♪ -next, a "kqed newsroom" special on the arts. -♪ his love -sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute, intermissionless play to kick somebody outekf their 40-hour work -an entertainer's take on american history and a world-renownedrtist tapping the global refugee crisis. -you know, they all have families, have children, and we cannot pretend we are naive on ose issues. -plus the joy served up by the coolest museum in town focused on something sweet. -when you senethe power of human cion in such a simplified form, i think it can be a great example of how we should move forward as a country. -hello. i'm thuy vu. welcome ed a special edition of "ewsroom" about arts and culture. on this program, we're revisiting stories from our archives with innovative and influential figures in film, the performing arts, and visual culture. we begin with the role of comedy in today's political climate.

from immigration policy to health care to the economy, there's a lot going on in politics. that means plenty of material for comedians like roy wood jr. he's a correspondent on comedy central's "the daily show." kqed's sheraz sadiq caught up with him while he was in town for the comedy festival cossal clusterfest. they met at an interactive exhibit showcasing president trump's love of twitter. -so, where are we today? -this is the donald j. trump al presidentiwitter library. everybody s "the daily show," we around, and we started looking in closer at the president's tweets over the last couple years. everyone in our digital department started looking at ones, and you start noticing certain patterns. thers a lot of tweets where's. there's a lot of tweetse wh's trying to end people's careers. there's a lot of contradictions. there's stuff about policy. so when you really start looking at all the president's work, you see, "oh, well this is an exhibit, you know?" barack obama is all about books.

our president is all about twitter, so we felt like the best way to give people the experiencer of walkinggh the brain of our commander-in-chief is to just put it all on the wall. this is all the people he's argued and talked trash about -- talked tra about jeb bush, talked trash about robert pattinson. over here, those are the rified survivors. those are people that he's talked trash about, but somehow, they still persevere. an i'm not sure whether yoy feeling better about the country or more horrified, but you'll definitely feel something. -are black people too sensitive about racism? -one of the themes you frequently return to onrethe daily show" as a condent is the issue of race relations. how did growing up in the deep south in birmingham, alabama, influence how you tackle the issue of rac -i think a lot of our views in on race as adultsma, are shaped when we're young, but i think the important thing my parents gave me was a lot of pride in myselfe beca you're not careful, if you're a victim of racism, that can mess with your self-esteem. i've been called the n-word. i've been harassed.

i won't dare act like what i've been through compares to what a lot of people have gone through in this country and, you know, the civil-rights soldiers, you know, from back in the day, but i think for me it's important to make sure that i shine a lht on the stuff that's happening in the corners of america where a lot of people, you know, don't consider, and having been from the south and having been in that world, i feel like i'm as equipped nt as any other corresponon thw to be able to go and tell those stories. -roy, you're the father of a toddler. what will you tell your son when he's older about what it's like to be a black man in america? -my son has to understand that being black is a gift and that sometimes it's a burden, you know? everybody goes, "have you had the big talk?" and we ain't going to have the talk. you know, they're talking about the birds and the bees.b to me, t talk is how to deal with the police and instructing my son on that lationship. it's something that i think about althe time, man,

because, you know, being black that he's on the clock 24/7.y sw we heard about the march for our lives in d.c.,er but the was another march going down all the way out in helena, montana, and out here at this march, people were taking a stand for the real victims of gun violence, guns. wh-for "the daily show," the march for our lives rally was takiol place to protest gun ce in schools, youwhat did that expea pro-gun teach you about people who opse gun restriction?ot -there are af people who oppose gun restriction who are levelheaded. everybody thinks that someone just because they want the second amendment that they got eight guns and 12 "rambo" bazookas in their back pocket, and they're all lunatics. there were a lot of levelheaded people that were just making arguments and i think that the problem is that we only hear the extremes in one another, and i was very happy that i went to the pro-gun rally and had the heportunity to talk to people. now don't get me wrong.

there are a lot of people whare pro-gun who, in my opinion, are out there. anytime you think a kid that got shot at at a high school is a paid actor, there is something wrong with you, period. but the problem is that people who will call a parkland kid a crisis actor overshadow the levelheaded people who go, "let's tiptoe into legislation. i'm open to legislation. let's figure out a way because it is a slippery slope." it was dope to be able to get to montana to talk to those people. -what is the challenge of tackling these difficultuc subjectsas racism and gun violence through comedy? is there a risk, for example, of belittling these issues by finding humor in them? -the joke is never on the issue. the joke is on the argument and the prevention of it. we would never tell a joke about someone getting shot, but the joke is on, "how do we keep this from happening, and who are the people th are keeping this from happening again?" w and i think thatreeople th athe humor is,is and i think if we can laugh about it, you're more willing to talk abouit, and if you're willing to talk about it,

then you're closer to a solution, so i feel like the jokes have to happ. -how do you decide which stories to cover on "the daily show"? at -"the daily show," a whole nother world. like, we'll look at the news, and we'll try and find... if we can say something at we believe is differe from what other shows t,e saying, then we'll say and then sometimes it's just about figuring out what issues arowimportant to us, you there'si covered a storymay not t some stuffnews.ab that's happening on the mississippi river with a boondoggle with the army corps of engineers, not a bimenews story, but it's ing that affected people. it's something that economically and environmentally was ruining the country, and thankfully right before president obama got out offfice, he changed it. i like to believe that my story is the reason that i beat... you're welcome, missouri. that's what i tell myself d.at night before i go to -roy, thank you so much. -yeah. -it was great talking to you. yeah. thank you.ba -now to t, where a daring show has been examining american history through some of thisonountry's most popular. -♪ i jumped in a river

titled "a 24-decade history of popular music," the show has been shining a light on etorything from slavery ay activism. kqed's chloe veltman sat down with drag artist and stkton native taylor mac. -well, here we are onto the stage at the curran theatre in san francisco. i'm here with taylor mac, the creator of the show, the chief performer, and his co-creator, i'm costume designer,chine . the creator of the show, thank you both for being here. it's greatwio get a chance to cha you here in the costume shop as all this stuff is going on. -thank you. -oh, yes, thank you. -♪ i once was lost ♪ but now am found -so, your show tells the history of the united states of erica in 246 songs, and it all begins with a smashing, ball-busting rendition of "amazing grace." es♪ as long as life endur -why that song? -i wanted to set up this kind of concept that we're here to worship the acof creation, not e creator, so we take that song, and we talk about ace,

and what is grace to me is the act of creation.lo -♪ it' and love alone -and what inspired you to tell the history of this country through song?e -i wanted to form that best represented how you use kind of imperfection as a way to rally people. i think of classical music as, you know, you're reaching for the hem of god. you're reaching for perftion. you're striving for virtuosity, and a popular song is something that is reaching the people. ♪ it's reaching them in order to celebrate together, to rto mourn together.se, -and you guys also tell the history of this country it's reaching them in order to celebrate together, to rtthrough costume..se, -♪ he cursed us with a congress ♪ -i lppe to look at what was ing at the time, you know, "what was new at the time? whatere people doing? what was invented at the time?" these are the opening shoes. and just, like, turn those ideas and those inventions into costumes. my favorite ribbon.

-and machine, as weird as it sounds, is redesigning backstage, like, during the show. -on the fly? -i always need to add thingsand. now that's a shoe. ♪ one of my favorite costumes that've made for taylorth ever is crazy jane costume. -[ gargling ] ♪ i jumped in a river e -crazy js a wig made out of champagne corks, and she lives in a barrel. when she takes the barrel off, it's like she has everything in there. n she has her toiletriesere. she has her bedroom objet in there. w -sring a barrel, not to mention heels, high heels for 24 hours... -sometimes women will say to me on the street if i'm dressed up, wefting the high heels or after shows, women will say, "how could you wear those heelse i could neve heels like that," and i always say, "well, for you, it's oppression, but for me, it's liberation."

♪ he's leaving for to "well, for yoi mean, oppression, but i geear this art.ration." ...this ritual. and it's not just costuming. u know, they're little art pieces, so the fact that you get to bring your own personal art into somebody else's art, and theyet to commingle and make something bigger than both together is energizing. -and have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction? and make something bigger than both togethe-no. energizing. it is the genius of performance art. n there failure. -yeah. we don't call them malfunctions. we call them, you know, not acts of... pportunity. -opportunity. not acts of god, acts of the goddess.rs [ chnd applause ] -the point is to incorporate calamity. ♪ they wished me one more day to stay ♪ d, n fact, the show was inspired by a the very firs walk in san francisco. -which you were at. -which i went to when i was 14 years old,

and it w s the first time i'd evn an out homosexual, and it was thousands of them all at the same time. it was the first time i ever saw a drag queen. it was a sister of perpetual indulgence, you know, so tha wevent is what makes t to make theater. and so in making the show, i wanted to make a metaphorical representation of th event. now you can use your pillows as shields if you want to.re -whyour performances so long? -[ laughs ] well, sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute, intermissionless play to kick somebody out of their 40-hour workweek. -okay, so everyone, you understand how it goes? let's do it. i think thathere's real wonder in just making things go on longer than people expect, longer than they think they're capable of handling something, so i really like to put people through it. -well, thank you very much taylor mac and machine dazzle for joining me today. -thank you so much, like, really, for having us.

-thank you.ne -c dissident and artist ai weiwei has long been a vocal critic of his own country's government. in his latest film, "human flow," he addresses the global refugee crisis and says cntries around the wor should be held accountable. kqed's monica lam spoke with ai weiwei when he was in san francisco. -your film "human flow" documents massive human migration due to war, violence, disaster. what did you learn from making this film? -what i have learned is very simple. among the 65 million refugeesl there's no sone is willing to leave their home. they all struggle not to leavee it's very price they have to pay. their relatives, friends, or whole village vanished by war, it's very price they have to pay. by famine, or environmental problems. -united states president donald trump has cut in lf, in fact, more than half the number of refugees

allowed in this country. what is your reaction to that? -i think that this current administration, what they did is beyond beliefh -mor ever, we need the wall. we have drugs pouring through. -i should say it's a shame for a nation like united states, which is the most poweul, not only leading in the economics but should be strongest nation in defending human rights.is after all, u.s. a nati. just a few generations ago, we all come from somewhere. -absolutely. -i ner met a native here. i mean, to limit somebody's rights to move is almost the same as to push someone to leave their home. -the officials came here and told them, "look. there's no way you're going to get papers to continue. either you go voluntarily or we arrest you." -a lot of your work takes aim right at the heart of power, thrrchinese government, tion,

and here at alcatraz, the prison system.hi do you those in power are listening? -i know it's very hard to make a power listening, but that why those voice are so necessary. and basically, all those mistakes or those tragedies are made by human. so if we don't want to be part of shamefucondition, then leave us no choice to make our sound to be heard. -do you think you're encouraging those in power to change or just making them look like fools, or is it the same thing? -i think we have to consider they also human beings, course. you know, we talk about the issues, really,

to everybody, you know? they all have families, have children, d it's different ways of communication, so i have to believe in this kind of struggle. -in your film, there's a scene of a man walking through a graveyard, and he's lost many of hisoved ones. he's really speaking from his heart just as an individual person. for people watching the film, what can they do about this? -first, i think we often talk about the crisis without asking why those people are in such a tragic journey. there are so many wars, iraq war, afghanistan war, syrian war, and we also see we are selling ex emely dangerous weapons dang.

big profit are made by united statesea or eurleading nations, and we cannot pretend we are nve on those issues. -you call yourself an artist and activist.ou dolso see yourself as a journalist? -i have a journalist card as a reporter because if i go to those nation to interview people, often i have to have something protect me, so, yes, i'm aournalist also. i do a lot of investigations, ask really tgh questions, and, you know, to trying to get some facts out. -thank you very much, ai weiwei. -thank you. -in the world of entertainment, comedian and writer hari kondabolu is no stranger to add rssing tough topics lie and ethnicity. he takes on the long-running cartoon series "the simpsons" in his documentary th led, "the problem witu." it explores how an indian convenience store owner

caters to stereotypes. -the problem is we didn't have any her representation in this country. -there was no aziz, no mindy, no kal, no "that dude who was on 'lost' and that other dude from 'heroes'th and dude that's in the apu documentary," no politicians or reporters and no whatever deepak chopra is. this is all we had. apu reflected how america viewed us -- servile, devious, goofy. ni -and j me now is hari kondabolu. . so nice to have you he -th. -"the simpsons" was one of your favorite tv shows as a kid, s and yet you wefrustrated with the character named apu. why?en -apu is a conce store owner, very one-dimensional, stereotypical, and at that time, that's the only depiction south asian-americans had, specifically indian-americans. like, we didn't have anything else, and initially we were... i think i was excited because we had something.

when you have nothing, you're excited about anything, but as i got older, i realizve, "oh, this is all we and this is how my parents are depicted," and this is... it's such a narrow way to be seen. -was it the accents? because a white actor, hank azaria, did the accent. -yeah. it's such a narrow way to be seen. the accent is definitely a part of it. it's an accent meant to elicit laughter. it's not that realistic. the fact that everything he did always was connected to his indianness or what, like, the white writers and executives thought indianness was. -you were tang on... or you are taking on a well-loved tv shown and takinge question of apu in relation to identity politics, so what was your process in deciding how to present this issue in a way that would make sense and matter to a broad auence? -sure. i mean, i think "the simpsons" is a great place to start because it's "the simpsons." it's a global show. like, there's so many of us who grew up on it. "the simpsons" at its peak influenced so much of the conversation of the country. i mean, it was a very important show,

so that already gave me a place, an institution to start from. -what was the impact, do you think, of apu? -i mean, i think for a lot of young south asian-americans, i think it shaped our identity. there was a certain embarrassment sometimes about being who we were. there was an embarrassment of our parents, and there was shame. there was a sense of, this is... "we are not american. we are less american. we don'tnsit. we have to fight agthis constantly." i mean, i think those early childhood experiences always shape you, and that was, i think, a thing that shaped a lot of us. -but yet, there's a moment in your film where you interview ur parents, and they're both indian immigrants, and they say they weren't offended by apu. they weren't bothered that the voice was done by a white actor. -right. i mean, i think my mom said that it's not that she wasn't offended. it was that, like, you know, it wasn't something she really worried about. you know, when you're coming to this country, and the stakes are so high, you're not really worried about things like, "how am i being seen?" like, you worry about, you know, your bills,

but i think as somebody who waborn in this country, grew up in this country, there's a certain entitlement that i think i rightfully have to expect the same as everyone else. my parents have now lived in america longer than they've lived in india.me this is and i think they have that entitlement more now than they did before. they didn't even know if they were going to stay mer the long-term, so, , i feel like that's a big difference. i expect to be treated the way everyone else is treated. -and you don't do accentsr i feel like that's a big difference. in youmedy anymore. -no. -is that peat of that thinking? i mean, i think for me, i did accents when i was 17, 18, 19, because i knew it would work, and i knew it would work because of "the simpsons." i knew that that accent would work, and as a young comedn, i just wanted to make sure there wasn't silence, that iauas filling that withter, but as i got older, and particularly after 9/11, i realized the impact representati had, the impact of images, especially when south asians were being beaten up around the country, muslims, sikhs, i knew that, like, us speaking out and us being publingand showing a broad of identities, like, would shape that public image,

and i knew i couldn't do those voices anymore. it was so minimizing -your film, "the problem with apu," grew out of a bit thatou did a few years ago for "totally biased with w. kamau bell." -you were -- you worked on that show. a lot of your comedy deals with race and ethnicity. do you view your comedy as a form of activism? -no. i mean, this film, i think, beis a little different use it's an in-depth look at a particular topic, but my stand-up,th at the end oday, it has to make people laugh, and i'm not going to say something that is, even if it's thoughtfuthat doeh because why would people listen to me?an i stand-up's strength is that people listen because there's the promise of laughter,iv so, i mean, an at goal is to push an issuesten and to get it as far as they can and to try to make progress, whether it's legislative or socially. that's not my goal with stand-up. my goal with stand-up is to entertain people. -you scream. i scream. we all scream for ice cream. america's favorite frozen treat has gottena the traveling museumn downtown at the musan franciscoream. i

allows visitors of a s ages to indulge theet tooth and love of selfies. kqed's sheraz sadiq has the scoop. -we wanted to create a space that brought people together. this is a space that is unifying. 's a safe space. it's empowering, and ice cream is such a beloved treat that it just felt like the perfect combination.is -thit your typical museum where the artwork is behind plates of gls. here, the artwork is meant to be touched and interacted with. why did you take such an unconventional approach to the design of your museum? can be a little bit -welisolating, right?seums there's this sense that you can't touch anything or you're going to bre something, and i think when you have that level of degree of constriction, it limits people from truly being able to express themselves, so we wanted to create a space where people could really be their authentic selves. they could laugh. they could have fun. they could tough something, and nothing would break. it's flipping this concept of the traditional museum on its head. -it's also a museum that's tair-made for millennials and their love of snapchat and instagram.

how did social media influence your design aesthetic and your choices? -it wasn't so much instagram or snahat or facebook that led the aesthetic design behind this. more so, this sense of capturing the moment and what can we do from a design perspective that really alacwed people to transport and we feel that the more visual the space is, the more people are able to do so. -say cheese. -the museum of ice cream features nine different themed rooms, including a gummy-bear garden, rock-candy cave, and the main attraction... -wow. -...a swimming pool filled with plastic sprinkles. -raining sprinkles! there's just something so therapeutic, and really, they do...he we made surewould look as real as they do. they look like real sprinkles. -how many sprinkles are in this ing, roughly? -100 million sprinkles. -wow. after using an air hrie to remove all the les sticking to my clothes, madison took me to meet grantn

a gold-horneorn standing tall in a field of rainbows. -my favorite room here is our rainbow roo it's an homage to san francisco for the pride and inclusivity and diversity that this city has fostered and created for its entire existence. inclusivity eod making sure that alle feel safe and protected in this space is a huge mission statement of ours and something that we strongly value. -thank you. -ice cream dipped in real magic. -but no trip to a museum for ice cream would be complete without delicious reminders of why this timeless treat never goes out of style, evenllfter a makeover for nials. -what you have in front of you here is gingersnap-flavored ice cream with a gingerbread crumble on top with some sprinkles, and then we're going to add this lovely strawberry-basil sauce. -we want to make sure at the city feels that we are working in collaboration i wi cream creameries that have been around for a while, so each month, we have a ice-cream shop om san francisco that's created a unique flavor that you can only get at the museum of ice cream.

-that is theomb. -yeah. -that is the answer you want. -yeah. -that's it. -at the museum of ice cream, you won't encounter artwork that's overtly political, but you can niill express your opion, even a political one, in the message statement room. -we wanted to create a space where people could take their emotions and how they felt and ma. a statement on the wal we believe that this is an equalizing space. it's an opportunity for you to feel your authentic self, and if you have something to say that maybe is political or maybe is socially oriented, feel free to say it. and -madison, what doesng to say thice cream mean to you? wh memories does it evoke?hen , it just brings me back to my childhood. i thininof being a kid and siin my house and hearing the ice-cream truck go off and the excitement, the exhilaration i gotom runne and catching that truck to get my ice cream. i also associate it with my first memories of having autonomy. i remember my parents being like, "here is $5. go out and get the ice cream by yourself." there's just something with that, that level of independence, i just greatly

associate with ice cream. -♪ haters going to hat hate, hate, hate ♪ -maybe our universal love for ice cream springs from memoriew of what like to be a kid, when your toughest decision was deciding wh kind of scoop to get. -thank you. -i love it. it's phenomenal. it's more than i ever imagined. we're celebrating my daughter's 1st birthday today, and so i'm excited to show her these pictures when she growst,p and let her know t "you went to a place that not everybody gets to go to." i think ice cream brgs happiness. like, who eats ice cream and is sad? you ready? it's fun whether it's soft-serve or, you know, out of a tub or whatever. it's fun. it feels good.fr -we have peopl cultures from all over the world who are coming together and talking with somebody they probably never would have had the opportunity to speak with, and they're talking about ice cream, and they're having fun. when yan see the power of humonnection in such a simplified form, i think it can be a great example e of how we should movforwa. -♪ got nothing in my brain t t's what people say ♪

-that does it for us. for more of our coverage, go to kqed.org/newsroom. jom thuy vu. thank you foing us. -ready? here we go! ♪ the world promised good to me ♪ ♪ hold my life secure ♪ he will my care and comfort be ♪ ♪ as long as life endes ♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ that saved a wretch like me ♪ i once was lost ♪ but now am found ♪ was blind but now i see ♪y! -take it a keep going!

robert: president trumprepares to tilt the supreme court to the right, but who will he pick? i'm robert costa. we discuss the confirmation fight ahead, the resignation of e.p.a. administrator scott pruitt and china strikes back o tonigh "washington week." president trump: i spent the st three days thinking about supreme court justices. it's such an important decision. robert: president trump consider his short list retiring c supremert justice anthony kennedy. >> he would like someone with the right jucial temperament. robert: we examine the leading contenrs and confirmation battle that's brewing on capitol hill.