- 2 minutes ago
Late Night with Seth Meyers - Season 13 - Episode 02: Karl-Anthony Towns, Shawn Levy, Andrew Ross Sorkin
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:14To be continued...
00:30We hope you're doing well.
00:32And now, if you don't mind, we're going to get to the news
00:34in a post today on Truth Social.
00:36President Trump said, quote,
00:38The USA markets just hit another all-time high, all of them.
00:41Thank you, Mr. Tariff.
00:43Oh, no.
00:44Does he think the tariffs are people?
00:47I just had dinner with Dave and Julie Tariff.
00:50Very nice. They paid.
00:51They paid for everything.
00:54In a new interview, President Trump said that Venezuela
00:56will not have new elections in the next 30 days.
00:59And added, quote,
01:00We have to fix the country first.
01:02I don't know.
01:03I think it's going to take longer than 30 days
01:05to build them a new ballroom.
01:09According to a new poll, 44% of Republicans
01:11would support amending the Constitution
01:13to allow President Trump to seek a third term,
01:16while the other 56% said,
01:18He's only on his second term?
01:22While speaking today to House Republicans,
01:24President Trump said that he wouldn't say
01:26that he wants to cancel the election because, quote,
01:28The fake news will say he's a dictator.
01:31Well, if you cancel the elections,
01:32it won't be fake news.
01:33At that point, the dictionary will call you a dictator.
01:38President Trump also told House Republicans
01:40they have to win the midterms because, quote,
01:43If we don't win the midterms,
01:44they'll find a reason to impeach me.
01:46Of course, the challenge isn't finding one.
01:48It's picking one.
01:51After Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced yesterday
01:54that he will not run for reelection,
01:55President Trump accused Walz of stealing taxpayer dollars.
01:59Him? Yeah.
02:01That must be how he gets all those fancy clothes.
02:04The only thing this man is stealing
02:06is the blue ribbon at the county fair.
02:09Today was the fifth anniversary
02:11of the January 6th Capitol attack.
02:13This news first reported by the cake
02:15in Fox News' break room.
02:21In a post yesterday on Truth Social,
02:23President Trump repeated his recommendation
02:25to pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol.
02:28All right, well, if you don't want people taking Tylenol,
02:30just stop talking.
02:34The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
02:36voted yesterday to dissolve itself,
02:38which will cut off a major funding source for NPR, PBS,
02:42and hundreds of local radio and TV stations.
02:44Things are so bad that Oscar had to get roommates.
02:52I never quite know what we're going to expect
02:53when we make a bad-news joke about Sesame Street.
02:58New York's MTA recently reported that,
03:01since the start of Manhattan's congestion pricing program,
03:04air pollution in Midtown has decreased by 22%,
03:06and it's great because now you can really smell the urine.
03:12And finally, The Wall Street Journal recently published
03:15a profile on the Detroit Ford Motors employee,
03:18who came up with the idea to put an arrow
03:20on the dashboard of a car,
03:21indicating which side the tank is on.
03:23Must be a nice feeling to know you've accomplished more
03:26than the President of the United States.
03:28And that was a monologue, everybody.
03:31He's got a great show for tonight.
03:33He's an NBA All-Star, the 2016 Rookie of the Year.
03:38He recently helped lead the New York Knicks
03:40to winning their first NBA Cup championship.
03:42Carl Anthony Towns is on the show.
03:45So happy Carl's here.
03:47He's a multi-talented producer, director, and writer,
03:51whose movies include Deadpool and Wolverine, Free Guy,
03:54as well as The Night at the Museum franchise.
03:56He's an executive producer and director of the Netflix
03:59Smash A Stranger Things.
04:01Sean Levy is here.
04:03Everybody gets to talk to him about his fantastic show.
04:07He's the co-host of CNBC's Squawk Box,
04:11an award-winning journalist whose book,
04:141929 Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History
04:17and How It Shattered a Nation,
04:19is a number-one New York Times bestseller.
04:21Andrew Ross Sorkin is also joining us.
04:25Family Chips, we had a great conversation with Jim James.
04:29Do give that a listen wherever you get your podcasts.
04:32You guys, here at Late Night, every night,
04:35I deliver a monologue.
04:36It is written by a diverse team of writers.
04:39As a result, a lot of jokes come across my desk
04:41that, due to my being a straight, white male,
04:44would be difficult for me to deliver.
04:46But we don't think that should stop you from enjoying them,
04:49so we'd like to share them with you now
04:51in a segment called Joke Seth Can't Tell.
04:57Hey, everybody.
04:58These are two of our writers, Amber and Jenny.
05:01I'm black.
05:02And I'm gay.
05:02And we're both women.
05:03And I'm not.
05:04So here's how it works.
05:05I'll read the setups for these jokes,
05:08and Amber and Jenny will read the punchlines.
05:10So here it goes.
05:11A woman recently proposed to her girlfriend
05:14during a professional women's hockey game.
05:17Experts are calling it the gayest sentence ever said.
05:21The Washington Post recently ran an op-ed titled,
05:24There are two black Americas.
05:26Said black people, take me to the other one.
05:30What are they doing in the other black America?
05:33The electric slide.
05:34Oh, all right.
05:35A library recently held a reading to celebrate Emily Dickinson's birthday.
05:40It included one of her most famous poems.
05:44Hope is the thing with feathers.
05:46Also, I'm gay.
05:49A popular fast food chain will test a new chicken and waffle sandwich.
05:54That's cultural appropriation, said black people going through the drive-thru.
05:59Have you tried it yet?
06:01No, but it better be good because if not, I will still be eating it.
06:05Okay.
06:06Author Kristen Arnett recently released a novel about a lesbian clown.
06:11A lesbian clown is like a regular clown, but with uglier shoes.
06:16Jenny, what's the hardest part about being a lesbian clown?
06:19Learning to use makeup.
06:25Today was the 164th anniversary of Jefferson Davis being elected the president of the Confederacy.
06:31So if you'd like to learn more about a racist president, pick up today's newspaper.
06:38Two lesbian grandmas recently went viral on TikTok.
06:42TikTok is also what lesbians say on a first date.
06:45TikTok, we get married or what?
06:49Producers in Hollywood recently released the annual blacklist.
06:52We also have a blacklist, said police.
06:59What was that?
07:00True?
07:03Pornhub announced that there has been a considerable
07:06increase in searches for the term lesbian MILF.
07:09A lesbian MILF is like a straight MILF, except she doesn't have time to you because she's
07:13running the PTA.
07:19Scientists have found a black hole that has been blasting winds at 130 miles per hour.
07:25I said, excuse me.
07:33Mom's going to be so bad.
07:36Hey, Seth, why don't you tell me?
07:38Oh, no, I could not, absolutely.
07:40Come on, just worry.
07:40No, I just feel like if I tell when it will not end well.
07:43Oh, come on, do it.
07:43All right, all right, all right.
07:45Out.com recently published a queer guide to starting over abroad.
07:49You had me at abroad.
07:52Seth, no!
07:54Oh, God.
07:55Shame.
07:56Yeah, you know what? That was really bad.
07:57Yeah.
07:58I think I'm going to win you back. Can I try one more?
08:00Please, please.
08:00Okay, and you promise it's fine?
08:02Yes.
08:03Carbange to do whatever I feel is best.
08:05You will win us back, guaranteed.
08:07All right. Thank you, Amber.
08:08And thank you, Jenny.
08:10You're welcome.
08:10For your trust.
08:11Uh-huh.
08:13The U.S. Mint recently ended production of The Penny,
08:16said black people, so then how are we supposed to tip?
08:21Oh, my God!
08:23I'll tear you!
08:24Seth, how could you do it?!
08:25You laughed at it in rehearsal!
08:27I didn't know!
08:27Don't act like you haven't heard it before!
08:29And with your idea to make me do this,
08:31you guys should be ashamed of yourself.
08:32You guys, black women and lesbians are liars.
08:38We'll be right back with Karl-Anthony Towns.
08:52Our first guest tonight is a five-time NBA All-Star
08:56and the 2016 Rookie of the Year he recently helped lead.
08:59The New York Knicks to winning their first
09:01NBA Cup championship.
09:03Please welcome to the show, Karl-Anthony Towns, everybody!
09:18There's a way to sing a song, Karl-Anthony Towns.
09:21I don't know.
09:21How are you, Kaz?
09:22I'm good, man. I'm good.
09:23I'm thrilled to see you.
09:24Yes, yes.
09:25Came straight from practice, which we appreciate.
09:27I did, I did, I did.
09:28By the way, this is wonderful.
09:29Marty Supreme, you're shouting out...
09:31Yes, yes, yes.
09:33This is kind of a shout-out to Timothee Chalamet,
09:36who is really one of our foremost Knick fans.
09:38Literally, literally. Yeah, shout-out to my brother, man.
09:41He's doing an amazing job, and I'm happy to see the critics
09:44and everyone really appreciating what he's doing.
09:46You, when you won the NBA Cup Championship,
09:48you actually posted that you actually personally FaceTimed
09:51with some of our... I did. I did.
09:53Ben Stiller seems very happy here.
09:55Yes, yes, yes. Look at that.
09:56And there's Marty Scream himself.
10:00Yes, look at him. There we go.
10:01How much when you... You know, again,
10:03these are some of the familiar faces.
10:04Tracy Morgan's another one.
10:06Edie Falco. Yes, yes.
10:07Do you ever make eye contact during the game,
10:10give them a little nod?
10:11I think they make it themselves known in the game, you know?
10:15So... But, no, they...
10:16We have such great support here.
10:18I mean, the fans are amazing.
10:19And, you know, I think with the NBA Cup happening
10:22and us finding a way to win and doing a lot
10:24of amazing things right now, it's a special time to be a Knicks fan.
10:28You started your career, obviously, in Minnesota.
10:30And, you know, it's a huge transition for anybody
10:32who lives in Minnesota to come to New York.
10:36You know, I know you grew up in New Jersey,
10:39so you're, you know, from the East Coast.
10:40But how was that transition to when, you know,
10:42obviously, you played in Madison Square Garden,
10:44but what's it like having home games in that stadium?
10:46Like you said, I mean, it's different when you're a visitor
10:48and you're the home guy.
10:49I've been used to coming to MSG and being booed.
10:51Yeah.
10:51So this is the first time that I'm getting cheered for.
10:55And it's been amazing.
10:56Last year was an amazing season for us.
10:58And, obviously, this year, the fans expect even more.
11:00So we're trying to exceed their expectations.
11:03You guys won on Christmas Day.
11:05Yes.
11:05That was not the best thing that happened to you on Christmas Day.
11:07No.
11:08You went straight from the game.
11:09And congratulations, Kat.
11:11I appreciate it.
11:12You got engaged.
11:12Yes.
11:13There you are.
11:16Yeah.
11:18Um, yeah.
11:20I don't know if they're cheering for me or for her.
11:22I feel like everyone's a bigger fan of her.
11:24Yeah, but it's pretty amazing.
11:25I mean, quite a vantage point.
11:26Did she have any expectation was coming?
11:28How much of a surprise was it?
11:29It was a surprise.
11:30It was a surprise.
11:31Um, yeah, we've been dating for five and a half years up to that point.
11:34And, uh, yeah, I know, in Hollywood, that doesn't last long.
11:37So, um, we, uh, we found a way.
11:40We found a way five and a half years, ebbs and flows of a relationship, as anyone would know.
11:45And, um, I think the most important thing, and we had this conversation, uh, the other day,
11:49is that we always chose each other.
11:51Yeah.
11:51You know, through the bad and the good, we always found ourselves choosing each other.
11:55And, uh, I think that makes for a strong bond, a strong relationship.
11:58And I wanted her to have a ring that shows that bond and relationship that we've built.
12:02And, uh, yeah, I want everyone to know she's mine.
12:06Was she happy?
12:08Was she happy with the ring?
12:09Yes, she was ecstatic.
12:10She was ecstatic.
12:11Okay, that's right.
12:12I think I did well.
12:13Okay, that's really good.
12:13Well done.
12:14Her mom approved.
12:15That's the most important thing.
12:16Yeah.
12:16I, I, I didn't even risk it.
12:18I said to my wife, like, hypothetically, what would you want it to look like?
12:22We had a, a wonderful night together, uh, recently with, uh, with, uh, Fanatics.
12:27Um, uh, there was a release of the new, uh, Topps basketball cards.
12:30Yes, yes.
12:30Uh, Topps got the rights back to basketball.
12:31I brought your kids some in the back, too.
12:32Oh, did you?
12:33That's fantastic.
12:33Well, you actually, uh, my son, both of my sons came to this event.
12:36And, uh, here's a photo of you and Axel.
12:38Look at that.
12:39Um, that's my son, Axel.
12:40That's you.
12:41Uh, you're obviously immediately their favorite player in the NBA for how kind you were.
12:45But it was an interesting night.
12:46Yeah.
12:47Because, um, we went to this event.
12:49There was this little green room.
12:50It was the NBA store.
12:51And, uh, you know.
12:52The green room was the size of me.
12:53It was very small.
12:54Yeah, yeah.
12:55And there was a lot of, uh, boxes of cards stacked up.
12:57And, uh, you're a big, you love cards.
12:59I love cards.
13:00The people, good people of Fanatics bought a lot of boxes of cards.
13:03They were giving you cards, me cards.
13:04End of the night, I'm grabbing all the bags.
13:06Yeah.
13:07I see a couple of boxes of soccer cards.
13:09And I'm like, oh, you know, I feel like these are for us.
13:11Yeah.
13:12And I took them home.
13:14And they were not for me.
13:17And you and we had exchanged numbers.
13:19And even when we exchanged numbers, I was like, uh,
13:22I wonder if we're ever going to have a reason to text each other.
13:24And then like an hour after we met, you were like, did you steal my cards?
13:30I didn't say steal.
13:32I thought they were misplaced.
13:35You did say, uh, LMAO, thank God.
13:38I was more worried someone came in our green room and stole our cars, uh,
13:41cards and my hats.
13:43Well, I did use the word steal, then.
13:44Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:45I take that back.
13:45Uh, and then I did say that I've been telling people what's cat like in person.
13:49He's so easy to steal from.
13:52That's not good in New York.
13:54Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:56But, uh, you actually, uh, worked in a card store when you were a kid in high school.
13:59Yeah.
14:00Um, you have a wonderful, uh, Big Bodega Cards.
14:02Yes.
14:02One of my favorite Instagram channels.
14:04I appreciate it, thank you.
14:05Um, but anyway, uh, I said, hey, I'll get the cards to you on, it was a Thursday night.
14:08I go, I'll get them.
14:09I remember, yes.
14:10I was like, I can get them to you on Monday.
14:11This is, this is how bad it got.
14:12Yeah.
14:12This is how bad it, our, our card collection.
14:14Yeah.
14:14I was like, I'll get them to you on Monday.
14:16You're like, actually, I'm going to send somebody now.
14:19I would never forget it.
14:20And he was like, I got a flight.
14:21I was like, well, don't worry.
14:22He'll be there before the flight.
14:23We'll go get the cards.
14:25You did not, you were like, you're trustworthy,
14:26but I am going to get them now.
14:29But then I just want to speak to the kind of guy you are,
14:31because you didn't just send somebody to get the cards.
14:33You're also like, I'm going to bring something for your kids.
14:35What size shoe are you?
14:37Oh, size 20.
14:38Size 20.
14:39Yeah, um, Dave, you want to know what a...
14:41I thought it was reasonable for me, but all right.
14:44If you want to know what a size 20 shoe looks like,
14:47this is what it looks like when my children autograph shoes.
14:51And you know, it's so funny.
14:52They put them on the windowsill,
14:54and it's like, when I put the curtains up in the morning,
14:56I'm like, it's still dark in here.
14:58That's how big your shoes are.
15:01I thought it was the highest.
15:03Tell people don't come in here, bro.
15:05So you grew up in New Jersey.
15:07You were a Philadelphia sports fan.
15:09Is that right?
15:09Yes, yes.
15:10I was an Eagles fan.
15:10Eagles fan.
15:11Eagles fan.
15:12Eagles fan.
15:12Eagles fan.
15:12And, uh...
15:13I'm with my Yankees all the time.
15:14Yeah.
15:15Yeah.
15:16Do you get excited about being a sports fan still,
15:19even as being a professional athlete?
15:21No, I do.
15:21I do.
15:21I mean, not many times in my life,
15:23I get to be a fan of something.
15:25Yeah.
15:25I'm usually always the one that's entertaining
15:27and doing the basketball part and the sports part.
15:29But, yeah, my Eagles looking to be back-to-back,
15:32hopefully, this year.
15:33Do you watch it like a fan?
15:35Do you get nervous?
15:36Do you get excited?
15:37Or do you have...
15:38Oh, no.
15:38Yeah.
15:40Me, JB, Deuce McBride are big Eagles fans,
15:42so we get stressed out on those games for sure.
15:45That's really good.
15:45Do you...
15:46How about...
15:46What is your stress level before games when you're playing?
15:48Like, I mean, you've been at this for a while now.
15:51Honestly, I just...
15:52I get excited.
15:53Yeah, that's a better feeling.
15:54I love competition.
15:55I love going out there to play basketball,
15:56but it's just really exciting every time I get to put the jersey on.
15:59I think now in my stage of my career,
16:01I'm still...
16:02I'm just entering my prime and everything,
16:04and I'm more understanding the importance of every game and the value that comes with it,
16:09because you never know how much longer you're going to be doing this.
16:11You never know what God has planned,
16:12so I just go out there and enjoy every moment I get.
16:14It's all-star voting right now.
16:16Do you want to make a case for yourself, or do you want me to do it?
16:18I let the fans pick.
16:19You let the fans pick?
16:20I let the fans pick.
16:20I let the fans pick.
16:21I just...
16:22All I want to keep doing is impacting winning and finding ways to win here in New York.
16:25So...
16:25You've obviously...
16:26Like you said, you've been at this a long time.
16:27You played before the NBA.
16:29Obviously, you were a kid who played basketball.
16:31Is it true that due to your size, parents on the other teams thought that you were lying about your
16:37age?
16:37Oh, yes.
16:37Yeah.
16:38Absolutely.
16:39I almost felt like it was like, when you leave the house, you would be like,
16:42all right, make sure you got your shoes.
16:43You know, kids, we're always going to forget the shoes.
16:45Yeah, yeah.
16:45Make sure you got your shoes, your jersey for the game, and the birth certificate.
16:50If you got those three things, I'm playing today.
16:53Wow.
16:53And so how often did your coach have to break out the birth certificate?
16:57Oh, yeah.
16:57Really?
16:57A lot.
16:58Yeah.
16:58Yeah.
16:58I mean, it is very funny that if you were so much taller, that you try...
17:02The idea is even funnier that you would try to get away with it.
17:04Yeah.
17:05No.
17:05Right?
17:05Imagine.
17:06Yeah.
17:06Because obviously, this is not your age group.
17:09I was lucky, though.
17:10My dad always told me that, you know, for me to be my best, I had to go against the
17:13best.
17:13Yeah.
17:14So I actually ended up playing like three age groups up.
17:16So it was like, a lot of times I didn't need it.
17:18I didn't need it.
17:18Well, he obviously made a good choice there.
17:21Yeah.
17:21Uh, congratulations on everything.
17:22Good luck for the rest of the season.
17:24Appreciate it.
17:24And thank you so much.
17:25Thank you so much.
17:26Appreciate it.
17:27Thank you so much.
17:28Charlie Anthony Towns, everybody.
17:29We'll be right back with Sean Levy.
17:43Welcome back, everybody.
17:44Our next guest is an Academy Award and Emmy-nominated producer, director, and writer whose movies
17:50include Deadpool and Wolverine, Free Guy, and The Night at the Museum franchise.
17:54He's an executive producer and director of Stranger Things, which just streamed its
17:59serious finale and is available now in its entirety on Netflix.
18:02Let's take a look.
18:04Stop.
18:04I'm serious.
18:05It's not safe.
18:06You're going to fall.
18:07It's unstable.
18:07I got it already.
18:08Okay?
18:09No, don't stop being an .
18:11I'm not being an .
18:12I'm trying to get to them.
18:13You always try to get yourself killed, and I can't let it happen again.
18:16Stop being so selfish, please.
18:18If you go on there, you're going to die, and I can't deal with it again.
18:21You can't die, because I can't deal with it again.
18:23Don't let it happen again.
18:25Please.
18:26Please don't let it happen again.
18:28Not you.
18:30I'm sorry.
18:32Please welcome to the show my friend Sean Levy, everybody!
18:47Hello, Sean!
18:49What an exciting time to have you.
18:52It was also, I was so fortunate backstage.
18:54I met your oldest daughter and your wife, and it's lovely to see them as well.
18:58It is, but can I just, I have to start by saying that you've,
19:02without knowing it, you become a bit of a marital problem for me.
19:05Okay, okay.
19:06Um, because I, so I've been with my wife for 30 years,
19:10but she is low-key obsessed with you and your show.
19:12I'm sure she's not alone, right?
19:14Yeah, um, and so like, literally, it's like,
19:17I cannot get Serena to come to bed without her Sethi first.
19:21Wow!
19:22She's like, no, no, no, I need my Sethi.
19:24Wow!
19:24And so you didn't even know you're like the third prong in this thruple.
19:28I mean, so exciting.
19:29I mean, I thought...
19:30Open marriage.
19:31I thought I would have to do so much work to be in a thruple, and now...
19:34No, but this is like, it's low maintenance, low impact.
19:37Well, that, I will say, my wife is a huge Stranger Things fan
19:42and never watches this show, so I do feel like it evens out.
19:47It's almost like a platonic couple swap.
19:50That sounds great.
19:51I also, I feel like we do, we have something in common,
19:54which is, we both kind of started thinking maybe we'd be actors in this business.
19:58And this is one of your early...
20:01Oh, boy.
20:02Is it your first, or...?
20:03That is basically my first real gig.
20:05You were on an episode of 21 Jump Street, which...
20:09Before the younger viewers...
20:10Before it was a Jonah Hill film.
20:11I was going to say, for the younger viewers, there was this super popular TV show before.
20:15Yeah, and that's Johnny Depp right there, just to give you an idea.
20:17But this was actually, this was the craziest, but very memorable welcome to the business kind of moment,
20:24because I was like 21, I was fresh out of college, and I got the guest spot in the spring
20:29break episode.
20:30So I go to Miami, and I'm sitting in this car because it's going to be a drive and talk
20:34scene.
20:35Right.
20:35And Johnny Depp gets in the car, and I am like too eager.
20:40Yeah, yeah.
20:40Kind of like I am right now.
20:41Right, right.
20:41But younger.
20:43Yeah.
20:43And I was like...
20:44Eager when you're already successful is fine.
20:47Eager before you've done anything.
20:48Great look when you've achieved nothing.
20:51And I was like, hello, Mr. Depp.
20:53I'm Sean Levy from Montreal, Canada.
20:55Like, I mean, truly...
20:57Oh, do we have some Canadians in the house?
20:59Okay.
21:00Guys, that just made me less nervous.
21:03And I was like, nice to meet you.
21:05I'm thrilled to be where...
21:06And he's like, you like being a puppet?
21:09Because what I didn't know is at this point, all Johnny Depp wanted to do was go start his
21:13huge movie career.
21:14Yes, of course.
21:15And I was like, I'm sorry, Mr. Depp.
21:17He's like, welcome to the puppet show, kid.
21:20Dance, puppet.
21:21Dance.
21:22Like, like full on with like the marionette hands and everything.
21:26And I've never seen Johnny Depp since.
21:28Yeah.
21:28That was like, I don't, I don't know that that was the reason.
21:32Yeah.
21:32But it definitely was this very kind of ominous welcome to the, welcome to the business.
21:38I mean, I would be so happy if you saw him again after all these years.
21:41And he's like, puppet?
21:43Yeah.
21:44I feel like we worked together on a puppet show.
21:46Then I would really feel like I've achieved something.
21:48Uh, you have achieved something.
21:49Congratulations and everything.
21:50But specifically Stranger Things, um, it just must be so rewarding to have had this show
21:55that started in 2016 or first started airing.
21:58Um, and do you feel like, I mean, obviously I feel like the fans feel as though you nailed
22:02the landing.
22:02Uh, do you feel the same?
22:04I was, I was shooting my latest movie in London when I first watched the first cut of the finale
22:09episode.
22:09And I was a wreck, like sort of like the videos we now see all over the internet of people
22:14weeping openly.
22:15That was me.
22:16Yeah.
22:16Even though I was in the initial pitch, I had read every draft.
22:20I had seen the dailies, but seeing it all come together, I, I, I was going to text the
22:24Duffers who I've been with for a decade making the show.
22:27But I FaceTimed them and they were driving and I couldn't even get through a sentence
22:31without sobbing.
22:32Yeah.
22:33It was, it was deeply humiliating.
22:34Well, the one thing that is interesting is even though you can, you know, read the scripts
22:38and everything like, uh, and I think it's the way we all feel is like these, you, these kids
22:42just like grew up while it was happening.
22:43So we also, I feel like it's the passage of time is very unique.
22:48It also like, no matter how old you are, images like this make us all weep at the passage of
22:54time.
22:54Yeah.
22:55Right.
22:55Because it was like that, like you, you're very proud of these kids, but you miss when they're
22:59like younger.
23:00But can I say this?
23:01They, they were sweet, authentic kids when we found them at 12 years old.
23:06And they're still sweet, authentic young adults.
23:09Yeah.
23:09It's really, it was a magical thing.
23:11And, and as magic as they were individually, the combination of them, uh, which was really
23:17evident in that very first episode in the very first season in that basement,
23:22that D and D game in the basement, which is where it started is of course, by the way,
23:26have you all seen it?
23:27Because I don't want to.
23:30I like, what if, what if this whole appearance became like a massive spoiler?
23:36I know, but by the way, I love that you think a spoiler is it starts in a basement.
23:38No, but I was about to allude to the ending and the fact that it also ends.
23:43So you've done, uh, you've done Marvel stuff as well.
23:45You must understand the idea of spoilers more than most people.
23:50I do, but I feel like I, I really needed that lesson more than an average human,
23:54because I have a, just a big mouth and I love to talk and I love to kind of tell
23:59people things.
24:00Um, but between Stranger Things for 10 years and Deadpool and Wolverine and now this Star Wars movie
24:05that I'm making.
24:05Yeah, you're, you just said that was when you say you were in London shooting a movie,
24:08it was a Star Wars movie.
24:10Oh yes, this, this part, this part was, uh, yeah.
24:13Although I feel like this, this particular picture that I took was on the Mediterranean off of Sardinia.
24:20Um, and, but that picture is a good reminder of why I just, just virulently avoided pictures with
24:27Ryan Gosling because no matter how good you feel about yourself.
24:31Yeah.
24:32Like, don't be in a picture with Ryan Gosling because you will feel worse.
24:35Yeah.
24:36Right? Like, like, what?
24:38Yeah, there's no weather that his hair doesn't look even better.
24:41Do you know what I'm saying? It's like, I mean, I think this kid's mad at you.
24:44He's like, why am I in this?
24:45He looks pissed off.
24:46Yeah. Yeah.
24:47Um, you, uh, we were talking about the show starting in 2016, Stranger Things.
24:51Did you, when did you realize that it had resonated with an audience in a way?
24:55Because again, it's kind of crazy. You've been in a world with IP as well, right?
24:58Yeah.
24:58Where you're like, this came from nowhere. This came from the Duffer Brothers.
25:01And this was, this was a script that I read in 2014.
25:06Yeah.
25:06And really nobody was interested because the rule back then was you don't make a show with kids
25:10that isn't for kids.
25:11Right.
25:12And that opening weekend, I think it was July of 2016.
25:16At that point, Netflix proudly didn't share viewership data.
25:20So I remember that it was literally like online and social media.
25:23And I called up Matt and Ross and I was like, guys, a lot of people seem to be talking
25:28about
25:28our show. And it was like the next day. And that was my first sense of, oh, this is,
25:33this is something unique. And then it just grew from there over a decade. And, and not just in
25:39North America, but kind of shockingly everywhere.
25:43I heard that the Duffer Brothers nickname for you was the Warlock.
25:47This is true.
25:48Which couldn't be negative or positive, but I think they used it in a positive way.
25:53I get that. No, they did. And I, I mean, I will confess, I don't know if it's just me,
25:56but
25:56I think we all really wish we had a nickname.
25:59Yeah.
25:59Like I remember when I was young, I was like, call me Spike.
26:02Yeah.
26:02Right. And like, but, or like I was a fast runner.
26:05So I was like, they call me Flash, but the truth is like, nobody called me Spike or the Flash.
26:11Um, so, but then the most amazing thing happened, like in the middle of my life is I got an
26:16organically
26:16earned nickname. Um, we were making season one of the show and there was a scene where 11
26:24levitates the Millennium Falcon. And you know, you send, you tell Netflix, we need permission.
26:29And they came back and said, no, no permission. The answer is no. You got to have her levitate
26:32something else. And, uh, and Matt and Ross called me and they're like, do you think there's any way
26:37you could get that answer to change? And so I, at that point, I did not know Kathleen Kennedy.
26:43I reached out, she was running Lucasfilm and I basically begged and the no became a yes.
26:49And they were like, well, okay. And then like a few months later, we wanted to use Michael Jackson's
26:53thriller in our trailer. And the answer was a hard pass from Michael Jackson's date.
26:58And the Duffers called me. And so I just had this run of weird menial tasks where I turned
27:06a no into a yes. And they started calling me Warlock and it's still what they call me.
27:10I mean, it's a really right one to get a late in life nickname and two to get it from
27:14the Duffer
27:15brothers who are like great at like building lore. You know what? I never thought of it that way.
27:20And, and it's even better than Spike or The Flash. Yeah.
27:23So I feel like I just, I won. Yes. Spike and The Flash were like famously already taken.
27:28Although if that, if that was a TV show, I would love to watch Spike.
27:32By the way, not all the kids aged well. I can't remember what they look like in the first season.
27:39This is the photo I wanted to show. What other gifts do you have to share there?
27:42Just, well, this, I wanted to show a picture of you and your beautiful family.
27:45Uh, so this was, uh, that is my wife. Walk of Fame, the Canadian Walk of Fame.
27:49Right. So this one here, that's the one who loves her, Sethi.
27:51Yep. Right. Okay.
27:52Um, and the other four are my four daughters. And yeah, there's, um, there is a Canada Walk of Fame.
27:57And they asked if they could honor me with a star on the Walk of Fame, but, and it was
28:02a fun,
28:02a fun night, but the best part is that they had my daughters present me with the award.
28:07And so, I mean, I think any of us who are parents, like all we want to do is earn
28:13a connection
28:14and the respect of our kids. Yeah.
28:16And I just want to keep earning it for the rest of my life and never bitterly disappointed.
28:22All right. Well, so I think you're off to a decent start.
28:25So far, so good. Thank you so much for being here, Sethi.
28:27Congrats on the show. You guys, Sean Levy's Change of Things is available to the stream on Netflix.
28:31We'll be right back with Andrew Ross Sarko.
28:46Our next guest is an award-winning journalist, author, and co-host of CNBC's Squawk Box.
28:52His book, 1929, Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History and How It Shattered a Nation,
28:57is currently a number one New York Times bestseller. Please welcome to the show my friend,
29:01Andrew Ross Sorkin, everybody.
29:17Hello. I'm so happy to see you. Thank you for having me.
29:20You know, I've been out with you. I've been lucky enough to be at dinner parties with you.
29:24And as a financial reporter, I've noticed in the time I'm with you that people want to ask you about
29:30financial advice. Does that happen everywhere you go?
29:32A lot. Yeah. Yes. Are people satisfied with the answers you give them?
29:37Never. Because you go through an airport and they say Nvidia or they say Bitcoin or gold or silver.
29:43And I look at them and basically say, I wouldn't be at this airport if I knew the answer.
29:47Right. Well, that's a good point. Yeah. If you're flying domestic or I'm sorry,
29:51if you're flying commercial. Yeah. They're like, this guy's not as smart as it seems on TV.
29:56Just play one on TV. But you also are not allowed to,
29:59as a financial reporter, you can't actually buy individual stocks. True.
30:04So I know I've never actually bought and sold individual stocks at all. In fact,
30:08as a journalist, the whole point is that I can actually tell you whether
30:11such and such company is good or bad or whatever it is and feel independent. That's the whole idea.
30:16We have rules both at CNBC, at the New York Times about what we can do.
30:20These are rules, by the way, that our government officials, by the way, do not have. Yes.
30:26At least at this moment. Well, it's fascinating, too, because, you know,
30:29the other difference between you and the government is they are in meetings where they're
30:33actually hearing information earlier than normal. Yes. I like to think I'm early.
30:38They're really early. They're really early. And not because they have good sources.
30:42They're literally just people are telling them information. They are the sources.
30:45They're the source. There's been a bipartisan effort, it should be noted, to try to, you know,
30:49put the same limitations on members of Congress as there are on journalists who cover these fields.
30:56Do you think there's any chance of it passing? Look, there's been going,
30:59people have been talking about trying to do this forever. And this is something that
31:02I think everybody would agree are, you know, our congressmen should not be owning stocks after
31:07hearing. I mean, by the way, there are people, I don't know if you saw this. It's not just the
31:13stock
31:13market. Now there's these prediction markets, Polymarket, Calci. On Friday of just last week,
31:19with this whole situation in Venezuela, somebody made $400,000, literally betting. And clearly,
31:25I imagine, knew that something was about to happen this weekend. Sure.
31:29So, yes, there is a bill on the table right now that would prevent Congress from doing this.
31:34Basically, everybody's prevented from doing this except for one person. Who do you think?
31:39Uh, is this DJT? Are those the initials? He lives 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
31:45Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so he would be effectively off the table. I mean, he could
31:50still trade, do whatever. Everybody else couldn't. But for years, people have been talking about trying
31:55to do this. And Congress and the Senate have never wanted to do this to themselves. I used to actually
32:00write columns. I remember talking to folks at the SEC, which regulates this industry. By the way,
32:06regulates insider trading. Yeah. CEOs, business leaders are not allowed to trade back and forth
32:12willy nilly, especially when they know information. That's it. That's technically illegal. And when you
32:16go and you talk to the head of the SEC and say, why don't you regulate this? And why don't
32:20you put
32:20in some rules and regulations? They say, guess who funds us? Yeah, there you go. Congress. Yeah.
32:26So if you follow the money, you can understand everything. Well, I would like to follow the oil
32:31for my next question. You mentioned Venezuela. And I think a lot of people have this assumption that
32:36maybe what happened this week is based on the fact that Venezuela is an oil rich country. Yet,
32:44you know, I think for somebody like a layman like myself, I think that you can just go in and
32:47it's
32:47very easy to get the oil. That is not the case in a country like Venezuela. Look, I think that
32:53whatever we're hearing in terms of headlines out of the White House or otherwise saying this is going
32:57to be some kind of boondoggle for oil companies. They're all going to go in there. They're going
33:01to extract oil. They're going to create cheap oil for Americans. This is like a tens of billions
33:06of dollar project that would take literally years, potentially decades, way after President Trump
33:14is going to be in office. Maybe.
33:19No, but so part of the issue is effectively whoever these oil companies are that may
33:26want to do this, even if they wanted to do this. And it's not even clear they would,
33:30because ultimately, by the way, there's going to be a price tag on all this.
33:34Oil companies actually don't want lower oil prices.
33:37Yeah. And so increasing the supply of oil, not always helpful.
33:42But I say that because the other piece of this is if this does take decades and who knows what
33:48the
33:48politics of Venezuela are going to turn out to be. All that uncertainty means that most oil
33:54companies, especially CEOs of publicly traded companies, they don't want to go in there.
33:58They don't want their employees getting killed. They don't know what they don't know what's going
34:01to happen. Yeah. So this is just I don't want to say it's a pipe dream, but I think it's
34:06a long
34:06ways out till we actually see something like that. All right. Well, I take the other side.
34:10I think he has a plan and we're going to see results fast.
34:17Hey, congratulations. This book is fantastic. And it's not the first time that I've read one
34:22of your books that is about something that, you know, I don't feel like I fully understand the
34:26economy or anything of that matter. You write it so that even somebody like me, it's just a thrilling
34:32read. And thank you. And by the way, it's trying to be like you're trying to write like a novel.
34:37Yes. And it reads like a novel because I think sometimes we think these books, you know,
34:41we think about a stock market crash. We think about, you know, we do think about, you know,
34:46the economy. We think about numbers. And really, it's about people. Always.
34:49And it's immediately you, you know, introduced us to all these great real life characters. How soon
34:55when you worked on this book did you realize, oh, this I can write this like a novel. I can
34:58write
34:58this like a page turner because it is a page turner. So that's what I wanted to do. The truth
35:02was there have been some amazing books written about this period, but mostly by economists and people
35:06back even in the 50s. And it wasn't until I actually landed a library and started opening
35:11up boxes and seeing transcripts that the secretary of the of a leading banker in New York had been
35:16keeping during his phone calls with Roosevelt and Hoover that I thought, OK, you could you could
35:22really do this because you could put people in the room so they could actually see what was really
35:26happening. I think we all have sort of a perception that something terrible happened in 1929. There was a
35:31stock market crash and then the Great Depression happened. And that's so not what really happened.
35:36It's such a more intricate, crazy. It's a drama. It's a soap opera is what it is. Yes. And people
35:40are very human in the same way that they're human now. I think, you know, there's a lot of vanity
35:46involved in things like this. There's a lot of not wanting to admit how bad things are because
35:51always. Yeah. And so many of the characters are exactly like the people today. There's a character
35:56that's like Jamie Dimon who runs JP Morgan today. There's a character like Elon Musk. There's a
36:00character that probably you think of as like a Sam Altman kind. So they're all it's it's it's almost
36:05like history does repeat. And by the way, we had tariffs in 1932. So. And how'd they go?
36:11You don't know spoilers. No spoilers. No spoilers. Um, you know, another thing, uh, you know,
36:17we talked about trade dropped by 60%. Um, you know, one thing is, uh, I believe Hoover is the one
36:23who
36:23basically tries to keep telling the Americans that things are actually better than, uh,
36:27yes, they are perceiving it. Um, this is, uh, tested by presidents. So, uh, you know,
36:32and again, like another bipartisan thing is we've, you know, had back to back presidents,
36:36Donald Trump and also, you know, president Biden who told Americans, you know, I, I know you think
36:41there's an affordability crisis, but there's actually not. And ultimately politicians are in a
36:45tough place when they're trying to tell Americans, uh, how much things tell people how they're supposed to
36:50feel when they go to the supermarket. And I think we saw this by the way, under Biden,
36:55as you said, I think we're seeing this under president Trump, you know, Hoover was literally
36:59trying to put a billboards telling people, literally, if you just smile and feel good,
37:03things will be better. Now there wasn't Tik Tok back then, but you know, people go to the
37:08supermarket today and you can see them. They're showing you the price of things and they know how
37:12they feel. And things are, I hate to say less affordable than we want them to be.
37:16Uh, you got into this business as a young man. Uh, how old were you when you first started at
37:21the New York times? I was 18 years old. So 18 years old. And how did you get assigned your
37:25first story? So I was in high school. I wasn't supposed to be there. Okay. I had actually talked
37:30my way into the building sort of as a pseudo unofficial intern, but nobody had hired you. No,
37:36no. I was literally Xeroxing stapling and getting coffee for a reporter that I was a huge fan of.
37:41And I was almost just shadowing him. Got it. And then there was an editor who overheard me, uh,
37:47talk about this thing called the internet. This is back in 1995. Yeah. She thought I was like a
37:53real person. Uh, she thought I was like a college grad who was, you know, capable of something,
38:00but she didn't know that I hadn't graduated from high school. Right.
38:03She assigned me a, a 500 word story to write. And you're, is it true that your first story was
38:08about the sound modems make? It was that, do people even know what a modem is?
38:14My kids don't know what a modem is. Yeah. Do you remember that sort of mating noise?
38:17Yeah, of course. I mean, that's not how I thought of it, but.
38:21Well, so she had said to me, what is that noise? Yeah. And I explained to her,
38:25I called it like a mating signal that the two modems, and she said, oh, that's great.
38:30You should go write that. Gotcha. And that's how I started my career.
38:33When did she find out that she'd given the coffee kid an assignment?
38:38Like a week and a half later. Yeah. After it was in the paper, happily.
38:42Okay. Gotcha. And then, uh, your first byline, uh, what was your first story with a byline?
38:47First story with a byline was another esoteric question of the computer age.
38:51Why aren't computers pink? Okay.
38:54Do you remember how they're always that beige-y gray back then?
38:56Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So that was, that was the, that was that article.
39:00Um, and you, you might appreciate this. So I go by Andrew Ross Sorkin. It's a,
39:04I don't know if people think it's maybe a little too much, the three name pretentious thing,
39:08but the truth is that came from my, um, that came from the first byline that I ever had,
39:14because I, uh, that's my mother's maiden name. So you can steal my credit card now.
39:18And, um, I had always gone by Andrew Sorkin. I still do. I think when I see you, I just
39:23say Andrew Sorkin,
39:23but I had, and I'm always like, we met, stop introducing yourself.
39:28But I had lunch with my grandfather, my mother's father, the day before the article was published.
39:33And he said, Andrew, you got to use your full name in the paper. This is going to be like
39:38our first
39:38and last time it'll ever be there. So, I mean, I will say Andrew Ross Sorkin is a guy, I
39:45mean,
39:45Andrew Sorkin, like forget about it, but I'll read a book by Andrew Ross Sorkin. I mean, this guy,
39:49this guy knows what he's doing. Uh, the book's great. Thank you.
39:51I'm not surprised. Thanks so much for being here. It's such a pleasure.
39:54Andrew Ross Sorkin, everybody. 1929 is that one now. We'll be right back.
40:10Come join the audience at Late Night Live in Studio 8G. For tickets, head over to
40:15latenightsefftickets.com. Follow us at Late Night Seth on all social media platforms.
40:19Subscribe to Late Night Seth on YouTube. Find us online at latenightsefft.com.
40:25And subscribe to the Late Night Podcast, featuring a closer look, guest interviews,
40:29and more. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
40:40I want to thank my guests, Kyle Anthony Towns, Sean Levy, Andrew Ross Sorkin, everybody.
40:44Thank you all for watching. We love you.
40:46Thank you all for watching.
Comments