time. And I'm trying to make up for that now, now that I'm older.

• 29:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:42Speaker 01

  All right, we're all going to.

• 29:43Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 29:44Speaker 01

  That's been the greatest joy of my career, being able to do stuff with them.

• 29:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:48Speaker 01

  Um, even us meeting over All-Star Weekend. My parents are in India right now, but otherwise I would have brought them. It's just, hey, let's just all be together. Yeah. Um, and let's, we don't have to worry about, I don't know, this is a very common thing. Immigrant households, you go to Round Table Pizza, you you stuff all the red crushed peppers into the purse. We don't have to, we don't have to rob Domino's for Parmesan cheese.

• 30:10Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it's that that drawer next to the silverware that has all the packets. It's like, why? Why are we doing this?

• 30:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, mom's a Parmesan cheese drug lord.

• 30:18Craig Robinson?

  So I I read, I read in the research that your comedic awakening came with seeing Chris Rock.

• 30:27Speaker 01

  Yes, yeah, Never Scared.

• 30:29Craig Robinson?

  I remember that.

• 30:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was a brilliant special. It was an amazing special.

• 30:32Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 30:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, I I a friend of mine, I was supposed to go to a college party with a friend of mine and he he was getting ready. And he was like, putting on his outfit and he's like, man, like, go hang out with my roommate Imran. He's a bit of a square bear, but like, go hang out with him. I thought that like term was so funny, like, square bear is such a funny way to describe a nerdy person. And Imran was like, he was in his room, but he was.

• 30:56Speaker 01

  It was an insane thing to see like a grown man do this, but he was lying on his tummy, like he was, like, he's my five year old son. He's lying on his stomach on the carpet and he has two laptops open. And he's watching Futurama, the animated series on one laptop and on the other laptop, he's watching Chris Rock, Never Scared.

• 31:13Craig Robinson?

  Boy, that's diametrically opposed.

• 31:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, but he was one of the first like multi-screen people to be doing this in 2004. This is like way ahead of its time. We talk about what multi-screen use now, but like, Imran's been on that forever.

• 31:23Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 31:24Speaker 01

  So I was like, what are you watching? And and he in in Chris Rock was in this like.

• 31:31Speaker 01

  Oh, my God, it's one of my favorite specials ever, but he's in this maroon suit and he's performing at Dar Constitution Hall. And he's being so irreverent.

• 31:38Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 31:38Speaker 01

  Um, and that I that, the way he's talking about politics and society and culture and race.

• 31:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 31:45Speaker 01

  He's being so honest.

• 31:48Craig Robinson?

  And he's stalking on the stage.

• 31:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, and people are like applauding it.

• 31:52Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 31:53Speaker 01

  And so.

• 31:56Speaker 01

  The way I saw it is like as a freshman in college, I had a job at Office Max. I was selling printers at Office Max and then I'm going to college. And obviously, high school, everybody's telling me from the moment I was in kindergarten, be obedient, like, color in between the lines.

• 32:13Michelle Obama?

  Uh huh. Yeah.

• 32:14Speaker 01

  Um, and I got to see someone basically be irreverent and disobedient.

• 32:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:18Speaker 01

  That's really what comedy is of like, it is a release of, on the pressure valve.

• 32:23Michelle Obama?

  Mm hmm.

• 32:23Speaker 01

  And he's being like rewarded for it.

• 32:26Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:26Speaker 01

  He gets to say whatever he wants to say. He gets to behave the way he wants to behave. He gets to say the way we all kind of feel.

• 32:33Michelle Obama?

  Mm hmm.

• 32:34Speaker 01

  Um, and, and just the theater looked so big. Um, and I was like, I want to do that.

• 32:41Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 32:41Speaker 01

  I think, I think Ms. Takayuchi was getting me ready to do something like this. Yeah. Cause he's basically constructing an argument in a funny way.

• 32:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:48Speaker 01

  So we were already kind of doing that in forensics.

• 32:50Michelle Obama?

  But there's also something about you that is very committed to the authentic truth of things, right?

• 32:59Speaker 01

  Or just like the feeling of it. And I remember even in, in the thing of wanting to say what it feels like.

• 33:05Michelle Obama?

  Mm hmm.

• 33:06Speaker 01

  I remember even in like third grade, when people are like, when did you know you wanted to be a comedian? I had this teacher, um, this is in, the years is 1993. So diet soda is a huge deal. And, and my teacher, Ms. Anderson, is in the third, fourth combination class. She would crush a 12 pack of diet Pepsis over the course of the day.

• 33:25Michelle Obama?

  So you're just watching it happen?

• 33:26Speaker 01

  Watching her just crush a dozen cases.

• 33:30Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 33:30Speaker 01

  And, um, in the early nineties, there was this big thing with like, kids can't drink soda. Only adults can drink soda. And I remember asking like Ms. Anderson, as a joke once, I was like, I was like, I know you had 11, 11 sodas. Can I get the 12?

• 33:44Michelle Obama?

  Uh huh.

• 33:44Speaker 01

  And she was like, Hassan, like, cut it out. Or whatever, I don't know. She barked at me. She said something and she was like, sit down. Like, no. And I was like, OK, fine. I remember then, that night, my dad loved watching 60 Minutes. And it was like this news package of like, it was like, aspartame. It may be in your soda, but it also may be giving you cancer, you know? And then I remember being in class the next day. And I was like, Ms. Anderson. Ms. Anderson, can I get, can I get, I know you had 11 dipezins. Can I get the 12? And she's like, Hassan, will you cut it out, please? And I was like, you're totally right, Ms. Anderson. I think adults should be the only people getting cancer.

• 34:25Craig Robinson?

  Oh.

• 34:26Speaker 01

  And she sent me to the principal's office.

• 34:28Michelle Obama?

  I bet she did.

• 34:29Speaker 01

  And she was like, what she said was inappropriate. And it was all wrong. But I felt like what I did say was wrong. And it was super disrespectful. And I hope Ms. Anderson didn't get cancer. But.

• 34:41Michelle Obama?

  But she's working on it.

• 34:42Speaker 01

  But she's working on it, like, hard. But I was, I was always searching for that place to be, articulate how I really feel.

• 34:52Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  And that was what comedy was for me. It finally gave me a place to take a lot of these thoughts that are running around in my head. And it gave me a productive channel to put them in.

• 35:02Craig Robinson?

  So, once you started, like, this is gonna be my career. I'm off to LA or wherever you go. Talk about how hard it was to make it. And what helped you get through that?

• 35:16Speaker 01

  Yeah. So, yeah, it is, uh, trying to make it in show business is a very strange, elusive thing. Because what is it? What, how do you even?

• 35:28Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 35:28Speaker 01

  How do you even define that? So, if you're a nightclub comedian, I really kind of just broke it down into monkey bars. And this is where the, playing sports and actually failing at sports, quite frankly.

• 35:37Michelle Obama?

  And also the go figure it out.

• 35:39Speaker 01

  Go figure it out. Yeah. Or like, what is the next thing that you'd like to do? OK, so you, you can do 10 minutes on stage. All right, now you want to get to 30 minutes. And then eventually you want to be a headliner. You want to tour. You want to do 60 minutes and headline a club. All right, well, the first thing you gotta do is you gotta be an opening act. You gotta be, be really good at becoming an opening. So, you need to figure out 15 killer minutes that you can do in front of any, you can do it in front of Mike Epps. You can do it in front of Gabriel Iglesias. You can play any room. You can play a white room. You can play a black room. You can play a casino. And then you have to move to a city where there's a ton of clubs. So then I moved to San Francisco, you know, and I get a day job and I'm just pursuing. And I just took it one monkey bar at a time. And what I really loved about it, and I've come to now, I've been doing comedy 20 plus years.

• 36:23Speaker 01

  But it really did save my life because

• 36:28Speaker 01

  the whole art form in and of itself is completely made up. Comedians, if you think about it, if you want to be a working comedian, we're we're below magicians, but we're above clowns. You know, like, if you can do magic, I'm very impressed. I'm like, I tip my hat to that. David Copperfield, if you're a clown, I have zero respect for you. I think, I think you're terrifying. I think you are, you are using people's fear against them like. I, I think you're possibly demonic or the chupacabra. Like you are participating in the dark arts in some way. And I don't, and if there are any clowns watching, I have zero respect for you. Magicians, I, I tip my hat and I, I stand below you, sir.

• 37:09Craig Robinson?

  This room knows what I'm about to ask.

• 37:11Michelle Obama?

  Oh my God, just ask.

• 37:13Craig Robinson?

  Where do ventriloquists fall?

• 37:15Michelle Obama?

  Oh my God.

• 37:20Speaker 01

  Ventriloquists are technically stage performers. I'll give them that. The fact that they don't do face makeup or try to scare you through the

• 37:29Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 37:29Speaker 01

  paint on the face, I would consider them to be on, on par with comedians. Working comedians. Slightly below us, though.

• 37:36Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 37:37Craig Robinson?

  I, I feel you, slightly below.

• 37:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're like the ugly cousin of a comedian.

• 37:42Craig Robinson?

  Thank you.

• 37:44Speaker 01

  So actually, let me, let me just, in all seriousness.

• 37:46Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 37:47Speaker 01

  In San Francisco, there was a laundromat called The Brainwash Cafe, which is literally a laundromat where people are doing their laundry, but they did an open mic there. And so when you go to the open mic, you, you'd have this like Indian Muslim kid, me. And you would have a drag queen, you might have a ventriloquist. You might have someone literally clowning on stage. Someone doing like a super blue, Ali Wong would do this really blue material. Then W. Come Out Bell would come on and do this very like political

• 38:15Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 38:16Speaker 01

  material. Then I would come on and do this like I live at home material. And then people were just doing their laundry, they're folding laundry. But what it, it, you, you learn how to.

• 38:28Speaker 01

  Get an audience's attention, keep their attention, but you also learn, this whole thing is made up.

• 38:33Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 38:33Speaker 01

  Like, this, this whole thing, it's not even a real thing.

• 38:36Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 38:37Speaker 01

  We essentially perform in basements, bars, or laundromats. We create a show out of nothing. And then we go away. We're these traveling kind of entertainment vagabonds, essentially. And it really did prepare me then for what showbiz is and was. You know, all these things that you're auditioning for are, you know,

• 38:57Speaker 01

  what is The Tonight Show? What is, you know, what, these things are like these sandcastles that exist, but then they go away.

• 39:02Michelle Obama?

  I think you're being a bit cynical about it. And maybe you're not, well, because I do, I, I think it's the, sort of the most clever form of op-ed, you know, storytelling, cultural, which is what we are grounded in. I mean, which is why I think people are drawn to it. Because it's like, I am, I think comedians are fascinating and brilliant, weaving together, and I don't think it's made up. I think it is a series of, let me, let me talk about life in whatever form that I want to talk about it, in a way, because if, if you were gonna say, I'm gonna stand in front of you and lecture you about my thoughts, no one would

• 39:42Speaker 01

  Right.

• 39:43Michelle Obama?

  hang in there, you know? Politicians barely get an audience, right? But a comedian can weave together a story, and like you said with Chris Rock, can turn it into, now you're teaching, and now you're educating, and people remember it, and they'll come back to it.

• 39:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I agree with you. But I also, what I, what, I think what I was trying to get at is, is what it means to, what it really means to me that was really beautiful is that all of the answers that you're looking for exist within you. You're the source material for everything.

• 40:15Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 40:15Speaker 01

  So you are the writer, the director, the producer, the head coach, you're, you're everything. The promoter. And it is a really beautiful thing that calls for your own personal agency. And so that's what I, I think is really powerful about it.

• 40:32Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 40:45Michelle Obama?

  What is it healed in you so far? And maybe healed is too strong of a word, but when you say that, you know, the art form is about what the comedian gets out of it.

• 40:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:57Michelle Obama?

  What have you found out about yourself in this process?

• 41:01Speaker 01

  I think, um, growing up Indian American, growing up Muslim, you're usually one of the few people in the room.

• 41:10Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 41:11Speaker 01

  And the great, uh, black comedians and, uh, actors, musicians, the Muhammad Ali's, the Dick Gregory's, what they showed me, the Dave Chapelles, is through the gift of oration, through the gift of using your words and language. You can navigate any room.

• 41:31Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 41:32Speaker 01

  And you have something to say that matters. And you can add your chapter to the book of what that genre is.

• 41:41Speaker 01

  So, growing up in school, I just didn't see myself in popular culture. I didn't see myself in sports. I didn't, I just didn't see myself there. But I, and some people could see that as a weakness, but I was like, maybe this could be my strength. Cause so much about being a unique act on stage, well, what do you have to say? And, and being different is probably the most powerful thing you could be. If you don't want to be an act that's similar to another act.

• 42:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 42:08Speaker 01

  So these things that you could see as limitations might be the biggest breakthrough that you have. So it showed me in the work that I do now and the specials that I put out, oh, this chapter is worth adding to the canon that is American stand-up comedy. Or this film that you're working on is worth adding to. So this, I'm, I'm working on this film right now with Netflix about the competitive world of collegiate Bollywood dance, which is like a big, it's like a very competitive thing at colleges.

• 42:35Craig Robinson?

  Collegiate?

• 42:36Speaker 01

  Collegiate Bollywood dance. It's very serious.

• 42:39Craig Robinson?

  I didn't know there was such a thing.

• 42:41Speaker 01

  It's a real thing. It's the biggest one we've never heard of, Greg.

• 42:45Michelle Obama?

  But we're gonna know about it in a minute.

• 42:46Speaker 01

  People are very passionate about it. So there's these kids that are like pre-pharmacy majors, but they're like dancing at night. And the vibes and the love and the intensity is real.

• 42:56Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 42:57Speaker 01

  But I was shocked that this thing that I participated in in college was never added to the canon of American musicals.

• 43:06Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 43:06Speaker 01

  So when you think of the great American musicals, Chicago and La La Land, I mean, there's Singing in the Rain. There's a long history.

• 43:13Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  But our culture has this deep history with magical realism and song and dance. And there's generations of kids that have basically grown up dancing. There's video footage of all, of every Indian kid you know, dancing as a child for some reason.

• 43:27Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  And to me, this is like a love letter to the culture.

• 43:31Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  But if I didn't grow up this way, I would have never been able to write this movie and share it with the world. So we're, you know, we're in post-production on it and I'm sitting in the edit. And I think about all the things that have happened to me in my life. It's, it is only because of my lived experience. It is only because of how often I went back and forth between America and Delhi and India.

• 43:53Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 43:54Speaker 01

  It's only through my immersion as this bridge between both American culture, totally understanding American popular culture and understanding Bollywood culture that I'm able to talk about this this way as this kind of like third culture kid. And maybe this thing can be a bridge

• 44:09Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 44:09Speaker 01

  to help, again, add my chapter to what the American musical can be.

• 44:14Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 44:16Michelle Obama?

  How, how have you felt the growth change, lack of growth in this country when it comes to the immigrant community experience? Um, I know that's a lot of your, your stand-up. But, you know, when you were coming up, growing up in... In Davis.

• 44:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:37Michelle Obama?

  That great, that great town.

• 44:39Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 44:39Michelle Obama?

  Outside of Sacramento.

• 44:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:43Michelle Obama?

  Have you felt any growth in this country in terms of, of how immigrants are, are viewed, seen, welcomed? What has that experience been like for you?

• 44:56Speaker 01

  I mean, the weirdest thing for me is that, and, and black Americans have been talking about this for a long time,

• 45:05Speaker 01

  is that there's the, the America that it presents itself to be and then what America is. And so when my dad came in the eighties, there was this word that was talked about very proudly when it comes to the United States of America. It's, it's the M word. It's merit. This is a country that values merit. And what I'm seeing, what has happened and the actions that the country has now taken in regards to the rollback of civil liberties, civil rights, African-American history, ICE, the illegal seizure and deportations of particular people of melanin,

• 45:48Speaker 01

  is that merit only matters for a particular type of American.

• 45:54Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 45:55Speaker 01

  I call it white valedictorian energy. I was told just be the best and you get to be the valedictorian.

• 46:00Michelle Obama?

  That's right.

• 46:01Speaker 01

  But what America is basically saying is we gotta have a white valedictorian.

• 46:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 46:05Speaker 01

  So I don't care if there's an Indian kid, a Chinese kid, a Korean kid, a Vietnamese kid, a black kid. No, no, no, we're gonna go down the list until we get to a white valedictorian.

• 46:12Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 46:12Speaker 01

  So excellence and being an American looks and feels a particular way. And that's very different than what the country was that my dad came to, which was it doesn't matter what language you speak. We're here to, to compete in the Olympics of excellence and of merit.

• 46:29Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 46:30Speaker 01

  And now at age 40,

• 46:33Speaker 01

  I've gotten to see over the course of many different presidents, oh, it hasn't always been this way.

• 46:40Speaker 01

  Where do we go from here? I mean, this is where I would call, I want to call you Mrs. Obama. Where do you think we go from here?

• 46:48Michelle Obama?

  You know, my awakening to that truth came when I went to Princeton. Right? Because here I am, this kid. Now, my brother had gone there. I'm a, I'm a straight A student, do well in class, from a public school.

• 47:04Michelle Obama?

  You know, the mystique of what Princeton is and how great the kids are. So I don't test well, but I have great grades. I get in, but I get in feeling like an affirmative action kid.

• 47:17Speaker 01

  Right.

• 47:18Michelle Obama?

  Like somehow, I'm, you know, I, I, I, on merit alone, my merit alone, I didn't get in. That's sort of how you, you sort of feel.

• 47:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:28Michelle Obama?

  And then you get to campus and you realize, oh, my God, there are a whole bunch of different forms of affirmative action that are not labeled.

• 47:37Speaker 01

  Legacy admission.

• 47:38Michelle Obama?

  Legacy, you know, I start realizing, oh, you're the granddaughter of the person whose dorm you're in.

• 47:43Speaker 01

  Right.

• 47:44Michelle Obama?

  Oh, you're an athlete, you're a football player, you're a jock, but they need you on the team. So you're here. And I started, which, which kind of was empowering to me because I came in feeling inferior. But I realized, oh, you are just making my otherness feel less than. When there are all kinds of ways that kids get in, you know?

• 48:05Speaker 01

  Right.

• 48:06Michelle Obama?

  But I, I've found that that is a powerful thing just to know and understand. And I, so in answer to your question, I think we're still growing as a country. We're, we're, we're very young and adolescent in many ways. And a lot of the mistakes that we're making, the things that we do, they feel very juvenile. Right? It feels like, you know, it's just not mature. But we're not yet really a mature country. We're a young country. And just like in comedy, when you're young, you've got to fail. You know, you got to try out some theories and fail. And we've grown up in the winning part. All right?

• 48:49Michelle Obama?

  This is what Barack says, sort of that hopefulness thing of his that says, you know, there are a lot of dips and valleys in the, the growth of this country.

• 49:01Michelle Obama?

  And we've been on this clear trajectory through most of our adult life, where things were increasingly getting better, which is why a lot of immigrants came over, you know, because they saw the America that was

• 49:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, what was possible.

• 49:15Michelle Obama?

  What was possible. And now we're in a dip, you know?

• 49:20Speaker 01

  What did you tell your kids? Like, what should I? My children are still so young, and I'm navigating this new chapter of parenthood.

• 49:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 49:26Speaker 01

  You got to meet my kids. I'm still in the put your shoes on phase of, get your shoes on, man.

• 49:30Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 49:32Speaker 01

  But there's an innocence to them.

• 49:35Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 49:36Speaker 01

  The biggest thing when they met you, Mrs. Obama, was I was just like, please look her in the eyes, shake her hand. You saw my daughter, she had her braids. She was really excited to meet you in her dress. And that's my goal of like, do they have good decorum? Are they super polite? But they still have this innocence. And I don't know how I'm gonna cross, I don't know how I'm gonna teach them or cross the path of, I haven't told them about the fact that they may be perceived as different in this country or other in this country. How did you navigate that?

• 50:06Michelle Obama?

  What did your father tell you?

• 50:12Speaker 01

  Don't talk about politics and don't tell people you're Muslim. But I mean, I said, I mean, you named me Hassan. I mean, it's really hard.

• 50:19Michelle Obama?

  It's hey, dude.

• 50:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm sure, you know, your husband had to go through that with his middle name. I mean, it's pretty, it's there.

• 50:23Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 50:24Speaker 01

  It's pretty laugh.

• 50:24Michelle Obama?

  Absolutely.

• 50:25Speaker 01

  I was into it. I loved having a Muslim president, but Fox News didn't. I loved it.

• 50:31Michelle Obama?

  I believe you tell your kids the truth.

• 50:34Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 50:34Michelle Obama?

  You know, about

• 50:35Speaker 01

  Is there an age, though?

• 50:37Michelle Obama?

  No, I think, I think

• 50:38Craig Robinson?

  What you will find is the time will come and you will decide if this is the right time or the wrong time. And it's usually,

• 50:51Craig Robinson?

  I don't think it's the same for everyone.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  Because

• 50:55Craig Robinson?

  But for us, and we've got four kids,

• 51:01Craig Robinson?

  middle school, when kids start to sort of separate, that's when they come home with questions. And fortunately for our family, we were always in sports, so.

• 51:18Craig Robinson?

  I think sports helps you bridge that discussion. And you could have a discussion about what's happening on the field, on the court, and sort of help that turn into what's going on off the court. Your kids will, you'll know when your kids are ready for the discussion.

• 51:42Speaker 01

  So I talked about this with my wife. So my daughter, who you met, she recently asked me a few months ago, can we get married? And I was like, I don't know if mommy would be okay with that. I mean, I love you, but I don't know if we can, we can get married. But I appreciate you asking.

• 51:55Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, I'm glad, I'm glad. If mommy, something happens to her, I got you.

• 52:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I'm navigating that, that daddies can love you so much.

• 52:06Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 52:06Speaker 01

  But I don't think we should get married. But I actually love you to infinity and more. My, my, my son tells my, my wife, she goes, he goes, I love you all the way to Allah and back. And I was like, that's pretty cool, too.

• 52:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 52:19Speaker 01

  Like to God and back is really cool. So I don't know how to hard pivot from that to racism. That's a hard pivot, you know?

• 52:27Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, but you, I guess the thing is.

• 52:29Craig Robinson?

  I would start with telling her, you can't marry me.

• 52:32Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it's like, I would like to.

• 52:34Speaker 01

  I said, I love you, but we can't get married.

• 52:35Michelle Obama?

  It's illegal.

• 52:36Speaker 01

  But why not?

• 52:37Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 52:37Speaker 01

  That's a whole nother thing.

• 52:38Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, I think you can, you can tell it, just like you, but.

• 52:41Speaker 01

  But I was, I was talking to Bina about this. And basically, what's really beautiful is, is their hope and their optimism right now is, is infinite. And I want them to operate from that idea of possibility and abundance and belief in yourself. The thing that I have to teach them is in regards to, I'm gonna use, like, they talk about this in, in business, when one is starting a business or taking a loan, is tail risk. And what is the worst case scenario? And black Americans have known this for a long time, is that when things go south, there is, the floor is lower than you could ever imagine. They don't play with the kid gloves with you. There is no real benefit of the doubt.

• 53:25Speaker 01

  If you, if something goes missing in the class, or something bad happens, or somebody acts up, you're gonna be looked at a particular way, and, and you're gonna be treated.

• 53:34Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 53:35Speaker 01

  It's, there's no yellow cards, they're gonna give you the red card. I haven't had that conversation with them about tail risk.

• 53:42Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 53:42Speaker 01

  Of that, hey, when the, when they pull the rug out underneath you, you have no idea how deep it can go.

• 53:46Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 53:47Speaker 01

  And, and I don't want to sugarcoat that for them. It is real. And they're my children. I love them more than anything.

• 53:51Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 53:52Speaker 01

  But I, I haven't prepared myself to have that convo with them.

• 53:55Craig Robinson?

  We, I, I, I'm just thinking back. I've got three boys and one girl.

• 54:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:01Craig Robinson?

  And I probably had the discussion with the boys sooner. And for the boys, it's, you have to watch everything. That was the way I started. I start the discussion. Everything, absolutely everything's important. And then from there, we talk about the differences in the people in their class, because we've always been in a school where we're the only people of color, or we're the diversity.

• 54:31Speaker 01

  Right.

• 54:32Craig Robinson?

  And to your point about when things go bad, they're going to go really bad. I'd rather, I've, I've always rather err on the side of caution that they know the potential downfalls, the potential risk, rather than not being afraid to, to, to hurt their ability to have hope. Because kids are more, I, I think kids are more resilient than we give them credit for.

• 55:02Michelle Obama?

  But kids will also let you know what they, you know, when, when they need to know. The more they start interacting with other kids. It's like, that's why it's like staying close to your kids, being aware.

• 55:12Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 55:13Michelle Obama?

  You know, knowing what's happening in class, making sure that they feel comfortable coming home and telling you about something the teacher said or a friend said. You know, things will start to come up, right? Especially in this day and age where the tone is so blatant. You know, sadly, I think your kids are probably going to hear and feel more than maybe even you did coming up, right? Because we, we've kind of unlocked that, that, that dirty part of the American way, right? There isn't one size fits all, you know, as you find when you, when you are one of only, when you are not the majority culture. It is a constant, you know, responsibility to be vigilant about what is going on in the world

• 55:57Michelle Obama?

  when it comes to your kids. Because I agree with Craig. How we were raised is it's better to know what's coming and start getting prepared for it. And I don't think that that drowns out their hope. But I think, I think it's better for them to be a little, like Craig, a little cautious, but, but prepared. How's, have you enjoyed parenthood? Your kids are, they're beautiful.

• 56:23Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you.

• 56:24Michelle Obama?

  Let me just say this, they are polite, they are outgoing. They, they can't, they didn't look me in the eye because they were down by my knees. But they looked me straight in the knees.

• 56:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, they looked you right in the knees. Yeah, they really did. Yeah, and they were super excited. And, um, and my son was wearing a tan suit in honor of your husband.

• 56:41Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yeah.

• 56:41Speaker 01

  He wanted to really, really wanted to stir the controversy. Yeah, he was wearing a tan suit.

• 56:45Michelle Obama?

  I was so focused on the, on the suede loafers. I mean, with no socks.

• 56:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, with no socks, yeah.

• 56:53Michelle Obama?

  That I was just...

• 56:54Speaker 01

  Very elegant, very, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very laurapian, you know? We got, we got it from Marshall's though, not trying to rap the Marshall's here in Studio City. Yeah, I, it's, it's, um, the, the things that, uh, sometimes break my heart is when I have to go.

• 57:09Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 57:09Speaker 01

  So like I was in the edit on something and I'm sliding in these, it's like an insert shot of someone's hand clicking something. My son walked in and he was like, Dad, what are you doing? And I was like, yeah, what, what am I doing? Like, what am I doing? He wants to play with me. I'm like, what? I'm, I'm going through a bin of insert shots.

• 57:28Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 57:29Speaker 01

  Like, what am I doing? So th- those are the tough parts where I know they just want to spend time with me.

• 57:36Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 57:36Speaker 01

  And I'm so, I'm so glad that they want to spend time. They still like mommy more, but they really do want to spend time with me. And I love spending time with them. The thing that I, the software update that I'm trying to do with them is that I, I didn't necessarily get from, uh, my parents. And it's very common in kind of strict Dacey culture, which is,

• 58:00Speaker 01

  you got to audition for this love. This is the thing is unconditional. Like, no, there's a condition.

• 58:04Michelle Obama?

  You're right.

• 58:04Speaker 01

  The condition is that you're smart.

• 58:06Michelle Obama?

  You're right.

• 58:06Speaker 01

  And you're capable. And the condition is I got to be able to show you off in front of other people. Because I don't have a nice car and I don't have a nice watch, but I do have a really smart daughter. And you're my flex.

• 58:15Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 58:16Speaker 01

  So I can't have you be weak because you're my flex. And so this desire to like, you know, my dad is gonna watch this interview and analyze it. Oh, you cut, how could you cut off Mrs. Obama? So unlikable, this is wrong.

• 58:34Speaker 01

  All this, he's gonna analyze the game tape. And I'm his flex. But the thing that I was always looking for was, you know, Dad, do you know what my favorite color is? Do you know my favorite basketball team? Do you know, do you see me? I see my kids. And I just wanna let them know that I see the things that they're interested in. My son is really into maps and dinosaurs right now. My daughter is like really into crocheting and K-pop demon hunters. Like somehow she's simultaneously 88 and

• 59:03Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, she mentioned something, some character, and I'm like, who's that?

• 59:08Speaker 01

  I thought you would have either picked up the poet, the famous poet?

• 59:11Michelle Obama?

  Well, I was just confused. I was totally confused.

• 59:16Speaker 01

  So, yeah, I see them for what they, who they are and what they, but also their temperament. Like with my daughter, I can, we can, we can totally blow the whistle and be like, you gotta run line drills. Like she get, she loves the, she loves the, almost the confrontation. She's got that dog in her. And my son is a little bit more gentle. You gotta walk him through it.

• 59:43Speaker 01

  So I want them to, that's where I'm trying to spend as much time with them as I can. But I also want them to know, like, Daddy loves you regardless.

• 59:52Speaker 01

  I don't know if that was quite true with me.

• 59:54Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, well, that's, that's the 2.0 of life. And when we talk about, how do you feel about the country? You know, there are versions of the, the country that happen, right? And the new version doesn't make the old one bad. It's necessary for growth. And I think we're in just a janky version, right?

• 1:00:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, janky's right.

• 1:00:17Michelle Obama?

  It's a janky version right now.

• 1:00:19Speaker 01

  May I curse Mrs. Obama?

• 1:00:20Michelle Obama?

  You may.

• 1:00:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, shit is jank right now. It's super jank.

• 1:00:24Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 1:00:25Speaker 01

  He's not gonna be happy with that. But I couldn't find, I couldn't find another like adjective. I couldn't find another, you know, similar metaphor here.

• 1:00:32Michelle Obama?

  But with each, you know, with, with each version, we learn something about ourselves as a country. And, you know, I'm, right now, I'm, I'm kinda digging the way

• 1:00:44Michelle Obama?

  Folks are beginning to respond, right? I mean, Minnesota, powerful stuff. I mean, it was a powerful reminder of what a community of people can do and are willing to do to protect one another. You know, when you're not so janky, you don't have to prove that, right? And so, we haven't been this janky for a while. And I think our muscle of understanding our truth just got a little lax. We started taking things for granted, right? But as you are becoming a better version of a father, you know, all respect to your dad, we already said he did what he had to do.

• 1:01:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:24Michelle Obama?

  We improve upon that with the learning. That doesn't make what you had bad. It just means that you're noting it and you're making the necessary changes. I think that's what I'm hoping will happen in this country. You are becoming a better version through the stuff that you didn't get. And I mean, you know, and how are your parents now? What do they make of your life and what you've become? Have you become the flex that they so desperately wanted?

• 1:01:58Speaker 01

  They, I've been told in private, they're very proud.

• 1:02:02Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, okay.

• 1:02:03Speaker 01

  When I'm not there, they're very proud.

• 1:02:05Craig Robinson?

  They can't even admit it.

• 1:02:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:08Craig Robinson?

  Poor kid.

• 1:02:09Speaker 01

  So like, all like my, like my, the boys that I grew up with.

• 1:02:13Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:13Speaker 01

  They'll be like, dude, you always do this in your act where you talk about like your dad dunking on you. He's really proud of you. He talks about you and I'm like, but that's in private. He's never told me this. You know, like Mufasa's out here telling everybody else about how proud he is of Simba. But I'm in the elephant graveyard being like, my dad, my dad doesn't like me, you know? And like, Zazu has to come and be like, your dad likes you. And I'm like, shut up, Zazu. So, yeah, they're, they're, they are really proud. And bringing them to this stuff means, it means a lot to them.

• 1:02:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:50Speaker 01

  So that's really beautiful. The, the parts that are tough for me are the, the speed bumps that you hit in your career.

• 1:02:58Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:58Speaker 01

  And, and watching your parents worry, that's the only thing that breaks my heart. Is that any time I've gone through, oh, that gig didn't go my way.

• 1:03:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:05Speaker 01

  Or that, that review of my show went poorly. They really, the internet and boomers is not a good combination.

• 1:03:13Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, they shouldn't be on it.

• 1:03:14Speaker 01

  Because they read.

• 1:03:15Michelle Obama?

  Okay, get parent, hey, stop, get off social, just don't let them. Can you take it away from them?

• 1:03:23Speaker 01

  So the problem is with 75 year olds and five year olds. Social media is really ruining their brains.

• 1:03:30Michelle Obama?

  Right, it is, it is.

• 1:03:31Craig Robinson?

  How are they as grandparents?

• 1:03:33Speaker 01

  Oh, they're like.

• 1:03:35Michelle Obama?

  Totally different.

• 1:03:36Speaker 01

  They're totally different.

• 1:03:37Michelle Obama?

  Who are these people? Yes.

• 1:03:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, who are these people?

• 1:03:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:40Speaker 01

  Who are they?

• 1:03:40Michelle Obama?

  My mom was like that. She, why, why are you so strict? It was like, these are your rules. Like, it, these are the exact rules. You told me not to jump on the couch. They go to, they, when they were little, they go to her house and tear up the couch. The forts.

• 1:03:55Craig Robinson?

  Cushions everywhere.

• 1:03:56Michelle Obama?

  My mom would sleep on the couch and let the girls sleep in her bed because there was a TV in there.

• 1:04:01Speaker 01

  So what is it?

• 1:04:02Michelle Obama?

  I don't know. I don't know.

• 1:04:04Speaker 01

  Is there a term for this?

• 1:04:05Michelle Obama?

  We should, let's point a term.

• 1:04:07Craig Robinson?

  We could probably come up with one because it is, it is consistent.

• 1:04:11Michelle Obama?

  It's a.

• 1:04:12Craig Robinson?

  Across cultures.

• 1:04:13Michelle Obama?

  Grandparent dystopia. I don't know what, I, yeah.

• 1:04:17Speaker 01

  Because they become these like spiritual, like roomy poets. You're like, of course, children, this is what children do.

• 1:04:27Speaker 01

  Who are we but grandparents here to channel the energies of the youth? Be gentle with them, for they are gentle with you. I'm like, who is this person?

• 1:04:37Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, it's, it's.

• 1:04:39Speaker 01

  You would literally monitor my calls with girls like you're the NSA.

• 1:04:45Speaker 01

  Be like, you know,

• 1:04:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:47Speaker 01

  infinite money. They have infinite.

• 1:04:49Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:49Speaker 01

  We're at Target, just like, oh, you want that Lego? Sure. I'm like, where is this coming from?

• 1:04:54Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  Who, who are these people? But, you know, the good, the good thing, though, is that fortunately, they're still, they're still alive.

• 1:05:01Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:02Speaker 01

  And.

• 1:05:03Michelle Obama?

  And all the, the kids have all their grandparents.

• 1:05:06Speaker 01

  Have all their grandparents, but I, I got them, I got the chance for them to meet one of their great grandparents.

• 1:05:11Michelle Obama?

  Oh, that's.

• 1:05:12Speaker 01

  Which was like a promise that I made to my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, that if, if we get married, I will, I will have your grandchildren meet your parents. You know, and that was something that I was like super proud of. I, I don't know if they fully understand it yet, but I, I would love for them to, when they're of the right age, for them to understand the world that their grandparents and their great-grandparents lived in. Pre-partition India, the freedom of India.

• 1:05:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:41Speaker 01

  Then their arrival in America and to how we got here. I think that would be just a very.

• 1:05:46Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:47Speaker 01

  Meaningful thing for them to understand.

• 1:05:50Michelle Obama?

  Absolutely.

• 1:05:50Speaker 01

  That I didn't, I didn't fully get as a child.

• 1:05:53Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:05:54Speaker 01

  But understanding it, and, and shout out to Dr. Henry, Henry Louis Gates for the work that he's doing.

• 1:05:59Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:06:00Speaker 01

  It gives your life meaning. You're able to even, I was able to just see my own life with a level of grace and understanding.

• 1:06:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:07Speaker 01

  Like, isn't it a miracle that this, this happened? And isn't it a miracle that you're related to such amazing people?

• 1:06:13Michelle Obama?

  And hey, that's the hope, right? That's where they get the hope in a janky time.

• 1:06:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:19Michelle Obama?

  Right? Um, because that's real and it's, it's important, you know, and that's true. And it's their history, you know, and that's the hopeful. You point to them and you make sure they know this is the hope. Because look at where your grandparents were and your great-grandparents. So that, that arc of today, as janky as it is, it's still forward movement.

• 1:06:43Speaker 01

  We found the title for this episode, by the way.

• 1:06:44Michelle Obama?

  It's janky.

• 1:06:45Craig Robinson?

  Janky.

• 1:06:46Michelle Obama?

  So we do try to do some good here on IMO by taking a listener question. That's how we started. We started with, you know, let's give some advice out to the people. And you, as a guest, we gave you a lot of advice today.

• 1:06:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:59Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. So now it's your turn to give back to our listener.

• 1:07:02Speaker 01

  All right. Let's take, let's take.

• 1:07:04Michelle Obama?

  Who do we have?

• 1:07:05Craig Robinson?

  We have Marcel from Honolulu.

• 1:07:07Michelle Obama?

  Okay. Oh.

• 1:07:09Speaker 04

  I'm an immigrant and LGBTQ person who has spent much of my life adapting, moving across countries, shifting careers, and learning how to survive within systems that were not designed with people like me in mind. Adaptation has helped me stay alive, build skills, and remain hopeful. Sometimes it also feels like I've learned to bend more than how to belong. How do you tell the difference between healthy adaptation, that helps you grow, and over-adaptation that slowly pulls you away from yourself? Thank you.

• 1:07:41Michelle Obama?

  That's a good, good question.

• 1:07:43Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, I think we've all navigated rooms where we might be the only one or we feel like an outsider.

• 1:07:53Speaker 01

  Do you want to share? How you would navigate that?

• 1:08:00Michelle Obama?

  I'm trying to be completely honest. I don't, I'm trying to, I don't think that

• 1:08:12Michelle Obama?

  I have ever

• 1:08:15Michelle Obama?

  shown up in a way that I didn't feel good about. I don't, I've never let my otherness make me adapt so much that I don't feel like I see myself. So I'm trying to relate to that and relate to people who are, who are made to feel that insecure about themselves that they are becoming something that they aren't. And I would imagine that in this day and age of social media, where you're, you know, there are all these signs of this is who you should be, this is who you should compare yourself to. I would imagine that maybe this generation has a tougher time maybe than I did. But I think at some level,

• 1:09:00Michelle Obama?

  when you're young, you are adapting to a whole bunch of stuff that you don't have control over. You know, you've got to keep your job. You've got to listen to your parents.

• 1:09:08Speaker 01

  You're new at school.

• 1:09:09Michelle Obama?

  You're new at school.

• 1:09:10Speaker 01

  You're new in the class. You're trying to make friends.

• 1:09:12Michelle Obama?

  Right, you're trying to make friends.

• 1:09:14Speaker 01

  For me, I found it, there's two things that I was thinking about when I heard the question, which is, I remember... Being in class and quickly trying to find your group.

• 1:09:27Craig Robinson?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:09:28Speaker 01

  And I thought it was a weakness to try to find, oh, I like the shoes that you're wearing. Or you're into this, I'm into that too. I notice, is that a Mickey Mouse watch? I really like, you know, you try to find these moments of connection. And you may, you may be changing a little bit about yourself to try to please others. But you could also see it as a strength. Meaning I can go into any situation.

• 1:09:51Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:52Speaker 01

  And through my interests, through my hobbies, through what I know about the world, I can find a way to talk to anybody.

• 1:10:02Speaker 01

  Even for me touring in any city that I land in, from Ames, Iowa, St. Louis, Missouri, and Bozeman, Montana, Albuquerque, New Mexico. It doesn't matter where I land. I can always talk to the, the bar back or the cab driver or the Uber. And they will tell you what's going on in the city or the town. And there will always be this connective tissue. And that's not always a bad thing to be like, hey, how are things here in Albuquerque right now? What's going on with the mayor? What's happening with this? You're, you're just trying to find common ground. And I think that's, that's a cool, that's a strength to be able to go into any playground of life. And, and the two things I've found the most is everybody, everybody says the rent is too damn high.

• 1:10:46Michelle Obama?

  And, and, and gas is way too much. Yeah.

• 1:10:49Speaker 01

  But, and somebody has an opinion about, you know, the Yankees.

• 1:10:52Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:52Speaker 01

  Something's happening, something is happening in sports or in culture that you can just, you can start chatting about and find a, a way to have common ground. But in regards to your identity, sometimes there's this feeling. And I was having a conversation with Riz Ahmed about this, who's an incredible British Pakistani actor.

• 1:11:11Speaker 01

  He said, um, sometimes you'll go into the room thinking that you can change the room.

• 1:11:17Speaker 01

  He went to Oxford, so he's British. He, you're talking about the most elite of elite institutions. But sometimes the room changes you. You don't change the room, but the room changes you. And I think the thing that is most important is to have the, the moral clarity and personal conviction that, hey, just no matter what.

• 1:11:33Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:34Speaker 01

  Like, this is who I am. So I'm willing to get into it with you about Yankees, Red Sox, or, you know, Kings versus Lakers. But there's just certain things in my personal convictions. These are things I just don't do.

• 1:11:46Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:47Speaker 01

  You know?

• 1:11:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:47Speaker 01

  Um, and, and, and know that, that like, that's your line.

• 1:11:51Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:51Speaker 01

  And don't change it for anybody.

• 1:11:52Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. Well.

• 1:11:55Craig Robinson?

  Thanks, Hasan.

• 1:11:56Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 1:11:57Craig Robinson?

  Appreciate it. We appreciate you.

• 1:11:59Speaker 01

  Thanks for having me. That was a lovely conversation.

• 1:12:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it's good stuff.

• 1:12:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:02Michelle Obama?

  Good stuff. So you've got this Netflix special. Is it a special or is it a series?

• 1:12:07Speaker 01

  I have a, I have a, I have a series called Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know, which is a great interview podcast series. And then I have a, I'm on tour right now with Hasan Hates Ronnie, Ronnie Hates Hasan, Hatred is the Answer.

• 1:12:21Speaker 01

  Petting Us Over Peace. We're on tour right now.

• 1:12:23Michelle Obama?

  Are we gonna get, are we, are we gonna get that televised? Is it, we're working on that?

• 1:12:28Speaker 01

  I can't tell you just yet, but yes. The fight will be coming to you.

• 1:12:33Michelle Obama?

  Nice.

• 1:12:34Speaker 01

  Very soon. And then, yeah, I'm, I'm working on this Bollywood dance movie called Best of the Best.

• 1:12:40Michelle Obama?

  That sounds great.

• 1:12:41Speaker 01

  Which will be coming out very soon.

• 1:12:42Michelle Obama?

  So is that an episodic?

• 1:12:44Speaker 01

  It's a movie.

• 1:12:45Michelle Obama?

  It's a movie?

• 1:12:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:46Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 1:12:47Speaker 01

  So I'm very excited about that.

• 1:12:48Michelle Obama?

  Okay, that sounds great.

• 1:12:49Speaker 01

  It's really beautiful to also be at this chapter of, of my career where I can see all this really great young talent.

• 1:12:56Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:57Speaker 01

  Emerge and, and make something for them.

• 1:12:59Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:00Speaker 01

  And that's been really, really like enriching and beautiful.

• 1:13:03Michelle Obama?

  Well, I enjoy your comedy. I really do. I, I, you were smart. You were a beautiful storyteller.

• 1:13:11Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you.

• 1:13:11Michelle Obama?

  And not every stand-up comedian can take you on that journey and land you safely in a way. And it takes a level of vulnerability to, you know, let us inside your, your life. It's, it's really, you know, it's, it's a gift.

• 1:13:29Speaker 01

  You, you had me at smart. I'm just gonna take it.

• 1:13:31Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:32Speaker 01

  Smart's really great.

• 1:13:33Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:34Craig Robinson?

  You're funny. You're funny.

• 1:13:35Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you. You guys, this is very sweet. We gotta get out right now. You have to know when to end the set. We have to end right now. We got smart and funny.

• 1:13:42Michelle Obama?

  We'll get out right now.

• 1:13:43Speaker 01

  That's my time. Tip your barn ways out. Thank you guys so much.

• 1:13:45Michelle Obama?

  Hasan, thank you so much.

• 1:13:46Speaker 01

  Thank you, Mrs. Obama.

• 1:13:47Michelle Obama?

  Thank you for taking the time. Thanks for bringing your family.

• 1:13:49Speaker 01

  Craig, thank you so much, man.

• 1:13:50Craig Robinson?

  Thanks, man. Appreciate you.

• 1:13:51Speaker 01

  Appreciate you. Thank you.

• 1:14:13Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Molly Graham, host of Work Life, a podcast from TED. The most important lessons about work usually aren't the ones anyone teaches you. They come from experience, from uncertainty, from figuring things out as you go. On this show, my expert guests and I explore how careers really unfold through change, through doubt, through the decisions that shape who we become over time. Because those moments aren't the exception, they are the work. Listen to Work Life wherever you get your podcasts.