Ziwe Fumudoh makes people uncomfortable

Ziwe Fumudoh performs during the Movement Voter Project comedy benefit at The Bell House in 2018 in New York City. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Movement Voter Project

Growing up, she wanted to be a pop star. Her parents wanted her to go into medicine or finance. She ended up as a comedian writing for "Desus & Mero." This week we talk about how she does money.

In the first episode of “Desus & Mero,” the hosts starred in a faux-heartwarming movie trailer called “The Greenest Book” (rated WG for White Guilt).

It punctured the supposed racial enlightenment of the Oscar-winning movie in a way no other late night show could. Ziwe Fumudoh wrote it.

“I was just aiming to write a funny sketch that, like, satirizes how someone can be racist and still hailed like this racial healer as a super progressive would when clearly they were not,” she said.

But writing for late night is just Fumudoh’s 9 to 5. She’s a comedian who does a lot, including a monthly show where she performs pop songs.

This week, we’re gonna spend the episode talking with Fumudoh about all things money and work — from her childhood dreams of pop stardom and pressure from her immigrant parents to what she has saved and how she learned to be comfortable with uncomfortable humor.