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00:18So you understand the whole conversation about reparations now because it's really just the acknowledgement that America did something wrong.
00:25Right. And I think that's the interesting thing is just framing, you know. You look at Germany. Germany goes back
00:33to Namibia and they're like, hey, we're going to pay. We're going to pay for what we did. And we're
00:37not paying to pay you off.
00:39You know, I've seen a talking point that people have gone with that. They've been like, black people, you're just
00:43going to get paid off. No, it's not about paid off. It's about somebody out there acknowledging, hey, I put
00:49you down and kept you down so that I could build everything I have today.
00:53And as we all understand, with compound interest and with accumulations of wealth, holding somebody else down and growing what
01:01you've taken from them can lead you to be in a position where they can never, ever catch up to
01:05you.
01:05There's never truly equality. So the conversations around reparations really have to be in and around that.
01:10It's just studying and looking at, hey, is there something we can do in this country that can truly put
01:16black people in a position where they are equal?
01:19Not just equal on the surface, but they are equal. And we've realized that on many levels in America, black
01:25Americans have been held back on so many different levels.
01:28You know, whether it's getting higher interest rates for not just loans from banks, but also student loans.
01:33You leave school with a higher level of debt for studying the same thing as a student who is white.
01:38How is that equality? And I think those are some of the conversations that Americans need to have.
01:43But it's been spun again because people have made it seem like, hey, Dan, you're going to have to give
01:49them $50.
01:50Hey, Petey, you're going to pay $100. And that's not what it's going to be.
01:53But I think people have managed to successfully distill it into the simple talking points, you know, that makes it
02:00feel like it's an us versus them conversation when in fact it's not.
02:04No, it's simple. America systemically did something to put black people in a bad position, not systemically do something to
02:09put them in a good position.
02:10It's as simple as that. I always ask people, why wouldn't you want that as well?
02:13I always go like, why wouldn't you want that? Why wouldn't you want to see black communities raised up?
02:17Why wouldn't you want to? I don't understand why you wouldn't want to see that.
02:19And America has a history of doing that. That's another thing for me.
02:22America has a history of helping people. You know, America has a history of going, hey, farmers, we're going to
02:27give you subsidies.
02:28We're going to help the corn industry. Hey, you know what?
02:30All you guys who fought in the war, you come back, we're going to help you.
02:34It didn't help the black soldiers as much.
02:35But what they did was they said, if you are a white person who has fought for this country, we're
02:39going to help you.
02:40We're going to help you buy a house. We're going to help you go to school.
02:42And for a long time, that wasn't frowned upon in America.
02:44It wasn't seen as a handout. It was seen as a boost. It was a normal thing.
02:50But now it feels like once that boost is going towards a certain group of people, now there's resistance to
02:55that idea.
02:56This is not a country of handouts. This is where you work hard.
02:58It's like, yes, we all work hard.
03:00But it helps when somebody doesn't block the path that you're trying to work hard towards.
03:04So what's their answer when you ask them that, though?
03:06When you say, hey, why wouldn't you want that?
03:08Do they pull out their Klan hoodie and this is why I don't want it?
03:12No, I genuinely think it's framing.
03:14I've learned most of American politics is hampered by political branding.
03:20It's brilliant.
03:21And it's how most of the conversations are distilled in this country.
03:24A classic example and a simple one is Obamacare versus the Affordable Care Act.
03:29They asked Americans, do you support Obamacare?
03:31No.
03:31The numbers were dismal.
03:33They said, do you support the Affordable Care Act?
03:35The numbers would double.
03:36Same thing.
03:38Different name.
03:38Why?
03:39Because the one sounds like black medicine.
03:40That's why.
03:42Now, what's the role of comedy in politics?
03:45Well, that's an interesting question.
03:47What is the role of comedy in politics?
03:49Especially right now.
03:50I've lived in a country where for many years comedy wasn't legal if it was speaking about what was going
03:55on in the country.
03:56There's still African countries where you can't just tell whatever joke you want.
04:00So I think for me, the most important aspect of comedy personally is knowing that you still have, you know,
04:06the freedom of speech to say what you want to say about what's going on in the world.
04:10In terms of its importance, I think it changes from person to person.
04:13For me, it's about giving people a reprieve, you know, because people get so stressed out about what's happening in
04:17the news.
04:18People get stressed out about what's happening in politics.
04:20And I think comedy reminds you of who you're trying to be, who you maybe once were, and that the
04:26world is not always ending, even though it seems like it may be.
04:29Well, isn't it the most effective way to inform people about politics?
04:33Like, people who may not be informed about politics any other time.
04:35They get it from the late night show, it seems like.
04:37Well, I don't think it's the most effective way.
04:39I think it has become one of the more effective ways in America because of how bad your news is.
04:43Mmm.
04:44Do you know what I mean?
04:45Yeah, so it's so much fear-mongering.
04:47Yeah, like, but what is news in America?
04:50It's opinion panels.
04:52It's, you know, boxes of people shouting at each other.
04:54It's people sitting on a couch spewing opinions.
04:57Whereas when you look at news, especially around the world, like in South Africa, where I grew up with people
05:01in Britain, etc., the news is a very boring institution, but very informative.
05:05You know, so I grew up watching what was happening all over the world every night as a kid.
05:09I didn't enjoy it, but I knew.
05:11And so for me, I think maybe a byproduct of American news skewing towards entertainment has meant that entertainment has
05:19started to skew towards...
05:20And so that's why people feel like it's one of the best places to be informed.
05:24I don't think it's the best way to be informed.
05:26I just think right now it's how people are being best informed.
05:29But you do try to be informative, though.
05:31Oh, yeah.
05:31I think great comedy is about informing yourself.
05:33You know, all of the greats have given me that advice in different ways at different times.
05:38You know, everybody from Dick Gregory to, you know, Dave Chappelle, you know, they all go like, look at what's
05:43happening in the world.
05:44Just tell the truth.
05:46And then the jokes are going to come from that.
05:47So as a person, I try and make The Daily Show what I'm talking about to my friends, to my
05:53writers, to my people.
05:54It's not like I leave the building and all of a sudden, you know, I'm thinking of other things.
05:58It's everything that's going on in my world.
06:00And I try and condense it into that 30-minute show.
06:02So what is the most effective way to be informed nowadays?
06:05Because there's so much different news coming at you every second of the day.
06:10I'll be honest with you.
06:11I just, I question everything now.
06:13Yeah.
06:13You know, I question everything and I read everything.
06:16Everything everywhere.
06:17So I will read five different newspapers.
06:21I'll try and get five different versions of the story.
06:23I try and dig into a thing over and over and over again.
06:26Because I've come to realize that as much as we like to believe that there's such a thing as objectivity,
06:32everyone has some sort of bias.
06:34Yeah, I guess that's the problem with having so many opinion-based sources, right?
06:37Right.
06:37Yeah, that's the thing.
06:38Because everybody's got some bias.
06:39But there is no, I mean, like when it comes to politics, there is no, you realize there's no definitive
06:42truth per se, right?
06:44There's no, I mean, there are certain facts.
06:46You know, there are scientific facts.
06:48But when it comes to everything else, I mean, everyone can argue chicken or the egg in any argument.
06:52So you have to figure out what you, I guess, what you base your opinions on.
06:56And, you know, which economists you trust, which think tanks you trust, et cetera, et cetera.
06:59And that's why I have a big team that works here with fact checkers, with writers, with everyone who can
07:03come together and say,
07:04okay, we agree on this being the most concrete version of the truth that we're going to go out with.
07:10Do you get the final say in that?
07:11Yeah, yeah.
07:12You have to have the final say.
07:13You know, at some point, I've got to put my neck on the line and be like, yeah, this is
07:16what I want to do.
07:17Because again, if I leave the building, it's me.
07:19You know, I can't say to you guys tomorrow if you go, Trevor, why did you say that?
07:23Well, actually, my writer, my writer wrote this.
07:26No, no.
07:27That's why every single joke that comes out, I either write it with the writers or I approve the joke.
07:32I go, that was funny.
07:33I'm going to say that.
07:34What do you say to people who say, like, The Daily Show can be an echo chamber?
07:38Everything is an echo chamber.
07:39I think that's a term that people use to try and justify what a group of people are saying in
07:44and amongst themselves.
07:45I think for myself, you will always have an echo chamber because people who watch your show are people who
07:50like your show.
07:51All right.
07:52Do you get what I'm saying?
07:52So you'll always have that.
07:54What I think is key for me is to break out of that bubble that you live in and acknowledge
07:59what's happening outside of that world.
08:01So what I do is I go, let's acknowledge moments or things that may make us uncomfortable or engage in
08:08ideas that other people have that we may not necessarily discuss amongst ourselves.
08:12And I think that's key.
08:15So I don't just live in a world where I'm like, you agree, we agree, yeah, we're good, we agree,
08:19we agree.
08:19No.
08:20No, it's like, all right, this is what we, we know what we think.
08:22That's why I want to have Republicans on the show.
08:24That's why I have people I would not agree with on any policy on the show because I want to
08:27engage with them on an idea.
08:29And I want to expose them to my audience and be like, yo, I want you to trust your ideas
08:33of the world.
08:34Because if what you believe can change when you meet somebody else, then it wasn't based on anything concrete.
08:41Your belief should be strong enough that they can stand up to the ideas of somebody else.
08:46Yeah.
08:46Have any of them ever changed your mind?
08:48When was the last time that's happened?
08:49I don't, I don't know if anyone has changed my mind, but I do know people have given me a
08:53different perspective on how to see something.
08:56Mm.
09:24You know?
09:26I don't understand how to formulate a different argument or see them more as a human being and try to
09:30engage with them and get to the same place.
09:32Is there any good way to see this current administration?
09:36Has any of them ever said something to you that says, oh, I can see why you support the president?
09:39Is there any good way to see this administration?
09:41I don't know if there's a good way to see this administration, but one thing I'll say about Donald Trump
09:44that I've repeatedly said is one thing that people take for granted with Donald Trump is that he is brilliant
09:51at acknowledging problems.
09:53Really?
09:54He is fantastic at acknowledging problems.
09:56His solutions are trash.
09:59He's fantastic, though.
10:01He doesn't hide that there is a problem.
10:03You know, so he will say, for instance, like no one liked it when he went and said, hey, guys,
10:08in Belgium and in France, they've got something bubbling up there.
10:11He was like, look, man, I've noticed that there is conflict between the immigrant community in these places and that's
10:17going to bubble.
10:18And people were like, ah, Trump is just, you're just talking trash.
10:21And then all of a sudden you saw immigrants that were involved in attacks and people were like, oh, we
10:26didn't know this.
10:26And people were like, yeah, this is a big thing in a community.
10:28How did we not know?
10:29And I think it's because a lot of the time we choose to ignore things.
10:32His solutions are trash, though, because he'll say the same thing in America.
10:35He'll go, we have a problem with immigration.
10:37Build a war.
10:38Come on, man.
10:39That's not a solution.
10:40You know, what are you going to do about the Middle East?
10:42We're just going to bomb the shit out of it.
10:44These are not solutions.
10:46But I think what he's good at doing is identifying problems.
10:50And I think if you understand the problem that he's identifying, you can figure out another solution and then speak
10:55to those same people.
10:56And I think some politicians have latched onto that now.
10:58They've started realizing, oh, the reason Trump connects with people is because he speaks to something that they see as
11:03real.
11:03But maybe we could give them another solution.
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