In the era of social distancing amid the coronavirus outbreak, actor Rainn Wilson is trying to help people stay connected with the launch of his new show Hey, Human. The Instagram Live series features Wilson chatting with celebrities and interviewing selected viewers from the livestream.
Wilson, also co-founder of media company SoulPancake that produces the show, discussed with Cheddar on Thursday how he is coping with social distancing through the production.
"The fact that you could select a human being from the viewers and bring them on the show to talk about their experience, I thought what better way to spread joy and connectivity between people," The Office actor said, feeling he had to do something to create community amid stay-at-home orders across the country.
The host also invited some of his former castmates from The Office television series and other special guests to discuss how they are getting by in their new quarantined realities.
"It's really to see what is working for you. What is bringing you solace, what is bringing you joy, what is keeping you connected, so that you can be entertained and you can laugh while watching the show," he said.
People stuck at home, including celebrities, have taken advantage of social media as a way to connect with people during this crisis, and Wilson considers it to be "the new form of broadcast."
"It's its own broadcast network," he said. "I just love how it's so informal and it just feels more just connective like you're talking to friends."
Wilson said Hey, Human is another way he is giving back and uplifting his community. "My philosophy is you do what you can with the life you are given," he said. "I can certainly donate money to causes which I have and continue to do, but the other thing I can do is uplift people, entertain them, make them laugh, and make them feel good."
Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, joins Cheddar News to discuss how schools are navigating the Omicron variant.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the advocacy group GLAAD, joined Cheddar to discuss the organization's Accelerating Acceptance report that examines how welcoming the general public is toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ellis noted that while visibility and representation is up in media, video games, and on social media, it has conversely opened the door for increased targeted harassment on the street, particularly for transgender and gender non-conforming people. "I go to the school board meetings, I hear the homophobia and the transphobia in-person, in real-time, and so, we're seeing that more and more at the local level across the country," Ellis said. "And we're going to see that play out in the midterm elections, especially the local elections."
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Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
The six-month trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has come to an end with the former tech startup star found guilty of four out of 11 counts of fraud. Michael S. Weinstein, Esq, chair of the white collar criminal defense practice at Cole Schotz, and former Department of Justice trial attorney, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what happens next for the former mogul. "Do I think it's going to be more than five or seven years? Probably yes. I think that's probably a fair range at this point," he said about her potential prison sentence.
We are just one day away from what has been called the most influential tech event in the world. CES 2022 will officially kick off on Wednesday in Las Vegas, but the annual tech summit is being impacted by COVID-19, like so many other recent events. The Consumer Technology Association originally planned for a hybrid event to take place from January 5-8, with some in-person events and some virtual; however, a few big-name companies announced they will not be attending in-person, so the CTA decided to shorten the event by one day, with it now ending on Friday. Consumer electronics senior analyst Will Greenwald joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
