![]() ![]() Report and plugged Obamacare on Between Two Ferns, seemingly trying to reach a wider and younger audience. Rather than just repeatedly touring the studios of Meet the Press and This Week, the President has slow-jammed the news on The Tonight Show, showed up on Bill Simmons’ sports-centric B.S. You’re not pretending to be fearless … that’s such a liberating feeling.” Obama’s appearance underlined his foray into offbeat media spheres as his presidency winds down. Having served one-and-a-half of his two terms in office, Obama said, “I know what I’m doing, and I’m fearless. ![]() But his appearance on WTF underlined his foray into more offbeat media spheres as his presidency winds down, and he acknowledged his shift in mindset as his talk with Maron came to a close. It’s easy to imagine that, earlier in his presidency, Obama might have canceled a seemingly frivolous interview appearance during a sensitive moment for the nation. While focusing on a single word might miss the forest for the trees, Obama’s frankness was still notable, particularly two days after the attack in Charleston. “It is incontrovertible that race relations have improved significantly during my lifetime and yours.” “I always tell young people, in particular, do not say that nothing has changed when it comes to race in America, unless you've lived through being a black man in the 1950s or ‘60s or ‘70s,” Obama said. The setting gave the president a chance to ruminate without having to respect the familiar boundary of the day’s talking points. Obama’s remarks didn’t come off as pithy, nor as some shocking move intended to prove a point, but rather felt like a byproduct of Maron’s relaxed interview environment. It was quickly noted as his first public use of the racial slur, prompting rapid pundit debates that perhaps underlined his point: that the primary manifestation of racism isn't merely impolite public discourse, as America wrestles with the profound tragedy in Charleston. Societies don’t overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 or 300 years prior,” he said. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. ![]() That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. And it’s not just a matter of not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public. The most widely highlighted aspect of the interview was the President’s blunt language in talking about the country’s legacy of racism and its sometimes-superficial standards of progress. Obama’s interview with Maron retained WTF’s characteristic informality, allowing the President to bring a little more candor to topics he’s wrangled with since taking office. The show typically features other comedians, so when President Obama dropped by, he made for an atypical guest ( Maron talked about the intense security measures that come with a visit from POTUS, down to the snipers perched on the garage roof.) But unconventional interviews seem to be the president’s favorite kind-he’s spent time with Zach Galifianakis on the satirical web series Between Two Ferns, and even switched roles when he grilled David Simon about The Wire and incarceration rates at the White House earlier this year. Psychics Who Hear Voices Could Be On to Something Joseph Frankel
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