''2 Dope Queens'' was a podcast hosted by Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson that aired between April 4, 2016, and November 14, 2018. For the first seven days following the podcast's launch, it was number one on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

podcast charts. It is produced by WNYC Studios. The podcast features female comedians, comedians of color, and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

comedians, in an effort to represent people from different backgrounds. The podcast's guests include

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and tw ...

Nick Kroll Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for the FX (TV channel), FX comedy series ''The League'' (2009–2015), creating and starring in the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show'' (20 ...

LeVar Burton Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994), Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''Roots'' (1977 ...

Naomi Ekperigin Naomi Ekperigin is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and producer. She wrote for the Comedy Central sitcom ''Broad City'' from 2015–2016, the NBC sitcom '' Great News'' from 2017–2018, and the Apple TV+ series '' Mythic Quest'' f ...

, Nore Davis, Aparna Nancherla,

Marc Maron Marc David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and appeared more than forty times ...

, and Michelle Buteau. ''2 Dope Queens'' is WNYC Studios' first comedy podcast. On June 27, 2016, '' Sooo Many White Guys,'' the first ''2 Dope Queens'' spin-off, debuted. The podcast is hosted by Phoebe Robinson and produced by

Ilana Glazer Ilana Glazer (born April 12, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, and activist. They have received various accolades including a Daytime Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Primetime ...

. A four-episode

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

special based on the show aired in February and March 2018 directed by podcast guest Tig Notaro. A second four-episode season aired in 2019.

Format

''2 Dope Queens'' is taped live at Union Hall in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Though the live show runs about two hours, the podcast is edited down to about an hour. Each episode features three guest comedians. Issues discussed on the podcast include "race, gender, sex, and other topics". Host Jessica Williams said of the podcast, "For our show, people get to be the stars of their own stories and they get to be the stars of their own stand up, so it's really cool to give our friends and a lot of people of color and different orientations an opportunity to speak for themselves and be sort of the main character as opposed to like the side character or supporting character."

History

''2 Dope Queens'' stemmed from ''Blaria LIVE!,'' a monthly stand-up show in Brooklyn, hosted by Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams. ''Blaria LIVE!'' was inspired by the blog of the same name authored by Phoebe Robinson. Similarly to ''2 Dope Queens'', ''Blaria LIVE!'' featured diverse comedians from all over the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The ''2 Dope Queens'' podcast debuted on April 4, 2016. In its first week, it was number one on the iTunes podcast charts and stayed there for a full week. On July 19, 2016, ''Sooo Many White Guys,'' the first ''2 Dope Queens'' spin-off debuted. ''Sooo Many White Guys'' is an interview-

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

hosted by Phoebe Robinson and produced by

with guests including

Nia Long Nia Talita Long ( ; born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the N ...

, Janet Mock,

Hari Kondabolu Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu (born October 21, 1982)Beem, p. 38 is an American stand-up comedian and writer. His comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He was a writer for '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' and ...

Gina Rodriguez Gina Alexis Rodriguez (born July 30, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Globe Award f ...

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...

, and

Hasan Minhaj Hasan Minhaj ( ; born September 23, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. Much of his comedy involves Culture of India, Indian culture and the modern American political landscape through the use of satire, ...

. The podcast inspired two seasons of an HBO limited series, also titled ''2 Dope Queens''. After taking a break from the podcast to film for HBO, a final episode was published where the two hosts interviewed

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

and announced the ending of the show.

Awards

Episodes (HBO series)

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2 Dope Queens 2016 establishments in New York City WNYC Studios programs 2016 podcast debuts Works by Tig Notaro Podcasts adapted into television shows 2018 podcast endings 2018 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2010s American comedy television series 2018 LGBTQ-related television 2019 LGBTQ-related television