The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

Released Thursday, 10th April 2025
 1 person rated this episode
The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

Thursday, 10th April 2025
 1 person rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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0:00

Hi everyone from New

0:03

York magazine in the

0:05

Box Media Podcast Network.

0:07

This is On with

0:10

Kara Swisher and I'm

0:12

Kara Swisher. My guest today is

0:14

an extremely funny man and a

0:16

real joy to be around comedian

0:18

Josh Johnson. You might know Josh

0:20

is one of the regular correspondence

0:22

on the Daily Show. He's the

0:25

guy often doing the person on

0:27

the street interviews about everything from

0:29

terrorists to Trump to Black History

0:31

Month. But if you're really smart,

0:33

you know him from social media

0:35

where he's really built up his

0:37

following and has been blowing up

0:39

of late. Josh has over a

0:41

million followers on Instagram, over one

0:43

and a half million subscribers on

0:45

YouTube, and two million followers on

0:47

TikTok, and he's incredibly prolific. He's

0:49

built a following by regularly posting

0:51

bits of his stand-up routines, which

0:53

are long philosophical journeys, where he

0:55

connects news. politics and pop culture

0:57

to everyday struggles. I think he's

0:59

just a real treasure and someone

1:01

who is incredibly thoughtful and one

1:04

of the best parts of it

1:06

is I was introduced to him

1:08

by my son Louis who's 20

1:10

years old who's been listening to

1:12

him for a long time and really

1:14

enjoys his really thoughtful takes on lots

1:16

of things and I think that's a

1:18

good sign for our youth. Josh is

1:20

currently on tour around the country, The

1:22

Flowers Tour. I spoke to him on

1:25

Monday in between gigs at a live

1:27

event at the Great Hall of the

1:29

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science

1:31

and Art. Cooper is a private college

1:33

in New York City, offering degrees in

1:35

architecture, art and engineering, and the Great

1:37

Hall has been the site of civic

1:40

discourse and free public programming since 1859.

1:42

Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama

1:44

have spoken here, and now me and

1:46

Josh Johnson. I also gave a commencement

1:48

address for Cooper Union a couple years

1:50

ago, and it was fantastic. And in

1:53

this one, it was equally so. We

1:55

had a packed house at a really

1:57

wonderful venue. So that's pretty cool. Our

1:59

question this week. comes from fellow comedian

2:01

Mike Briglia, who's an overachiever and did

2:03

several questions for us, and we use

2:06

two of them here. He's become a

2:08

friend of mine, but more importantly, he

2:10

has an astonishing special coming out on

2:12

Netflix in May called The Good Life,

2:14

which he's been working on. He's also

2:16

interviewed Josh. I think you'll really like

2:19

this interview. It is fun, and it

2:21

is also surprisingly poignant. So get ready

2:23

to listen. Support

2:36

for this podcast, and the following

2:38

message is brought to you by

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We help. You save. Offer valet

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through four two. Selection varies by

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location while supplies last. Josh

4:23

Johnson, thanks for joining us

4:25

for a live recording of

4:28

On with Carol Swisher here

4:30

at the Cooper Union in New

4:32

York. So I have a really

4:34

busy schedule, but you have an

4:37

insane schedule. You just came. here

4:39

tonight from the Daily Show, where

4:41

you've been a correspondent for about

4:43

a year. And you were also

4:46

on tour. You've been touring around

4:48

the country. This Friday and Saturday,

4:50

you perform in Oklahoma. Last night,

4:53

you're in Dallas. Next week, and

4:55

you're back in Texas. This has

4:57

been going on for a while.

5:00

Talk a little bit about how

5:02

you're conducting your life right

5:04

now as a comic. What is

5:06

it like to be a comic

5:08

at this moment? that much. Yeah.

5:10

But also there was so long

5:12

where I would go places and

5:14

nobody cared. And so it's nice

5:16

to now have people want me

5:18

to go wherever I'm going. So

5:20

where was the worst place where

5:23

nobody cared? I had a book

5:25

event where two people showed up

5:27

so I took them out to

5:29

dinner. But go ahead. Yeah. So

5:32

you're saying the worst place where

5:34

nobody cared? Yeah. Yeah. I did

5:36

do a show in Mobile Alabama.

5:38

that if they cared they would

5:41

have come. And it was

5:43

raining when I got there

5:45

and one of the producers

5:47

was like, I think we're

5:49

gonna get some more people

5:51

coming in. I was like,

5:53

I don't think we will.

5:55

I think that the rain

5:58

doesn't necessarily bring. the people

6:00

out. I think whoever is in

6:02

here now is who we have.

6:04

And there was one person that

6:06

wandered in and was very confused

6:08

why I was talking, was like

6:10

clearly just came in for a

6:12

drink and was like, oh no.

6:15

So you're doing a lot of,

6:17

I want to sort of differentiate

6:19

between online and... I guess offline

6:21

of real life, but because you're

6:23

one of those prolific comics on

6:25

social media at the moment. You

6:27

released 60 YouTube videos last year.

6:29

You post nearly hour-long sets on

6:31

YouTube weekly, which you're doing. You're

6:33

getting millions of views. They're all

6:35

very different. A lot of current

6:37

news and pop culture moments. Talk

6:39

a little bit about that and

6:41

how you think about the differentiation

6:43

between, say, being in Texas and

6:45

here or somewhere else. First of

6:48

all, I do talk a lot.

6:50

So that's how we got the

6:52

numbers. That's how we got to

6:54

the 60 videos is that I

6:56

could go on forever. If y'all

6:58

feel like living here, we can.

7:00

But I think that every place

7:02

that you go to, you know,

7:04

whether you're in like Austin, Texas

7:06

or Oklahoma City or something, are

7:08

gonna have... their general breakdowns of

7:10

demographics, and all the things that

7:12

we use to look at a

7:14

place and try to decide what

7:16

it is, try to put people

7:18

in a place in a specific

7:21

box, you know, is it red,

7:23

is it blue, purple, is it

7:25

mostly black, white, is it like,

7:27

does it have a hood, is

7:29

it the boonies, all that stuff,

7:31

but I think that for the

7:33

most part, if you can accept

7:35

that those demographics are there, but

7:37

still sort of approach it with

7:39

the hope of being universal, I

7:41

think you can get to some

7:43

really interesting work. I think that

7:45

it is possible to create a

7:47

through line that people who have

7:49

very different experiences that will not

7:52

converge can still understand the thing

7:54

that you're talking about. So that's

7:56

my goal whenever I go to

7:58

a place is to not necessarily

8:00

switch up everything that I'm doing

8:02

because of where I am, but

8:04

sometimes where I am aids the

8:06

thing that I'm trying to speak

8:08

to. How do you pick things?

8:10

Because you do different things. I

8:12

was looking at you, you do

8:14

these longer ones that shift between

8:16

a number of things. You were

8:18

talking about a fight and then

8:20

you were talking about Elon Musk

8:22

and then you were talking about

8:25

AI. We'll get to Elon in

8:27

a second because he's super funny

8:29

as everybody knows. And then you

8:31

did this very, you do a

8:33

lot of short ones, which I

8:35

like a lot, where you know,

8:37

you did one on Mark Zuckerberg's

8:39

outfit, which I loved. Thank you

8:41

for doing that. As much as

8:43

I enjoy Jimmy Kimmel Collium looking

8:45

like a molly dealer from Chechnya.

8:47

I love the idea that he's

8:49

in the middle of the first

8:51

cross-racial midlife crisis, which I thought

8:53

was beautiful, was sort of a

8:55

beautiful thing. How do you pick

8:58

it up and decide what to

9:00

do now? that you might integrate

9:02

into your Seattle. I was just

9:04

thinking, I was just on the

9:06

way here, I was on a

9:08

train here from DC, and one

9:10

of the things that I thought

9:12

was interesting was this idea that

9:14

the tariffs are manly, that they're

9:16

manly tariffs, and it's on, I

9:18

know it's going to surprise you,

9:20

but it's on Fox News right

9:22

now. Trump terrorists will make you

9:24

a man, that's Jesse Waters. Trump's

9:26

manly tariffs, pundit believes it could

9:29

reverse the crisis in masculinity, for

9:31

example. Sure, sure, so... It's a

9:33

penis. Yeah, yeah. The way that

9:35

I look at it, I suppose,

9:37

if I was gonna add it

9:39

to the set, right? That like,

9:41

they're saying that this is manly.

9:43

I do think that it is

9:45

manly in the way that like,

9:47

my dad would try to fix

9:49

the sink and he's not a

9:51

plumber. See what I mean? Like,

9:53

so like, we own the tools,

9:55

because you can buy tools. Don't

9:57

just let anybody have the tools.

9:59

They don't ask you if you're

10:02

gonna tear up your house at

10:04

all. They'll let you buy the

10:06

hammer, the screwdriver, they'll let you

10:08

buy, like, the, it might as

10:10

well be an automatic weapon if

10:12

you don't know what you're doing

10:14

with an electric screw. And so

10:16

then you bring it home and

10:18

in your head as a man,

10:20

you're like, like, I have the

10:22

tools. Like I do have them,

10:24

so if anything happens, I'm at

10:26

least halfway there. Never mind, the

10:28

other half is like knowledge. And

10:30

so then... So then... There's like

10:32

a leaky faucet and so you're

10:35

like, okay, go time. This is

10:37

what we bought all the stuff

10:39

at the hardware store for. And

10:41

so you get under the sink,

10:43

you move all the life, so

10:45

all the stuff out of the

10:47

way, and then you're under there,

10:49

and it's very uncomfortable. You're like,

10:51

wow, I can't believe that there

10:53

are people that do this without

10:55

complaining. And then you're trying to

10:57

figure out, you know, you've got

10:59

your light, you've got your cell

11:01

phone light. pointed at the faucet

11:03

with your legs hanging out of

11:06

the cabinet and you're looking up

11:08

and you're letting the water hit

11:10

you on the forehead because you're

11:12

like I just want to make

11:14

sure the leak is real right

11:16

and so it's hitting you on

11:18

the forehead and then you're like

11:20

all right time for tools and

11:22

so you take your screwdriver and

11:24

you're like I don't know where

11:26

this one I don't know if

11:28

this one will help. Well you're

11:30

not actually supposed to use a

11:32

screwdriver there but I like a

11:34

screwdriver. And so

11:37

then the way that that thought

11:39

process goes of like I'm a

11:41

man a man is supposed to

11:44

fix these things I have the

11:46

tools the tools are right here

11:48

you know a tariff is a

11:51

tool it's not as if tariffs

11:53

were invented this past week or

11:55

anything no and obviously you know

11:58

when when Trump was running he

12:00

was running on strength you saw

12:02

dudes that we're voting for Trump

12:05

talk about how we need strength

12:07

right now and everything. He's a

12:09

man, he has a tool, let's

12:12

just fix the thing. And the

12:14

only thing he's missing is knowledge

12:16

on how the thing works. Right.

12:19

And that does mean that the

12:21

house we're in is going to

12:23

leak very badly for a long

12:26

time. Do you? There you go.

12:28

Right, exactly. So making jokes about

12:30

this craziness. Now you do man-in-the-street

12:33

bits as a correspondent on the

12:35

Daily Show, which are fantastic. Have

12:37

you noticed any change in reactions

12:40

over the last few months? Have

12:42

you been out lately since the

12:44

stock market took a massive dive?

12:47

No, I've only talked to people

12:49

that I know since the stock

12:51

market. I don't even know what

12:54

you would call it besides a

12:56

crash. Yeah. Crashed is what you're

12:58

looking for. I was trying to

13:01

find a different word like a

13:03

synonym and then crash is just

13:05

the most appropriate. But basically ever

13:08

since it really kicked off, so

13:10

like that first day with the

13:12

Tao with like 1,200 points and

13:15

everything, you know, everyone that I

13:17

know was concerned in the way

13:19

that you... They

13:21

were concerned in the way that you

13:24

get concerned when you're like in an

13:26

Uber and you see that the light

13:28

has turned But they're still looking at

13:30

the directions and so you're like I

13:32

are we about to crash? Yeah All

13:35

the time and then and then the

13:37

more I talked to people the more

13:39

that they were like no, I think

13:41

we've actually already been in the car

13:43

accident and we're doing that thing where

13:46

you blink a lot because you can't

13:48

hear anything Because you're like And

13:52

so I think that I

13:54

have not had the I've

13:56

not had the chance you'd

13:58

to do like a man

14:01

on the street since it

14:03

happened, but every person that

14:05

I've talked to has had,

14:07

and across the aisle as

14:09

well, it's like I still

14:12

have friends from back home

14:14

in Louisiana that vote Republican

14:16

every time and everything that

14:18

have very similar concerns to

14:20

the people that I know here. And

14:23

I think that sometimes these

14:25

connections get made where people

14:27

who are people who are Maybe

14:29

diametrically opposed isn't the right way

14:32

of phrasing it But like people

14:34

who are so at opposite ends

14:36

of the spectrum have one sticking

14:39

point of common ground for even

14:41

a moment and then speaking to

14:43

that is What I would try to do

14:45

whether it's a man on the street or

14:47

just stand up. So what would be

14:49

right now are people in places like

14:52

Oklahoma getting wary of Elon or

14:54

or what Trump is doing or

14:56

the cuts in government? I

14:58

think that there is a hesitance

15:00

that I'm seeing in real people that

15:03

doesn't seem to exist online as

15:05

much. The thing about being online

15:07

is that it doesn't tell you

15:10

how everyone is feeling, and neither

15:12

can being in person, but it

15:14

does tell you the most extreme

15:17

version of what a person thinks. If

15:19

you don't have to be in

15:21

person saying the thing, you'll say

15:23

whatever. right? Like I'm pretty tough

15:25

behind a keyboard. Yeah. And how

15:27

dare you? Yeah. How dare you?

15:30

But you do see people online

15:32

saying things that are like, well,

15:34

this is good. This is the

15:36

manly thing. This is like going

15:38

to make men men again because

15:40

we're going to have to work

15:42

so hard to eat nothing that

15:44

we will. Be like men again,

15:46

remember like our grandparents who were

15:48

men back when men were men,

15:50

you know the men that died

15:53

young, those men, we should be

15:55

more like those men who got

15:57

things like, I don't know, like

15:59

tetness from... Not having the shot or

16:01

having the shot and not wanting to take

16:03

it. Yeah, yeah. So we're really, I don't

16:05

know, I used to truly believe, and

16:07

I'm not trying to not answer

16:10

the question. You just reminded me

16:12

of something. I truly used to

16:14

believe that with enough opportunity, education,

16:16

and resources, we would all be

16:19

like that meme. You know that

16:21

meme that people make where they're

16:23

like, oh, if this thing never

16:25

happened, and it's like a futuristicic

16:27

utopia. and there's like flying cars

16:30

and stuff like that. I used

16:32

to believe that like with

16:34

enough of everything we would

16:36

get there and now I'm

16:39

not totally sure that's the

16:41

case because we do have stuff

16:43

and we're like naw I'd rather

16:45

it be like the 1800s. Yes.

16:48

That looked dope so I'd rather

16:50

that as I sit on my

16:52

iPhone. I'd rather that. back when

16:54

men were men and those men

16:57

wrote about how bad life was.

16:59

Yeah, so like measles, let's do

17:01

it again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And

17:03

so I think though that

17:05

a lot of different connection

17:07

points are getting made

17:09

in how people are reacting

17:12

to things and I think

17:14

it's obviously, it's very difficult.

17:17

It's really hard. If you

17:19

spent a year and a year and

17:21

a year and a half. sort

17:23

of sounding the alarm that things

17:25

like this would happen and then

17:27

no one cared or people laughing

17:29

your face and then they do

17:31

start happening and then all of

17:34

a sudden people care or they

17:36

stop laughing or they still try

17:38

laughing your face while they're actively

17:40

hurting and I think that like they're

17:43

I don't ask anyone to like live

17:45

life as I see fit but I

17:47

do think that for some people there's

17:50

a a point where their empathy sort of

17:52

ends and they get on the sort

17:54

of like nihilistic doom roller coaster where

17:57

they're like well good let's go ahead

17:59

let's burn it all down just

18:01

so you can suffer just so

18:03

you can learn your lesson. The

18:05

leopards eat your face. The leopards eat

18:07

your face and it's like this

18:09

is the thing about that I totally

18:12

understand where that logic comes from

18:14

I also very much understand like

18:16

that feeling like that that's a very

18:18

human thing we all have it

18:20

for each other sometimes Like, and

18:22

it could be politics, it could be

18:24

you telling someone not to date

18:26

someone, you know what I mean? Like,

18:29

it could be anything. But the

18:31

problem with like the Leopard's Eating

18:33

Face Party is that the satisfaction you

18:35

get from watching the person that

18:37

voted for the Leopard's Eat Faces,

18:39

eat their face, is negating the fact

18:41

that your face is also being

18:43

eaten. Like, like, at the same time,

18:46

that's the whole reason you didn't

18:48

want the Leopard Face Party, because

18:50

you were like, I like my face.

18:52

And so I think I had

18:54

that feeling when Bill Ackman, who's

18:56

been on the DEA brigade, because he's

18:58

a world's expert on that, you

19:00

know, I was thinking he does like

19:03

96 page tweets about. I did

19:05

read one of them and it

19:07

was long. It was long. Yeah. And

19:09

I'm like, this is not the

19:11

purpose of Twitter, but fine. So

19:13

I was going to do a 96-part

19:15

series on hedge fund investing about

19:17

which I know nothing so that I

19:20

could compete with him. But he's

19:22

very upset about the tariffs. Oh

19:24

no, he's very upset and he also

19:26

does not have an editor. I've

19:28

never seen... I didn't know you

19:30

were allowed to do it that long.

19:33

Yeah. Yeah. It's free. Yeah. Yeah,

19:35

they don't make them any money. He's

19:37

working on a book. Yes, he

19:39

is. I want to talk a

19:41

little bit how you got here, because

19:43

you're originally, as you noted, from

19:45

Louisiana. You studied lighting, theater lighting? I

19:48

did. Yeah. Why? Well, I was

19:50

looking for something. I've always loved

19:52

theater, and I wasn't a performer. in

19:54

that way, like you know, I

19:56

wasn't an actor or anything, but

19:58

I was really engaged with everything that...

20:00

theater department was doing and so

20:02

I decided, I started, I started, I

20:05

started off as this communications major

20:07

because I thought that I was

20:09

going to write films and I thought

20:11

that communications was the best, like

20:13

the best route to when I'm

20:15

not writing films, I could be working

20:17

on something else and I can

20:19

just learn that general world of media

20:22

and then I just found myself

20:24

so passionate about theater and the

20:26

productions that the... the department was doing

20:28

that I thought lighting design and

20:30

the way that it's like subtle

20:32

but incredibly necessary was something really interesting

20:34

and so I graduated with a

20:36

degree with that as my my main

20:39

focus. But did you want to

20:41

get on the stage? And then

20:43

just said, oh, I'll do lighting design

20:45

because I'm, you know, it's almost

20:47

like one of those movies where

20:49

the lighting designer turns out to be

20:52

the beautiful girl and stuff. In

20:54

a sense, but basically after I graduated,

20:56

I just, I did it for

20:58

maybe... three, four months after I

21:00

graduated locally with a lot of productions

21:02

and stuff, and then I knew

21:04

I was gonna move to Chicago,

21:06

and when I moved to Chicago, I

21:09

had also started doing like a

21:11

couple open mic nights and stuff like

21:13

that, I've always had a real

21:15

passion for comedy, even more so

21:17

than design, even more so than theater.

21:19

But you hadn't done it before,

21:21

correct? I hadn't really done it.

21:23

I had done like my colleges, like...

21:26

What prompted you to get on

21:28

the stage to do that? You know,

21:30

I talked a lot. This is

21:32

at least a form where I'm

21:34

supposed to you know, and so I

21:36

don't I I couldn't tell you

21:38

honestly from that very first time

21:40

what made me do it But I

21:43

know when I moved Chicago. What

21:45

was your first joke? Oh, jeez. I

21:47

don't know what it was but

21:49

I know it was bad I

21:51

don't remember it was about there's a

21:53

piece of the set that I

21:55

remember because I did a few

21:57

jokes, so I don't remember what the

22:00

first one was, but I had

22:02

this one joke about how... My family

22:04

got a new alarm system and

22:06

I like said the neighborhood that

22:08

we lived in and everything and then

22:11

that someone tried to break in

22:13

and we found the alarm system

22:15

works perfectly because the cops showed up

22:17

two days later. And that was

22:19

in there. Slowburn here. Yeah. I think

22:21

I remember that one because people

22:23

actually like reacted to that one.

22:25

I feel like the other ones were

22:28

does. Yeah, you had a good

22:30

joke about being in a fight

22:32

neighborhood. You live in a fight when

22:34

you had your fight. I've only

22:36

lived in fight neighborhoods. Oh yeah, yeah,

22:38

yeah. So I feel like I

22:40

also sometimes will categorize jokes by

22:42

like a different thing than what is

22:45

the memorable part of the joke.

22:47

And so... The joke itself, you

22:49

mean? Yeah, exactly. It's getting... No, your

22:51

discursiveness is really interesting because you

22:53

wander all over the place. I do.

22:55

Yeah, I like it. It's part

22:57

of talking a lot. Yeah, yeah.

22:59

It reminds me of you, you must

23:02

study a lot. That's what I

23:04

was noticing. On a lot of

23:06

your text stuff, you went out and

23:08

learned it. Like, it looks like

23:10

you could. Right. I mean, if anything,

23:12

that's what gives me... like if

23:14

I decide to a set about

23:16

something or someone and then in trying

23:19

to find background on it I'm

23:21

realizing how little I understand about the

23:23

subject that's what gives me at

23:25

least more respect in in how

23:27

I talk about it just because I

23:30

know even if the audience doesn't

23:32

know I know that I didn't

23:34

when I read it I didn't understand

23:36

it right you were talking about

23:38

terrorists backstage about the formula yeah I

23:40

was talking about the tariffs and

23:42

I was like I'm reading things

23:44

that I'm just trying to make sure

23:47

all of it is true because

23:49

so far it's been very dumb.

23:51

And I just want to make sure

23:53

it's as dumb as I think

23:55

it is? Right. Before I talk about

23:57

how dumb it is, because in

23:59

case I'm wrong, I'm like not

24:01

helping. I'm just making it seem... It's

24:04

dumb. Yeah, okay, cool. Cool, cool.

24:06

Yeah, you were asking, he was

24:08

asking if chat TVT gave Trump the

24:10

formula. Yeah, and I heard that

24:12

and I was like, I, no lie,

24:14

I don't like Trump at all,

24:16

but I need that one to

24:18

not be true. Let me go ahead

24:21

and look up like 14 sources

24:23

to make sure that that's what

24:25

happened. Yeah. Because I know that they

24:27

got their own formula wrong. Yeah.

24:29

And that was also like, like, as

24:31

someone who's never been great. at

24:33

math in class. Right. I understand

24:35

exactly where they were coming from, messing

24:38

up their own formula. Yeah. But

24:40

no one's ever depended on me.

24:42

Right. Yeah, I mean, like I never

24:44

came home with a seat in

24:46

math and my mom was like, that's

24:49

it, we selling everything, this is...

24:51

We were looking to you and

24:53

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28:03

When you were getting, when you were

28:06

sort of preparing and going on stage

28:08

from being, doing lighting, you jumped on

28:10

stage and took the mic, did you

28:12

have people you looked up to that

28:15

influenced your comment? I mean, everyone sort

28:17

of asked that question, was it? Jimmy

28:19

Fallon, Trevor Noah, John Stewart. Was there

28:22

anybody you were copying? I don't think

28:24

so because I feel like what I

28:26

was doing, I definitely had heroes especially,

28:29

but I think that one of the

28:31

reasons it was what felt like difficult

28:33

for me to find my footing in

28:35

stand-up for a little while was that

28:38

the way that I wanted to do

28:40

it was not... something that I really

28:42

saw a lot of. I saw pieces

28:45

of it in other people, I suppose.

28:47

I really appreciate the way that this

28:49

may not even make sense. feel free

28:52

to stop. I shall. Okay. But I

28:54

appreciate the way that Carlin had almost

28:56

like a timeless tense to him because

28:58

he could have, yeah, George Carlin, he

29:01

could have talked about one specific politician,

29:03

one specific moment in time, one specific

29:05

story, but the takeaway, even when he

29:08

did do those things, was that this

29:10

thing is applicable for the rest of

29:12

time as long as this injustice persists.

29:15

Even though I talk about things topically,

29:17

I think that if you let all

29:19

that stuff sort of pass away or

29:21

you edit it out of the set,

29:24

there is an attempt I'm making to

29:26

talk about a larger thing that, who

29:28

knows? I don't get to decide and

29:31

I won't be around for if it

29:33

holds up. I would say is philosophical.

29:35

Let me give you an example from

29:38

a set you posted. It's funny, but

29:40

it's also very poignant. I'm going to

29:42

read some of the lines you sprinkle

29:44

through this 42 minutes, and I don't

29:47

think. I'm very good at this, so

29:49

I'm just going to do it. The

29:51

only way forward is with other people.

29:54

Your future is your neighbor. Lay down,

29:56

trust, at the feet of people you

29:58

don't know. If there's a community you

30:01

want around you, all you have to

30:03

do is be its founder. It's so

30:05

much more likely you're going to build

30:07

a community than you're going to become

30:10

a billionaire. There's a lot going on

30:12

there that is this eternal thing that

30:14

you're talking about. These bigger ideas. Yeah,

30:17

yeah. I mean, oof, oof, oof, I

30:19

definitely didn't definitely didn't have any. Jokes

30:21

in that. No. They think so. So

30:24

I was like, I pulled them out

30:26

just for you. I hope I hope

30:28

the actual set may people. I made

30:30

them on purpose. The stuff from before.

30:33

Okay, got to work on some tax.

30:35

But yeah, no, I think that those

30:37

are my My attempts to take it

30:40

away from just one specific thing. I

30:42

understand that it is incredibly scary and

30:44

disheartening to see this sort of like...

30:47

whatever you want to call it, Trump

30:49

America or anything. But Trump is a

30:51

symptom of a larger issue and those

30:53

issues will exist long after. He's gone

30:56

long after. I'm gone because they're the

30:58

issues that people make and I think

31:00

that there are attitudes that get us

31:03

back to places that we've been before

31:05

where it already didn't work out for

31:07

us. We've seen, it's like some of

31:10

the worst parts of history seem like

31:12

they're going to repeat. But we already

31:14

know, we've already sort of learned the

31:16

lesson. And so that's actually what makes

31:19

things timeless sadly. Isn't even someone being

31:21

extra poignant or like having words strung

31:23

together in a sentence that have never

31:26

been done before is the fact that

31:28

we keep making the same mistake. So

31:30

if you can speak to a specific

31:33

mistake and you can hopefully find something

31:35

to offer up besides just this is

31:37

a mistake, boo on you, then I

31:40

think that... You do have a catalog

31:42

that you can look back on with

31:44

a lot of things that hold up

31:46

that people can enjoy or take something

31:49

away from for as long as for

31:51

a long time. You're right. Carlin really

31:53

does hold up even today is completely

31:56

relevant the stuff he says. That said

31:58

you do a lot of stuff of

32:00

pop culture as it's happening now. Your

32:03

most popular YouTube video at the moment

32:05

is Drake versus Kendrick explained to white

32:07

people. Which is brilliant, which some people

32:09

won't understand, but still is fantastic. 7.8

32:12

million views in 10 months. There's also

32:14

Diddy's collapse, untouchable to indicted, 6.5 million

32:16

views. And of course, let's not forget

32:19

why they're turning on Elon, one of

32:21

my personal favorites, with 4.5 million views.

32:23

These are 40-minute-plus conversational explainers, with lots

32:26

of detours, which is, I think, your

32:28

signature style, although you do do the

32:30

shorter, tick-tock ones. Why do you think

32:32

long-term is doing, long-form is doing so

32:35

well for you? Because people want more

32:37

explanation? Maybe. I don't know. I didn't

32:39

necessarily engage with it that way because

32:42

I figured something out. I just was

32:44

doing my set and then I put

32:46

it out and people found it and

32:49

liked it and that's a real blessing.

32:51

I don't really know if that will

32:53

even be the case. for long. I

32:55

just know that this is the way

32:58

that I approach comedy. This is the

33:00

way that I find it like fun

33:02

and fulfilling. I'm happy that people enjoy

33:05

it. It's not going to be everybody's

33:07

cup of tea, so I understand that

33:09

as well. But to me... I think

33:12

that in a world that's like bombarding

33:14

you consistently all the time with like

33:16

a message as quick as possible, convince

33:18

you of something, and convince you of

33:21

something that's a belief that they would

33:23

like for you to hold for the

33:25

end of time, because whether... Which is

33:28

reductive too. Yeah, I think that at

33:30

a certain point, if you really take

33:32

your time and think out and... entire

33:35

idea that there are going to be

33:37

people who appreciate that and appreciate the

33:39

through line that you create, the line

33:41

of logic. So at least they understand

33:44

your worldview and the worldview of people

33:46

that believe what you believe a little

33:48

bit better. And I think that maybe

33:51

that's what's resonating with people right now

33:53

because I'm especially not really trying to

33:55

convince anybody of anything. These are the

33:58

things that I think are funny. great

34:00

thing about the internet is that there

34:02

is some passivity there. It's like, if

34:04

you really think that I suck, you

34:07

don't have to engage with me at

34:09

all. If you're like, this isn't what

34:11

comedy should be, or if it's for

34:14

you, and you're like, oh, I really

34:16

wanted something that, whether it's breaking down

34:18

a thing or joking about a thing

34:21

that is obscure, then you can find

34:23

it, and you can have fun with

34:25

it, but I don't know. Because I

34:27

also don't know if I'll always do

34:30

it. Creator is supposed to evolve in

34:32

some form. And so this is what

34:34

I'm doing for now. Maybe I'll do

34:37

something different a few years from now.

34:39

You know what I'm very attracted to,

34:41

one of the things, something I know

34:44

about, like your Elon takedowns are brilliant

34:46

actually. I have spent 30 years with

34:48

that fucker and you seem to get

34:50

it pretty quick. You know, he was

34:53

okay for many of those years and

34:55

has sort of lost his ever love

34:57

in mind at this point. You have

35:00

real insight into these tech billionaires. They're

35:02

giving you a lot of material, which

35:04

is interesting. Sure. But I also think

35:07

it's just like, to me, no matter

35:09

what you're sort of like studying to

35:11

find background on, to speak about as

35:13

an, as. earnestly and intelligently as possible.

35:16

I think if you have an understanding

35:18

of people, you'll understand a situation. And

35:20

I've met people like Elon, and I've

35:23

met people like Trump, and I've met

35:25

people like Chuck Schumer, and I've met

35:27

people that remind me of other people.

35:30

not saying that those people are the

35:32

same as the people that I'm mentioning

35:34

but I kind of try to put

35:36

a lot of the things that I

35:39

make through through the sort of lens

35:41

of like we are we are all

35:43

basically the the same and what I

35:46

mean by that is that like I

35:48

try not to pass judgments that hold

35:50

forever because I truly believe it is

35:53

just my thing. I'm not asking anybody

35:55

else to believe it, but I think

35:57

that if I had been born at

35:59

a different time as a different person,

36:02

I would be them. I think if

36:04

I had, you know, the... like chemical

36:06

makeup in the brain, born in the

36:09

time, had the parents of the nurturing

36:11

of a different person, I'd probably be

36:13

just like them. I don't necessarily, like

36:16

I hold my beliefs very strongly, but

36:18

I don't hold them so strongly that

36:20

I'm like, no, even if I've been

36:22

born 20 years ago, I think exactly

36:25

what I think right now. It's like,

36:27

no, I had to be introduced to

36:29

ideas, I had to be brought along,

36:32

I had to learn, I had to

36:34

make lots of mistakes of mistakes. now.

36:36

In a lot of ways these people

36:39

are regressing, you know, back from something

36:41

else with the aid of certain pharmaceuticals.

36:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I do think

36:45

that some of that regression in in

36:48

a lot of its forms, no matter

36:50

how it happens, is like pain. And

36:52

I think that there are some people

36:55

that no matter how much money they

36:57

have or cloud, no matter how they

36:59

look to us on the outside or

37:02

deeply fearful of even the person. of

37:04

discovering the person that they are, because

37:06

I think you have to face a

37:09

lot to do that. And so rather

37:11

than open themselves up to what would

37:13

potentially make them a better person or

37:15

at least give them a deeper understanding

37:18

of other people, even if they don't

37:20

change their mind about anything, they sort

37:22

of regress because that is the, I

37:25

don't know, a part of me, sometimes

37:27

it's not an indictment on all of

37:29

us, but sometimes it just feels like

37:32

the manly thing. to do. Yeah. It's

37:34

like no I'm not wrong if I

37:36

just get louder I won't be wrong

37:38

because I won't hear anybody else talking.

37:41

Yeah at the same time they might

37:43

just be assholes. Yeah that's fair. You

37:45

know, I'm always struck by how unhappy

37:48

a lot of the richest people in

37:50

the world are. It's really quite something

37:52

to see, like the unhappiness and the

37:55

grievance and the victimization. That's really been,

37:57

that's really what my book was about,

37:59

was their grievance, their constant and exhausting

38:01

victimization of themselves, which is. Tire some

38:04

and no reflection what's I mean if

38:06

it's a it's a miracle they can

38:08

see themselves in the mirror at this

38:11

yeah I mean well you don't have

38:13

an odyssey then you have to create

38:15

one right you only create one like

38:18

one of two ways there could be

38:20

an actual problem in the world like

38:22

like You know I'm not gonna tell

38:24

anybody has spent their money, but Elon

38:27

could easily be like you know what

38:29

seems unconquerable hunger So I'm going to

38:31

attack hunger for the rest of my

38:34

life. I'm going to go at war

38:36

with hunger. What are the best ways

38:38

that we can attack hunger and stop

38:41

hunger, right? And... Do you know what

38:43

his solution might be? I mean, it...

38:45

Kill half the people. I wouldn't want

38:47

him to tackle hunger. I feel like

38:50

all my robots could kill half the

38:52

people. And then everyone's wondering... He's like

38:54

Thanos. He's literally Thanos. I'm not saying

38:57

he'd be good at it. I'm just

38:59

saying... The thing that he chose was

39:01

like, I'm gonna go after like the

39:04

idea that people have ideas that I

39:06

don't like. I'm gonna try to completely

39:08

shift culture and thinking in a way

39:10

that is like so animal farms, so

39:13

1984. And it's like, you could, he's

39:15

kind of out of problems. So he

39:17

has to make some. Yeah. And he's

39:20

only out of problems because the real

39:22

problems the world is facing are not

39:24

things that he's. interested in. Yeah, if

39:27

only hidden, hug more as a child.

39:29

So one of the things in your

39:31

2023 special, you imply comedy has been

39:33

a form of therapy for you. I

39:36

mean... A lot of these people could

39:38

use just even the smallest amount of

39:40

therapy. Sure. And you even thank the

39:43

audience, your therapist, for keeping you alive.

39:45

Do you talk a little bit about

39:47

that? Do you see yourself as a

39:50

found every community you want to be

39:52

around you? Do you follow your own

39:54

advice on your Flowers Tour? Yeah, I

39:56

mean, the purpose of the tour, the

39:59

idea is to, for myself especially, to

40:01

sort of learn how to... Like plant

40:03

these sort of seeds of mutual aid

40:06

and things that we can sustain like

40:08

long after the tour is over and

40:10

long after I'm gone and everything because

40:13

I think that if you can Set

40:15

something up like that like we don't

40:17

really think about the people who are

40:19

the reason that we have like a

40:22

40-hour workweek, but there were people that

40:24

like protested died there people who put

40:26

themselves on the line and so even

40:29

though they they're gone and we don't

40:31

really know their names We get that

40:33

benefit. And so it kind of felt

40:36

like, you know, to answer your question,

40:38

hopefully as succinctly as possible, because I

40:40

do talk a lot, is the same

40:42

way that when I moved Chicago, I

40:45

was like, okay, I can either do

40:47

lighting or I can do comedy. One

40:49

gives me a lot of joy, one,

40:52

I think I'm pretty good at, but

40:54

both, I'm probably going to be poor.

40:56

And so I just picked the thing

40:59

that gave me, like, like, more joy.

41:01

And I think that if I'm not

41:03

going to be here. forever anyway, then

41:05

it's more so what you sort of

41:08

leave behind. And so on Flower Store,

41:10

we're doing our best to get better

41:12

and better in every city and community

41:15

outreach, and some of that community outreach

41:17

is just letting the people know who

41:19

come to the show what's already happening

41:22

in their community, like all the good

41:24

work that's already being done. So even

41:26

if we don't start something new, we

41:28

let... the people know that like oh

41:31

there's this animal shelter here that is

41:33

just not even six blocks away from

41:35

the theater and they're taking volunteers and

41:38

you can sign up or you can

41:40

donate or you know what whatever the

41:42

thing is because I think that one

41:45

of the reasons people feel so beat

41:47

down all the time is that they

41:49

They are unaware in all the noise

41:51

of the internet of all the good

41:54

work that is happening around them. Yeah,

41:56

and the solutions. And so that is

41:58

like what I'm attempting to do with

42:01

the tour and each tour for the

42:03

rest of the time that I'm doing

42:05

comedy is that I think that if

42:08

you can go somewhere, I mean like

42:10

flowers is a little on the nose,

42:12

but every. State has a flower cities

42:14

have particular flowers that grow there in

42:17

a way that they don't grow anywhere

42:19

else And so if you can visit

42:21

and sort of plant these seeds and

42:24

you can nurture them leave them with

42:26

the people that came to the show

42:28

and and sort of leave that general

42:31

message There that when you come back

42:33

to sort of water Water that idea

42:35

that there might be something that's grown

42:37

in the meantime and You know, it's

42:40

interesting, because Lincoln, that was a famous

42:42

quote. I think if I was remembered

42:44

for anything, I found a thistle, I

42:47

planted a flower. I mean, it was

42:49

one of his famous quotes, is that

42:51

he did that. Wherever he found that,

42:54

he planted a flower, which is interesting.

42:56

I want to talk about that idea,

42:58

because I'm going to show you just

43:01

a little bit and talk about how

43:03

it's a business, too. You just mentioned

43:05

something you really like doing. or you

43:07

can be poor either way, but you're

43:10

not. You're very entrepreneurial. You have two

43:12

specials. One was self-financed and produced. Talk

43:14

a little bit about that, because one

43:17

of the things you're doing is sort

43:19

of trying to change a lot of

43:21

comics, not just you are doing this.

43:24

There's a lot of calculation now happening

43:26

with comics about how to be entrepreneurial,

43:28

and I think they really are in

43:30

a lot of ways. So talk about

43:33

how that is, and lots of different

43:35

comics have tried doing different things in

43:37

owning their comedy, and it used to

43:40

be UN on a... Stand up than

43:42

you got on like the tonight show

43:44

and then you got a series and

43:47

that's how it went That's not how

43:49

it is anymore for especially young comics.

43:51

Can you talk a little bit about

43:53

this? Yeah, I think that there are

43:56

ways in which the The economy is

43:58

changing that If you don't think very

44:00

deeply about what it is that you

44:03

want to do and how you want

44:05

to distribute it, you will be not

44:07

left behind in the way of like,

44:10

get in now or it's over. I

44:12

mean, like, you will be sort of

44:14

like following the lead of a corporation

44:16

who went ahead and figured out how

44:19

to get around the idea that you

44:21

could be independent. So for instance, like,

44:23

while we sat here when, like, vaping

44:26

was getting big, right? And there was

44:28

all these things going on about how

44:30

big tobacco was scared of vaping, and

44:33

they were actually lobbying to try to

44:35

get all of these municipal laws passed.

44:37

And while some of that was happening,

44:39

they were also quietly investing in vaping

44:42

and then buying vape companies because they

44:44

knew that the tie was turning, everything

44:46

was shifting, and they weren't going to

44:49

be able to fight it forever. And

44:51

so I think that when it comes

44:53

to distribution, I think it when it

44:56

comes to ownership, and when it comes

44:58

to you creating the things. that you

45:00

want to make and having some say

45:02

in how they get created, that having

45:05

that ownership, even if it doesn't look

45:07

like much initially, is going to pay

45:09

off dividends in the future because you

45:12

can choose your collaborators. Like I've done

45:14

my best to surround people, so surround

45:16

myself with people that I trust with

45:19

the things that I'm making, and I

45:21

want to make sure everybody feels content

45:23

with what we're creating. together, you know,

45:25

that's yours. Yeah, that yeah, so it's

45:28

like it, even if the actual creation

45:30

of the thing is mine, if you

45:32

are on the tour with me, I

45:35

want you to feel like a part

45:37

of the tour is yours and you

45:39

can use the skills that you learn

45:42

on the tour to go off and

45:44

make your own thing in a way

45:46

where I just feel like corporations are

45:48

very good at like trying to make

45:51

you feel that way while also trying

45:53

to keep you the entire time. And

45:55

I think that the next wave of

45:58

comedians that make money, whether it's online.

46:00

or like touring or anything like that,

46:02

are gonna be finding more

46:04

independent ways to produce their

46:06

stuff. And the thing that big

46:09

corporations have over being independent

46:11

or working on something that's like

46:13

new in a way where you

46:16

don't know if it'll work out

46:18

is that they have the structure

46:20

in place. And so when you

46:22

see something with that big of

46:24

a structure, it can catapult someone.

46:27

If a company comes to you

46:29

and they're like, We're going to

46:31

fund your next three projects and

46:33

everything. That's very enticing, but they

46:36

own that. But it's all of your

46:38

work, you know? And I'm not saying

46:40

that you never engage with a corporation

46:42

at all. I'm not saying that you

46:44

never... Because you do that on the

46:46

daily show that's... Yeah, yeah, it's

46:48

like you use the leverage you

46:50

have when you have it, and

46:52

you build relationships that are just

46:55

advantageous to you as well. there's

46:57

sometimes a level of trust in

46:59

systems that we found to not

47:01

be trustworthy for a long time. Yeah,

47:03

I own everything now. After I just

47:05

got so sick of someone like Rupert

47:07

Murdoch owning everything I did and I

47:09

was like, you're an asshole and I

47:12

would like to just own it even

47:14

if I don't make money from it, which

47:16

I do. We'll be back in a minute.

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55:25

I mean, I don't even know

55:27

if fraternity is the right word,

55:29

but there is some amount of

55:32

camaraderie that every comic feels when

55:34

another comic is genuinely censored. And

55:36

I don't mean censored as in

55:38

like, they did their jokes, they

55:41

made their money, then people got

55:43

mad and they're like, y'all are

55:45

killing me. I mean, when someone

55:48

genuinely loses an opportunity because of

55:50

what they have to say. And

55:52

I think that... If anything, I

55:55

wish that more comedians would be

55:57

vocal about Amber Ruffin's situation the

55:59

way they are when And a

56:01

comic is like, you know, putting

56:04

stuff out, making their money, but

56:06

then getting backlash, and somehow that's

56:08

an attack. But like actually losing

56:11

an opportunity isn't an attack. So

56:13

I- Yeah, absolutely. All right, my

56:15

last question does come from overachiever

56:18

Mike again. We're going to play

56:20

the clip, and then you can

56:22

answer it. Josh, do you believe

56:24

in the concept of there being

56:27

a goat in comedy? And if

56:29

so, are you the goat? Or

56:31

will you someday be the goat?

56:34

Or are you open to accepting

56:36

the title if one day it

56:38

was given to you by the

56:40

comedy gods? Okay. And follow if

56:43

you aren't the goat who is

56:45

the goat right now in your

56:47

opinion besides Mike, obviously? So, you

56:50

sure I can't hear the third

56:52

question? I don't I forgot what

56:54

it was. Yeah, I don't believe

56:57

in in like a concept of

56:59

a of a goat really I

57:01

think maybe if you ask me

57:03

on a different day I'll give

57:06

you a different answer but I

57:08

think that when something like art

57:10

is so subjective then you can

57:13

be you can be first at

57:15

something you can be the best

57:17

of a particular thing but I

57:20

think that as long as we

57:22

all have Different views on

57:24

what art is, I think it would

57:26

be a bit short-sighted to call anyone

57:29

individual the goat and that doesn't

57:31

just go for comedy. It kind of

57:33

goes for everything because time's not over.

57:35

No. Like, like, don't get me wrong.

57:38

If we really do all die,

57:40

if this kills all of us, then

57:42

yeah, I guess when we are like

57:44

in the ether... if we still have

57:47

consciousness floating in the universe, we can

57:49

be like, ah, that one guy was

57:51

pretty good now that, now that

57:54

time's over and we know. there's no

57:56

one else coming. That one guy, he

57:58

did it, you know? And I think

58:01

that one thing that I find

58:03

very interesting, and I think every comic

58:05

knows this, is that the people who

58:07

enjoy them the most, the people who

58:10

have found that comedian to be

58:12

their favorites. will call them the goat.

58:14

Depending on who you ask, it's Wanda

58:16

Sykes, depending on who you ask, it's

58:19

Maria Bamford, it's Bill Birds, Dave

58:21

Schapel, it's Chris, Rock, it's Kevin, it's

58:23

whoever. And I think that that sort

58:25

of thinking, if it's too much into

58:28

the mind, it can actually diminish

58:30

the work. It's a lot like when

58:32

you are a rapper, and you're coming

58:34

up and you have a live connection

58:37

to community and people vibe with

58:39

what you're putting out because they're part

58:41

of that you're part of that you're

58:43

part of. in because you're trying to

58:46

get out of there, but then

58:48

you do get out of there from

58:50

success, from Grammys, from notoriety, and then

58:52

all of a sudden you kind of

58:55

don't know what to do with

58:57

it because now you're like one of

58:59

the grades and then you don't relate

59:01

to the people, the people don't relate

59:04

to you. So if you just

59:06

approach all the art that you make,

59:08

the way that like a boxer is

59:10

supposed to approach a fight, there are

59:13

plenty of fighters who thought that

59:15

they were the goat and... didn't train.

59:17

They were like, I'm the best. That's

59:19

what, what's gonna happen to me? I'm

59:22

the best. And then they got

59:24

in the ring with someone who didn't

59:26

think they were the best and they

59:28

were pummeled to oblivion. And it's like,

59:31

yeah. That was Rocky 3 by

59:33

the way. Yes. Somebody finally said it.

59:35

And I think that that's what happens

59:37

to artists if they get two in

59:40

their heads and if they let

59:42

people pump them up too much. It's

59:44

like, you know, let... That could also

59:46

still snap. Like, let's wait till I'm

59:49

dead to call me anything. Yeah,

59:51

I mean, I wasn't calling you the

59:53

goat at all. It was great. Yeah,

59:55

no. I appreciate the energy you're bringing,

59:58

because that's very much like, you

1:00:00

know, that is what's happened to a

1:00:02

lot of tech people. They've been licked

1:00:04

up and down all day. and they

1:00:07

think they're the best thing ever.

1:00:09

Last, very last question. It's a really

1:00:11

hard time. It really is right now.

1:00:13

The terrorists, it's not funny. What's happening

1:00:16

is disturbing people being taken off

1:00:18

to prisons without having done anything. And

1:00:20

El Salvador, even if they're from Venezuela,

1:00:22

etc. I want you to leave this

1:00:25

crowd with one hopeful thing. And

1:00:27

then we'll head out. I

1:00:31

think that however you're feeling right

1:00:34

now, you should talk about it

1:00:36

earnestly with people that you care

1:00:38

about. And I think that when

1:00:40

you do that and when you

1:00:43

do that enough and not saying

1:00:45

everyone works themselves into a frenzy

1:00:47

I mean when you talk about

1:00:50

how you feel about what's happening

1:00:52

with other people you see how

1:00:54

they feel about it I think

1:00:56

that those are the ways that

1:00:59

you figure out what to do

1:01:01

about it and when you know

1:01:03

what to do about it and

1:01:06

you take action then things will

1:01:08

change and so whatever you're feeling

1:01:10

right now is not permanent in

1:01:12

any manner of ways So even

1:01:15

if things, let's say, quote unquote,

1:01:17

get worse as well, those things

1:01:19

will not be permanent. Everything changes

1:01:22

with time and all we have

1:01:24

is each other. And so we

1:01:26

have to take care of each

1:01:28

other. Each other are the priority.

1:01:31

I think that the way that

1:01:33

people look at the market as

1:01:35

well, you know, you see so

1:01:38

many YouTube videos go up on

1:01:40

Friday, like how to protect yourself

1:01:42

from the Trump terrorists. It's like,

1:01:44

it's not yourself. You cannot protect

1:01:47

yourself. You will not be able.

1:01:49

If the Titanic is sinking, you

1:01:51

are doomed if you're trying to

1:01:54

swim it alone to safety. That's

1:01:56

just not gonna work. But Josh,

1:01:58

I said hopeful because of a...

1:02:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He somehow

1:02:03

got to Titanic. I swear I'm

1:02:05

getting to it. Okay. But in

1:02:07

case I don't, you should just

1:02:10

cut the episode right there. That

1:02:12

would actually be very funny. You're

1:02:14

like, Josh said hopeful and then...

1:02:16

Thank you. No, we love to

1:02:19

get out on a laugh, you

1:02:21

know, that... But I genuinely believe

1:02:23

that. I think that we, because

1:02:25

of a... how individualistic we've become

1:02:28

and because of how we've been

1:02:30

socialized to think about our own

1:02:32

upward mobility, we deeply underestimate the

1:02:35

power of cooperation and community and

1:02:37

Not only do I think that

1:02:39

is the only way forward, but

1:02:41

I think there's a lot of

1:02:44

hope in the fact that we

1:02:46

have not yet seen its powerful

1:02:48

impact in our lifetime. So once

1:02:51

again, the people that fought for

1:02:53

the four-hour work, the people that

1:02:55

fought for everything that we enjoy

1:02:57

without really having to think about

1:03:00

it, they were the people that

1:03:02

came together for those efforts. And

1:03:04

so it can be done. It's

1:03:07

already been done before, and we

1:03:09

can do it again. Josh,

1:03:11

you're incredibly thoughtful, astonishing performer.

1:03:13

I appreciate y'all. Thank you.

1:03:16

Thank you so much for

1:03:18

having me. I appreciate you,

1:03:20

John. Thank you so much.

1:03:22

Thank you. special thanks to

1:03:24

Kate Gallagher. Our engineers are

1:03:27

Rick Kwan and Fernando Aruda

1:03:29

and our theme music is

1:03:31

by Trachodemics. If you're already

1:03:33

following the show you don't

1:03:35

just have the tools you

1:03:37

actually know how to fix

1:03:40

a sink unless you're lesbian

1:03:42

and you already did in

1:03:44

the first place. If not

1:03:46

remember you're more likely to

1:03:48

build a community than become

1:03:50

a billionaire and it's so

1:03:53

much much better.

1:03:55

wherever you listen to podcast

1:03:57

search for On with Kara

1:03:59

Swisher and hit follow. Thanks

1:04:01

for listening to On with

1:04:04

Kara Swisher from New York

1:04:06

magazine, the Vox Media Podcast

1:04:08

Network, and us. We'll be

1:04:10

back on Monday with more.

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