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ItвЂ™s significant socially and sociologically. I was hoping you could expand on that a little more. I saw you mentioned a while back when you were trying out for the Jeopardy! job that one of the aspects that inspired you was this feeling that it would be particularly significant for a Black man to take on a public role like that, in a position like the host of Jeopardy! or presumably of the National Spelling Bee. And thatвЂ™s what IвЂ™m excited about being able to do here this week: tell the stories of these kids when they get it right, when they get it wrong, when they hear the bell, which is the worst sound in the world this week. You get caught up in the stories of the players, the dynamics of the moment. ThatвЂ™s the thing about athletic competition and intellectual competition. I wish I had been watching live, but I did see those final moments and it was thrilling. and produced the first African American champion in the BeeвЂ™s history in Zaila Avant-garde. I donвЂ™t know if you caught it, but last yearвЂ™s final was this incredible nail-biter between two spellers at the very end.

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ItвЂ™s like watching professional basketball players. We watch because we know we canвЂ™t do that. ItвЂ™s something that I pay attention to, absolutely, because the feat is so impressive. Is the National Spelling Bee something that you watch each year? Having an understanding of the root of those words and where they come from, and what their component parts break down to-thatвЂ™s mastery of language on a level that very few achieve. And when theyвЂ™re put together, they form language that allows us to express ourselves in the fullness of our humanity. My respect for these athletes is enormous, because I know how hard it is.ДЄnd having grown up Catholic and been exposed to Latin and different languages, having been born in Germany and lived there as a kid, I get the nature of the power of words. So my respect for these-I call them intellectual athletes.

But I found an outlet that I had a passion for in speech contests. So no, I would not have been a candidate for spelling bees. And there was no amount of wishing or studying that I could do to best Tim Williams. HereвЂ™s my problem: I wanted to be the best speller in the sixth grade. Were you ever part of a spelling bee? Did you do any academic contests as a student?

I wanted to start by asking you about spelling bees generally. вЂњHe told me later that he didnвЂ™t believe me,вЂќ recalls Burton, who says he received a guest slot only after calling Richards a second time that spring. Then months went by without the show following up, even as other guest hosts were named.

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Vote for the best John Williams theme in the latest Trial By Content !Д«elow, Burton dishes on Trivial Pursuit, spelling as a sport, working the Bee with his family, and what really happened with Jeopardy! Burton says that he called Richards days after TrebekвЂ™s November 2020 death to convey that he wanted a shot at hosting. In Trial By Content, Dave, Joanna, and Neil will debate pressing questions in pop culture and you-the listener-will decide whoвЂ™s right. Burton, meanwhile, has a game show of his own in the works: a televised adaptation of the board game Trivial Pursuit that is currently in development.

Since then, Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik have shared the Jeopardy! stage, with a permanent host or hosts still to be named. In the end, that job went to Mike Richards, then the quiz showвЂ™s executive producer, who stepped down after hosting just a week of games last August following The RingerвЂ™s reporting into the nature of the host search and RichardsвЂ™s past he was relieved of executive producer duties days later. It will be BurtonвЂ™s most prominent appearance since he guest hosted a week of Jeopardy! episodes last summer after nearly a decade of campaigning to succeed Alex Trebek. HeвЂ™s hosting the Scripps National Spelling Bee, whose finals will air on ION on Thursday. His cherished roles as Kunta Kinte in Roots, as Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the host of Reading Rainbow have endowed him with such social capital that his mere presence as a guest star on Community reduced Donald GloverвЂ™s Burton-worshiping character to hysterics.Д«urton is an institution, and this week heвЂ™ll take the reins of another. After spending nearly five decades in the public eye, LeVar Burton occupies a rare place in the American cultural landscape.

Nothing trivial season 3