Baratunde Thurston

Baratunde Rafiq Thurston (; born September 11, 1977) is an American writer, comedian, and commentator. Thurston co-founded the black political blo
Jack and Jill Politics
whose coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention was archived in the Library of Congress, and was director of digital for The Onion. In 2012, his book ''How to be Black'' became a ''New York Times'' bestseller.

Early life and education

Thurston was born in Washington, D.C. He grew up at the intersection of 14th and Newton Streets in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington. His father was killed when he was young and his mother worked in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He has an older sister. In junior high, his mother and he moved to a suburban black neighborhood in Maryland. Thurston was educated at the Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University where he graduated with a degree in Philosophy.

Career

As part of ''Laughing Liberally'', Thurston emceed the YearlyKos convention in 2006 and also appeared in 2007.

Thurston has contributed to ''HuffPost'' and the '' Weekly Dig''. More recently, Thurston has become a semi-regular panelist on the podcast ''This Week in Tech'' with Leo Laporte.

Thurston began hosting the Popular Science's Future Of television show on the Science Channel in August 2009.

Thurston was the Director of Digital at ''The Onion'', until May 2012, and co-founded the black political blog ''JackAndJillPolitics.com''. The name of the blog builds on the name of the African American children's social organization, Jack and Jill of America."Baratunde Thurston Explains 'How To Be Black'"
interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, NPR, February 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-01.

His fourth book, entitled '' How to Be Black'' (HarperCollins ) was released on February 1, 2012, the first day of Black History Month, and is described as incorporating "satirical self-help" along with personal memoir, subjects from gardening to computers, and is "a practical guidebook for anyone looking to befriend or work with a black person, become the next black president or challenge anyone who says they speak for all black people."

On August 27, 2015, ''The Daily Show with Trevor Noah'' announced that Thurston had been named supervising producer, overseeing original digital content.

On June 23, 2020, Thurston announced his podcast, ''We're Having A Moment''.

He began hosting a six-part travelogue series on PBS called ''America Outdoors'' in July 2022.

Books

*''Better than Crying: Poking Fun at Politics, the Press & Pop Culture'' (2004)
* ''Keep Jerry Falwell Away from My Oreo Cookies'' (2005)
* ''Thank You Congressional Pages (For Being So Damn Sexy!)'' (2006)
* ''How to be Black'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Baratunde Thurston on The Young TurksBaratunde makes an appearance in ''The Onion''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, Baratunde
1977 births
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
African-American bloggers
African-American male comedians
American male comedians
African-American non-fiction writers
American autobiographers
American male bloggers
American bloggers
American political blogs
American satirists
American web producers
Comedians from Washington, D.C.
Harvard University alumni
Living people
The Onion people
Writers from Washington, D.C.
21st-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American people