W. Kamau Bell’s Animated ‘Talk Boring to Me’ Examines Much of What Ails the U.S.

Noted political commentator and comedian W. Kamau Bell and Jacob Kornbluth have just released Talk Boring to Me, their thought-provoking six-episode animated YouTube series that examines important social issues facing the U.S.  Bell, for those who don’t know, is the host and executive producer of the Emmy Award winning CNN docu-series, United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell.

Employing a simple, direct, easy-to-digest format, the Talk Boring to Me series deftly leverage Bell’s trademark humor into teachable moments. The entire series is now available now on Bell’s YouTube channel. They’re potent, smartly written and crisply designed to communicate some less than pleasant “truths” that for many, can be hard to accept; we’ve shared one of our favorites below, which aptly describes the historic “con” in the American dream, today being foisted upon workers with just a few clicks from the app-enabled “Gig Economy.”

In addition to taking on topical social issues, each of the 4-5-minute shorts offers a call-to-action for viewers to take note and get involved with that organization’s efforts to affect change. Here’s a breakdown of the series, including links to the organizations involved in each short:

• The Census explains the importance of counting Americans and the impact it has on, well, everything. Fair Count was founded by Stacey Abrams to ensure that hard-to-count populations are tallied during the 2020 U.S. Census, which will shape how taxpayer dollars are spent and trigger the redrawing of the state’s political maps.
• Food is bountiful in the U.S., but the rise of agribusiness has hit the farming community hard and has given rise to massive food insecurity nationwide. Feeding America is on a mission to help millions of people facing hunger and to reduce food waste.
• Public Education exposes the economic reasons for educational inequity and what can be done to fix a broken system. DonorsChoose empowers public school teachers from across the country to request much-needed materials and experiences for their students.
• Gig Economy tracks the con of the gig economy and the myth of the side hustle as getting ahead. Get the real scoop about worker’s rights from Gig Workers Rising and National Domestic Workers Alliance.
• Asylum reminds us of the (forgotten) principles of America as a place of refuge for those fleeing oppression and persecution. The ACLU’s whole job is to defend and preserve human rights and thankfully they are active and on it right now.
• Homelessness is oftentimes attributed to mental illness or drug addiction, but it’s deeper than that and all comes down to math. Western Regional Advocacy Project exposes and eliminates the root causes of civil and human rights abuses of people experiencing poverty and homelessness in our communities and Nationalhomeless.org is building a movement to end homelessness.

Talk Boring to Me is a Jacob Kornbluth Production, visualized by Idle Hands Studios, written by Kornbluth and Bell, presented by Bell, produced by Bell, Kelly Rafferty, Lisa Kleiner Chanoff, and Elena Chavez Quesada, with music by Strikecast Audio. The series is funded by the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and the Chavez Family Foundation.

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.