♪ -next, a "kqed newsroom" special on the arts. -♪ his love -sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute, intermissionless play to kick somebody out of their 40-hour workweek. -an entertainer's take on american history and a world-renowned artist tapping the global refugee crisis. -you know, they all have families, have children, and we cannot pretend we are naive on those issues. ed -plus the joy sep by the coolest museum in town focused on something sweet. -when you see the power of human connection in such a simplified form, i think it can be a great examplee of howould move forward as a country. -hello. i'm thuy vu. welcome to a special edition of "kqed newsroom"ar abou and culture. on this program, we're revisiting stories abofrom our archives with innovative and influential figures in film, the performing arts, and visual culture. we begininith the role of comedy oday's political climate.

from immigration policy to health care to the economy, there's a lot going on in politics. er that means plenty of ml for comedians like roy wood jr. he's a correspondent on comedy central's "the daily show." kqed's sheraz sadiq cauge up with him while hs in town for the comedy festival colossal clusterfest. they met at an interactive exhibit showcasingid prest trump's love of twitter. -so, where are we today? -this is the donald j. trump presidential twitter library. everybody at "the daily show," we sat around, and we started loing in closer at the president's tweets over the last couple years. l everyone in our digipartment started looking at ones, and you start noticingcer. there's a lot of tweets where he's arguing with celebrities. there's a lot of tweets where he's trying to enr there's a lot of contradictions. there's stuff about policy.u so when yoally 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 felte ike the best way to gople the experience of walking through the brain of our commander-in-chief p is to ju it all on the wall. this is all the people he's argued and talked trash about talked trash about jeb bush, talked trash about robert pattinson. over here, those are the verified survivors.os the are people that he's talked trash about, but somehow, they still persevere. and i'm not sure whether you leave this libra fenting better about the coury or more horrified, but you'll definitely feel something. -are black people too sensitive about racism? -one of the themes you frequently return to on "the daily show" as a correspondent is the issue of race relations. on "how did growing up in the deep southt in birmingham, alabama, influence how you tackle the issue of race? -i tacnk a lot of our views e as adults are shaped when we're young, but i think the important thing my parents gave me was a loof 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 the n-word. i've been harassed.

i wo bt dare act like what i'n through compares to wgot a lot of people have 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 imptant to make sure that i shine a light on the stuff where a lot of peoyou kno, in the corners of americae, 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 tell those stories.at a-roy, you're therspondent onof a toddler. what will you tell your son when he's older o about what it's like tbe a black man in america? -my son has to understand that being black is a gift d 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 esout the birds and the be to me, the big talk is how to deal with the police it's something that i thinkn about all the time, man,

because, you know, being black is a job sometimes, and my sons as got to know that h the clock 24/7. we heard about t d march for our lives ., but there was another rch going downwa all the y out in helena, montana, and out here at this march, people were taking a stand for the real victims of gun violence, guns. -for "the daily show," when the march for our lives rally was taking place to protest gun violence in schoolse you re actually at a pro-gun rally in montana. what did that experience teach yoabout people who oppose gun restriction? -there are a lot of people who oppose gun restriction who are levelheaded. everybody thinks that someone just because they want the second amendment that tu and 12 "rambo" bazookas in their back pocket, d they're all lunatics. there were a lot of levelheaded people w the just making arguments for wanting their guns, and i think that the problem i thatly hear the extremes in one another, and i was very happy that i went to the pro-gun rally and had the opportunity to talk to these people. now don't get me wrong.

there are a lot of people who are pro-gun who, in my opinioare out t. anytime su think a kid that gt at at a high school is a paid actor, there , something wrong with yriod. but the problem is that people who will call a parkland kid a crisis actor overshadow the levelheaded people who got tiptoe into legislation. i'm open to legislation.fi let're out a way to legislate this without ite etting out of hand beca 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 difficult subjects such as racism and gun violence through comedy? is there a risk, f example, of belittling these issues by finding humor in them? t -the joke is never issue. the joke is on the argument and the prevention of it.er we would nell a joke about someone getting shot, but the joke is on, "how do we keep this from happening, and who are the people that are keeping this from happening again?" and i think that's where the humor is, and i think if we can laugh about it, you're more willing to talk about it, and if you're willing to talk about it,

so i feel like the jokes have to happen. -how do you decide which stories to coverow on "the daily -"the daily show," that's a whole nother world. like, we'll look at the news, and we'll try 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 what issues are important to us, you know? there's issues where it may not be nional news. i covered a story about some stuff that's happening on the mississippi river with a boondoggle wine the army corps of ens, not a big news story, but it's something that affected people. it's something that economically was ruining the country, and thankfully right before president obama got out of office, he changed it. i like to believe that my story is the reasothat i beat... you're welcome, missouri. that's what i tell myself at night before i go to bed. -roy, thank you so much. -yeah. -it was great talking to you. thank you. -now to cabaret, where a daring show has been examining american history through some of this country's most popular songs. -♪ i jumped in a river titled "a 24-decade history of popular mic,"

the show has been shining a light on everything from slavery to gay activism. kqed's chloe veltman sat down with drag artist and stockton native taylor mac. -well, here we are onto the stage sat the curran theatre francisco. i'm here with taylor mac, the creator of the show, the chief performer, and his co-creator, costume designer, machine dazzle. thank you both for being here. it's great to get a chance to chat with you here in the costume shop as all this stuff is going on. -thank y-oh, yes, thank. -♪ i once was lost m ♪ but nowund -so, your show tells the history of the united states of america in 246 songs, and it all begins with a smashing,us ball-bting rendition of "amazing grace." -♪ as long as life endures -why that song? -i wanted to set up this kind of concept that we're here to worship the act of creation, not the creator, so we take that song, and we talk about grace, that we're here to worship the act of creation,

and what icrgrace to me is the ation. -♪ it's love and love alone -and what inspired you to tell the history of this country through song? -i wanted to use a form th best represented how you use kind of imperfection asi think of classical music as, you know, you're reaching for the hem of god. you're reaching for perfectionn you're strfor virtuosity, and a popular song s isomething that is reaching the people. ♪ it's reaching them in order to rally them to a cause, to celograte together, to mournher. -and you guys also tell the history of this country throh costume. -♪ he cursed us with a congress ♪ -i like to look at what was happening at the te, you know, "what was new at the time? what were people doing? what was invented at the time?" these are the opening shoes. and just, like, turn those ideas and those inventions into costumes.

myas weird as it sounds,d m, is redesigning backstage, like, during the show. -on the fly? -i always need to add things and change things. now that's a shoe. ♪ and change things. one of my favorite costumes that i've made for taylor ever is the crazy jane costume. -[ gargling ] ♪ i jumped in a river -crazy jane has 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. she has her toiletries in there. she has her bedroom objet in there. -so, wearing a barre not to mention heels high heels for 24 hours... -sometimes women 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 heels? i could never wear heels like that," and i always say, "well, for you, it's oppression, but for me, it's liberation."le

♪ he'ing for i mean, i get to wear this art ...this ritual. and it's not just costuming. you know, they'rlittle art pieces, so the fact that you get to bring your own personal art into somebody else's art, and they get to commingle and make something bigger thiz both together is eneg. -and have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction? -no. -anit is the geniushad of performance art.tion? there is no failure. -yeah. we don't call them malfunctions. we call them, you know, not acts of... -opportunity. -opportunity. not acts of god, acts of the goddess. [ cheers and applause ] -the point is tone more day to stay ♪. ♪e and, in fact, the ow was inspired by the very first aids walk in s francisco. -which you were at. -which i went to when i was 14 years old, and it was the first time i'd ever seen an out homexual,

and it was thousands of them all at the same time.st it was the fime 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,ed i wao make a metaphorical representation of that event. now you can use your pillows as shields if you want to. -why are your perfornces so long? -[ laughs ] well, sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute,is inteonless play to kick somebody out of their 40-hour workweek.yo -okay, so ev, you understand how it goes? let's do it. i think that there'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 puteople through it. -well, thank you very much taylor mac and machine dazzle for joining me today. li-thank you so much, , really, for having us. -thank you.

-chinese dissident and artist ai weiwei has lo h been a vocal critic of own country's government. in his latest film, "human flow," he addresses the global refugee crisis and says countries around the world should be held accountable. kqed's monica lam spoke with ai weiweiwh en he was in san francisco. -your film "human flow" en he wadocuments massive human migration san francisco. due to war, violence, disastery what d learn from making this film? -what i have learned is very simple. among the 65 million refugees, there's no single one is willing to leave their home. they all struggle not to leave. it's very heavy price they have to pay. their relatives, friends, or whole village vanished by war, by famine, or environmental problems.ni d states president donald trump has cut in half, in fact, mere than half the numbf refugees

allowed in this country. what is your reaction to that? -i think that this current administration,y what td is beyond belief. -more than ever, we nd the wall. we have drugs pouring through. ha -i should say it's a for a nation like united states, which is the most powerful, not only leading in the economics but should be strongest nation in defending human rights. after all, u.s. is a nation of immiants. just a few generations ago, we all come fromomewhere. -absolutely. -i never met a native here.it i mean, to limomebody'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. eiorer you go voluntarily e arrest you." -a lot of your work takes aim right at the heart of power, the chinese government, corruption,

and here at alcatraz, the prison system. do you think those in powe 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 then leave us no choicepart to make our sound to be heard. -do you think you're encouraging those in power ng to change or just makihem look like fools, or is it the same thing? -i think we have to consider they also human beings, of course. you know, we talk about the issues, really,

to everybody, you know they all have families, have children, and it's differe 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 his loved ones. he's really speaking from his heart just as an individual person. and he's lost many of his loved ones. for people watche 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 extremely dangerous weapons to dangerous lations.

big profit areade by united states or european leading nations, and we cannot pretend we are naive on those issues. -you call yoursest an artist and activi do you also see yourse as a journalist? -i have a journalist card to interview people,becausen often i have to have something protect me, ask really tough questions,also, and, you know, to trying to get some facts out. -thank you very much, ai weiwei. -thank you. -in e world of entertainment comedian and writer hari kondabolu is no stranger to addressing tough topics like race and ethnicity. un he takes on the longng cartoon series "the simpsons" in his documentary titled, "the problem with apu." it explores how an indian convenience store ownerrs cao stereotypes.

-the problem is we didn't have any other representation and that other dudey. no "that from 'heroes'on 'lost' and that dude that's in the apu documentary," no politicians or reporters ak and no whatever deep chopra is. this is all we had.d apu reflecte how america viewed us -- servile, devious, goofy. -and joining me now is hari kondabolu. so nice to have you here. -thanks for having me. -"the simpsons" was one of your favorite tv shows as a kid, and yet you were so frustrate. why? -apu is a convenience store owner, very one-dimensional, stereotypical, and at that time, soat's the only depictionh , specifically indian-americans. like, we didn't have anything else, and initially we were... usthink i was excited bewe had something. when you have nothing, you're excited about anything,

but as i got older, i realized, "oh, this is all we have, and this is how my parents are depicted," and this is... it's such a narrow way to be seen.nt -was it the ac because a white actor, hank the accent is deficent. 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 toliis indianness or what, , the white writers and executives thought indianness was. -you were taking on... or you are taking on a well-loved tv show and taking on the question apu in relation to identity politics, so what was your process in decidinghow to preseu in a way tha-sure.d make sense ai 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 influenceduc soof the conversation of the country. i mean, it was a very important show,a

soalready 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, -what was the impact, i think it shaped our identity. bathere was a certain assment 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't fit. we have to fight against this constany." i mean, i think those early childhood experiences always shape you, and that waspei think, a thing that sa lot of us. -but yet, there's a moment in your film where you interview your 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. me -right. , i think my mom said that it's not that she wasn't offended. it was that,ike, you know, it wasn't something she really worried about. you know, when you're coming to this untry, it wasn't something and the stakes are so high,t. 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 was born in this country,r

up in this country, there's a certain entitlement that i think i rightfully have to expect e same as everyone else. my parents have now lived in america longer than they've lived in india. this is home, and i thinnt they have that entitle more now than they did before. they didn't eveno now if they were goingay for the long-term, so, i mean, i feel like that's a big difference. t i expebe treated the way everyone else is treated. -and you don't do accents in your comedy anymore. -no. -is that part of that thinking? -yeah.r i mean, i think ,ymore. i did accents when i was 17, and i knew it would work because of "the simpsons." i knew that that accent would work, and as a young comedian, i just wanted to make sure there wasn't silence, that i was filling that with laughter, but as i got older, and particularly after 9/11, i realized the impact representation 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 public and showing a broad range 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 that you did a few years ago for "totally biased with w. kamau bell."ou ere -- 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, is a little different because it's an -depth look at a particular topic, but my stand-up, at the end of the day, it h to make people laugh, and i'm not going to say something that is, even if it's thoughtful, that doesn'take people laugh because why would people listen to me? i mean, stand-up's sisength is that peoplen because there's the promise of laughter, so, i mean, an activist goal iso push an issue and to get it as far as they can and to try to make progress, whether it's legislatively 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 gotten a made-for-milleusials makeover at them of ice cream. the traveling museum in downtown san ancisco

allows visitors of all ages to indulge their sweet tooth and love of selfies. kqed's sheraz sadiq has the scoop. s -we wanted to createce that brought people together. this is a spacthat is . it's a safe space. it's empowering, and ice cream is such a beloved treat that it just felt like the perfect combination. -this iwhere the artwork museum is behind plates of glass. here, the artwork is meant to be touched and interacted with. why did you take succh an unconventional appr to the design of your museum?i -welind that museums can be a little bit isolating, right? there's this sense that you can't touch anything or you're going 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, sso we wanted to create ace where people could really be their authenc selves. they could laugh. they could have fun. c theyld tough something, and nothing would break. it's flipping this concept of the traditional museu on its head. -it's also a museum that's tailor-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 snapchat or facebook that led the aesthetic design behind this. rire so, this sense of cap the moment and what can we do from a design perspective that really allowed people to transport back, and we feel that the more visual the space is, p the moeople are able to do so.-s cheese. -the museum of ice cream features nine different themed rooms, including a gummy-bear gardenn rock-candy cave,the ma. different themed rooms, -wow. -...a swimming pool filled with plastic sprinkles. -raining sprinkles! there'rajust something so theutic, and really, they do... we made sure they would look as real as they do. they look like real sprinkles. -how many sprinkles are in this thing, roughly? es -100 million sprinkl -wow. after using an air hose to remove all the sprinkles sticking to my clothes, madison took me to meet grant, a gold-horned unicorn standini

-my favorite room here is our rainbow room. it's an homage to san francisch fopride and inclusivity and diversity that this city has fostered and createdxi for its entireence. inclusivity and making sure that all people 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, even after a makeover for millennials. i -what you hafront of you here is gingersnap-flavored ice cream with a gin wrbread crumble on toph some sprinkles, and then we're going to add this lovely strawberry-basil sauce. -we want to make sure that the city feels thatboe are working in coltion 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 at the museum of ice cream. -that is the bomb. -yeah.

-that is the answer you want. -yeah. -that's it. m,-at the museum of ice cr you won't encounter artwork that's overtly political, but you can still express your opinion, a evolitical one, in the message statement room. -we wanted to create a space where people could take their emotions and how they felt and make a statement on the walls. we believe that this is an equalizing space.rt it's an oppounity for you to fthat maybe is political,andy or maybe is socially oriented, feel free to say it. -madison, what does ice cream mean to you? what memories does it evoke? -when i think about it, it just brings me back to my childhood. i think of being a kid and sitting in my house and hearing the ice-cream truck go o and the excitement, the exhilaration i got from running outside and catching that truck to get my ice cream.al i so associate it with my first memories of having autonomy. i remember my parents being like, "here is5. go out and get the ice cream by yourself." thert,s just something with t that level of independence, i just greatly

associate with ice cream. -♪ haters going to hate, 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 deciding what kind of scoop to get. -thank you. -i love it. wit'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 grows up and let her know that, "you went to a place that not everybody gets to go to." i think ice cream brings 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. g it's fun. it feelsood. -we have people from cultures from all over the world d o are coming together talking with somebody they probably never would have had the opportunity to speak with, and they're talking y'out ice cream, and t having fun. when you see the power of human connection in such a simplified form, i think it can be a eat example of how we should move forward as a country. -♪ got nothing in my brain ♪ that's what pple say -that does it for us.

for more of our coveragego . i'm thuy vu. thanhere we go!oining us. -? ♪ the world promised good to me ♪ ♪ hold my life secure m ♪ he care and comfort be ♪ ♪ as long as life endures ♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ that savea wretch like me ♪ i once was lost ound ♪ but now am found ♪ was blind but now i see -take it away! keep going

captioning sponsoredy wnet >> stewart: on this edition for sunday, december 30: the countdown to the new year begins as washington prepares for a reboot in the midst of a stalemate. in our signature segment, california's highest ranking o muslim judfaith and professional success. and a look back at some of our stories from this next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: .bernard and irene schwar sue and edgar wachenheim ilv. seton . the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america--