♪ -next, a "kqed newsroom" special on the arts. -♪ his love -sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute, intermissionless play to kic40somebody out of theiour workweek. -an entertainer's take on american history and a rld-renowned artist tapping the global refugee crisis. -you know, they all have familieshave children, and we cannot pretend we are naive on those issues. -plus the joy served up by the coolest museum in town focused on something sweet. ofhen you see the power uman connection 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 to a special edition of "kqed newsroom" about arts and culture. on this program, we're revisiting stories from our archives with innovive 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 in po. that means plenty of material for comedians like roy wood . 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 fesfeval colossal cluster. they met at an interactive exhibit showcasing president trump's love of twitter. -so, where are we today? -this is the donald j. trump pr idential twitter library. everybody at "the daily show," we sat around, and we started looking in closer at the president's tweets er the last couple years everyone in our digital department started looking at ones, and you start noticing certain patterns.we there's a lot ofs where he's arguing with celebrities. there's a lot of tweets there'where he's trying he'to end people's careers.es. there's a lot of contradictions. there's stuff about policy. so when you really start looking at all the predent's work, you see, "oh, well this is an exhibit, you know?" barack obama is all out books.

our president is all about twitter, so we felt like the best way to give people the experiencef alking through 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 -- ustalked trash about jeb bh,sh talked trabout robert pattinson. over here, those are the verified survivors. those are people that he's talked trash about, but somehow, they still persevere. w and i'm not surether yout he's talkleave this library feeling better about the country or more horrified, but you'll definitely feel sometng. -are black people too sensitive about racism? -one of the themestoou frequently return on "the daily show" as a correspondent is thessue of race relations. how did growing up in the deep south in birmingham, alabama, influence how you tackle thissue of race? -i think a lot of our views on race as adults are shaped when wre young, but i think the important thing my paren gave me was a lot of pride in myself because if you're not careful, if you're a victim of racism, that can mess with your self-esteem. i've been called theed-word. i've been hara

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 civirights soldiers, you know, from back in the dayu i think for me it's important to make sure that i shine a light 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 as any other correspondent on the show to be able to go and te 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? y 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. u know, they're talking about the birds and the bees. to me, the big talk is how to deal with the police and instructing my son on that relationship. it's something that i think about all the time, man,ca

e, you know, being black is a job sometimes, and my son has got to know that he's on the clock 24/7. we heard about the march for our lives in d.c., but there 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.y -for "the daow," when the march for our lives raoty was taking place to t gun violence in schools, you were actually at a pro-gun rally in montana. what did that experience teach you about people who oppose gun restriction? -there are a lot of people who oppose gun restction who are levelheade 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 aot of levelheaded peop that were just making arguments for wanting their guns, and i think that the problem is that we only hear the extremes in one another, and i wa tvery happy that i went pro-gun rally and had the opportunity to talk to these people.t

now dot me wrong. there are a lot of people who are 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 en to legislation. let's figure out a way to legislate this without it getting out of hand because it is a slippery slope." it was dope to be able to get to montana to talk to those people. -what is the chadienge of tackling thesicult subjects such as racism anis there a risk, for example,? of belittling these thsues by finding humor i? -the joke is never on the issue. the joke is on the argument anthe prevention of it. we would never tell a joke about someone getting shot, but the joke is on, "hpe do we keep this from hng, and who are the people that are keeping this from happening again?"i anink that's where the humor is, and i think if we can laugh about it, you're more willingto talk ,

and if you're willing to talk about it,os then you're to a solution, so i feel like the jokes have to happen. -how do you decide which stories to cover on "the daily show"? -"the daily show," that's a whole nother world. like, we'll l ok at the news, and wey and find... if we can say something that we believe is different from what other shows are saying, then we'll say it, and then sometimes it's just about figuring out uat issues are important you know? there's issues where it may not be national news.d i covestory about some stuff that's happening on the mississippi river with a boondoggle with the army corps of engineers, not a big news story, but it's something that affected peoples itething that economically and environmentally was ruining the country, anthankfully right before i like to believe y story is the reason that i beat...it.t you're welcome, missouri. that's what i orll myself at night bi go to bed. -roy, thank you so much. -yeah. -it was great taing to you. yeah. thank you. -now to cabaret, where a daring show has been examini american history through some of this country's most popular songs. -♪ iumped in a river

titled "a 24-decade history of popular music," the show has been shining a ligh on everything from slavery to gay activism. kqed's chloe veltman sat down with dg artist ta and stockton native ylor mac. -well, here we are onto the stage at the curran theatre in san francisco.it i'm heretaylor mac, the creator of the show, the chief performer, and his co-creator,si costume er, machine dazzle. thank you both for being here. 's great to get a chance e 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,our show tells the histo of the united states of america in 246 songs, and it all begins with a sshing, ball-busting rendition of "amazing grace.s -♪ as long afe endures -why that song? th-i wanted to set up is kind of concept that we're here to worip the anot the creator, so we take that song, and wealk about grace,

and what is grace to me is the act of creation.- it's love and love alone ♪ -and what inspired you to tell the historyof his country through song? -i wanted to use a form that best represented o how you use kiimperfection as a way to rally people. ic i think of classical ms, you know, you're reaching for the hem of god. you're reachinfor perfection. you're striving for virtuosity, and a popular song is something that is reaching the peoe. ♪ it's reaching them in order to rally them to a cause, to celebrate together, to mourn together. -and you guys also tell the history of this country through costume. -i like to look atwas happening at the time, you know, -♪ he cursed us with a congress ♪ha "what was new at the timng what were people doi 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 itounds, is redesigning backstage, like, during the show. -on the fly? -i always need to add things and change things.ho now that's a ♪ one of my favorite cos tmes that i've made forlor ever is the crazy jane costume. -[ gargling ] ever♪ i jumped in a river tume. razy jane has a wig made out of champagne corks, and she lives in a barrel. l when she takes the barref, it's like she has everything in there. she has her toiletries in there. t e has her bedroom ob there. -so, wearing a barrel, not to mention heels, high heels for 24 hours...om -sometimes will say to me on the street if i'm dressed up, wearing the high heels or often after shows, women will say, "how could you wear those heelsl i never wear heels like that," and i always say, "well, for you, it's oppression, but for me, it's liberation."

♪ he's leaving for i mean, i get to wear this art. ...this ritual. and it's not just costuming. you know, they're little art pieces,t so the fat you get to bring your own personal art into somebody else's art, and they get to commingle and make something bigger than both together is energizing. -and have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction? -no. it is the genius of perrman-yeah..there is n. we don't call them malfunctions. we call them, you know, not acts of... -opportunity. we don't c-opportunity.unctions. not acts of god, acts of the goddess. [ cheers and applause ] -the point is to incorporate calamity. ♪ they wished me one more d to stay ♪ and, in fact, the show was inspired by the very first aids walk in san francisco. -which you were at. -which i went to when i was 14 years old,

and it was the first i'd ever seen 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 that event is what makes me want to make theater. and so in making the show, i wanted to make a metaphorical represention of that event. now -why are your performances as shieldso long? want to. -[ laughs ] well, sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute, intermissionless play to kick -hmebody out of their r workweek. -okay, so everyone, you understand how it goes? let's do i i think that there's real wonder in just making things go on lonr than people expect, t longn 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 -chinese dissident and artist ai weiwei has long been a vocal critic of his own country's government. in his latest film, "human flow," he addresse global refus and says countries around the world 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 migrion due to war, violence, disaster. what did you learn from making this film? -what i have learned is very simple. among the 65 million refugeesr s no single one is willing to leave their home. they all struggle not to leave. 's very heavy price they have to pay. their relatives, friends, or whole village vanished by war, by famine, or environment problems. -united states president donald tru has cut in half, 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 thwe need the wall.belief, we have drugs pouring through. -i should say it's a shame for a nation like united state which is the most powerful, not only leading in the economics but should be strongest nation defending human rights.al after u.s. is a nation of immigrants. just a few generations ago, we all come from somewhere. -absolutivy. -i never met a nathere. 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." -amot of your work takes ai right at the heart of power,me ethe chinese gove,ntarily corruption,t you."

and here at alcatraz, the prison system. do you think those in power are listening? -i know it's very hard to make a power listing, 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 par, no then leave uhoice 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 ha to consider they also human beings, of course.

u know, we talk about tto everybody, you know? they all have families, have children, and it's different ways of communication, so i have to believe in this kind of struggle. n ur film, there's a scene of a manh walking througa graveyard, and he's lost ny of his loved ones. he's really speaking from h 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 journ. there are so many wars, iraq war, afghanistan war, syrian war, and we also see we a selling s extremely dangerapons to dangerous locations.

big profit are made by united states european leading nations, and we cannot pretend we are naive on those issues. -you call yourself an artist as a journalist?o you f -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 a journalist al i do a lot of investigations, ask really tough questions, and, you know, to trying to getome facts out. -thank you very much, ai weiwei. -thank you. -hari kondabolu is no strangerr to addressing tough topics like race and ethnicity. he takes on the long-running cartoon series "the simpsons" in his documentary titled, "the problem with apu." e lores how an indian convenience store owner

caters to stereotypes. -the problem is we didn't have any other representation in this country. -there was no iz, no mindy, no kal, no "th dude who was on 'lost' and that other dude from 'heroes' and that dude that's no "in the apu documentary,"ol no picians or reporters and no whatever deepak chopra is. this is all we h. apu reflected how america viewed us -- servile, devious, goofy. -and joining me now is hari kondabolu. h so nice e you here. -thanks for having me. -"the simpsons" was one of your favorite tv shows as a kid,d t you were so frustrated with the character named apu. why? -apu is a convenience store owner, very one-dimensional, stereotypica and at that time, that's the only depiction south asian-americans had, i specificalian-americans. like, we didn't have anything ..se, and initially we wer i think i was excited because we had something.

when you have nothing, you're excited about anything, but as i got os er, i realized, "oh, t all we have, 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. the accent is definitely a part of it. it's an accent meant to elicit laughter. '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 taking on... or you are taking on a well-loved tv anow taking on the 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 ta broad audience? -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 ow,

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 sham there was a sense of, this is... "we are not american. we are less american. f we don't fit. we have ht against this 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 inrview your parents, and they're both indian immigrants, and they say they weren't offended by apu. they weren't bothered that the toice was done by a white -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.en you know, ou'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 somebodynt , 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 have that entitlementik more now than they did before. they didn't even know if they were going to stayik for the long-term, so, i mean, i feel like that's a big diffence. i expect to be treated the way everyone else is treated. -and you don't do accents in your comedy anymore. -no. ki-is that part of that th? -yeah. 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 aoung comedian, i just wanted to make sure there wasn't silence, t that i was filling t with, but as i got older, and particularly after 9/11, i realized the impact presentation 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 useing public and showingb, like, would shape that public image,

and i knew i couldn't do those voices anymore.mi it was smizing. -your film, "the problem with apu," grew out of a eat that you did a few ago for "totally biased with w. kamau bell." -you were -- you worked on that show. a lot of your comedy deawit. do you view your comedy as a form of activism? -no. i mean, this film, i think,ff is a little ent because it's an in-depth look at a particular topic, but my stand-up, t end of the day, it has to make people laugh, and i'm not going to say something that is, t even if itughtful, that doesn't make people laugh because why would people listen to me? i mean, stand-up's strength thatis that people listenlaugh because there's the promise of laughter, so, i mean, an activist goal is to push an issue and to get it as far as they can and to try to make progress, whether it'sy.egislatively or socia 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 gotten a made-for-millennials makeover at the museum of ice cream..

the traveling museum in downtown san francisco allows visitors of all ages to indulge their sweet 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.ac it's a safe sp it's empowering, and ice cream is such a beloved treat that it just felt like the perfect combination. -this isn't your typical museum where the artwork is behind ples of glass. 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? -well, i find that museums can be a little bit isolating, right? there's this sense that you can't touch anything or you're goin to break 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 woulitbreak. 's flipping this concept of the traditional museum on its head. -it's also a museumthat's te 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 snapchat or facebook thgn led the aesthetic deehind this. more so, this sense of capturing the moment and what can we do from a design perspective thatraeally allowed people toport back, 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...ad wesure they would look as real as they do. they look like real sprinkles. -how many sprinkles are in this thing, roughly? -100 million sprinkles. -wow. after use g an air hose to reml the sprinkles stickin to my clothes, madiok me to meet grant,

a gold-horned unicorn standing tall in a field of rainbows. -my favorite room here is our rainbow room. 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 and making sure that all people feel safe and protected in this spacntis a huge mission statef ours and something that we strongly value. -thank you. -ice cream dipped in real magic. -but no trip to a mubeum for ice cream woulomplete without delicious reminders ofeven after a makeo for mi. never goes out of style,r -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 sae. -we want to make sure that the city feels that we are working in collaboration with ice cream creameries that have been around for a while, so each month, we have a ice-cream shop from san francisco that's created a unique flavor that you can only get the museum of ice cream

-that is the bomb. -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, sbut you can still expres your opinion, even a political one, in the message statement room. -we wanted to create a spacee wherpeople could take their emotions and how they felt and make a statement on the walls. an believe that this is qualizing space. it's an opportunity for you to feel your authentic self, and if you have something to sal or maybe is socially oriented, feel free to say it. -madison, what does ice cream mean to you? i what memories doevoke? oriented, f-when i think about it, it just brings me back to my childhood. i think of being a kand se and hearing the ice-cream truck go off and the excitement,ti the exhila i got from running outside 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 thice cream by yourself." there's just something with that, that level of independence, i just greatly

associate with ice cream. -♪ hater, going to hate, hate, hate ♪ -maybe our universal love for ice cream springs from memories of what it was like to be a kid, when your toughest decision was tciding what kind of scoget. -thank you. -i love it. it's phenomenal. it's more an i ever imagined. we're celebrating my daughter's 1st birthday today, and so i'm excited to show her these pictures when she grows up and let her know that, "you went to a place that not everybody gets to go to." i think ic.cream brings happiness like, who eats ice cream and is sad? you ready? it's fun w, ther it's soft-serve u know, out of a tub or whatever. it's fun. it feels good.ve -we haeople from cultures from all over the world who are coming together and talking with somebody they probably never would have h the opportunity to speak with, and they're talking about ice cream, and they're having fun. when you see the power of human connection in such a simplified form, whi think it can bewer of hua great examplee of how would move forward as a country. -♪ got nothing in my brain ♪ that's what people say

-that does it for us. -♪ got nothing in my brain for more of our coverage, go to kqed.org/newsroom.an i'm thuy vu. you for joining us. -ready? here we go! ♪ the world promised good to me ♪ ♪ hold my life sere ♪ he will my care and comfort be ♪ ♪ as longs life endures ♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ that saved a wretch like me ♪ but now am foun d ♪ was blind but now i see ♪-t ake it away! keep going!

robert: theer gent remains shut down. i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week." >> i can't tell you when the government is going to be open. i can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence whatever they'd like to call it. robert: the government shutdown extends intos 2019 president trump and congress battle over funding for a border wall. in washington, uncertaint comes amid volatility on wall street. plus, the president makes his first trip to a combat zone and defends his decision to draw down troops in syria. >> we're not the suckers of the world. we're no longer theuckers. we're respected again as a nation. robert: we cover it all, next.