Friends Like Us Friends Like Us

NoorJehan Tourte and Hajar Yazdiha visit friends and discuss the misuse of Dr. Kings Words , immigrant communities indebted to the Civil Rights movement, Hasan Minhaj and more with host Marina Franklin.
Hajar Yazdiha is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, faculty affiliate of the Equity Research Institute, and a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar (2023-2025). Dr. Yazdiha received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and is a former Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and Turpanjian Postdoctoral Fellow of the Chair in Civil Society and Social Change. Dr. Yazdiha's research examines the mechanisms underlying the politics of inclusion and exclusion as they shape ethno-racial identities, intergroup relations, and political culture.In addition to award-winning articles, she is the author of the new book, The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement (Princeton University Press). Through her research, Dr. Yazdiha works to understand how systems of inequality become entrenched and how groups develop strategies to resist, contest, and manifest alternative futures.
NooJehan Tourte After unexpectedly making it to the semi-finals of the 2022 Sports Illustrated Swim Search Competition,NoorJehan Tourte has made it her mission to get women excited about the prospect of falling on their faces, over and over, if it means they are making their one life on this earth count. She believed that becoming a Sports Illustrated model would represent the culmination of a lifetime spent searching for her true identity, but the experience helped her realize that her childhood dream was not only to be a cover model, but also a role model, one who empowers ladies to show the world every side, from every angle, unapologetically. Amidst the multitude of societal pressures put on women to conform, she wants to reassure her fellow females that living the life you painstakingly cultivated for yourself is worth even the worst of days, the worst of moments. Because wouldn’t you rather stumble living life, than squander it standing still?  NoorJehan is currently a Group Senior Vice President Brand Strategist at healthcare advertising agency AREA 23. Prior to working in advertising, she was a U.S. Brand Marketer at Pfizer and a healthcare consultant at PwC. She holds an MBA from Columbia University and an MPH from UCLA. She has a passion for storytelling that is universal, and believes this can be done if we all lead with empathy.
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
 

Onika Mclean and Nonye Brown-West visit friends and discuss how they all need that fire lit to get a win, Coco Gauff's win, flipping 45 the bird in Iowa, and more with host Marina Franklin. 
Onika McLean, born in North Carolina, and raised in East New York Brooklyn, is a single mother of two, legal professional, and a sharp comedian whose no-nonsense perspective on life, love, single motherhood, and her mid life crisis is taking the comedy arena by storm. She was the fan favorite on Bravo Television's, The Single’s Project. She is the winner of the Sloshed Comedy Competition and the Rising Stars Comedy Competition in London.Onika performs regularly at LOL and Times Square and passed at Comic Strip Live and has Dangerfield's, New York Comedy Club, New York Stand, Broadway Comedy, Village Underground, and the. She runs a monthly show entitled Cosmic Comedy. 
Nonye Brown-West is a New York-based Nigerian-American comedian and writer. She has been featured in the Boston Globe's Rise column as a Comic to Watch, as well as in NPR, PBS, ABC, Sway In The Morning, and the New York Comedy Festival. Nonye made her acting debut in The Sympathy Card, now available for streaming on Vudu, Apple, Amazon, and Google Play.
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
 

Von Decarlo and Ant Pruitt visit Friends Like Us and discuss the good, the bad, and the grey of artificial intelligence with host Marina Franklin. 
Ant Pruitt Freelance digital content creator. What does this mean? I'm someone that not only loves to snap photographs, but I also enjoy shooting video and writing. When I'm not capturing freelance content, I'm performing my daily duties as a host, producer and community manager at TWiT TV, the podcast network focused on providing news around the world of consumer technology and geek culture. 
Von Decarlo is a New York-bred stand-up comedian, producer, writer, and actress who has appeared in worldwide ad campaigns and national commercials for Disney, GNC, Match, and Carnival Cruise lines. She performed in Montreal for Kevin Hart's LOL Network as well as the Lil' Rel and Friends show at the Just For Laughs comedy festival, and most recently in Australia for the Human Kind Festival. Additional appearances include HBO's Pause with Sam Jay, Laff Mobb's Laff Tracks on Tru TV and HBO Max, CNN's year-end wrap-up special, The Jerry O'Connell Show on FOX, BET, BuzzFeed, The Breakfast Club, Angela Yee's Lip Service, Sirius XM’s Urban View and NBA channel, In Godfrey We Trust Podcast, and more. Von Decarlo is the Executive Producer of the documentary Killing Is Easy on Comedy Central as well as the producer of three posthumous comedy albums, Mr. P, Unreleased, and The Lost Files. Her debut comedy album, A Draggable Offense, is available on all major platforms, and can be heard on the She So Funny and Laugh Out Loud radio stations on Sirius XM.  Look out for Von Decarlo in the upcoming RomCom, Switch Up, and in the indie film, Salesman, currently on Amazon Prime.
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
 

Francesca Hogi and Calise Hawkins visit Friends Like US and discuss possibilities for a better romantic future with host Marina Franklin.
Francesca Hogi is a coach, speaker, writer, and podcaster. As a love coach, she teaches single people how to transcend their romantic challenges and find true love. As a life coach, she teaches rebels and seekers to truly love their lives. Francesca also teaches people about personal branding, community building, and marketing.
Calise Hawkins is a stand-up comedian and writer. She has performed her standup on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , Nick Mom’s Night Out and she was a cast member of Oxygen’s Funny Girls. She has written for Comedy Central’s @midnight , Hood Adjacent with James Davis, HBO's That Damn Michael Che, and  Hulu's Everything's Trash. 
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.

Kiana Webb and Hoodo Hersi visit friends and discuss owning our story, doing things in unity to advance all apects of life, how our value is not determined by historical past, and more with host Marina Franklin. 
Kiana Webb, one of the most successful women in business and community-focused philanthropy in the US, had a revelation. She felt that she had seemingly reached the pinnacle of her career, yet she felt unfulfilled.  Kiana embarked on a journey of self-discovery, determining that she wanted more for herself, her life, and for others.
While on this path, Kiana created Glorious Arisings, a source of tools and resources to help people get to the next level wherever they are; and to let go of what is no longer serving them. Part of Glorious Arisings’ offerings includes Perfect World Visions, a session to help envision your goals and aspirations, KEY-EO, a curriculum to help entrepreneurs strive and succeed, and much more.
Hoodo Hersi is currently writing on A24/Amazon’s Untitled Ramy Youssef Animated show. Since being selected as a New Face: Canada at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, and being selected as one of CBC’s 15 Comics to Watch, Hoodo has performed in clubs and festivals all over Canada and the United States, including the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and the BBC World Service Montreal Comedy Show where both of her performances aired on the CBC, She was also selected as an Audible New Voice at SF Sketchfest, and performed with Hasan Minhaj, Lil Rel Howery, Chris Redd, Gina Yashere, Roy Wood Jr., Nicole Byer, and Maria Bamford, among others. She also had the distinct honors of hosting the TEDxToronto Conference and featuring in Sephora’s national “Get Lippie” lipstick campaign in partnership with Fashion Magazine, where she was profiled as one of the three Female Comedians Taking Canada by Storm Right Now.
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
 
 
 

This week Zainab Johnson and Abbi Crutchfield join Friends Like Us and discuss the hardship brought on by the WGA/SAG strike, Billy Porter selling his house, and how the Alabama riverboat brawl sparked a cultural moment with host Marina Franklin. 
Zainab Johnson, a stand-up comedian, actress, and writer is quickly being propelled as one of the most unique and engaging performers on stage and screen. Zainab was named one of Variety’s Top 10 Comics To Watch, she is one of the host for Netflix's show "100 Humans", she can be seen as a series regular on the hit Amazon series from Greg Daniels a half hour comedy titled “Upload”, and she made her first late night stand up appearance on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers.  Aside from her many breakout performances on shows like NBC’s Last Comic Standing and her viral standup clips she is a regular at the Comedy Store in LA and the Comedy Cellar in NY.
Abbi Crutchfield has been seen on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS, and Broad City on Comedy Central. She was a host on You Can Do Better on TruTV, and the host of Up Early Tonight on Hulu.
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.