Real Time with Bill Maher - Overtime – Episode #605: Christine Emba, Andrew Sullivan, Katie Herzog

Episode Date: June 25, 2022

Bill Maher and his guests answer viewer questions after the show. (Originally aired 6/24/22) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late-night series, Real Time with Bill Mark. Okay, we're here back on overtime. The FDA banned Jewel e-cigarettes this week. Ah, no vaping for the kids. What are your thoughts on this? Wow. What are your thoughts? If anything turns me into a libertarian, it will be this particular issue. They have not only banned Jewel, a tool that many, many thousands of people who, have used to get off of smoking.

Biden is now saying that they're going to reduce the amount of nicotine within cigarettes. Ask any smokers, what is that going to do? It is going to mean that smokers will smoke more. It is not the nicotine that kills you. It is everything else in the cigarette. So to me, this is an example of government trying to do the right thing. And menthol. And menthol.

You didn't hear that? They've been talking about this for years. Is that a law now? Does anybody know? I don't know. I think they're at least been in D.C. now. Okay. So menthol cigarettes, which, I mean, to me, that's a, to me, that's racist.

Well, that's what they're saying. I mean, isn't it the cigarette that blacks prefer? It's the anti-racist position because it will save more black lives. Well, it will make something illegal, which will give cops more a reason to get involved with black lives. Right. But... But... I'm a purist.

I only smoke joints. And... You know you do. And... But, I know it's not good for my lungs. I absolutely do. I'm not going to pretend it isn't. And for most people...

Because I don't like the way that the vape makes you feel as the stoner. It doesn't work, really. Oh, it does. Oh, well... Really? You never used, like, a puffco?

I have. I... Yeah. No, no, no. You couldn't have it. This is, no, you get your hand out of your pants. No, that's not a puff coat. Oh, okay.

Sorry. You couldn't keep it in your... Oh, like a volcano. A volcano is different, too. These are things you can't keep in your pants. Sounds like a... Sounds like we're on Jeopardy. Category.

Things you can't keep in your pants. I just know that baking... Vaping is safer than smoke, right? Vapor is safer than smoke. I believe it is. And not as fun. But we don't... It's pretty clear.

Okay. And I agree with you about joints. There's something about a joint. I mean, people who watch club random, they say, you know, Bill, thank you again, one guy. I don't know. This crowd is very strange.

They're great laughers, but they will not commit to anything. They're really into doing. They're very cautious, good people. But, you know, like, Bill, you always have that club cigarette in your hand, because, you know, that's what we're smoking.

There's something about a joint. I think it's more than just what it feels in your lungs. It's like the prop of it. It's like the I remember when I would smoke cigarettes. There was something about sitting in a... Yes. And I like to kick your

upside the head kind of feel. The smoke, when you first get it, it kind of bang. And the vape is more like, ooh. But they also, they're targeting just Jewel. There are other companies that make vapes.

Jewel is the popular one. Oh, really? Yes. Is that right? Yes. Well, that's because they're trying to keep kids from buying Jules, right? And that's the brand that sort of teenagers know

and they don't want kids to get hooked on nicotine. Fuck the kids. It's helping people quit smoking. But that's not the case with menthols. These are adults. What do you feel about that? I mean, yes, we found that smoking, is bad. Right.

For everybody, by the way. This is the thing that we know. And it has caused both individuals and the government to us to pay for health care. You know, a lot of trouble over the years. That said, there is something to be said for allowing adults to make some of their own choices. Right.

And not making everything dividing us racially. You know, like, smoking's bad. Bad for blacks, bad for whites. Why ban the black cigarette? It seems just unnecessarily divisive. Am I wrong?

I mean, really, we could also ask, why are we calling it the black? Because that's what they call it in the paper. Because that's what they say in every news story. They say it's like overwhelmingly used by black smokers. Italians do it too. They like mental. Italians don't live here.

No, the ones on Long Island. This is America. The once on Long Island's. Okay. The minority cigarette. Yeah. Yeah. They made one called One Call One,

uptown once. Remember that? Uptown cigarette. And then they had ones for just women. Remember? Virginia Sting is. Very long and I tried one once. I was like... Double-led it as tampon. It's going to be a long way, baby.

Okay. Christine, do you think tech-savvy millennials and Jen Ziers will be able to prevent their own children from accessing internet porn? Wow. I think that the way that they're going to prevent them now is by not having them, actually. I mean, America is undergoing, like, a fertility crisis, basically. People are having way fewer children.

That's not a crisis. That's good news. I do. Come on. If you're at all an environmentalist, you have to recognize the main cause of environmental destruction is there's too many people, and not enough resources and people create pollution. The good news is that in the countries where, which we always thought of as exponential growth, it's actually coming

down quite bad. In some ways there may be some natural balance that essentially humans will realize that to survive, they've got to stop reproducing. Or they have access to contraceptives. Or they're just full of despair. Yes, yes. They don't think that the world is going to be a place that they want

to bring their kids into, which is sad. But every generation has said that. Every generation has said, oh, I can't bring a child into this world, you know. It's funny, they never say it in the reverse. When someone dies, they never go, good. They suck to me. Mike Pence claimed this week that Joe Biden lies. What is this hold this Trump person has over these people?

Mike, they tried to hang him, and he's still defending him. I just don't get it. Mike Pence claimed this week that Joe Biden lies more than any other president he's seen. I can't, I don't know. I can't even. Sure. All right, I'm going to go right to the next one. In an interview this week, last one of the first half of our season,

in an interview this week, Tom Hanks said, Hollywood wouldn't cast him as a gay man today. Oh, Philadelphia. Right. And Tom Hanks said rightly so. Oh, oh. Tom, always on the right side. I don't remember, but...

Do you agree with this sentiment? I don't. I don't. I don't. I mean, it's an actor. Right. Thank you. What is this insanity? Thank you. He might be right in this sense that Hollywood might not cast him. No, he said rightly so.

That's the part where he's wrong. I agree. I think he's wrong. Yeah. There, I've said it. Tom Hanks can be wrong. All right. Thank you, everybody. We've been here. Catch all new episodes of real time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10.

Or watch them anytime on HBO On Demand. For more information, log on to HBO.com.