Podcast Preview: SongWriter Season 6 Continues with W. Kamau Bell & Las Cafeteras

SongWriter is a podcast that turns stories into songs, featuring David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Joyce Carol Oates, Steve Earle, David Sedaris, Susan Orlean, Craig Finn (The Hold Steady), and Questlove.

At a recent live SongWriter recording in his hometown of San Francisco, comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell was thinking about his own funeral. Not because it was a bad show, but because the gathering felt like a kind of testimonial to his life.

“I feel like often, ‘Oh, I won’t know what my funeral is like,’ but this seems like what it would be like,” Kamau laughed. “They’ll play a song that’s inspired by me at my funeral!”

The show was hosted by KQED Live, and Kamau told a story about identity, family, and an extraordinary moment at his father’s 80th birthday party. The story, and the show itself, inspired a conversation with Dr. Shira Gabriel about a social phenomenon called “collective effervescence.”

“Sometimes, when we’re with other people, we feel a sense of connection that is there in combination with a sense that something special is happening, something that transcends our ordinary lives,” Dr. Gabriel said. “When those two things intertwine, we refer to that as collective effervescence.”

The show also included one of Kamau’s favorite bands, Las Cafeteras. Kamau has known the band for a long time—Las Cafeteras was featured in the first season of his CNN series “United Shades of America.” But their mutual respect and affection goes beyond shared history.

“That night when we were on stage Hector was talking about the mission of Las Cafeteras,” Kamau said. “Somebody asked in the audience, ‘Why do you do your work this way?’ and as he was talking I was like, ‘Yep. We are aligned.’”

Denise Carlos, who is a singer and songwriter for Las Cafeteras, explained that she sees her mission in the band as an act of joyful, defiant representation.

“In Las Cafeteras I think my reminder is always constantly to say ‘It’s ok to be scrappy,’” Denise said. “We are developing our own language of love. And defiance is also a battle cry.”

As she said this, bandmate Hector Flores nods. He points out that many members of the group started out as political organizers.

“I see myself as a disrupter, an agitator, an organizer,” Hector said. “And my job at every show is to get folks to believe that they’re beautiful, they’re powerful, and together we can change the world.”

The brand new song by Las Cafeteras is called “Home,” and it can only be heard on SongWriter.

Season six of SongWriter is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation.