Kamau’s interview with Shannon Lee opens with a discussion about her role as steward of her father Bruce Lee’s legacy, which she frames as “stewarding” and “nurturing” rather than “parenting” his legacy, focusing on protecting its energy and helping people understand it beyond kicks and punches. She emphasizes Bruce’s philosophy of self-actualization and his four-step formula: research your own experience, accept what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is your own.

 

The conversation turns to her viral statement about being “tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell me who Bruce Lee was,” rooted in Quentin Tarantino’s portrayal of Bruce in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which she calls less than kind, generous, and accurate. Drawing on a former Buddhist nun’s teaching, she distinguishes anger from “wrath,” describing wrath as a protective force deployed to defend compassion and prevent unnecessary suffering, and explains how Tarantino’s doubling down in the novelization and interviews pushed her into that protective wrath.

 

Shannon reflects on the toll of decades of legacy work: her introversion, “Bruce Lee exhaustion,” and the struggle to maintain her own identity while constantly “doing right” by her father. She describes ending relationships that didn’t have her best interests at heart and reframing the work as part of her legacy, guided not only by Bruce’s energetic boundaries but her own.

 

In addition to her father, she speaks about stewarding her brother Brandon Lee’s more constrained legacy, complicated by studio control over The Crow and unpaid merchandise royalties, which powerfully triggers her wrath.

 

The interview closes with her core practices: “be here now,” accept death so you’re not afraid to live, and trust that you are held by life and the universe, returning to simplicity as the remedy for complexity.

 

Support The Bruce Lee Foundation at https://bruceleefoundation.org, The AAKOMA Project at aakomaproject.org, and the Freedom Community Clinic at freedomcommunityclinic.org .

 

Who's With Me is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Chris Dowd. Distributed by Pushkin Industries.

Kamau&rsquo;s interview with Shannon Lee opens with a discussion about her role as steward of her father Bruce Lee&rsquo;s legacy, which she frames as &ldquo;stewarding&rdquo; and &ldquo;nurturing&rdquo; rather than &ldquo;parenting&rdquo; his legacy, focusing on protecting its energy and helping people understand it beyond kicks and punches. She emphasizes Bruce&rsquo;s philosophy of self-actualization and his four-step formula: research your own experience, accept what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is your own.
&nbsp;
The conversation turns to her viral statement about being &ldquo;tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell me who Bruce Lee was,&rdquo; rooted in Quentin Tarantino&rsquo;s portrayal of Bruce in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which she calls less than kind, generous, and accurate. Drawing on a former Buddhist nun&rsquo;s teaching, she distinguishes anger from &ldquo;wrath,&rdquo; describing wrath as a protective force deployed to defend compassion and prevent unnecessary suffering, and explains how Tarantino&rsquo;s doubling down in the novelization and interviews pushed her into that protective wrath.
&nbsp;
Shannon reflects on the toll of decades of legacy work: her introversion, &ldquo;Bruce Lee exhaustion,&rdquo; and the struggle to maintain her own identity while constantly &ldquo;doing right&rdquo; by her father. She describes ending relationships that didn&rsquo;t have her best interests at heart and reframing the work as part of her legacy, guided not only by Bruce&rsquo;s energetic boundaries but her own.
&nbsp;
In addition to her father, she speaks about stewarding her brother Brandon Lee&rsquo;s more constrained legacy, complicated by studio control over The Crow and unpaid merchandise royalties, which powerfully triggers her wrath.
&nbsp;
The interview closes with her core practices: &ldquo;be here now,&rdquo; accept death so you&rsquo;re not afraid to live, and trust that you are held by life and the universe, returning to simplicity as the remedy for complexity.
&nbsp;
Support The Bruce Lee Foundation at <a href="https://bruceleefoundation.org">https://bruceleefoundation.org</a>, The AAKOMA Project at <a href="http://aakomaproject.org">aakomaproject.org</a>, and the Freedom Community Clinic at <a href="http://freedomcommunityclinic.org">freedomcommunityclinic.org</a> .
&nbsp;
Who's With Me is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Chris Dowd. Distributed by Pushkin Industries.

Kamau Bell is known for embracing uncomfortable conversations that acknowledge differences, confront embarrassment, and change people’s perspectives. Throughout his career, Kamau has talked with everyone from KKK members to Oprah Winfrey to strangers on the streets. Each time, Kamau fills these conversations with humor, heart, and intellect, showing that a simple conversation can lead to surprising revelations and spark change, one person at a time.

Kamau brings all that and more to his new weekly podcast, Who’s With Me? Inspired by Kamau’s popular Substack newsletter of the same name, Who’s With Me? is more than just a simple question. It is an invitation to connect, a call to action, and a reassuring pat on the shoulder in these increasingly hectic times. 

In every episode, Kamau addresses what has caught his attention in the current cultural or political landscape. He also sits down with someone he admires deeply—a time for Kamau to give them their flowers, ask his most burning questions, and invite his guest to give him and his audience homework on how to make the world a better place. Kamau will talk to celebrities, his fellow comedians, his fellow Oaklanders, activists, and sometimes he will talk to someone like Daveed Diggs, who is all of that in one body. So… who’s with Kamau? New episodes every Wednesday. 

Kamau Bell is known for embracing uncomfortable conversations that acknowledge differences, confront embarrassment, and change people&rsquo;s perspectives. Throughout his career, Kamau has talked with everyone from KKK members to Oprah Winfrey to strangers on the streets. Each time, Kamau fills these conversations with humor, heart, and intellect, showing that a simple conversation can lead to surprising revelations and spark change, one person at a time.
Kamau brings all that and more to his new weekly podcast,&nbsp;Who&rsquo;s With Me? Inspired by Kamau&rsquo;s popular Substack newsletter of the same name, Who&rsquo;s With Me? is more than just a simple question. It is an invitation to connect, a call to action, and a reassuring pat on the shoulder in these increasingly hectic times.&nbsp;
In every episode, Kamau addresses what has caught his attention in the current cultural or political landscape. He also sits down with someone he admires deeply&mdash;a time for Kamau to give them their flowers, ask his most burning questions, and invite his guest to give him and his audience homework on how to make the world a better place. Kamau will talk to celebrities, his fellow comedians, his fellow Oaklanders, activists, and sometimes he will talk to someone like Daveed Diggs, who is all of that in one body. So&hellip; who&rsquo;s with Kamau? New episodes every Wednesday.&nbsp;

Who's with Me? with W. Kamau Bell

Who’s With Me? is more than just a simple question. It is an invitation to connect, a call to action, and a reassuring pat on the shoulder in these increasingly hectic times. Every Wednesday, stand-up comedian W. Kamau Bell sits down with someone he admires deeply to give them their flowers, ask his most burning questions, and invite his guest to give him and his audience homework on how to make the world a better place.

W. Kamau Bell is a Peabody Award winner, 4X Emmy Award winner, documentary filmmaker, Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, Official Ambassador of the band Fishbone, self-proclaimed #1 Bruce Lee Expert (non-Asian division), part-time activist, and full-time family man. Kamau is also known for his CNN docuseries United Shades of America, his four-part docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby, and for scrawling “HAHA!” over his enemies’ faces on his Instagram account.

Who&rsquo;s With Me? is more than just a simple question. It is an invitation to connect, a call to action, and a reassuring pat on the shoulder in these increasingly hectic times. Every Wednesday, stand-up comedian W. Kamau Bell sits down with someone he admires deeply to give them their flowers, ask his most burning questions, and invite his guest to give him and his audience homework on how to make the world a better place.
W. Kamau Bell is a Peabody Award winner, 4X Emmy Award winner, documentary filmmaker, Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, Official Ambassador of the band Fishbone, self-proclaimed #1 Bruce Lee Expert (non-Asian division), part-time activist, and full-time family man. Kamau is also known for his CNN docuseries United Shades of America, his four-part docuseries We Need To Talk About Cosby, and for scrawling &ldquo;HAHA!&rdquo; over his enemies&rsquo; faces on his Instagram account.

Shannon Lee on Legacy and Wrath

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ce50d3c1-7449-41a8-be57-b4b2004db39a/transcript