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Ali Barthwell

American writer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Ali Barthwell is an American writer. She reviews television for Vulture and is a staff writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, for which she won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.

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Life and career

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Barthwell was born and raised in Chicago.[1] Both of her parents are physicians. She received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 2010, where she was the co-president of the improv group Dead Serious.[2] Shortly after graduating she won a scholarship to train in improv and sketch comedy at Second City.[3] She was inspired to apply after seeing Amber Ruffin perform on the Second City Mainstage.[2]

She has written television recaps and reviews for Vulture since 2016.[4] She has recapped programs including Empire, How to Get Away with Murder, and productions from The Bachelor franchise.[5]

Along with her two brothers and two friends, Barthwell organized the inaugural WakandaCon in Chicago in August 2018, inspired by the release of Black Panther.[1] The event was received positively and drew approximately 2,500 attendees.[6] Barthwell connected the event to afrofuturism and described WakandaCon as "a space for Black people to look past the present and into our future."[6]

She joined the writing staff of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in 2020.[2] Barthwell won successive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 2021 and 2022 for her work.[7]

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Awards and nominations

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References

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