Bassem Youssef’s American Incarnation

July 14, 2016 in Uncategorized

Bassem Youssef (Larry Busacca/Getty)

Bassem Youssef (Larry Busacca/Getty)

Americans are still a little at sea when Bassem Youssef is mentioned; they seem to perk up, though, when they hear “the Egyptian Jon Stewart.” A brave guy who isn’t waiting for congratulations or tocommiserate about howdifficult it was toget death threats every day. (For the record, he still gets them, they’re just not as frequent.) Here is my profile on Bassem and his new Fusion series for Rolling Stone.

Beyond the scuffle with North Korea re: The Interview and Comedy Central putting the kibosh on images of Muhammad (in a bear suit) for on South Park, it’s a little hard in the states to make sense of the moment Youssef lived through. We’re awash in satire. We presume free speech. Barring some horrifying episode like the one that the writers of Charlie Hebdo went through, Americans can poke fun and feel safe. To get a sense of the transitions Egypt went through, what they mean and what might be ahead, Bassem is an amazing help.