Ep. 111 - Comedy and Code - Part I (Baratunde Thurston)
Baratunde Thurston’s made a career of blending tech, comedy, and politics. He shares why he started in computer science but ended with a philosophy degree, how satirical apps are tech’s art-form, and how Comedy Hack Day creates unique coding experiences.
Baratunde Thurston’s made a career of combining tech, comedy, and politics. From launching Comedy Hack Day to his recent role as the Daily Show’s first Supervising Producer for Digital Expansion, he’s found innovative ways to use code as a tool for satire, entertainment, and activism. In part I of our interview, he tells us why he started as a computer science major but ended with a philosophy degree instead, how he sees satirical apps as technology’s art-form, and how projects like Comedy Hack Day bring people together for a unique, and highly entertaining, coding experience.
Show Links
- TwilioQuest (sponsor)
- DevDiscuss (sponsor)
- DevNews (sponsor)
- Career Karma (sponsor)
- Cockroach Labs (sponsor)
- NPR Fact Check
- Denial of Service attack
- NY Tech Meetup
- Cultivated Wit
- Black Girls Code
- Comedy Hack Day
- Codeland Conf
- Codeland 2019
Baratunde Thurston
Baratunde Thurston is a futurist comedian, writer, and activist who wrote the New York Times best-seller How To Be Black and has been an executive at both The Onion and The Daily Show. He currently operates as an independent rabble rouser, hosts the Comedy Hack Day event series and is a correspondent with NatGeo’s Explorer series. Photo courtesy of Stuart Tracte.