One of the major problems with modern conversations about race is that people rarely sit down to have an actual conversation about race. Even in the era of social media, when we’re more connected than ever, most of what we do is respond instead of listen. There’s seldom back and forth, just increasingly first draft ideas based on initial emotional responses. That’s why Yedoye Travis’s racial debate podcast Dark Tank has found a constant home in my weekly podcast rotation.
Launched in the summer of 2018 and loosely based on the similarly named reality show, Dark Tank features a panel of comedians of color listening to pitches from white performers aimed at fixing racism. The results are predictably awkward, and just as often blisteringly funny. But the magic of Dark Tank comes after the pitches, when the panel, Travis, and his white “gentripreneurs” talk out each idea.
What often start as laugh out loud absurd ideas about fixing the blind spots of racism…
