I report for Vice News Tonight on HBO. I know a lot about video games, Japan, rap music, and various combinations of the above. Currently working on a book on Japanese hip-hop culture.
L.A. Times Superbowl Simulator
When LA Times GFX team made a Nintendo-themed Superbowl Simulator, they needed some appropriate music. So I wrote some. (Easter egg: try pitting the '85 Bears against each other)
“Hidden Figures” was whitewashed — but it didn't have to be
One of the most brilliant, dramatic scenes in the film …never actually happened.
“Nobody Kill Anybody”: Baltimore Calls For Weekend Ceasefire (HBO)
Baltimore residents are calling for a weekend ceasefire, in response to a skyrocketing murder rate.
Kumail Nanjiani on “The Big Sick”: “I don't deserve this” – VICE News
Dating across cultures is hard. It’s even harder when one of you is in a coma.
Meet the black comedian who has become Japan's most unlikely star
Ike got into Japanese comedy completely by accident. Raised near Seattle, the Nigerian-American had always intended to go into computer science, having taught himself programming while in elementary school.
People are mad they have to play a black character in FIFA 17
You can choose your team, and you can choose your position, but you can’t choose your race. Your character is black.
After San Bernardino School Shooting, Calls to Local Women's Shelter Double
Immediately after the news broke, the phones at Option House, the only women's shelter in San Bernardino, started ringing.
Facebook tracks your “ethnic affinity” — unless you're white
Facebook never asks you about your race, but depending on what you do on the platform, it may assign you something it calls an “ethnic affinity.” Unless, of course, you're white.
Jesse Williams says black lives matter — we break down why his BET speech matters
A fully annotated transcript of Jesse Williams' speech.
The Japanese pro wrestler who almost got Muhammad Ali's leg amputated
If you’ve never heard of the fight that almost got one of Muhammad Ali’s legs amputated, it doesn’t mean that you’re a bad sports fan. It probably just means that you’re not Japanese.
Why the new Steph Curry 2s are the perfect basketball shoe
If you’ve ever seen the 1968 Disney film “The Love Bug,” then you should appreciate the Steph Curry 2 Low shoes.
A solution to tech's lingering diversity problem? Try thinking about ketchup
If you haven’t heard it yet, the “ketchup question” is a thought experiment that’s become something of a meme in some corners of the tech community.
"Inshallah" is not a crime, so let's all learn some Arabic
Literally translated, it’s “God willing.” Not exactly scary, unless you harbor some deep-seated resentment toward The Clipse’s first album (in which case, we cannot be friends).
Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown on stage together was a moment we didn't deserve
I’m getting real sick of these phone calls. When James Brown died, I went back to my apartment, took a deep breath, and called my father.
The Silicon Valley entrepreneur moving black-hair products out of the "ethnic" aisle
This is probably the blackest this backstage room at the Dolby Theater is going to be for a while. Granted, there are only two black people in the room — me and a 30-year-old guy named Tristan Walker.