Podcast Episode Summary

The New Yorker Radio Hour

Episode: Julio Torres Makes Everything Funny—Including Color Theory
Date: March 24, 2026
Host: David Remnick (WNYC Studios & The New Yorker)
Guest: Julio Torres
Interviewer: Michael Shulman

Episode Overview

In this episode, David Remnick introduces a conversation with Julio Torres—an innovative comedian, writer, and director renowned for his surreal, visually-oriented humor. Staff writer Michael Shulman sits down with Torres to discuss his new HBO special, Color Theories, a unique exploration of how colors can explain human behavior, institutions, and social systems through Torres’s distinct worldview. The conversation spans his comedic process, the emotional resonance of colors, growing up in El Salvador, and a playful field trip to a Manhattan dollar store.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Julio Torres' Creative Mindset and Color Theories

(01:51 – 02:53)

• Shulman describes Torres as someone whose comedy is "not a straightforward setup, joke, setup joke. It's more like he's a guest lecturer at an art school," focused on visual storytelling and the inner lives of objects.
• The HBO special Color Theories categorizes behaviors and systems using color as the analytic tool.

Assigning Colors to People and Concepts

• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is Orange:
  (03:09 – 03:15)

  "Because orange is the midpoint between joy and rage. Joy being yellow, rage being red… An action movie star, I think, is inherently orange because it's dangerous, but it's also fun. And it's not scary. It's exciting."
  — Julio Torres

• On Magnetic "Orange" People:
  (03:40 – 03:46)
  "I like orange. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, orange people are so magnetic."
  — Julio Torres

• Catholicism as Deep Purple:
  (03:47 – 04:15)
  Purple is chosen "because it is mysterious. It's a little baroque… a combination between the fiery passion of red… and the rigidity of an organized religion, which I would say is navy blue."
  — Julio Torres
  "There's a lot of blood imagery and Catholicism. There's a lot of depiction of violence in Catholicism."
  — Michael Shulman

Bureaucracy and the Color Navy Blue

(04:33 – 05:25)

• Navy blue embodies bureaucracy:

  "A color of logic, math… But then systems and bureaucracy are navy blue because there's darkness in there. And by that, I don't necessarily mean darkness in the good and evil sense. I mean, like, unknowns."
  — Julio Torres

• Any complex, bureaucratic system (from the US immigration system to the wedding registry site Zola) becomes “deeply navy blue.”

Corporate Masking and the Rise of “Beige”

(06:58 – 07:45)

• Companies use pastel and beige tones to mask their true nature:
  "Kind, soft, welcoming, inoffensive, sweet. …Kindness, wink, wink, sells. So everything got soft and pastel and smooshy."
  — Julio Torres
• Greenwashing:
  "Green. Like natural, healthy. Of the earth.… BP logo… Corporations love presenting themselves as green."
  — Michael Shulman & Julio Torres

The Essence of Green—and Who Gets to Be Green

(08:27 – 09:20)

• Green is "being at peace… following your instincts… combination between yellow, which is joy, and blue, which is logic and order."
  — Julio Torres
• True “green” people wouldn’t be celebrities:
  "If you're truly green, you don't have a publicist. You're just living your life and being happy."
  (09:14 – 09:20)

Childhood, Creativity, and the Inner Life of Objects

(11:14 – 13:47)

• Everyone starts out with an intuitive sense for inanimate objects and colors:
  "I think we all do and then we forget about it like every kid does... The instinct is quickly squashed or put aside."
  — Julio Torres

• Growing up over his mother’s dress shop in San Salvador, Torres spent much time alone, drawing, doodling, and story-making.

• That childhood space felt “green… there was order, and we were happy.”
  (12:25 – 12:32)

• Shulman points out Color Theories feels like inviting audiences into Julio’s creative “green zone,” a companion to his previous special, My Favorite Shapes.

Cultural Color Differences & Objects

(13:47 – 14:16)

• Torres associates distinctive plastic colors in El Salvador (such as orange and fuchsia straws) with home—colors less dominant in the US.

Synesthesia and Color Association

(14:16 – 14:55)

• While often asked if he has synesthesia, Torres feels most people could develop color associations if prompted:
  "If you had a worksheet in front of you, and you were like, forced to do it. You'd have associations. I think they should put this in school curriculums."

Dollar Store Field Trip — Finding Comedy in Everyday Color

(15:25 – 19:52)

• The hosts tour a Manhattan dollar store, analyzing the color logic of ordinary items:
  • Camouflage: Torres is uneasy about its trendiness (“the queerification of camo”), joking, "Oh, like gay people can kill too."
  • Glitter Glue Colors: The green label "cosmic" evokes “space and aliens.”
  • Novelty in Clear Number Candles:
    "Clear is your favorite color, and I've never seen clear be represented in a birthday cake."
    — Julio Torres

• Lilac and Lavender as “Motherhood” Colors:

  "Lilac is a mom. Purple is a stepmother."
  — Julio Torres (18:48)
  • A lavender mug with motherly motifs becomes a perfect illustration:
    "This mug itself is a color theory."
    — Michael Shulman (19:41)
  • The mug is purchased for Torres, expensed to The New Yorker, as a running in-joke.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On color associations as universal habit:
  "I think we all do and then we forget about it like every kid does... The instinct is quickly squashed or put aside." (11:26 – Julio Torres)

• On how “kindness sells” in branding:
  "Because the world has gotten so harsh, corporations realize, oh, kindness, wink, wink, sells." (07:45 – Julio Torres)

• On the question mark birthday candle:
  "Maybe that's a better tradition than singing happy birthday around a cake is asking questions but not receiving any answers." (17:22 – Julio Torres)

• Color and family associations:
  "Lilac is a mom. Purple is a stepmother." (18:48 – Julio Torres)
  "This mug itself is a color theory…" (19:41 – Michael Shulman)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Julio Torres's comedic style and origin of Color Theories: 01:51 – 03:09
• Assigning colors to concepts (The Rock, Catholicism, systems): 03:09 – 05:25
• Corporate color manipulation: beige and green: 06:58 – 08:40
• The essence of “green” and celebrities: 08:48 – 09:20
• On childhood creativity and the “green zone”: 11:14 – 13:47
• Dollar store excursion—color in consumer goods: 15:25 – 19:52

Tone & Language

The episode blends playful, surreal association with thoughtful critique of systems and social norms. Torres’s style is gentle, whimsical, and insightful, bringing humor and lightness to complex questions about society, color, and creativity.

Summary for New Listeners

Even without the audio, this episode vividly transports listeners into the mind of Julio Torres and his delightfully unusual approach to comedy, art, and the semiotics of everyday colors. From color commentary on celebrities and religion to childhood stories and an impromptu dollar store field trip, Torres and Shulman explore how colors reflect, mask, and shape both our individual experience and larger social realities—with warmth, originality, and distinctive comic flair.