Like so many, national arts reporter Geoff Edgers has been grounded by the coronavirus shutdown. So he decided to launch an Instagram Live show from his barn in Massachusetts.

Every Friday afternoon, Edgers hosts an hour-long interview show he calls "Stuck With Geoff." So far, guests have included Elvis Costello, Anthony Fauci, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tiffany Haddish.

Recently, Edgers chatted with comedian Ms. Pat. Here are excerpts from their conversation.

Q: "The Ms. Pat Show" starts on Aug. 12 on BET Plus. And it's everything that I was hoping for when I heard about this show years ago. Why has it taken so long to get it on the air?

A: Hollywood. I went to three writers and, on the last strike there, went out and found a young kid named Jordan Cooper, who helped create this show. So it just took some time. I mean, it's a show based on my voice. So if you don't get my voice, I don't think you will get the show. Then we go to shoot the pilot with Hulu, and Hulu said no.

Q: What did Hulu say?

A: Well, Hulu gave great notes to make the pilot. I have to say they really put in effort, and that's why the pilot is so good. In the end, they just said it didn't fit their platform. So they gave it back to Fox because that's where the show was created. Then they said no. And then (show executive producer) Lee Daniels said, "I promise you, we'll get somebody to pick this show up." And he took it out again ... and showed the pilot to BET Plus, and they ordered 10 episodes.

Q: The show is very honest, like you, and sometimes I've seen you do standup where you make a joke and it takes people a second because they're like, "Is that true?," because it's so different from their sheltered lives. Do the networks say, "Hey, can you soften that a little or make that a little more palatable for, like, you know, these, well, White people?" How do you deal with that?

A: It wasn't just White people. It's the industry, period. I mean, we did an episode about derogatory words, and boy, me and the co-creator, he went to fight for what he wanted. And it ended up being in the finale. I guarantee you haven't seen a finale like this before. So, I mean, you just have to fight for what you believe in. I mean, I told the network, don't soften me, because ... you didn't buy a soft comedian. I'm a very outspoken person. ... You're not going to get Splenda, you're going to get sugar.

Q: So you live in Indiana, where there are people you might not agree with politically. How do you deal with that?

A: I respect people for what they believe in, and I don't have a problem having an uncomfortable conversation. I think this is what's wrong in this country. We don't talk. Hey, if you start to listen to each other, you start to figure out what's really wrong. So, yeah, I've had all those uncomfortable conversations with my neighbors and principals and teachers and stuff like when my kids go to school and they would put glitter in their hair. Excuse me, you can't put glitter in Black kids' $300 braids because I can't get it out. ... Hey, you know, it's not like your baby hair. I'm not being racist, but I paid $300 for these braids and I don't want to take them down. So it was just, you know, we had to get used to each other. I mean, when I first got there, there were probably no Black kids at the schools. We have a few more now. But it was it was a steppingstone for all of us. Without it, I never thought I'd be creating a TV show, but I started to write bits about it because we were so different.

Q: Are there things in your life that you didn't want in the show or that were like too nitty-gritty?

A: We changed the whole episode that I wasn't ready to tell. The creator was ready to tell, but I wasn't ready to tell.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about that?

A: Yeah, and hopefully we'll get to do it. It was about my mom's boyfriend touching me when I was a kid. And I'm like, "I'm not ready." Not in that first season. You know, I thought we could have done a really good job and let people know it's OK to talk about those things. But it hit a little too hard for me. And I'm like, "Hey, let's switch it." I wasn't ready.