Lena Waithe shares why her least favorite thing is being wrong.
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Lena Waithe shares why her least favorite thing is being wrong.
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A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin:
Lena Waithe knows what she wants. She wants people to look outside of their own lives to try to understand other people and the choices they make. Her TV shows and films are these powerful little empathy engines.
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Waithe became the first Black woman ever to win an Emmy for comedy writing on the show Master of None. She’s also the creator of the comedy series Boomerang and Twenties. She wrote the film Queen & Slim and was a producer on the movie Dear White People.
But for me, Waithe’s real triumph is The Chi. The show takes place where she grew up on the south side of Chicago. It’s about Black people living at the margins of society with little to no room for error. It is also about family and loyalty and joy. I love this show because every character is given their full humanity. You cannot put anyone in a tidy column of good or bad or say, “This person is worthy of respect and this person’s not.” People are complicated, beautiful and broken, and Waithe doesn’t want you to look away because if you do, you’re going to miss the truth that she’s putting out into the world – which is that judging people is harder when you start to understand them.
The trailer for season 6 of The Chi.
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This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests randomly-selected questions from a deck of cards. Tap play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.
Question 1: When did you feel like you found your people?
Lena Waithe: Michael Svoboda – who was a writer’s PA on The Game when I was an assistant at Girlfriends – he and I just really vibed. And he was just like, “Yo, I got a writer’s group that I do where we sit and write original pilots that we’re working on to kind of help us get some stuff done.” And I walked into that writer’s group and I just like found all these amazing people that I’m still tight with today.
Rachel Martin: Tell me how that jibes with your hometown Chicago and your experience there, because it sounds like your people were writers. Did you not have that in some way in Chicago?
Waithe: I was a bit of an oddball in Chicago because I was obsessed with TV, obsessed with movies. Like, people go to the movies and watch TV shows – it’s a pastime. And I think my family could tell it was more than that for me – I would be just enthralled by it and be thinking about it.
Like, I have like a Wizard of Oz tattoo. I have Judy Garland. I have the lion. I have the scarecrow. I have all of it, because that movie was more than a movie for me. It was almost like a Bible to life.
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It’s like – you always think there’s something out there that’s better than where you’re at right now. But the truth is, when you go out there and get to the Emerald City and meet the wizard, you realize it’s not really what you thought it was. And then all you long for when you’re in the Emerald City is to go where?
Martin: Home.
Waithe: Exactly. And it’s a lesson none of us really learn, still. You know, we still are trying to go, like, “I gotta get to the Wizard – if I could just get to the Emerald City, everything will be fine.”
And then you get there, you’re just like, “I’m still not fine.” And so I think the big reason why Wizard of Oz is such a religion and a reminder for me is that there is no Emerald City that will feel like home.
Martin: Was that sad for you? Was there a grief attached to that?
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Waithe: No, it helped me to slow down. Because the truth is, there’s always something you want. And that’s fine, you know, you need that thing to make you want to go. But you got to remember that it’ll be nice if it happens. It’ll be cool. But you don’t want it to be a thing that, if you don’t get it, you can’t find happiness.
Question 2: What makes you irrationally defensive?
Waithe: Irrationally defensive? (laughs) Oh my gosh.
I don’t like to be wrong. My least favorite thing is getting something wrong. And that can be in many ways, you know, it’d be a relationship, you know, some trivia, you know what I mean?
Martin: I love that those were in the same breath..
Waithe: I know it’s like relationship, like Taboo, you know what I mean? I’m not good at not being good at things. So I can get defensive when I’m not like succeeding at something.
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Martin: When’s the last time you were wrong about something?
Waithe: Oh, recently. I thought a particular actress was in Game of Thrones. And she wasn’t, and I was so ticked because I was like, “Are you sure that’s not her?” And I looked it up too. I was like, “Let me see, let me see!”
Martin: Right, of course! Because you believed with every fiber of your being that she was in Game of Thrones.
Waithe: I really did. That’s what I’m saying. Like, I was so not happy about that in that moment because I never get that stuff wrong, but it’s okay.
Martin: We’re going to forget you were wrong about that one. No one has to know.
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Waithe: Now everybody knows.
Question 3: What’s your best defense against despair?
Waithe: Ooooooh. I love this Baldwin quote. He says to Nikki Giovanni in a beautiful conversation that they’re having where she thinks she’s a pessimist. And he says, “No, you’re a realist. You’re cool, but you’re not a pessimist.” He’s like, “Because you’re alive.” And I think my biggest defense against despair is the fact that I’m alive. Is that I’m here. And even though it can feel like a curse, it is the greatest gift to be Earthside at this time.
And you can’t run away from despair. You can try. I love that Solange song, “Cranes in the Sky,” because it’s all about ways in which we try to run away. So you can try to shop it away, smoke it away, you know, like sex away. You can’t.
The music video for Solange Knowles’ song “Cranes in the Sky.”
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Martin: So in the particular, when it has come for you, do you just sit there and like say an affirmation? Like, “I’m alive?” You look in the mirror, you pinch yourself like…
Waithe: No, I’m a sleeper. I’ll try to sleep it away. I try to watch The Comeback, you know, which is my favorite go-to.
Martin: Really? That brings you back from the brinks of despair?
Waithe: No, it just reminds me of a character that is so flawed. But yet, I love and root for so much. Like, Valerie Cherish is a game changing character for me. When I watch that show, I can’t help but look at Valerie Cherish and go, “Alright. I’m alright, I’m okay, I’ll be alright,” You know – that character and that show, The Comeback, ladies and gentlemen, go find it.
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Martin: Despair beware!
Waithe: When you are in despair, go watch the first season of The Comeback, okay? And you will be like, “What am I experiencing? And I feel better now cause I’m laughing and also like completely have secondhand embarrassment.”
Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
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President Trump continues to suggest that the U.S. will have a lengthy and active role in Venezuela after capturing the ousted president Nicolás Maduro. Trump has proposed several plans for Venezuela’s future government and economy. In those proposals, U.S. companies are expected to play a key role.
President Trump dances as he departs after speaking during a House Republican retreat at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. House Republicans will discuss their 2026 legislative agenda at the meeting.
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🎧 Trump and his aides are unclear about the future of Venezuela, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. When the president says the U.S. will run the country, many eyes are on Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller, known for his stringent immigration policies, is one of the U.S. officials overseeing Venezuela. Ordoñez also says Miller has more recently described ruling over the hemisphere by force.
➡️ Last night, Trump posted on social media that Venezuela will turn over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S. While seizing current oil production is one thing, overhauling Venezuela’s oil industry requires a far greater effort. Here’s why.
While meeting with House Republicans yesterday, Trump attempted to offer his party a roadmap to victory in this year’s midterm elections. The president acknowledged the possibility of his party losing the majority in the House this year. Trump said in his speech that the president’s party often loses the midterms.
🎧 NPR’s Domenico Montanaro says that while it’s true the midterms are hard on the president’s party, it is even worse when a president’s approval rating is below 50%.Trump is facing his lowest second-term approval ratings, largely due to the rising cost of living. During yesterday’s speech, the president didn’t offer much on the topic. When he did discuss the economy, it was about how the stock market is at historic highs. He also touted his tariffs, which have actively raised prices on many things. People have informed pollsters for months that they believe the president’s policies have harmed the economy. Montanaro says one area where Trump and Republicans could take action is legislation on health care.
The Pentagon is preparing a six-month review to evaluate what it calls the military “effectiveness” of women serving in ground combat roles. Undersecretary Anthony Tata requested that the Army and Marine Corps submit data on the readiness, training, performance, casualties and command climate of ground combat units and personnel by Jan. 15. The effort aims to determine how gender integration has influenced operational success over the last decade.
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Trump has tried to bury the truth of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. NPR built a visual archive of the attack on the Capitol, showing exactly what happened through the lenses of the people who were there. “Chapter 3: Assault on the Capitol,” lays out the timeline of key moments throughout the day as the riot unfolded.
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On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Trump held a “Save America” rally at the Ellipse, a site near the White House and U.S. Capitol. Multiple speakers promoted voter fraud myths and urged Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election. Meanwhile, a group of 200 Proud Boys marched toward the Capitol. Before Trump’s speech ended, violence erupted on Capitol grounds. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “was the most videotaped crime in American history, if not world history,” according to Greg Rosen, a former federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department unit that investigated the riot. But conspiracy theories still falsely label the assault a “normal tourist visit.” NPR’s review of thousands of court videos shows rioters assaulting officers with weapons, calling for executions and looting the building. These videos show the exact timing of events as they occurred. Corresponding maps show the locations where the conflict took place.
To learn more, explore NPR’s database of federal criminal cases from Jan. 6. You can also see more of NPR’s reporting on the topic.
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The tin soldier, a marionette puppet made by Nicolas Coppola and the main character in “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” show at Puppetworks.
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For more than 30 years, Puppetworks has staged classics like The Tortoise and the Hare, Pinocchio, Aladdin and more in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. Every weekend, children gather on foam mats and colored blocks to watch wooden renditions of the shows. The company’s founder and artistic director, 90-year-old Nicolas Coppola, has been a professional puppeteer since 1954. The theater has puppets of all types, including marionettes, swing, hand, and rod. They transport attendees back to the 1980s, when most of these puppets were made. Over the years, Coppola has updated the show’s repertoire to better meet the cultural moment. Step inside his world with these images.
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This tiny forest in Los Angeles, CA is one of many micro-forests around the world offering green space and contributing to local biodiversity.
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Scientists are establishing micro-forests in big cities to boost biodiversity and rejuvenate compromised land. Short Wave producer Rachel Carlson visited California’s largest micro-forest. Tune in to hear her account of the experience.
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Amazon has been accused of listing products from independent retailers without their consent, even as the ecommerce giant sues start-up Perplexity over its AI software shopping without permission.
The $2.5tn online retailer has listed some independent shops’ full inventory on its platform without seeking permission, four business owners told the Financial Times, enabling customers to shop through Amazon rather than buy directly.
Two independent retailers told the FT that they had also received orders for products that were either out of stock or were mispriced and mislabelled by Amazon leading to customer complaints.
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“Nobody opted into this,” said Angie Chua, owner of Bobo Design Studio, a stationery store based in Los Angeles.
Tech companies are experimenting with artificial intelligence “agents” that can perform tasks like shopping autonomously based on user instructions.
Amazon has blocked agents from Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and a host of other AI start-ups from its website.
It filed a lawsuit in November against Perplexity, whose Comet browser was making purchases on Amazon on behalf of users, alleging that the company’s actions risked undermining user privacy and violated its terms of service.
In its complaint, Amazon said Perplexity had taken steps “without prior notice to Amazon and without authorisation” and that it degraded a customer shopping experience it had invested in over several decades.
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Perplexity in a statement at the time said that the lawsuit was a “bully tactic” aimed at scaring “disruptive companies like Perplexity” from improving customers’ experience.
The recent complaints against Amazon relate to its “Buy for Me” function, launched last April, which lets some customers purchase items that are not listed with Amazon but on other retailers’ sites.
Retailers said Amazon did not seek their permission before sending them orders that were placed on the ecommerce site. They do not receive the user’s email address or other information that might be helpful for generating future sales, several sellers told the FT.
“We consciously avoid Amazon because our business is rooted in community and building a relationship with customers,” Chua said. “I don’t know who these customers are.”
Several of the independent retailers said Amazon’s move had led to poor experiences for customers, or hurt their business.
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Sarah Hitchcock Burzio, the owner of Hitchcock Paper Co. in Virginia, said that Amazon had mislabelled items leading to a surge in orders as customers believed they were receiving more expensive versions of a product at a much lower price.
“There were no guardrails set up so when there were issues there was nobody I could go to,” she said.
Product returns and complaints for the “Buy for Me” function are handled by sellers rather than Amazon, even when errors are produced by the Seattle-based group.
Amazon enables sellers to opt out of the service by contacting the company on a specific email address.
Amazon said: “Shop Direct and Buy for Me are programmes we’re testing that help customers discover brands and products not currently sold in Amazon’s store, while helping businesses reach new customers and drive incremental sales.
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“We have received positive feedback on these programmes. Businesses can opt out at any time.”
President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that Venezuela will turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, to be sold at market value and with the proceeds controlled by the US.
Interim authorities in Venezuela will turn over “sanctioned oil” Trump said on Truth Social.
The US will use the proceeds “to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he wrote.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been directed to “execute this plan, immediately,” and the barrels “will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for more information.
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A senior administration official, speaking under condition of anonymity, told CNN that the oil has already been produced and put in barrels. The majority of it is currently on boats and will now go to US facilities in the Gulf to be refined.
Although 30 to 50 million barrels of oil sounds like a lot, the United States consumed just over 20 million barrels of oil per day over the past month.
That amount may lower oil prices a bit, but it probably won’t lower Americans’ gas prices that much: Former President Joe Biden released about four to six times as much — 180 million barrels of oil — from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2022, which lowered gas prices by only between 13 cents and 31 cents a gallon over the course of four months, according to a Treasury Department analysis.
US oil fell about $1 a barrel, or just under 2%, to $56, immediately after Trump made his announcement on Truth Social.
Selling up to 50 million barrels could raise quite a bit of revenue: Venezuelan oil is currently trading at $55 per barrel, so if the United States can find buyers willing to pay market price, it could raise between $1.65 billion and $2.75 billion from the sale.
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Venezuela has built up significant stockpiles of crude over since the United States began its oil embargo late last year. But handing over that much oil to the United States may deplete Venezuela’s own oil reserves.
The oil is almost certainly coming from both its onshore storage and some of the seized tankers that were transporting oil: The country has about 48 million barrels of storage capacity and was nearly full, according to Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group. The tankers were transporting about 15 million to 22 million barrels of oil, according to industry estimates.
It’s unclear over what time period Venezuela will hand over the oil to the United States.
The senior administration official said the transfer would happen quickly because Venezuela’s crude is very heavy, which means it can’t be stored for long.
But crude does not go bad if it is not refined in a certain amount of time, said Andrew Lipow, the president of Lipow Oil Associates, in a note. “It has sat underground for hundreds of millions of years. In fact, much of the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been around for decades,” he wrote.
