At least when you biff your Zoom presentation, you’re only embarrassing yourself in front of all your students or the board of trustees. Seems some of us are craving more extreme risks, and since parks are closed for BASE jumping and the police probably frown on quarantine parkour, a group of celebrities has signed on for The Call to Unite, a day-long global livestream designed to unite the planet. It’s a truly motley crew of celebrities at that, including Oprah, Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver, Julia Roberts, former President George W. Bush, Deepak Chopra, Questlove, Common, Jennifer Garner, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria Shriver, Naomi Campbell, Martin Luther King III, and Alanis Morissette, among many, many others (or at least we assume, based entirely on the amount of time they have to fill.)
According to the event’s release, more than “200 cultural, spiritual, civic, and community leaders†will take part in the livestream, which kicks off Friday, May 1 at 8 p.m. EST, and doesn’t stop until 8 p.m. the next day. Participants will reportedly offer “lessons, performances, conversations, and more,†all with the aim of uplifting and unifying the billions of people absolutely terrified by the coronavirus pandemic. You can learn more about the event, as well as watch it come Friday, right here. And sure, many livestreams are technically already “global,†and yes, most Call to Unite participants will probably pre-record their contribution ahead of time. But, you just never know. Twenty-four hours is a long time to go without at least one wonderful screw-up in front of all your peers on Earth. Just the possibility really gets the blood racing.