Mahershala Ali&Rafael Casal: Envy Is A Hell Of A Drug - a podcast by WNYC Studios

Today, Mahershala Ali is an Oscar-winning actor who lands leading roles in TV shows likeTrue Detectiveand Hollywood blockbusters likeGreen Book. But he got his start as a poet-turned-rapper in the Bay Area, where he grew up. 

Rafael Casal is another Bay Area poet and musician who recently made his big screen debut in the movieBlindspotting,which he co-wrote and co-starred in with his creative partner, Daveed Diggs. "We put a movie out and everyone back home thinks I'm on," Rafael says. "And I'm like, that was an indie movie. I lost money."

Mahershala interviews Rafael about his childhood as a "knucklehead," his life-changing discovery of slam poetry when he was a teenager, and how he and Daveed handle uncomfortable discussions about money and creative credit. 

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This episode is part of Death, Sex& Money's 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup. Mahershala Ali first joined us on Death, Sex& Money in 2016, along with his wife, Amatus.Hear their conversation about faith, love and success, taped live in Brooklyn. 

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