A Dispatch from Dallas

36 hours in the Lone Star state. Plus recs for Taylor Lorenz on digital literacy, Josh Johnson meeting a baby, and wordsmiths in francophone Africa.

I visited Dallas, Texas for the first time this week. I was there to speak at a conference and because of a bunch of other work stuff (and baby stuff), I was only going to spend one night in town.

I didn’t know what to expect. My main association with Dallas before this week was a chain restaurant that I believe exists only in New York City called Dallas BBQ. They’re known for large portions of affordable chicken and ribs and a partnership with Cardi B’s liquor-based whipped cream company.¹ Whenever I would go to my grandma’s apartment growing up, we would order Dallas BBQ because my grandma’s cooking was notoriously not fit for human consumption. One time she left a frying pan on the stove for so long that its contents were burned beyond recognition. Her solution was not to throw the charred remains away but instead to put them in a food processor and try to convince us to eat it rebranded as “meatballs.”

Actual Dallas, similarly to New York chain restaurant Dallas, contained numerous delicious and affordable places to eat barbecue.

The rest of my experiences in Dallas challenged some prejudices I didn’t realize I had. For example, at the conference I was speaking at also included a number of pastors and faith leaders. I immediately assumed that the worst possible thing I could do would be to broach politics with a Texas preacher wearing a big belt buckle and leather boots. But I kept finding that whenever I ended up in conversation with one of them, that they were so much more nuanced than my mental image. These were people who cared deeply about helping the vulnerable, staying away from making moral judgments about others, and trying to improve the world.

Frankly, I couldn’t believe I was talking to progressive, compassionate Texas preachers. That was my prejudice coming in, not considering that those people even existed. It made me realize that so much of what I thought I knew about Texas and the world at large is based on a few very loud voices in the media. I’m not saying those loud people don’t exist. Of course they do! But there are a lot of other people out there as well who don’t fit into neat little boxes.

I ended up having more deep, surprising conversations in 36 hours in Dallas than I have in most years in Los Angeles. Not a single person told me about their social media brand or agent! Instead, I met the youth poet laureate, who had to be the most well-spoken and impressive 15-year-old I’ve ever encountered. I met a couple, a songwriter and a businesswoman, who together have dedicated their lives to supporting young artists and nonprofit leaders. Even the driver who took me to the airport turned out to have an amazing story. He went from being homeless and sleeping in his car to now running a transportation company with a fleet of 80 vehicles and dozens of people on the payroll. And he still offers free rides to unhoused folks who need transportation to get to their jobs. I got to spend some time on the campus of Paul Quinn College, a historically Black college that was founded in 1872 and has all sorts of revolutionary initiatives, like replacing their college football stadium with a working farm that now provides the students and local community with healthy, fresh-grown vegetables and produce.

I also saw one of Dallas’ city landmarks: the giant eyeball

My favorite part about the eyeball is that when I asked people, “But why is there a giant eyeball in your city? What does it mean?” The answer was always the same. “It’s just an eyeball. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Incredible stuff.

Giant eyeball, delicious food, thoughtful people. I was impressed!

To be clear, it’s not like I’m planning to move to Dallas anytime soon. But you better believe I will be ordering from a Dallas BBQ next time I visit my parents. And that’s not nothing!

My projects and upcoming events:

TED TALK: How find laughter anywhere - My TED talk is online and on YouTube. Please watch and share! You can find it here

PODCAST: How to Be a Better Human (TED/PRX) - Mortified is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen live. Adults read verbatim entries from their teenage diaries. It’s hilarious. But there’s also something profound there! What happens when we can laugh about our most embarrassing, cringe-worthy moments? I talked about it with the creators of Mortified this week on the show. Listen here (or wherever you get podcasts)

This week’s list

GREAT:

Taylor Lorenz is one of the biggest name journalists covering the online world. She’s written for prestigious outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, but I feel like people don’t take her quite as seriously as they should because her beat includes YouTube hype houses and viral TikTok influencers. The thing is, as Lorenz proves over and over, online communities and seemingly ridiculous social media jokes are important for the media to understand. The online fringes end up influencing politics, media, and culture in ways that too many of us are unaware of. One of Lorenz’s most recent pieces, is about how bad actors use humor to worm their way into the system. Outrageous social media posts can be cynically manipulated to go viral and lead to millions of people being exposed to increasingly radical content. She breaks down very clearly how these online cycles work and why they’re being used (whether to promote Taylor Swift innocuously or to spread white nationalism insidiously). We need to start recognizing stan psyops

FUNNY:

Josh Johnson has so many great standup jokes. He’s as prolific as anyone out there and his comedy is so unique and hilarious. This joke destroyed me. It’s about meeting his friend’s baby and then the memory it brought up for him. Josh Johnson: The First Time I Met A White Person

INTERESTING:

I’ve been enjoying all the articles in the series Old World, Young Africa. This piece, about how young people across francophone Africa are changing and developing the language, is a look at how the lingering artifacts of colonialism can be reshaped and remade. Forget respecting the former colonial masters and expecting them to lead the way. Instead, transform the language and forge a new, more exciting way forward. How Africans Are Changing French — One Joke, Rap and Book at a Time

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That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! Please share Bright Spots with anyone you think might enjoy it.

It’s just an eyeball,

Chris Duffy

This has been Bright Spots, a newsletter.

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…wait, who are you?

I'm Chris Duffy, a comedian, TV writer, podcast host, and both a former fifth grade teacher and a former fifth grade student. I’m currently writing a nonfiction book about humor for Doubleday.

1. Have I ever typed a sentence that feels less real? I had to triple-check that Cardi B whipped cream is not a product I imagined in a fever dream.