Ali Barthwell

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]