LeVar Burton On The Impact Of “Roots” | Literally! with Rob Lowe

Plus, Rob Lowe vividly remembers meeting LeVar the week before “Roots” became a worldwide phenomenon. Hear more from this episode of "Literally! with Rob Lowe" @ listen.teamcoco.com/roots
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ABOUT LITERALLY! WITH ROB LOWE
With his long and diverse career in Hollywood, there isn’t much Rob Lowe hasn’t seen, and there are very few people he doesn't know. Literally! is the podcast where the stars and the stories come together. It’s a deep dive of the fun, crazy stuff that happens behind the scenes (with Rob asking the questions nobody else will). Watch highlights with guests like Keegan-Michael Key, Gwenyth Paltrow, Magic Johnson and more.
ABOUT TEAM COCO
Team Coco is the KZbin home for all things Conan O’Brien and the Team Coco Podcast Network. Team Coco features over 25 years of comedy sketches, celebrity interviews and stand-up comedy sets from CONAN on TBS and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, as well as exclusive videos from podcasts like Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,
Literally! with Rob Lowe, Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer, The Three Questions with Andy Richter, May I Elaborate? with JB Smoove and Scam Goddess with Laci Mosley.
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[@aztecaXV]

Rob Lowe: "I TOLD CONAN A THOUSAND TIMES, I NEVER WANTED TO MEET LEVAR IN PERSON. I JUST WANTED A PICTURE. YOU CAN'T DISAPPOINT A PICTURE!"

[@suhridsaha716]

"Reading rainbow...🎵 reading rainbooowww 😭😭"

[@TheDylls]

Both of y'all have my dying rn

[@samcyphers2902]

Abed: "Cool cool cool."

[@joshuacox9605]

😂

[@franfran549]

"I hate you Pierce!"

[@cheighes1]

To this day everytime I see Levar; "butterfly in the sky..." my brain just automatically plays theme music for him.

[@tyronevaldez-kruger5313]

and everyime I see Levar I see him chasing the lead singer of Cameo. The good old days of Mtv music videos

[@prettyponymonster]

Just like candaayyy Edit: Ow!

[@jasoncarter1869]

This was brimming over with humility, mutual admiration, respect, and it felt 100% genuine. Very good

[@patreekotime4578]

I gotta admit, I skip over some epsidoes, but THIS, this is why I love this podcast. Its not the "celeb"ness... it's that Rob just happens to know some of the kindest, most interesting people who happen to be in this business, and he knows exactly how to get great stories out of them. Its been an unexpected delight.

[@vas5353]

Levar Burton made a major impact on the culture and the educational world! What a talent! 😊

[@nomisukeindustries]

I feel like if you sat down with LeVar Burton and discussed the hamburger he had for lunch yesterday, it would be the most evocative anecdote you have ever heard.

[@Conorooney]

The more I learn about Levar the more I love the guy. Inspirational is an understatement.

[@karmaoutlaw]

Mr. Burton…I grew up in rural Iowa, and didn’t even SEE a POanyC until I was 18. However, Roots had my family riveted with every episode, due to YOU and that brilliant cast. Thank you for so deftly dramatizing Alex Haley’s book, and enlightening ten-year-old hayseeds like me. Bless you! 🙏

[@mickeymickey9914]

Roots was a work of fiction. It's completely A-historical, and the author admitted it. A very sinister show.

[@karengarrett3000]

LeVar Burton is a wonderful artist and has been in the business for quite some time!!

[@googleuser2170]

As a kid I grew up watching Levar Burton on reading rainbow. Now, somehow he is younger than me. The man doesn't age and I'm ok with that.

[@Geolaw1]

Geordi's beard is "on point!"

[@docicusalignjon]

I WISH I WERE LEVAR BURTON

[@fghjfghgj]

so paul mcartney john lennon einstein marconi frida kahlo and you would choose the stark trek guy?hahahahahahahahaha

[@docicusalignjon]

@@fghjfghgj r/woooooooooooooosh

[@Challam3ow]

ROOTS was his first role?!!!! Wow.

[@VickiStokes]

So true about Dolores Robinson.

[@TheRolexseller]

I was only allowed to watch PBS as a kid so you better believe i was very familiar with this man 😊

[@erikcox8749]

I remember watching Roots in school but also Reading Rainbow but I'll never forget Lavar Burton as (sorry if I misspell) Kunta Kinte being in the ship and being whipped and the way the slaves were treated. I haven't watched that movie since and still very much remember those certain parts.✌️💙

[@alanhudson2999]

Wow a living legend Levar Burton but to have Rob Lowe interview him is fantastic this is definitely old school moment for these two legends discussing actors, acting, jus the professionalism jus reminiscing abt their beginnings them early days Levar talking he knew the character Kunta cuz it was his life gave me chills jus astounding jus an excellent actor at an appointed time to portray something in history soo powerful a history tht definitely needs to be taught so we don’t forget great job guys 💪🏾🎯

[@whbjr2528]

Reading Rainbow, Roots, Start Trek!!!

[@DrQuizzler]

Interesting to hear how these two guys' lives are interconnected, and what Mr. Burton's one in a million gig as the main character in "Roots" meant to him.

[@TheTalented10th]

Levar Burton has always and continues to make his mother proud. #EducationRocks

[@bradvan8156]

I never want to meet LeVar in person, I just want a picture. You can’t disappoint a picture.

[@nickrykert2572]

How many Lowes could Rob Lowe rob if Rob Lowe could rob Lowes.😂

[@ladymiss9466]

they are both still handsome as ever🥰

[@pamelabonaparte9383]

What a beautiful interview. MR. Burton’s voice is so soothing and warm . Amazing 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💖

[@SoundSensei]

Wow... what a treat! Thank you both!! ❤

[@ericpendleton5849]

I think Rob lowe tripped and fell in Ponce DeLeon's fountain of youth. The man is aging backwards.

[@mrch33sehed93]

I wanna hug both their faces ❤🫡

[@lornadryden5650]

I think that’s the secret of an actor, knowing your character

[@growupjohnny9374]

I love both of these amazing guys!!!

[@Mikki220]

Great show! ❤

[@wayhollobj36]

Loved the interview Big STNG fan and your podcast Literally Which I've had a hard time finding on You Tube BTW I missed season 2 of 911 Picked up with Season 3 Very good 😊

[@LiveANoursishedLife]

What an amazing story. Like Rob said, for those of you not around when Roots came on TV it was the most important thing in the World not just the US. It was FIVE nights of watching LeVar and watching Alex Haley's family legacy. The majority of African Amercians don't know our family history all the way back to before Slavery and to see this story unfold was joyous but at the same time heartbreaking. Joyous, because Alex had his complete family tree. Heartbreaking because many of us do not and seeing the world of slavery, etc. I remember being sad and angry and I wasn't even in High School yet! Listening to LeVar talk about his experience brought back so many memories and emotions. Sure we have the stories being told still to this day BUT this was the late 70s and NOTHING like this had ever been on TV. There was no cable! We had THREE tv networks! So, yeah, by the time Roots was over, everyone knew who LeVar Burton was., so much so his face was on Time Mag, etc. We knew his name and we knew Alex Haley and what an amazing journey he had discovering his Roots. To this day when I see him, I still think, Kunte Kinta.

[@gfjungle]

hate to break it to you but its complete fiction to quote the author himself "I wanted to create a myth"

[@DavesEmpire1981]

This is great. Just a couple of drama nerds geeking out. Love it.

[@steverobertson1729]

Damn , Levar is aging so well! The grey beard is a great look on him. I still wish he had been given the Jeopardy host gig, it seemed like the obvious direction for the show to go, to have the worthy Burton take the reigns from Trebek (R.I.P) Every time I look at Levar, I see Geordi, Kunta Kinte (sorry for misspelling), and the host of Reading Rainbow😍 Such an amazing actor and great man, Levar Burton😎

[@christinezimmer6887]

amazing!!!!!!

[@EightPieceBox]

Makes me wonder who else was up for his role in Roots.

[@gojacketa26]

Lance Reddick

[@censorshipsucks9493]

Roots: The Gift was the greatest Star Trek crossover of all time. LaForge, Janeway, Sisko, Tuvok.

[@cloudwatcher608]

I’ve been a Star Trek fan for a long long time and I never knew they all acted together before Trek.

[@censorshipsucks9493]

@@cloudwatcher608 LaForge was of course Kunta Kinte. Janeway was a runaway slave hunter. Sisko was a free black trying to free other slaves like Harriet Tubman. Tuvok was the the house slave, or the HNIC.

[@fletcherchambliss1590]

Levar Burton has truly aged like a fine wine. I remember Roots. He looks exceptional. That’s an aside to his talent. Just sayin’

[@rossalynsmith5253]

I certainly remember the TV series of Roots. There is also the book of the same name

[@yurielcundangan9090]

Never fails to entertain

[@keithmaggioni4388]

I rember the impact Roots had in the UK and the amazing work Levar did. blew my mind it was his first audition too! Awesome.

[@mickeymickey9914]

That show was a work of fiction and tells a very dishonest version of history.

[@keithmaggioni4388]

@@mickeymickey9914 How so?

[@Dumballa]

love you LeVar 😊

[@bromandudeguy4626]

How cool is levar. Please tell me Mr Burton does asmr or a podcast.

[@trentondhuggins]

Beautiful

[@michman2]

Lowe has a great podcast.

[@_peacefulPlace]

Please do another episode with ads only

[@spookmineer]

Madolyn Smith, haven't heard that name in a long time! Was a pity she stopped acting altogether, she had some interesting roles.

[@guessmyname1104]

I was 6 years old when Roots came out. I never got around to watching it.

[@mickeymickey9914]

You didn't miss anything

[@michaeltouchette8156]

these two should get others that played in Oklahoma as kids before they got famous..... and all of them put on a performance

[@Call_Me_David]

I always thought Rob Lowe was kind of a d*ck, but I'm realizing it was just the roles I saw him play. As I've seen more and more of him outside of acting, I've come to find him an awesome person. I love hearing his stories.

[@wagglebutt]

Everyone should watch Roots. Society would be better for it.

[@geef917]

We should teach all of it. And focus on how as a society we over came the atrocities and learned from them. Sadly though our education system paints slavery in a very specific propaganda light to keep the actual truth from being out and it pushes a victim hood mindset.

[@eddominates]

And it's just objectively a good miniseries. Well written, well played by all.

[@beefknuckles]

@@geef917 do you think slaves were not victims? haha that's really weird ma'am

[@geef917]

@@beefknuckles which slaves? White slaves captured for the North African slave trade (which was larger than the Atlantic slave trade) slaves that belonged to Anthony Johnson first slave owner in the colonies (he was also black) the fact that every race every religion went through slavery. I say teach it all. All of it but focus on how as a society we looked at those atrocities and said they need to stop. And here in America mostly white men went to war to end that atrocity. Even teach how slavery is larger today then back during the American slave trade especially in Africa and the middle east.

[@BlackDoveNYC]

@Geef You are writing right wing nonsense meant to obscure the experience of others while illuminating very little. It’s the typical fascist narrative which exists only to divert attention away from reality.

[@justayoutuber1906]

LaVar looks great for his age - Rob too

[@leadoucet1432]

I remember watching Roots. OMG! Just wow.

[@mickeymickey9914]

It's as historically accurate as wakanda

[@cardanomm3194]

Wow I never realised that LeVar played Kunta Kinte. Glad to know finally 46 years later.

[@lornadryden5650]

To meet levar would be my dream

[@lornadryden5650]

Roots was huge

[@whbjr2528]

Learn Burton is an Institution!!!!

[@martronix85]

my favorite!

[@yew2oob954]

It's Soda Pop and Kunta Kinte!!

[@Erilis000]

Rob Lowe is 60 years old...

[@eastsidereviews727]

I wish I was LeVar Burton

[@crystaloelke298]

I saw a doc on him and he talks about abandoning his 1st child like it was a normal thing. Can't think of anything else when I see him. Amazing what we are willing to forget

[@makreviews2146]

Not true. Look up the full story for more specific details. He definitely wasn’t perfect but he and his first son have a relationship. Also not going to go back and forth so don’t expect a response after this just fyi.

[@2_thumbs_up_baby]

Roots was on where i live when we had like 1 tv channel total so u watched whatever was on and yes Roots was a huge deal at the time. Then Queenie....

[@Emi_Alvarez]

Literally

[@scotthallgv]

Seriously, who was doing audio on this episode cuz you need to fire them. I can barely hear Lavar cuz hes so low and Lowe is so friggin loud that Im sitting here on the volume slider trying to catch it and I jam it up and down to adjust for each persons wildly different levels!

[@beefknuckles]

I don't know if they were able to adjust the volume in this video after the face but they are the exact same volume now

[@HuskyDog88]

Rob Lowe, white man, got the loudest audio, and Levar Burton, black man his audio is so Lowe. Somebody in that audio mixing room is racist AF.

[@tikitiktok7777]

🌈READING RAINB☀️W 📚📗

[@DAP220871]

Can anybody give Sirius xm a de-Esser? I am happy to sponsor it!

[@yurielcundangan9090]

Famous last words... "We don't need no stinking Regulation."

[@6atlantis]

Roots was 50% pure fiction.

[@jazzluva3437]

So what

[@6atlantis]

@@jazzluva3437 because it’s held as gospel in the black community.

[@AT-5000_Autodialer]

Roots! Bloody roots!

[@patreekotime4578]

🤘

[@nicolajohnson1887]

Yeah I remember watching roots in the 80s and it was a difficult show to watch, much like schindlers list, you watch them once only.

[@mickeymickey9914]

It's complete fiction. Not how things happened at all.

[@nicolajohnson1887]

@@mickeymickey9914 what's fiction.

[@nicolajohnson1887]

Religion is fiction, slavery and the holocaust of the Jews during the war are factual.

[@Mikki220]

I was a little girl when Roots came out. I was riveted to the TV. My Great Grandmother was a slave and she was crazy from it. I can't even listen to the beautiful theme music without crying.

[@lw3918]

Roots was a made for tv movie. Not a documentary.

[@xploration1437]

Conebone69

[@phillipramirez8476]

Lol why are they whispering.

[@NoMoreHeroesAnymore1334]

Now talk about where Alex Haley really got that novel. And the resulting court settlement. Go ahead and delete this comment YT, that's kinda how you roll.

[@soussansabra3207]

How dare you kill Claire like this in white palace. Lol I’m mad at you forever and good thing you’re gone lol

[@2packs4sure]

Roots was an amazing mini series but unfortunately it was incredibly factually inaccurate in many important respects..

[@MagicAl5F4781]

It may too be inaccurate in many unimportant respects. Specifically, the genealogy of African American families is inherently imprecise and many cases unknowable and unverifiable, because it's history of people whose lives were not seen and not recorded in the same ways as free people and citizens. What matters in the end is whether the experience of watching Roots in 1977 made viewers think and feel about their own present and future in ways as true as if they had first-hand accounts, which could be very different information but still hold the same meaning for the time.

[@BlackDoveNYC]

That’s why it’s best to think of ‘Roots’ and other “based on true stories” as they really are, works of art (including commercial art) that are inspired by their original work rather than as a news story.

[@mickeymickey9914]

@@MagicAl5F4781 no, roots was just a tool to sow antieuropeanism.

[@bawintermage8351]

@@mickeymickey9914 Why the venom snake? Acknowledging the pain, death and destruction that colonialism and the particularly savage American slavery institution brought is key to understanding our present day. Something non Christians usually don't understand is that telling the whole truth is key: the good, the bad and the ugly. The journey from wretched, filthy, selfish, greedy, hate filled sinner into a loving, generous, but still imperfect person who is wholly dedicated to being led by the Spirit and willing to be shaped,and tempered into the self sacrificing, person God wants them to be is the greatest story written in front of our collective eyes daily. I don't know you "snake" but even you choice of screen names speaks volumes. This is a conversation between two men about their lives, and the impact that a show about reading has had on all of us. What makes you so threatened? One of the greatest gifts we have is introspection, perhaps it's time for you to unwrap it for yourself.

[@thelostone6981]

Remember when Rob taped himself having relationships with an underage girl…and he taped it? I do.

[@patreekotime4578]

Remember when Rob was taking every drug he could get his hands on and generally fing up his life, including this terrible scandal? Then remember when he suddenly sobered up and stayed sober? Thats why.

[@thelostone6981]

@@patreekotime4578 oh, then we should just do away the laws that punish offenders? Would you be okay with that if that were your daughter or family member? Not me. That’s why we have registries my friend and celebrities should be given a pass. Your nonchalant attitude to dismiss a crime committed by a celebrity is what emboldened Weinstein.

[@TomUlcak]

Around 7:00. No, it is NOT destiny. It is LUCK. Count yourselves as lucky. Most people work hard or have talent, but, good 'fortune' never happens to them. Guys, you are being arrogant.

[@TransoceanicOutreach]

I wonder how LeVar felt when he learned that Roots was a load of lies invented by it's author.

[@FNHot]

If someone like Lavar had the balls to step up and say "It's a good movie, but it's fiction, that isnt how slavery worked at all." It would go a long way in healing america, after the dust settled of course. It would open a dialog as to what ACTUALLY happened.

[@snidelywhiplash]

I may regret asking, but what do you mean?

[@FNHot]

@@snidelywhiplash I mean roots portrays white slavers throwing nets on young black men to take them and use them as slaves. That never happened, blacks enslaves blacks, as well as muslims enslaved blacks, whites came over, and bought them. But it was then whites who realized slavery was wrong, and are still to this day, the only race to abolish it. We used our power and trading influence at the time to end slavery as best we could world wide, and for sure in our own countries. It still exists in all counties except white ones. Listen to Thomas Sowell talk about what they dont teach you in school about slavery, there are a bunch of videos here on youtube, 8 minutes, and you'll see what I mean. The creator of roots admitted it was fantasy, that he made up, to please black people, but none of it is an accurate depiction of slavery, yet its what most think happened.

[@beefknuckles]

@@snidelywhiplash There is a conspiracy among far right conservatives nowadays where they believe slaves were willingly enslaved and it was their own "fault" for becoming enslaved. It's pretty disgusting and ignores almost all historical information

[@MagicAl5F4781]

I'd be perfectly comfortable living in a version of America run by people who believe that Roots tells essentially the truth of our history. Who wouldn't be? Let me guess.

[@mickeymickey9914]

@@snidelywhiplash roots is complete fiction

[@Secretingredientiscrime]

... i wish i were LeVar Burton...

[@bcg6760]

Im glad this is on youtube... because i dont have SeriusXM... because im not in a rental car...