Let’s talk about AI:
A conversation with
W. Kamau Bell

Dean Michael D. Bolden talks with W. Kamau Bell about the current and
potential impact of artificial intelligence on our
families, communities and society.

Photo of W. Kamau Bell courtesy of United Shades of America.

Wednesday, August 26

5 pm Reception, 6 pm Event 

North Gate Hall’s Logan Multimedia Center
at UC Berkeley Journalism

RSVP required. Space is limited.

About W. Kamau Bell

Kamau Bell is a Peabody Award-winner, four-time Emmy Award-winner, documentary filmmaker, stand-up comedian, Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, Official Ambassador of the band Fishbone, self-proclaimed #1 Bruce Lee Expert (Non-Asian Division), podcaster, part-time activist, and full-time family man. Kamau is a two-time New York Times Bestseller with Do The Work! – An Antiracist Activity Book and Who is Government? – The Untold Story of Public Service. Kamau is best known for his CNN docuseries United Shades of America, his four-part Showtime docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby, and his HBO documentary 1000% Me – Growing Up Mixed. Kamau is also known for scrawling HAHA! on his enemies’ faces on his Instagram account. This year Kamau launched his new podcast Who’s With Me? His podcast is based on his bestselling Substack newsletter also named Who’s With Me? Kamau is also the ACLU Artist Ambassador for Racial Justice. Kamau is on the Board of Directors for several nonprofit organizations, including DonorsChoose and LiveFree. Kamau’s next book is a children’s book that he co-wrote with bestselling author Adam Mansbach, titled Rock, Paper, Scissors, Cheese. Coming out October 27, 2026. Kamau is currently on his 2026 Who’s With Me? stand-up comedy tour. Kamau cares too much and sleeps too little.

About Michael D. Bolden 

Professor Michael D. Bolden is the Dean of UC Berkeley Journalism. Formerly the CEO and Executive Director of the American Press Institute (API), Bolden has had a distinguished career that has taken him from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, the John S. Knight Fellowship program at Stanford University and API. He has worked as a local reporter and national editor, a teacher and nonprofit leader. At the San Francisco Chronicle, as director of culture and operations, one of the organization’s masthead editors, he helped the newsroom respond to online harassment and abuse. During the pandemic, he co-developed a new remote John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University to improve how journalists serve communities of color. Bolden lectured at and holds a master’s degree from Stanford University.

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This is the keynote conversation in the AI, Journalism and Public Trust Symposium sponsored by UC Berkeley Journalism and the Pulitzer Center.