Best Frenemies Forever: ‘Hacks’ Delivers Joy and Jokes Over Jadedness In Final Season
The first season of Hacks premiered on May 13, 2021, on HBO Max, and it was a juggernaut of a show, immediately receiving critical praise and accolades. The show’s premise seems standard: a legendary comedy icon, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), meets struggling millennial...
‘Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines’ by Joy Buolamwini
AI is all that anyone can talk about, but no one is really saying anything. Enter Joy Buolamwini, author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. As a graduate student at MIT's Media Lab, Buolamwini was doing work on facial...
Celebrating Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Historic Oscar Win and Ryan Coogler’s Vision of an Inclusive Hollywood
Thank you for being a subscriber to the DIASPORA newsletter! Help support our work and independent journalism by contributing to our GoFundMe as we build our nonprofit era. If you want to have full, EXCLUSIVE access to articles like this and more thoughtful,...
‘Big Mistakes’: The Unexpected Delight of Dysfunctional Siblinghood in Dan Levy’s Crime Comedy
If there is one thing that Dan Levy does exceptionally, it’s playing one-half (or in the case of Big Mistakes, one-third) of a siblinghood. His lovingly intense and frantic chemistry with...
DIASPORA Calendar: April 13 – April 19, 2026
FILM Real Women Have Curves with director Patricia Cardoso 7:30 PM, April 14: Vidiots is thrilled to welcome director Patricia Cardoso for a special screening of her essential East LA...
EVENTS
DIASPORA Calendar: April 6 – April 12, 2026
FILM Daughters of the Dust at Vidiots– 7:30 PM, April 7: Join Vidiots for Julie Dash’s rapturous masterpiece, Daughters of the Dust. As the 20th century dawns, a multi-generational Gullah family from the Sea Islands off of the South Carolina coast struggle to...
DIASPORA Calendar: March 30 – April 5, 2026
FILM Wattstax – 7:30 PM, April 2: One of the most electrifying music documentaries ever, the eternally funky Wattstax is part concert-film and part powerful document of the historic Watts neighborhood of 50 years ago. Known as “The Black Woodstock” Wattstax was held...
DIASPORA Calendar: March 23 – March 29, 2026
THEATRE Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – March 25-29: A powerhouse of artistic excellence, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater carries forward a legacy of African American strength, resilience and joy through the power of movement. Founded in 1958 by Alvin Ailey,...
DIASPORA Calendar: March 16 – March 22, 2026
THEATRE Kim’s Convenience By Ins Choi – March 21 - April 19: Soulpepper Theatre Company & Adam Blanshay Productions in association with American Conservatory Theater brings the award-winning comedy drama to the Ahmanson Theater. The play, which inspired the...
COMMENTARY
Best Frenemies Forever: ‘Hacks’ Delivers Joy and Jokes Over Jadedness In Final Season
The first season of Hacks premiered on May 13, 2021, on HBO Max, and it was a juggernaut of a show, immediately receiving critical praise and accolades. The show’s premise seems standard: a...
‘Big Mistakes’: The Unexpected Delight of Dysfunctional Siblinghood in Dan Levy’s Crime Comedy
If there is one thing that Dan Levy does exceptionally, it’s playing one-half (or in the case of Big Mistakes, one-third) of a siblinghood. His lovingly intense and frantic chemistry with Annie...
DOSSIER
LEGEND: Kiki Shepard
I remember watching Showtime at the Apollo late at night when I was growing up, and every time I watched, the host, which would be a revolving roster (including Sinbad, Mark Curry, Ricky Aviles,...
LEGEND: Sally-Tom
There is a limited amount of information that we know about Sally-Tom, a trailblazing Black trans woman who was born in 1839, who is one of the first – if not the first – trans person in the history...
THE DIASPORA LIBRARY
‘Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines’ by Joy Buolamwini
AI is all that anyone can talk about, but no one is really saying anything. Enter Joy Buolamwini, author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. As a graduate...
‘A Tiny Upward Shove’ by Melissa Chadburn
I am more of a non-fiction reader, but once in a while I will read a novel that just sticks to my soul. Melissa Chadburn's A Tiny Upward Shove not only sticks to my ribs but haunts me with its...