In this week's episode, Lewis remembers his friend Bruce MacVittie, an accomplished stage and screen actor who passed away earlier this month. Lewis met Bruce through their work with 52nd Street Project, a community-based arts organization that brings NYC tweens and teens together with professional artists to create a variety of works of art. Aside from working with the kids, there was also some time for the adults to share a glass of wine or two. During these tastings Lewis came to appreciate wine and learned from Bruce to ask a critical question: do you like the taste for the price? Bruce will be deeply missed, so raise a glass for this consummate artist, and check out an exemplary example of his work, the episode of “Homicide: Life on the Street” from season 6 called “The Subway”: https://youtu.be/qhplAN8ie2w

The news this week somehow reached new tiers of horrible, with events happening too fast to contemplate. There are massive problems in the country, from multiple plagues to active shooters to food shortages to sinister challenges to personal autonomy, so that nowhere feels safe and circumstances feel beyond anyone’s control. One way to regain some sense of security is to actively address the sources of these issues by learning and teaching the history they stem from. To ignore the mistakes of the past not only allows them to repeat, it allows the associated trauma of those mistakes to pass on to future generations.

In happier news, Lewis filmed his latest special on May 15th on Long Island and is grateful to everyone who came out to see it and for the level of energy and excitement they brought to the taping. It was inspiring. And Lewis got to see his mom again this week, a good reminder to reach out to those you love because on personal, community, and national levels, it’s time to take care of each other.

The live rants come from one of Lewis’ favorite venues, the Warner Theater in Washington DC on May 6, 2020.

Reminder: we now have a prize for the best rant submission of the week: a subscription for cheeses from Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont (https://www.youtube.com/JasperHillFarm).

Want to see Lewis live? Tickets are available here:

https://www.lewisblack.com/tickets

Check out Lewis’ Grammy-nominated special, Thanks For Risking Your Life

https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/LewisWE

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New episodes arrive every Wednesday.

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