The Limits with Jay Williams

It took a long time for Gabrielle Union to realize she had the wrong idea of success in Hollywood. That idea came from growing up in Nebraska, in white spaces, where she often embraced a role as 'the Black friend.' But in Hollywood she grew to reject those roles. Now her priorities are her own, and she's learned hard lessons about what to pay attention to — and what to ignore. In this episode of The Limits, Union tells Jay Williams how she learned to stand up for herself, why 'balance' is a myth, about her journey with surrogacy, and how she and her husband — former NBA star Dwyane Wade — overcame a turbulent time in their relationship. Union is an actor, activist, producer, and entrepreneur. She is the author of We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True and You Got Anything Stronger? For sponsor-free episodes, weekly bonus content, and more, subscribe to The Limits Plus at plus.npr.org/thelimits. Follow Jay on Instagram and Twitter. Email us at [email protected].
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For years, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero lived the lives of many struggling New Yorkers: juggling multiple odd jobs, battling roaches, and just trying to make ends meet in the Bronx. But they also spent plenty of time online, where their constant back and forth on Twitter was so funny that followers demanded they make a podcast.
Their eponymous show, Desus and Mero, has since exploded over the last decade, so much so that it is now coming for the throne of late night on Showtime. And still, even as their fame has catapulted, they've managed to keep the most authentic versions of themselves intact on camera and off.
On this week's episode of The Limits with Jay Williams, Desus and Mero talk about that journey, and the kind of hustle and hard work it takes to make for good podcasting and longevity in show business. Plus, they don't hold back with Jay, getting into it on the NBA, the best rappers in the game...and the virtues of the Filet-O-Fish.
Desus and Mero airs Thursday nights at 11 PM ET on Showtime.
For sponsor-free episodes, weekly bonus content, and more, subscribe to The Limits Plus at plus.npr.org/thelimits. On this week's Plus episode, Desus and Mero share their experiences as children of immigrants, and how that has shaped their careers today.
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We're in instant replay mode this week on The Limits, revisiting Jay's conversation with billionaire tech mogul Mark Cuban.Whether it's the NFL or the NBA, healthcare policy or America's two-party political system, Mark Cuban believes that when you buck tradition, you begin to grow. In this episode, the Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank investor challenges NFL franchise owners to rethink who they hire and why.
He applies that same logic to the healthcare industry, where he is upending the market by flipping it on its head and selling more directly to consumers. These big ideas come from a man who hustled his way from his working-class roots all the way to the billionaire club. At a time when the American dream feels completely out of reach, Mark explains why he still believes in it.
For sponsor-free episodes, weekly bonus content, and more, subscribe to The Limits Plus at plus.npr.org/thelimits. Follow Jay on Instagram and Twitter. Email us at [email protected].
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On this week's episode of The Limits, Jay speaks with the legendary Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Often called the greatest point guard in NBA history, Magic earned five titles over the course of 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers – and changed the nature of the game, too.
But before he was "Magic," he was just Earvin: a kid from East Lansing, Michigan. As he carved out a name for himself on and off the court, he learned how to navigate his public and private personas. But Magic's private life became very public in 1991. That's when he was diagnosed with HIV. He immediately retired from the game he loved, but he didn't back down; he became an outspoken advocate and entrepreneur.
Magic spoke with Jay about everything from his past rivalry with Larry Bird, how he turned his devastating HIV diagnosis into an opportunity to educate the public, and the importance of his investments in Black and brown communities. Ultimately, behind all his success is a man who loves to spend time with his family.
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Hollywood powerhouse Tracy Oliver sums up her career simply. "When people go right, I always tend to go left." She wrote the hit 2017 film Girls Trip, becoming the first Black woman to pen a movie that grossed over $100 million at the box office. On today's episode of The Limits, Tracy tells Jay how she has navigated her biggest Hollywood successes, from an eight-figure deal with Apple, to creating and executive producing the Amazon series, Harlem.
Tracy credits a lot of her wins to her contrarian streak, which she's had from a young age. She tells Jay how she randomly started wearing a Stanford sweatshirt while growing up in South Carolina–then ended up attending. That's where Tracy met Issa Rae, and the two began collaborating. In the relatively early days of Youtube, they created the popular web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.
The Internet was wowed by their presence, but multiple studio executives laughed them out of the room with blatant sexism and racism. Tracy stayed on track, steadily building her portfolio as a writer focused on the friendships of Black women, and the joy of the Black experience. Today, her career is a blueprint for so many aspiring creatives of color, and Tracy has shown time and time again that Black stories are anything but niche.
For sponsor-free episodes, weekly bonus content, and more, subscribe to The Limits Plus. This week, Tracy talks about mentorship in Hollywood.
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