Kamala Loves the Sunshine
If you're at all like me—a grown-up person who occasionally posts on social media—you probably assume that once you've posted something, every one of your followers has seen it. Despite the advice that my book publisher has given me to post frequently, and the advice my record company gives to artists, I assume that one post is quite enough, and I’m self conscious about posting anything more than that.
In May 2023, I posted a video of Vice President Kamala Harris exiting HR Records in Washington, DC, showing off her purchases, including a vinyl copy of the Roy Ayers Ubiquity album, Everybody Loves the Sunshine. Roy Ayers is my father, and the title of my 2022 memoir, My Life in the Sunshine, is the opening line from the album's title track. When I posted the video and wrote a Substack post about it, I felt like I had more than thoroughly covered the event.
Fast forward just over a year to earlier this week: President Biden drops out of the race, Kamala jumps in, and the internet regurgitates many great Kamala photos and videos, including that record store clip from 2023. Suddenly, my inbox is overflowing with multiple versions of the same video of the VP calling Sunshine one of her favorite albums of all time, and stating with presidential conviction, “You know this one? So good. It’s a classic!”
I wasn’t going to post the video again—how uncool would that be? But the influx of messages asking if I’d seen it was starting to make me think that nobody saw it the first time around. What better way to let people know that I’d seen it than to post it again? So I did, and the texts, emails, and DMs slowed down. Within a couple of hours, the video blew up, becoming my most liked Instagram post and a Twitter/X post with nearly half a million views, much more than it had when I posted it a year ago.
All of this is to say: A) My followers clearly like Kamala and her good taste in music, and B) I am now an influencer. My first role as an influencer is to invite Kamala to be a guest on my new podcast, Identified. If you know her (I know some of you do!), please put in a good word.
My recent guests on Identified may not be future presidents, but they are very good at what they do.
I’ve spent a lot of time (and money) at the Los Angeles restaurant Kismet over the years, thanks largely to my friendship with its owners, Sara and Sarah. They’re not related, but I loved discussing the familial elements of their story on Identified. We covered everything from the perils of taxes and joint bank accounts to the comforts (and discomforts) of lentil soup and family meals. And of course, their new book. Fans of American Mongolian grill restaurants will find solace in this episode.
And I loved my conversation with comedian, actor, and author Moshe Kasher, who covers a lot in 30 quick minutes: Hippie mom, Orthodox Jewish dad, both parents are deaf, teenage raver turned comedian, recent waiter on Curb. Oh, and Moshe also has a new book. This is a good one.
The first nine episodes of Identified are live now. Episode one is with Karen Ayers, a living descendant of the man who enslaved my paternal ancestors. After that, it’s a rapidly growing list of musicians, comedians, authors and friends talking about family. A new episode will drop every Thursday for the foreseeable future. Identified is available on all major podcast platforms, 100% free and ad-free. You can watch short video clips on YouTube and Instagram.
I hope you’ll give Identified a listen and share it with others who might enjoy it.
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My memoir is called My Life in the Sunshine. You can order it here, or listen to the audiobook on Spotify.
I hope to see you somewhere soon. Upcoming events are always listed here.
Nabil Ayers / Brooklyn