The Treatment

Jerrod Carmichael’s confessional comedic work stands apart. In the last five years, he has created two ground-breaking works: the intimate and revealing Rothaniel and the HBO documentary series Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, which was not without controversy. For his treat, he recommends an acclaimed HBO series that he considers to be its own documentary.

Mary Beth Barone has been carving out her comedic persona for more than a decade. A seasoned stand up, she also co-hosts the comedy podcast Ride with Benito Skinner, and is featured in the Prime Video comedy Overcompensating, which Skinner created and stars in. Her newest comedy triumph is the Netflix special Galaxy Brain. Barone tells The Treatment why she enjoys bringing the audience into her stand up, how her punchlines are often in the middle of the joke, and whether her delivery is actually deadpan.

Writer, director, and actor Mario Van Peebles is perhaps best known for his 1991 breakthrough film 'New Jack City,' which he directed and starred in. Since then he has frequently been on both sides of the camera, which has taken him all over the world. For his treat, he explains why travel has been life changing for him and what it has taught him about humanity.

For historian and professor Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, wrestling with language is part of her job. However, she admits she was left speechless the day a student in one of her classes used the N-word. That moment was the impetus for her new book 'Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me.'



Stordeur Pryor is the daughter of the late comedian, who often used the word in his comedy. The book is an examination of her complicated relationship to the word and to her father. Stordeur Pryor talks to Elvis about what her father was like off stage, how the N-word led to a rift between her father and her white mother, and how she feels now about that day in class.

Jordan Peele’s films tackle uncomfortable truths about race in this country through humor, horror and many homages to classic films. Peele won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2017 for his hit directorial debut, 'Get Out.' For his treat, he talks about the film whose technical wizardry and problematic take on race inspired his 2022 film 'Nope.'