Lena Waithe: podcast appearances and interviews

Lena Waithe is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter born on May 17, 1984. She is recognized for creating the Showtime drama series The Chi and the BET comedy series Boomerang and Twenties. Additionally, she wrote and produced the crime film Queen & Slim and serves as the executive producer of the horror anthology series Them. Waithe gained significant recognition for her role in the Netflix comedy-drama series Master of None, which she was part of from 2015 to 2021. She became the first African-American woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 2017, earning the accolade for the episode Thanksgiving. The episode was loosely based on her personal experience of coming out to her mother. Besides her television work, Waithe has appeared in Steven Spielberg's 2018 adventure film Ready Player One and the HBO series Westworld. Her production work on the sketch-comedy play Ain't No Mo' led to a nomination for Best Play at the 76th Tony Awards in 2023. She has been recognized as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018 and has been included on Fast Company's Queer 50 list in 2021 and 2022.