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Steve Carell performs a joyous dance mid-speech at Northwestern's graduation

"My topic this morning is kindness. So please shut up and listen."

Photo by Lara Heimann

Steve Carell speaks at the 2025 Northwestern graduation.

Steve Carell has done it again, this time at Northwestern University. Although he's not officially an alum of the school (he's a Denison University man), he's connected by his kids: one is an alum and another is about to graduate.

Introduced by the Dean of the School of Communications, Carell (in full university graduate regalia) takes the stage to give a nine-minute speech, which is truly hilarious and heartwarming in equal measure. He begins by telling everyone that it's an "honor, a privilege and an enormous pain in the a**" to be invited to speak.

Steve Carell gives a speech at Northwestern University graduation.www.youtube.com, TLOCK1971

He then shares the topics he considered when writing the speech: "Things like finding the courage to be yourself. Or how do you leave the world a better place? And who the hell is Big X the Plug? Where does he get off dropping out of Dillo Day?" This gets a huge round of applause.

Carell goes on to make brilliantly self-deprecating jokes, sprinkling in his trademark depth and kindness. Which also happens to be the topic he lands on: "My topic this morning is kindness. So please shut up and listen."

Steve Carell, The Office, Dancing, gif, kindnessSteve Carell dances as Michael Scott.Giphy Peacock, NBC

He speaks for a while, captivating the audience: "Another stumbling block of kindness is the act of holding a grudge. We've all done it and it's an easy trap to fall into. Eighteen years ago, I attended the Academy Awards for the first time. As I walked down the red carpet, I was nervous, anxious and I felt terribly out of place. And then I stepped on the dress of a very famous actress, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around and was so mean to me, that I held a grudge against her for 17 years.

And then a year ago, we ran into each other again." He pauses. "And you know what? I was right the first time. She is horrible. So I guess what I'm saying is that 99 percent of cases, grudge holding is completely a waste of time. But the other one percent–it can be extremely satisfying."

As funny and uplifting as his words were, what happens next is where the true joy comes in. He asks the crowd to stand and after a few false starts with music, the DJ finally settles on The Ting Tings' "That's Not My Name." Steve begins dancing (complete with adorable "white man's overbite") and students and professors join in. But he actually kicks it up a notch when the Dean of the School of Communications (Dean Patrick Johnson) starts dancing too. They're so in sync, it almost feels choreographed.

Carell then bounces down off the stage, waving his hands like he's in a gospel choir and begins high-fiving the extremely excited students in the crowd.

To thunderous applause, he then returns to the podium for the rest of his speech, joking, "That was as invigorating as it was disturbing." He tries to earnestly continue speaking, but is understandably out of breath from the rigorous dancing. He is finally able to eke out, "I will forever be connected to Northwestern and to Chicago. My daughter is a Northwestern grad, and my son will graduate next year."

Upworthy spoke to Lara Heimann, a proud mom to her Northwestern graduating daughter, Olivia. She was there that morning and tells us about Steve's ties with the school and Chicago, in general. "He did Second City and has ties with Northwestern grads like Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert."

Surprisingly, she shares, "I don't think the dance was choreographed at all. It looked very spontaneous. He started moving around and then went back to the dean who is the Dean of Communications. He introduced him and said some really funny things, like 'We've been asking him for a long time to give a speech, so this is a long time coming. That's what she said.'" (Of course, that's a little wink to Carell's infamous character from The Office, Michael Scott.)

Steve Carell, The Office, Michael Scott, cringeMichael Scott is awkward. Giphy, NBC

Carell ends the second part of his speech with his personal words of wisdom. To name a few: "Hold the door for people, regardless of their gender, age or political affiliation. Be wary of those who use ChatGBT for personal emails. Never pick your nose in a car at a stoplight. Someone is watching you and it's grossing them out. Keep in touch with your friends that you've made here. Time goes by quickly. And as evidenced from before…just dance."

Finally, he adds, "Remember the little things, like being kind. And that you're not alone. Take care of one another. Remember to laugh when you have the opportunity. And to cry when necessary. And keep in mind, that as badly as you feel about the state of the world, your parents probably feel worse. Use that, take advantage of that. Now is the perfect time to exploit your parents' guilt…they might even let you live in the basement for an extra six months."

Pop Culture

Swedish author's blunt self-deprecating speech has people chuckling for 4 minutes straight

Fredrik Backman's humor is dry, droll, deadpan—and delightfully inspiring.

Image credits: Amazon (leff), C. Fleetwood (right)

Fredrik Backman is the author of "A Man Called Ove" and other novels.

Public speaking is one of the biggest fears the average person has and a skill that few come by naturally. But a 4-minute speech by bestselling author Fredrik Backman might just convince you that anyone can be a public speaker.

The author of "A Man Called Ove" and other novels spoke to an audience of writers and publishers at the Simon & Schuster centennial, and from his first line, he had the audience chuckling.

A Man Called OveA Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backmanf.media-amazon.com

"Good evening, my name is Fredrik Backman," he began. "I'm here tonight because my agent said it would be good for my career."


With a completely deadpan delivery, Backman proceeded to share how he spends eight hours a day locked in a room with people he made up. "If I were comfortable talking to real people, I'd have a real job," he quipped.

"Being a writer is the best way I know how to get paid for being insane," he added. He talked about how he and his brain aren't friends. "My brain and I are classmates doing a group assignment called 'Life,'" he said. "It's not going great."

Something about the dry, droll humor—someone called it self-deprecating melancholic Swedish humor—is just hilarious as he talks about anxiety and procrastination, but he managed to knock it out of the park at the end with bit of unexpected kindness and encouragement.

A clip of the first minute of Backman's speech went viral on TikTok, but the full speech is fantastic. Watch:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com


"I hope that one day I will be able to tell my agent that the reason that my next book is not finished yet is because I was busy reading yours," he concluded.

People loved Backman's speech both for its wit and its generosity of spirit:

"My goodness, his last line was so kind and generous. A perfect speech!"

"Deadpan self deprecation. Utterly brilliant."

"What a gem of a speech! This man is hilarious and didn’t crack a smile."

"I have rewatched this so many times. And it gives me joy every time!"

"Hearing other authors discuss their eccentricities always brings me so much comfort. This was brilliant."

"This video is well worth 4 minutes of your time. I have only read his book 'A Man Called Ove' but it is a truly wonderful book and I plan to read more of his work."

"Mr. Backman is a treasure. I'd never heard of him before, but now I'm anxious to read his work."

"I'm here as a proud Swede to watch this amazing speech by this absolutely amazing Swedish author. He's brilliant and I absolutely love everything he's written. We who come from a tiny country always love it when other people from our tiny country make it big. It becomes a sort of national pride. And Fredrik Backman is someone Sweden can be really proud of."


@thebloodyninetheycallme

#fredrikbackman #booktok #beartown #bookrecommendations

As Backman proved, you don't have to be a polished public speaker or give a long speech to inspire people. Sometimes just being yourself, telling the truth and putting your own unique brand of humor to work is all it takes to capture an audience and leave them wanting more.

Dictionary,words,webster,vintage,antique - free image from needpix.com

Nobody should call a woman a "bitch" - especially the dictionary. Oxford University Press has finally updated their definition of "woman" to fit in with the 21st century. "We have expanded the dictionary coverage of 'woman' with more examples and idiomatic phrases which depict women in a positive and active manner," OUP said in a statement, per CNN. "We have ensured that offensive synonyms or senses are clearly labelled as such and only included where we have evidence of real world usage." The Oxford Dictionary's definitions show up on search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, And Lexico.

The change is the result of a 2019 Change.org petition to update the definition, because it was pretty sexist. The petition was started by London-based communications strategist Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, and received over 30,000 signatures. According to the petition, the Oxford Dictionary contained words that were "sexist" and "show women as sex objects, subordinate, and/or an irritation to men" when talking about women. Giovanardi told The Guardian she feels the campaign achieved 90% of its goals – like getting rid of phrases and definitions that "discriminate and patronize" or "connote men's ownership."


The petition caused the dictionary compliers to undertake an "extensive review" of the entries "for 'woman' and many other related terms." References to gender and words "typically associated with women" (like high-maintenance or housework) were removed. Any references to "sexual attractiveness or activity" were revised. It's like the pressure for women to look good even extended to the dictionary.

There are so many arenas in which women have yet to reach gender parity, but now the dictionary is not one of them. OUP added "equivalent" phrases, such as adding "woman of the moment" to match "man of the moment."

While women shouldn't be defined by their relationship status, OUP also added that a woman can be "a person's wife, girlfriend, or female lover," in addition to a man's. Speaking of man, they also updated their definition for "man," adding the same-gender neutral terminology as used in the updated "woman" def.

One of the major complaints with the old version was that derogatory synonyms for "woman," such as "bitch" and "bint" and "wench" weren't labeled as such. The inclusion of these synonyms without the note that there's anything wrong with them could open the door for harassment. Now, these synonyms are labeled as "derogatory" or "offensive" or "dated."

It's important to think about the words we use, because words have meaning. "The hard truth is that language does matter and does influence society," Giovanardi told Mashable. "We want sexism to be taken as something that not acceptable, [and] not okay."

Ultimately, the change is a reminder that if you stand up and say, "Hey, I don't like it when you think it's okay to call me a bitch," people will eventually listen – even the people in charge of the dictionary.

When Trump entered the Oval Office on his first day as president, he was greeted by a note from his predecessor. In his letter, Obama congratulated Trump on "a remarkable run," offered a few bits of sage advice, wished him well, and told him that he and Michelle "stand ready to help in any ways which we can." It was a distinguished letter from a statesman, and a beautiful example of the peaceful and supportive transfer of power that has marked every election in modern history.

Since then, Obama has largely stayed above the fray and out of the spotlight, allowing President Trump a chance to do the job without interference. Even when his friend and former vice president Joe Biden announced his run for president, Obama held back on a formal endorsement, letting the political process run its course. At the Democratic National Convention, we saw a shift, as the former president finally let the public hear his frank assessment of Trump's job performance from his experienced point-of-view.

But at a drive-in rally in Philadelphia yesterday, Obama rolled up his sleeves, took off the gloves, and gave real voice to the frustrations half of America has felt for the past four years. And phew—it was gloriously cathartic.


While those who admire Obama admire him for always going high, going high doesn't mean overlooking the obvious. There comes a time and place for laying out the bare truth, no matter how ugly it is. Obama stepped back and gave Trump the time and space to do the job, but now that his term is nearing its end, the time for truth-telling has come.

President Barack Obama Speech at Drive-In Rally in Pennsylvania | Joe Biden for Presidentwww.youtube.com


The whole speech is worth watching, especially after the standard pleas to get out the vote. I recommend starting at the 3:20 mark. Here are some highlights:

"I never thought Donald Trump would embrace my vision or continue my policies but I did hope for the sake of the country that he might show some interest in taking the job seriously, but it hasn't happened. He hasn't shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show that he can use to get attention. And by the way, even then his TV ratings are down. So you know that upsets him.

But the thing is, this is not a reality show, this is reality. And the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously. At least 220,000 Americans have died. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Millions of jobs are gone. Our proud reputation around the world is in tatters."

On Trump's secret Chinese bank account and taxes and how Fox News would have reacted if that were him:

"We know that he continues to do business with China because he's got a secret Chinese bank account. How is that possible? How is that possible? A secret Chinese bank account. Listen, can you imagine if I had had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for reelection. You think Fox News might have been a little concerned about that? They would've called me Beijing Berry. It is not a great idea to have a president who owes a bunch of money to people overseas. That's not a good idea.

I mean, of the taxes Donald Trump pays, he may be sending more to foreign governments than he pays in the United States. His first year in the White House he only paid $750 in federal income tax. Listen, my first job was at a Baskin Robbins when I was 15 years old. I think I'm might have paid more taxes that year working at a dispensing ice cream. How is that possible?"

On responsibility, tweeting, and making things up:

"I get that this president wants full credit for the economy he inherited and zero blame for the pandemic that he ignored. But you know what? The job doesn't work that way. Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better. You've got to have a plan. You've got to put in the work. And along with the experience to get things done, Joe Biden has concrete plans and policies that will turn our vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into a reality."

On the pandemic response:

"We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook that would have shown them how to respond before the virus reached our shores. They probably used it to, I don't know, prop up a wobbly table somewhere. We don't know where that playbook went. Eight months into this pandemic, cases are rising again across this country. Donald Trump isn't suddenly going to protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself...

This pandemic would have been challenging for any president but this idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this up. It's just not true. I'll give you a very specific example. Korea identified it's first case at the same time that the United States did. At the same time, their per capita death toll is just 1.3% of what ours is. In Canada, it's just 39% of what ours is. Other countries are still struggling with the pandemic but they're not doing as bad as we are because they've got a government that's actually been paying attention.

And that means lives lost. And that means an economy that doesn't work. And just yesterday, when asked if he'd do anything differently, Trump said, 'Not much.' Really? Not much? Nothing you can think of that could have helped some people keep their loved ones alive? So, Joe's not going to screw up testing. He's not going to call scientists idiots. He's not going to host a super spreader event at the White House."

On Trump's economic record and Biden's economic plan:

"Donald Trump likes to claim he built this economy but America created 1.5 million more jobs in the last three years of the Obama-Biden administration than in the first three years of the Trump-Pence administration. How you figure that? And that was before he could blame the pandemic. Now, he did inherit the longest streak of job growth in American history but just like everything else he inherited, he messed it up. The economic damage he inflicted by botching the pandemic response means he will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to actually lose jobs.

Joe's got a plan to create 10 million good clean energy jobs as part of a historic $2 trillion investment to fight climate change, to secure environmental justice. And he'll pay for it by rolling back that tax cut for billionaires. And Joe sees this moment not just as a chance to get back to where we were but to finally make long overdue changes so that our economy actually makes life a little easier for everybody, the waitress trying to raise her kid on her own, the student trying to figure out how to pay for next semester's classes, the shift worker who's always on the edge of getting laid off, the cancer survivor who's worried about her preexisting conditions, protections being taken away."

On conspiracy theories and crazy uncles and how character matters:

"With Joe and Kamala at the helm, you're not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day. And that's worth a lot. You're not going to have to argue about them every day. It just won't be so exhausting. You might be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner without having an argument. You'll be able to go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories about secret cabals running the world or that Navy Seals didn't actually kill bin Laden. Think about that. The president of the United States retweeted that. Imagine. What? What?! We're not going to have a president that goes out of his way to insult anybody who doesn't support him or threaten them with jail. That's not normal presidential behavior.

We wouldn't tolerate it from a high school principal. We wouldn't tolerate it from a coach. We wouldn't tolerate it from a co-worker. We wouldn't tolerate it in our own family, except for maybe crazy uncle somewhere. I mean, why would we expect and accept this from the President of the United States? And why are folks making excuses for that? 'Oh, well, that's just him.' No. No. There are consequences to these actions. They embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist, and it frays the fabric of our society, and it affects how our children see things. And it affects the ways that our families get along. It affects how the world looks at America. That behavior matters. Character matters."

On the unqualified people Trump has appointed to run government agencies:

"The Environmental Protection Agency that's supposed to protect our air and our water is right now run by an energy lobbyist that gives polluters free reign to dump unlimited poison into our air and water. The Labor Department that's supposed to protect workers and their rights, right now it's run by a corporate lobbyist who's declared war on workers, guts protections to keep essential folks safe during a pandemic, makes it easier for big corporations to shortchange them on their wages. The Interior Department, that's supposed to protect our public lands and wild spaces, our wildlife and our wilderness. And right now that's run by an oil lobbyist who's determined to sell them to the highest bidder.

You've got the Education Department that's supposed to give every kid a chance, and that's run by a billionaire who guts rules designed to protect students from getting ripped off by for profit colleges and stiffs arm students looking for loan relief in the middle of an economic collapse. I mean, the person who runs Medicaid right now is doing their best to kick people off of Medicaid instead of sign them up for Medicaid. Come on."

There's so much in here that speaks to how tens of millions of Americans have been feeling, and hearing it from no-drama Obama is refreshing. But Obama didn't just lay out the ugly truth about Trump. Much of his speech was spent explaining why Joe Biden would be—will be—the president American needs. He highlighted some of Biden's policy proposals and plans, but the heart of his endorsement is about who Joe Biden is:

"Joe's no stranger to here. He's a native son. Scrappy kid from Scranton. You know him and he knows you. But let me, let me tell you how I came to know him and how I came to love him. Twelve years ago, when I chose Joe Biden as my vice presidential running mate, I didn't know Joe all that well. We had served in the Senate together, but we weren't super close. He and I came from different places. We came from different generations.

But I came to admire Joe as a man who has learned early on to treat everybody he meets with dignity and respect, living by the words his parents taught him, no one's better than you Joe, but you're better than nobody. And that empathy, that decency, that belief that everybody counts, that's who Joe is. That's who he'll be.

And I can tell you the presidency doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are. And Joe has shown himself to be a friend of working people. For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room when I faced a big decision. He made me a better president and he's got the character and experience to make us a better country."

Obama earned the right to retire from the limelight after eight years leading the nation, and he may have hoped to retreat from the political fray after his two terms. But his voice is appreciated by many Americans, and his reason, intelligence, and compassionate leadership is needed now more than ever. Bringing that, along with some raw honesty, to the campaign trail is sure to be a boon for Joe Biden.