The MezzaDigesta Volume 55
The MezzaDigesta Volume 55
July 9th, 2020: On Ziwe and Stanford Athletics
Welcome to the 432-strong Digesta contingent. Nobody knows how to “flatten the curve” like your boy Joe! If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed, you don’t need to feel bad about it. Just smash that subscribe button below, baby.
A couple of things to get to this week: a longer piece at the top, some thoughts on Stanford’s decision to scale back athletics below it, and a TV show recommendation before we hit the tracklist.
Let’s ride.
Ziwe is the Captain Now
Ziwe Fumudoh ain’t here for your bullshit.
I first learned about Ziwe a little over three weeks ago. As I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across a video of her hosting an interview with a woman named Caroline Calloway. Ziwe was asking Calloway tough questions about race, and Calloway was struggling to answer them. It was hard to watch, but I also couldn’t look away.
The next week, Ziwe posted some clips from an interview she conducted with Alison Roman. As readers of the Digesta know, Roman is an endlessly fascinating person to me. I dialed the interview up.
I was immediately hooked. For the rest of the day, I went down a long and fruitful Ziwe-themed rabbit hole.
The first time I watched her interview with Roman, I was undeniably squeamish. I found myself empathizing with Roman, who was struggling under the spotlight of Ziwe’s blunt questioning. On both Twitter and Instagram, I read through the comments and recoiled at the harsh criticism Roman was taking. Her uncomfortable presence onscreen and, frankly, uncomfortable answers themselves gave the internet mob a license to yell at her and tear her down. “What is brutally canceling Alison Roman accomplishing,” I wondered.
The second time I watched, I was squeamish yet again! The directness of Ziwe’s questions bothered me. “When is the last time Alison Roman has checked up on her Black friends? Do I need to be checking up on my Black friends? Is it a responsibility for white people to be checking up on their Black friends right now? What does ‘checking up on’ even mean??” Ziwe’s questions seemed overly baity to me, designed specifically to cause problems.
So….to summarize: I, Joey Mezzatesta, a white male who considers himself to be an “ally” of Black people but has become more acutely aware of his own undeniable privilege in life since George Floyd’s brutal death, was feeling uncomfortable and not-so-subtly self conscious about the topics and questions Ziwe presented.
Hmmmm. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
Let’s take a quick step back here. Ziwe Fumudoh is a comedian and writer for the show Desus & Mero. Outside of her work for the Bodega Boys, Ziwe hosts a web series called Baited, where she asks her guests direct and challenging questions about race. She also went to Northwestern University, so I had a baked-in soft spot in my heart for her (shout out to my NU readers. Go Cats). As the conversations about race in America started to heat up in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Ziwe reimagined her show and took it to Instagram Live. Her weekly live show has gifted viewers with the Calloway and Roman interviews presented above.
As conversations about race and the topics of racial injustice and inequality in the U.S. have raged on in recent weeks, a good part of that dialogue has centered on the dialogue itself. It’s undeniably a good and long overdue thing that many white folks are encountering their privilege head on during this tense and trying time. But the fact that well-meaning people are learning more about their privilege right now and forcing themselves to grow is a form of privilege itself. It’s a privilege to just, like, learn about racism. Some of that learning and growing should probably be uncomfortable. It can’t all be done in a book club.
By bringing her Baited interviews to Instagram Live and making them reallllll up close and personal, Ziwe is simply quickening the pace for a lot of people out there. She’s honing in on the privilege of learning about race and racial issues. She’s bringing the coursework from people’s own time, in their books and on their Netflix accounts, to the top of their Instagram feeds. She’s making it uncomfortable. She’s making her guests, and by extension her viewers, squirm. It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?
By my fifth time watching Ziwe’s interview with Alison Roman, I was all in. I got enjoyment out of how flushed Roman’s skin got as Ziwe peppered her with questions. I giggled when Ziwe asked her to name 5 Asian people (“Don’t say Marie Kondo, don’t say Marie Kondo”). I relished the full onslaught of facial expressions Ziwe unleashed, as well as what I like to call the “Ziwe Lean” - or the way she leans her face all the way up against the camera at a particularly heightened moment. I didn’t need to protect Alison Roman. She knew what she had signed up for. But knowing what she signed up for didn’t mean she was ready.
Ziwe has a unique and utterly delightful way of inviting prospective guests onto her show. “You’d be an iconic guest,” she offers, encouraging targets to fall right into her trap. Take her recent invitation to J.K. Rowling, for instance:
Part of me does worry that now that Ziwe’s game is out in public, people will balk at coming onto her show. Rowling has yet to respond, for instance. Neither has George Conway. Neither has Jameela Jamil. The lights get pretty bright when Ziwe turns on her Live. How many folks will be up for the challenge?
Even still, Ziwe has already changed the game. She’s shown that if people really want to grow, or if they are as serious about bettering themselves as they claim to be, it can’t just be an easy process. It can’t just be done in a self-paced manner. It has to get a little uncomfortable.
And for that, Ziwe for damn sure has a big fan in me.
You can catch Ziwe doing the damn thing live from her Instagram on Thursdays at 8:00 pm EST (that’s tonight, for those early readers!!). This week’s guests are actor/playwright Jeremy O. Harris and comedian Dana Donnelly.
Thanks to BG and CA for their help and guidance in putting this piece together.
Stick to Sports, Stanford Will Not
In a newsworthy open letter Wednesday, Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced that the school would be cutting 11 varsity sports programs following the 2020-2021 academic year. The sports to be nixed include fencing, field hockey, rowing, sailing, wrestling, squash, synchronized swimming, and men’s volleyball.
The university cited the financial complications plaguing its sports program, which have excelled during the coronavirus pandemic.
I did not play sports while at Stanford, but I was a huge fan of the athletic program and know many friends who played the sports above. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this surprising announcement and wanted to share some of my scattered thoughts about it:
Stanford’s announcement is a massive heartbreaker for any current affected student athletes, as well as former competitors in the targeted sports. These athletes spend countless hours training, competing, and hanging out with their teammates. I can only imagine how brutal it must be to have your sport eliminated from a university’s program.
The university’s claims of financial hardship due to COVID-19 seem quite convenient and disingenuous. Stanford claimed that the athletics program was set to face a $12 million deficit in FY21 pre-pandemic, a projection that only rose to $25 million once the virus hit. Stanford’s endowment as of 2019? $27.7 billion. Financial hardship? Come on now. If they wanted to figure this out, they could figure it out.
Prior to this announcement, Stanford supported 36 varsity sports. That’s a higher number than all but one division one-level university. The average D1 program supports half of that number, only 18. Should an academically-rigorous institution like Stanford have ever had 36 sports on campus? I’m not sure.
Similarly, Stanford’s student athlete population currently represents a whopping 12% of the overall student body. Following this announcement, that number will drop to 9%. Obviously, this is bad news for rowers and fencers (well, and for the Lori Laughlins of the world). But it’s great news for close to 300 highly qualified college applicants each year.
I can only begin imagine the ripple effects that this declaration from Stanford will have throughout the college sports landscape. I’m sure that countless other universities are also losing money on their athletics. UConn eliminated four sports just two weeks ago. Stanford has now axed 11. What’s next?
Between the endless pay-for-play debate and the phenomenon of highly-talented basketball prospects forgoing the college ranks for pre-NBA professional experience, college sports was already having a reckoning on its biggest stages. This most recent news extends the reckoning to the fringes of college athletics. What’s that famous David Bowie chorus go like again?
Thanks to AG for a thoughtful discussion on this topic that helped clarify my thoughts!
The TV Show You Should be Watching
The majority of my TV-viewing during this pandemic has fallen into two categories: new, light, and entertaining (Sex Education) or old, trusted, and reliable (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm).
I May Destroy You, a new British comedy-drama from HBO, BCC, and Hulu, falls into neither of the above categories. And yet, it is my favorite new TV show of 2020 so far.
There is so much to like about the show. Michaela Cole, pictured above, is undeniably the breakout TV star of the year. She wrote, co-directed, executive produced, and stars in the show, and she’s truly magnetic. Everything I wrote above about Ziwe’s directness regarding serious issues also applies here; Destroy You pulls no punches in talking about issues like sexual assault, discrimination, and modern relationships. Though the show is serious, there are laugh-out-loud comedic moments - one particularly hilarious (and grotesque) scene in an Italian bed room cannot escape my brain. With a 30-minute episode runtime, Destroy You is not an intimidating project to tackle - you can easily get caught up in a night or two. And finally, the show has a Insecure-level soundtrack. It’s lit.
I cannot recommend I May Destroy You highly enough. Check it out!
3 Song Recs from Your Old Pal
1) Janelle Monáe - Pynk feat. Grimes
Speaking of that I May Destroy You soundtrack, here’s the song that closed out this week’s episode. I often wonder why I don’t listen to more of Janelle Monáe. Thanks in no small part to her acting proficiency, Monáe has become a bonafide star in recent years, and her music has always been on point. This track featuring Grimes is no exception.
2) Disclosure - My High feat. Aminé and slowthai
Is Disclosure back? People are asking. Following their breakout album, Settle, in 2013, Disclosure’s career hasn’t been quite as steady as I thought it would be. In my opinion, their second album Caracal was a bit of a letdown. However, I’m definitely getting excited for their upcoming full length. The early singles have been super promising. Here’s a fun one, the group’s latest track featuring Aminé and slowthai.
3) André 3000 - A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)
Around this time last year, I threw out a song that featured OutKast in my July 4th-themed newsletter. Thanks to reader EB, who sent me this article, I’ve spent a large chunk of this week dutifully researching the outrageous talents of one-half of OutKast, André 3000. While he’s widely respected as one of the top 10 rappers of all time, Dré actually might be underrated due to the fact that OutKast hasn’t put out a record since 2006’s Idlewild. Here is my new favorite of the songs I looked up this week, a 5-minute song of pure rapping with no chorus that showcases André’s lyrical dexterity.
Alright everyone. Thanks for saddling up for another one. Until next time.
Joey