The Bill Simmons Podcast - Bad Warriors Omens and Trevor Noah's First BS Interview | The Bill Simmons Podcast

Episode Date: April 17, 2019

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Kevin O'Connor to talk about the Warriors blowing a 31-point lead at home to the Clippers (1:50). Then Bill sits down with comedian and host of 'The Daily Show,' Trevor Noah, to talk about the state of the "talk show" platform, the rise of digital media, taking over 'The Daily Show' in 2015, learning from Jon Stewart, sports, some of their favorite interviews, outrage culture, Trevor's new podcast, and more (26:43). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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right after Game of Thrones ends, at Ringer or hashtag Talk to the Thrones. Coming up, Kevin O'Connor and I are going to talk a little nba playoffs and then trevor noah for the first time he was awesome you're gonna enjoy it first our friends from pro gym All right, I'm aligned right now. He's in Massachusetts. He's going to game two tomorrow night.

He has been following the NBA playoffs for TheRinger.com. You can hear him on the Mismatch podcast on Tuesdays on The Ringer NBA show. Kevin O'Connor, how are you? What's going on, Bill? How are you doing today? Still reeling from a Clippers-Warippers Warriors game that I never gave up on it we're taping this it is early afternoon pacific time um I feel like it's a little bit evergreen because that game said nothing

and everything to me like I I feel like a great team does not blow a 31-point lead at home ever under any circumstances. A team that is tight and running on all cylinders that is just usually over. And they kind of fell apart in that game. I picked Houston before the playoffs for one of the main reasons was that I just felt like this Golden State team was going to splinter when things went really,

when things got really tough. Do you think, did you learn anything from that game last night or do you think it was a fluke? Well, I think with this Clippers team is specifically, it was a continuation of what they've been all season. Doc Rivers called them roaches after the game.

And they really did have fight like being down 31. They could have folded against this warriors team but they didn't so i think we learned what they did translates to the playoffs and with golden state it's the same thing just on the other side of the coin they are just coasting still even though they built that 31 point lead they didn't stomp on the throat of the clippers and close out that game some of the turnovers they had were just incredibly lazy. Yeah. And that's something that Steve Kerr has remarked about over the course of the season that they

have not gotten out of their system. And maybe for them, this will be a wake up call. Maybe it'll be game three that we learn something new about this Warriors team and how they react to that blown lead in game two. Yeah. You know, I thought game three, especially when they were up in the 20s and heading into the 30s

last night, I thought game three was going to be kind of a sad Clippers game because this has really been a lovable, endearing team and they deserved like a really good crowd

for a playoff game. I think if they had been down 2-0 after a blowout in game two, I just think there would have been a ton of Warriors fans there in that game. The Warriors sometimes are at their best when they're on the road in a stadium

where there's like 5,000 Warriors fans or 6,000 Warriors fans, whatever. Now the script is flipped. This is, you know, I know some Clipper fans. I've had season tickets since 04, and I sit in a section with a lot of diehard old school ticket holders that have been going since the 80s. This is the most beloved Clipper team ever, and I can't emphasize that strongly enough. People love going to the Lob City games.

People enjoyed the Chris Paul Blake era, but there was still something annoying about those teams. You know, Blake was one of those guys, you're 80% and 85%. But he had all these little things that were just frustrating. Chris was like a drill sergeant. When you're at the games, it was never that much fun to see him in person, as brilliant as he was, because, you know, he's just yelling at everybody. He's stomping around. And that team had a really, really weird energy to it.

And everybody's yelling at everybody they're on that each other. And it just never felt quite right. It never felt like they weren't endearing, put it that way. This Clippers team is just so goddamn lovable and so endearing. And that 31 point comeback, that was, as you said, what they've done all season. They have these guys who are just these unique, not quite all-stars, but really unique for what they've done all season, they have these guys who are just these unique, not quite all stars, but really unique for what they are guys. Like there's no other version of Lou Williams in the league. Harold is by far the best version of what he does in the league. They have all these other chip on their shoulders, guys who are counted out, traded, um, rookies, all, you know,

and I, and I do think now looking at this game three, that crowd's going to have a real energy. And I haven't been to a Clipper game really, I would say since oh six, where they just really love the team. So has that, has it changed where you thought the ceiling of the series would go? Do you think it goes six? Could it go seven? I don't think it could go that far. I still think Golden State's talent outweighs what the clippers can offer um but with this team being as lovable as they are it's hard not to appreciate effort uh like with you know patrick beverly getting in the in the grill of kevin durant in games one and two landry shammett a rookie player bringing having you know in my opinion probably his best

defensive performance performance that he's ever had. Yeah, I agree. He was in college. He was a subpar defender, and then he's had a lot of poor games on defense this entire season because he's not a great defender, but it shows what effort and energy and playing a connected, communicative style on the defensive end can do for a unit, and that's something that's attractive to other players. It's something that's attractive to fans, and so I think for this Clippers team, Bill, that's sort of what's changed for me. It's just good to see it translate to the postseason.

But for the Warriors, they still just have too much talent. And I still see this ending in five, maybe six, but definitely not seven. You know, I'm an eye test body language guy. I think what's interesting about this Warriors team, they kind of all just like dudes that are going to the office together. I don't feel the camaraderie that they had. Definitely. I mean, you go back to 2015, 2016 and the way, how close that team was and you felt it on the court, you know, and it, and it felt very reminiscent of those Duncan, Janobi, Parker Spurs teams where just, they seem like they were buddies and Duncan was

the big brother and Popovich was like the dad and it just had a dynamic to them. And I think that's what Kurt tried to replicate in, uh, in the 15 season and the 16 season when Curry, you know, got banged up, they ended up losing to the Cavs in seven. And then when Durant showed up, they folded him into that. And that first year was definitely there. Second year, it kind of came and went. Watching the game last night, it just really doesn't seem like they're all on the same page together anymore.

And I know that's like a weird blanket statement with, you know, he just throw that out there and I sound like I'm on FS1 on Coward Show or something. But it just doesn't seem like they're connected. It seems like they're all kind of doing their own thing. They're all really superb at what they do. There's a lot of your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn stuff. And I thought Barkley and Kenny made interesting points about that third quarter last night when they're up 31.

I think Barkley was saying how, you know, there was five minutes left in the quarter. You know, you're not going to play in the fourth quarter in a blowout. Everybody just kind of started going for their points and their shots and you could feel it in that game. And to me, it made me want to double down on my feeling that I don't think this team's going to win the championship this year. I think there's something missing with them from a chemistry standpoint, and it keeps popping out in this season. Did you notice that last night, or am I just overthinking this stuff? No, for sure.

I think with chemistry, it's something that you can just see, something you can observe. You can tell when somebody is having a bad day sometimes. With this Warriors team, they just lack a connectedness that a team like their Rockets have or the Milwaukee Bucks have you can feel that on the court you can observe it what watching players on the bench the question is is with this sheer amount of talent that they have does that lack of chemistry outweigh all that talent that they you know their top end is better

than anybody else obviously that goes without saying and i think it's this series against the clippers is maybe this activates the warriors maybe this is good for them and then it gets them into that right mindset moving forward because i'm not quite sure that they can actually beat the rockets with this current mindset that they have and their lack of depth they need to get right before that Houston series. Yeah, I mean, there's that old, I used to use the phrase, the look. When a player has the look or a team has the look. The Rockets definitely have the look.

Now, whether they have enough talent, whether Chris Paul can stay healthy for four rounds, I don't know. But that's a team. The case for Harden for MVP was basically that team had just a gut-wrenching gut-wrenching exit last year where they're so damn close and it really you know it felt like they might never get that close again and that was their one chance and they blew it and it carried over into the season they go 8 and 14 and it was really partly a hangover from last season

Harden snapped them out of it. He goes to another level. They add Austin Rivers. They add House. There's a couple guys that the rotation falls into place, and that team now has the look, and they're really locked in. They know who they are. They know who their best guy is.

Chris Paul knows exactly what they need from them every game. Farid and Capella, they know exactly what they're supposed to do. Everybody on the team knows what they're supposed to do and what their role is. And on the flip side, this Warriors team that we can talk about it till we're blue in the face and Durant can deny it all he wants, but the uncertainty about his future has hurt this team and it, and it has hurt the team from a media narrative standpoint,

them have to ask questions about answer questions about it day after day after day, which is not his fault, but it's the reality of the situation. It's the reality of how we cover basketball now. But the fight he had with Draymond at the Clippers game when it got really, really ugly on the court, I feel like from a chemistry standpoint, they haven't looked the same since. And they've had moments in the season.

I've seen them blow teams out a couple times times and they blew out the Clippers a few weeks ago. Um, but for the most part, they do not have what I would call the look and, you know, boogie going down yesterday. It didn't really change how I felt about them either. I don't know how he felt about that. I felt bad for boogie, but you can make a case. He wasn't even one of their six most essential players. Where'd you stand on that? I felt bad for Boogie, but you can make a case he wasn't even one of their six most essential players. Where'd you stand on that? Yeah, I was about to ask you about that

because I think that's really gotten lost in the shuffle of last night's affairs with that 31-point blown lead because Boogie, this past month or so, he's been better. He's still not anywhere near what he was in Sacramento or even New Orleans for that matter.

But I do think it's a loss for golden state ultimately because cousins provided a different look. He allowed them to play big with size, another person that they can facilitate the ball through on the posts. And now they lose that, you know, come on. Looney is better in certain matchups. Andrew Bogut is a better defensive player. Jordan Bell is quicker defending on the perimeter, but cousins did provide that guy who could possibly pop for even just one game or two games that could swing a series against rockets because if we remember bill last month in that houston golden state game cousins was really good in that matchup and somebody who could have been valuable moving forward for them in a potential second round series against the rockets so cousins it is a pretty significant loss for Golden State, despite the fact they still have

four All-Stars on their team. Yeah, that's a good point about the, just, it's not like this was a deep team anyway, so losing anybody isn't great. A little reminiscent of three years ago when they lose Bogut in the finals. And it seemed like they could handle it, but as it turned out, you know, would have been nice to have him, you know,

it would have been nice to have that one game when he was heating up stuff like that. I still never, it's weird when he first started playing in his comeback, it was like, Oh my God, this is going to be incredible. And I thought he slowed them down. To be honest, I actually like to me, the Durant, Curry, Clay, Draymond, obviously, as long as those guys are healthy, that's really all that matters. And then having Iggy as the fifth.

And I never try to get too banana shape if somebody loses somebody who's not one of their best five guys. It's the same thing with the Celtics. Like, yeah, it sucks not to have smart, but really all that means is they get to redistribute his minutes. And the only really, really truly indispensable guys in that team on the Celtics are Kyrie and Horford.

So in this case, I think the Warriors probably have five. I don't think he's one of the five, but you're right. There would have been one game in the Houston series that he probably makes the difference. I got to talk about the Clippers quickly. I can't remember another career like Lou Williams.

Lou Williams came into the season, the 05-06 season. So how old were you in 05-06, Kevin? I was 15 years old in the 05-06 season. He averaged a whopping 1.9 points a game. Played for Philly, played for Atlanta, played for the Lakers, which I just totally forgot. He was on the Lakers for two

years, basically. Yeah, that's season and a half. Yeah, and it's just I have no recollection of really any moments from it. It's a pretty forgettable stretch for the Lakers. Goes to the Rockets and then ends up in this Clippers thing. And he'd always been one of those heat check guys. I had always thought of him as kind of in that Jamal Crawford camp, but maybe not as fun to play with as Crawford. What's really changed, and I don't really remember him having this to this degree

earlier in his career, or maybe he just never played with a guy like this, but the way he uses Harrell is really, really special. And it's something that's been there all year. I think there's only a few guys in the league that you could put in that Harrell spot that could blend with him the way that Harrell blends with Lou Williams. But how many guys could actually do this? How unique is this, that combination? I don't think there how many guys could actually do this? How unique is this, that combination? I don't think there is many guys that could do this. And, you know, I've been watching Lou Williams this season.

I've been thinking about the first year I got hired by the ringer in 2016. I wrote an article about, you know, the best pick and roll players in the NBA. And when I was doing research for that article, it wasn't a surprise at how efficient Lou Williams necessarily was. But at the time, he scored the fifth most points per possession in the pick and roll of any player in Synergy's database since 2004. So Lou Williams, throughout his entire career, before this all really started with the Clippers, was one of the league's most efficient, high volume pick and roll scorers. And now he finds himself in a situation with Montrezl Harrell, who also happens to be one of the best role men in the league, right? So for Williams, he has finally in his thirties

landed in a situation that has empowered him to do what he does as a scorer, nonstop going to his left. And then with Montrezl Harrell, somebody who, from the time at Louisville, his evolution in terms of passing out of the short roll, I think it has elevated his entire game as a role man because before he was just kind of a lob guy, but his touch has gotten better, his passing has gotten better. So you have Harrell paired with Lou Williams, and Williams paired with Harrell.

It's a perfect marriage between these two and, and with the Clippers and Doc Rivers, empowering those guys to do what they'd done has led Lou Williams to have these career seasons in his thirties. But really like looking in the past, there were the signs of this. He was just never in the perfect spot to activate it. And he's also, you mentioned how he always goes left. He always goes left. He always. He scores on 19 different angles off of going off a left. And then when you think about it with a pick and roll,

that's actually perfect for if your guard's going left and the guy's screening going down the middle of the lane like that. It's so unorthodox, and it just works over and over and over again. And, uh, I think about, you know, Zion and what he's going to look like in the pros, whatever team he ends up on. And this, this proves yet again, how important fit is, you know, because the team, the perfect team that he will ultimately end up on, whether it's next year, even whether it's five years from now, maybe it'll be his second team. But I really wanted to play with somebody like this, who can run those screens with him and basically use him in that Harrell spot. Because Zion in that

Harrell spot, getting the same kind of looks and passes and dishes that Harrell's getting, I don't know how you would stop it. I honestly don't. I think you could just run that play over and over again and go 82-0 and you'd score 50 points a game. It would be unbelievable. So I hope he ends up on the right team. Quickly, do you watch this Clippers team, how fun they are right now,

but also in the back of your head, you're thinking how much cap space they have and just throwing Kawhi on the team. It's hard not to think about that, right? It's impossible not to think about that, especially because some of the main guys that are having the success for this team, Patrick Beverly and Zubats, are free agents this summer. So if you're going to sign two guys, you're going to have to lose one,

probably both of them. So what makes this team so lovable might be lost to sacrifice to get bigger name players. But if you're getting one, you can keep them, though. If you're just getting Kawhi, maybe that's the best case scenario to retain their depth and get one guy through free agency and then trade for another with other assets rather than signing two.

Well, and you and I both feel like the Clippers have the best trade package out of anybody if AD has to go this summer, right? The package would be Gallinari. It would be Shea, Gilgis, Alexander, the unprotected Miami pick. And I think you have to put Harrell in it, ironically. I think that's the trade. And I think that's a really good trade for New Orleans. Now, whether

that trade makes them a little too competitive, I don't know. But if all of those things are on the table, then a team like the Celtics would have to put every draft pick they have, Tatum and Smart, to try to trump it. Well, and that's the fascinating thing about this little run for the

Clippers, is that these assets these players are showing how valuable they can be to another team if so if david griffin new gm of the pelicans looks at the pelicans and he values gilgis alexander over tatum well it's going to be tough for boston to overcome that and that's unless they do throw all their picks on the table and you know what maybe they will and maybe they should right and you and i don't think and the knicks are the other team you and i think the lakers would be number four right now for who has the most assets to get him with ingram's health up in the air yeah i mean it's gonna be it's gonna be tough for the lakers because of that ingram uh variable if he's healthy if there's then maybe they have a chance but i i have a hard time putting the Lakers higher than third or fourth.

But there's always a surprise team, though. Right now, it's still hard to rank them, right? Because a team like the Nuggets, let's say the Nuggets lose to the Spurs in the first round and they're feeling pressure this offseason. Maybe they're like, let's put Jamal Murray on the table with other assets in a trade for Anthony Davis. And maybe that's more appealing.

Maybe that leapfrogs over some other teams in the sweepstakes. There's always a surprise team that could enter the sweepstakes. Well, if they're going to try to trade Jamal Murray, don't send the game one tape. Let's go quickly. We have four minutes left. I'm going speed round. Houston Golden State right now. Gun to your head.

Who are you taking? Houston. Me too. I can't believe it, but I really think they're going to beat the Warriors. I got to say, catching them now in round two right after the boogie injury helps them. Could work out.

That was the talk. They're a little bit in flux. Ben Simmons, you wrote about him today. We saw the worst of Ben Simmons in game one. We saw the best of him in game two. He's attacking the rim. Really, really aggressive. The Nets we saw the worst of Ben Simmons in game one. We saw the best of him in game two. He's attacking the rim. Um, really,

really, really aggressive. The nets never weren't staying in front of them. They didn't learn any of the lessons that they had from game one. Is this just who Simmons is for the next couple of years of his career where he's really, really up on game, really down the next game.

Or do you think that might've been a turning point for him? I think for Ben, it was a turning point in the sense that when he plays with effort and when he plays with intensity, he can do those things in transition. He just needs to really push the pace. But really, it ties back to what we were talking about with Harrell and Zion Williamson. I think the Sixers can do more for Ben Simmons as well.

This is kind of like the focus of the article is putting him as a screener in the pick and roll. And granted, Philly doesn't have ideal spacing to run a heavy dose of pick and roll. I think putting Simmons in the pick and roll would allow him to short roll like Draymond Green or finish with finesse like Blake Griffin or even finish with power like Giannis Antetokounmpo. All those guys are ball handlers who also can be used as screeners. And that's something Simmons only finished 13 possessions over the full regular season as the pick-and-roll screener. And that's something that I think is inexcusable.

I mean, it's unfortunate that he's in a situation that he's not allowed to do more of that. But I think moving forward, the Sixers should do more of that so he's more dynamic in the half court and not just a guy who's floating around on the baseline. It's been frustrating watching him be a zero in the half court. Both of these teams

are playing tonight, so by the time people hear this, they will already know what will happen in game two. Which team are you more worried about quickly, Denver or OKC? I would say OKC at this point. Because of Paulul george yeah their lack of shooting and paul george does not seem right i i think with denver they got plenty of open shots san antonio was helping and doubling on nicole yokich and he did a great job finding shooters

they just weren't hitting shots whereas okay see paul george isn't right he's just not yeah i agree so who do you have out of the four people that will absolutely have a chance to play Golden State or Houston in round three? San Antonio, Denver, OKC, Portland. Who would you take right now to be in the Western Finals? I would still take Denver, even though they're down 1-0 to San Antonio right now.

You love that Denver team. Interesting. Yeah, I like them. Why, You disagree? I don't know. I've changed my mind every day. I'm starting to wonder if maybe this could be

a Dame Lillard drag Portland to the Western Finals situation. Because I think they're going to get by OKC if George can't raise his arm. And then Denver, San Antonio,

I don't know. At some point, Dame's going to have a run where we all look at each other and go, all right, this is one of the seven best players in the league. Why can't we finally admit this? Who is coming out of the East, if you had to guess? Last question. Milwaukee Bucks.

Too strong. Yeah. MVP and Yannis and they're going to get healthier as the playoffs advance. At some point, Brogdon should come back. That team could only get better. I agree. And I actually think this round one rollover matchup against the Pistons.

That's great because they can get their feet wet a little bit. No real stress. Just kind of roll through. Get Giannis as much rest as he needs. He's going to take a pound in those last three rounds. And it's all lined up for them. They get the Celtics

in round two. I think you always want to have the best part in the series. They would have to be favored in that. It's great for Milwaukee. We think Milwaukee versus Houston in the finals right now. I said Milwaukee-Golden State before the postseason began, but I'm with you. Yeah, I would say. It's great for Milwaukee. So we think Milwaukee versus Houston in the finals right now. Right now, yeah. I said Milwaukee, Golden State before the postseason began,

but Houston with their performance thus far and Golden State sliding a little bit. My gut tells me Houston, and I've learned to trust my gut. Yeah, me too. All right. Say hi to the fam. Say hi to everybody in Boston, and we'll listen to you on the Ringer NBA show.

Will do, Bill. Thank you. Thanks, Kevin O'Connor. Hey, let's take a break to talk about SimpliSafe Home Security. Before you guys all start giving me crap saying I like SimpliSafe because they're from Boston, that's not true. I like SimpliSafe because it's a great security system. Awesome protection. Very easy to use. Oh, and they're from Boston.

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All right, not the first South African guest we've ever had here. Your second. Second? Can you guess who's first? I have no clue. Let me think. Sports figure? Nope.

No? No. Wow. Run through your head of all the South African celebrities. Oh, man. A business person? No.

So not like a tech person? I think Hollywood area oh Hollywood so who like Charlize Theron maybe yeah yeah okay

two years ago she brought the house down it was great very confident lady she's a good podcast she's amazing Trevor Noah is here we've circled this podcast

I don't know for like a year right but you're never here you work during the week and then you travel every weekend and you do comedy. I do stand up every single weekend.

You work seven days a week. Yeah. Well, six days. No, I take the seventh off. You do? You take Sundays off? I do. What do you do on Sundays?

I just rest. I just take that day. Yeah, man. It's the Lord's day. I rest. You know, just try and appreciate the week that's been and then get ready for the next one. So you're doing Friday, Saturday night? Yeah.

So I'll do Friday night, Saturday night. Like I'll do Monday through Thursday on the daily show. And then Friday mornings, I'll work on some stuff for the show just to try and plan like bigger picture things. And then Friday night, I'm in the city somewhere in America. And then Saturday, I hit another city. What's your process for the standup?

Like how much time do you spend? Are you crafting new material? Are you trying to hone the same act? Is it a blend? What are you doing? The way I do it is because I can't do clubs the way I used to. Like it's funny. I remember when I first started The Daily Show,

I used to do The Daily Show and then I'd immediately go down to the cellar and do a set that same night. And I'll do that every single and then I'd immediately go down to the cellar and do a set that same night. And I'll do that every single day and I'd work seven days. And then one day I was chatting to Chris Rock and he was like, how many days do you work? And I said, I work seven. He's like, you're going to be the best, worst comedian that's ever existed. I was like, what are you talking about, Chris?

And he's like, all your jokes are going to be about airports. I've been in this airport. I've been in that airport. He's like, you're going to make jokes about nothing that people care about. And he's like, oh, your joke's going to be about airports. I've been in this airport. I've been in that airport. He's like, you're going to make jokes about nothing that people care about. And he's like, you got to live life. Yeah. That's what he said. He said, if you want to write great comedy, you need to start living more life.

And that's what I started doing. You know, I took more time off and I realized the comedy became better. I had a, you know, a broader point of view. And so that's what I do now. So most of the weekend travel is my time off. And it's also, I get to see America, like really, really get to see America. This was the Eddie Murphy issue way back when.

Really? He became too famous. He was the best comedian of that decade, but he became too famous. He wasn't around anybody. Right. So how do you do comedy if you're just in some mansion with five people every night

it's hard to observe when you are the person being observed all the time yeah you just have all these people jumping around when you move it's like what is he

going to do a stand up act about I remember one time I walked into a CVS and there were two guys packing boxes and they just got into a fight and it was about to be

the most hilarious fight ever and the one guy stopped and then he was like yo yo yo it's Trevor Noah, calm down. He gonna make jokes about this. And I just stood there and I was like, what? And they stopped.

Well, now I wonder. You know, that was it. My joke was gone. With comedy now, I wonder, because everybody's looking at their phones so much and everybody's online all the time. Like that whole observation type thing. Oh, it doesn't stop.

Because if I go to a Starbucks or something and I just look around and everybody's just looking at their phone, nobody even looks up anymore. Right. That sounds like the old guy on the couch, but it's just, you know, there was a lot of time to kill back in the day

and now everybody can kill time on their phones. Yeah, but I feel like that's true in certain places. But if you are in New York, there is still enough crazy to go around. Yeah, I was just there. That's definitely true. Yeah. And when you go, like I say,

when you go into, like when you're in Springfield, Missouri, it's not the Starbucks where everyone's got their phones, you know? You know, when you're really traveling, when you're in Amherst, Massachusetts, it's like a different world altogether. Amherst?

Yeah, I was just there this past weekend. So, you know, that's the fun thing for me is I go like, you know, and then you're trying to find the most decent place to eat and you're walking through a little town. Half the people have no clue who you are. Yeah. Like, that's fun.

I like that. Are you doing like a, who's your base when you do stand up? Like are you big with colleges? Or is it everybody? Everybody. Everybody. I've been lucky my whole life.

Because daily show, like everybody, at least your profile from that combined with all the other stuff. Right. You kind of belong to all the different kind of groups. What's interesting is I've been lucky that I have a good cross-section of people in my audiences.

So I have a lot of young fans from college. I have a lot of young kids that like me where their parents are trying to fight with me to bring them to the show. They'll be like, my kid's 12 and they won't let him in. I'm like, I can't help you. We have an age restriction. It's like, but why? You're not crazy on stage. I'm like, yeah, but we just have We have an age restriction. It's like, but why? You're not crazy on stage. I'm like, yeah, but we just have that.

So you think that's from Daily Show Digital? No. Like YouTube and all that stuff? That's from like the YouTube and the standup. So because I'm animated and I guess because of how my face is shaped, I found that very young children like it. They don't understand the standup, but they're just like, yeah, he looks like a cartoon character.

I like him. He seems friendly. Yeah. So I have a lot of young kids who like me, yeah, he looks like a cartoon character. I like him. He seems friendly. Yeah. So I have a lot of young kids who like me. And then I have a lot of older people who like me. And a lot of them I've come to find like me because of how I speak. They'll be like, young man, you're so well-spoken. I like how articulate you are.

Just your voice alone is so interesting. Are you- There's a dignity to it. You're the British guy from South Africa, right? I'm like, yeah, I guess you could put it that way. So, you know, everyone has a different reason, but I'm blessed because the audience is as mixed as you could ever find.

I think it's so funny when people try to figure out what the audience is for a late night show in this day and age. Right. Because there's no way to know. It's so splintered and it's so all over the place and you know the daily show is such a big digital footprint right that for when they people write these stories now it's like look at the ratings in the 18 to 49 it's like what are you guys talking about like my son's 11 he doesn't even go on cable he doesn't know what channel anything's interesting he just watches youtube and goes to uh hulu and doesn't he thinks probably the daily

show is on whatever streaming service cares of versus oh yeah no people versus comedy central yeah i have people who literally say to me i love your show on facebook yeah and you just have to keep it moving you're not and you keep it moving. Yeah. You know, people, people don't know where anything is anymore. They care more about the content. And we would like, there's a generation that's growing up now that lives a la carte. And I think media companies are going to have to realize that sooner or later. I think they realize it now, but I think there was, I don't think they know what to totally do about it. That's true. Yeah. That's true. But I think these last five years have been all about,

oh, wait a second. What's going on here? Right. You know, you even see like Disney last week announced this whole streaming service that we've all known about forever. It's going to be $7 a month

and going to have arm. We knew they were doing this for two years. They should have been doing it six years ago. You know what's funny though is you go, you've got your Netflix

and then you're going to have your Disney streaming and then you're going to have your Disney streaming and then you're going to have your like CBS streaming. Then you have your ESPN streaming here. And then we're going to need someone to put all of these streaming services together in one place. And then we're going to call that a box, but we're going to call it the streaming box. And then we're going to pay $50 a month

to have all of our streaming things. And we're going to get back to the same place. Oh, that is 1000% happening. Because it's too much. It's just, come on. That's 1000% happening. How many apps do you have? Like I can't keep up. They're all going to get back to the same place. Oh, that is 1,000% happening. Because it's too much. It's just, come on. That's 1,000% happening. How many apps do you have? Like, I can't keep up.

They're all going to be bundled together into one giant service that, you know, there'll be one password for it and it'll be streamed the most easily, whatever. The brand new cable streaming box. It's basically what Hulu did, but blown out. Essentially. Because Hulu did But blown out Essentially Because Hulu is like an amalgam of five different whatevers

You know what's funny is that's how we watch TV in South Africa So like A lot of people don't know this but Most countries in the world get the best Of US television So like countries come over here And then they just buy your best shows Right so anything that's blowing up will get bought.

And then they bring it to their country. And because they buy it like pennies on the dollar, it's like they'll afford shows that you could never buy in America all on one channel. So overseas, when we watch like TV, you're just like, man, America just has great television. It's just like back to back to back to back hits, back to back. And then you get here and you're like, what is this? What is this stuff that fills the time? Who is this judge?

How many judges do you have? How many people go to court? You know what I mean? It's like, it's such a weird difference. And I mean, I feel like that's what's going to happen in America. Someone's going to do that model. Just be like, hey, we'll just put the best together for you and you just pay. I feel that way about England. What do you mean? Well, all the TVs they make, man, they make so many great shows. But I'm sure there's a hundred shows they make every year that I don't ever hear about that are awful.

They actually don't make that many. Oh, really? So you think they have a high batting average? Yeah, I mean, they don't really make a show. So here's the thing. The difference I learned when I was working on TV in the UK versus in America there they'll be like

a series of six episodes they go yeah that's a great idea Bill let's do it six episodes that's beautiful isn't it

yeah got the full story oh you know people love it maybe we do a second season and then it's done like that was like the Ricky Gervais office

that was what two seasons done and it was the most successful I don't know if you've noticed but America has now season and then it's done. Like that was like the Ricky Gervais office. That was what? Two seasons. Done. And it was the most successful. I don't know if you've noticed this, but America has now stolen that concept. I just read an article today with HBO where the new guy who took it over is like, I love the miniseries concept. Right.

Six episodes, six to seven episodes and you're out. That's funny. It's like, yeah, this is, England's been doing this all decade. Yeah, it was just like the story's done. It's done. How much more can you do? Yeah, it's like yeah this is england's been doing this all decade yeah they were just like the story's done it's done how much more can you do yeah it's done there's been some shows that should have done that in the past in in the american pop culture past right i like uh i like especially now because there's so many options knowing that i'm going to be done in seven episodes like big little lies was like that last year. So you like knowing... Seven episodes, I know there's a finish line.

I'm not intimidated. I don't have to watch like 50 episodes or 25. I just got my seven. I'm in and out. It's like a big movie. Okay. I like knowing that a show's not going to try to hook me on the last episode of a season. To bring you back for the next season.

Yeah, don't do that. That's not cool. Is it a fear of commitment? That's, no, I just don't like that. You just leave me hanging. I don't like that.

That's a big American thing. That started with the show Dallas in 1980. Which was our big soap opera. It was called Dallas. You got Dallas. Yeah,

we got your soap operas like 10 years after you guys had them. So Dallas had Who Shot J.R. was the big cliffhanger. Right, right. And it became one of the biggest phenomenons of my entire childhood. And once they did that,

everyone's like, oh, we need our cliffhanger. And they just set 30 plus years of cliffhangers. No, I think emotionally it's not good for people. It was worse in 1980 because we didn't have a lot going on. If you had a cliffhanger in 1980, it really mattered. Now you just move on to the next thing.

Like we're taping this on the Monday, the day after Tiger Woods won the Masters. It's like people are already done with it. It's not even new yet. That's crazy, right? It's like, oh yeah, that was incredible. All right, next thing. On to the next.

Move on to Game of Thrones. That would have been like the story of like the month, like 10 years ago. Oh yeah. There was a whole way we consumed this stuff. When I was growing up all the way through like my twenties, where that would happen, talk about it for two days,

Sports Illustrated would come out on a Wednesday with like the definitive piece about it. It was like this four day news cycle. Now the cycle is 14 hours. Yeah. And we were like racing to get a podcast up last night, but while people still care about it. Oh yeah. Cause you,

cause you needed to talk about the Tiger Woods thing when it happened. If we're putting it up like right now, it's of late you know i feel like that's sad though you know you know why i feel like that's sad is especially so i obviously because of the daily show i work in the world of information and news yes the thing i found is you know when you had a similar thing when you're doing your show on h. Yeah. Like I would watch episodes and I was like, there's so much more that goes into any idea or political point of view or conversation than you can digest in a conversation. And we've gotten to the point now where we want it in a Twitter link. We just, we don't want to click the link.

We just want the tweets. What is the tweet going to tell us? This is what this person said. This is what that person said. I've formed my opinion. I'm done. Because nuance is boring. It's long. It's convoluted. You've got to take this journey. A lot of the time, the questions are chicken and the egg. It's like, which problem do you solve first? It's a lot easier for people to just go, here's my opinion. I base it on a few facts and I'm done and I move on to the next topic.

Outrage, you know, just like an outcry. And then we move on. But I don't know. It feels like we don't actually do anything. We just like, we don't actually think about anything anymore, which throws me. What's weird about what you just said is podcasts are one of the only things left

that people engage with over a long period of time yeah that's true but they're usually probably doing something else I would say most of the people listening to this right now are doing one other thing maybe this is the main focus but there's probably a second thing happening

but yeah like when I did my show the big reason I wanted to do that show is because I'd had a lot of success interviewing people on podcasts but there's probably a second thing happening. But yeah, like when I did my show, the big reason I want to do that show is because I'd had a lot of success interviewing people on podcasts. And I was like, this should be a TV show. And what you realize is, especially we did a half hour, it should have been an hour.

There's different things, but people would have rather have heard the guests I had as a podcast than to watch them. Why do you think that is? Because I think TV, people need to be more engaged. They need to be pulled in more consistently versus like the listening experience I think is a little more laid back, which is what an interview is.

Like if you really want to interview somebody, you have these guests that are on. Yeah, that's true. They're on for seven minutes. And that late night motto, this guy's out, crowd goes nuts. Right, right, right. Person comes in, they tell their three things they want to hit, and then they leave.

That's kind of what they're used to. That's true. If they're just sitting there for an hour, I don't know. I could never crack it. I'd be interested to see who could. I wonder if it's just a dead format in a way. I kind of feel like it is. It's as dead as my show is.

I think it's also a byproduct again of like social media. So here's my thing. What I've realized social media does is people look for abbreviated descriptions of what to expect as opposed to watching it for themselves. So if Bill Simmons interviews somebody on his show, people go online and they wait to see what the little footnotes are, the cliff notes, and then people are like, ah, got it, okay, just skip to 1412. That's literally what you'll see online. Skip to this moment for the action. And then the action's good or bad, but you don't have any context.

You're like, that's all you need to watch. But that isn't all you need to watch. Yeah, it's true. Especially in an interview, it has some ebbs and flows and you can check the body language and the way people react. I think that era might be done for TV.

What was your favorite interview that you've had so far on Daily Show? Oh, man. How long do you have? What's the longest one you've done? Well, I've thrown that out the window. I talk to the people as long as I need to speak to them.

And then you edit it after? Yeah, we edit it afterwards, but I put it all up online. Like, I've just gone like, hey, man, I understand we work within the confines of the time of a show,

but I also realize that I want to create in a certain way. So the way I make the show now is I go, here's what's on the show. If I have extra thoughts, a certain way. So the way I make the show now is I go, here's what's on the show. If I have extra thoughts, I put them on between the scenes. I just talk to the audience, talk about what's happening in the world, ideas that I haven't formed fully. Sometimes I engage with them. They ask me questions. I ask them questions,

put that out online. When I talk to people, I go, Hey, Bill, we're going to sit down. If the conversation is rolling, we're going to roll for 25 minutes. We'll put seven minutes up on TV, and then we'll tell the people on TV, hey, there's a full interview online. Go and watch it. We'll try to give you— These are basically the highlights. But I'm not going to try and Frankenstein and make it seem like, oh, this is the interview, because it isn't.

Yeah, we had a 30-minute show. We probably had like two different guest things. And I did what you did. So we would go like 35, 40, 45 minutes and then try to cut it to 10. It was too hard to do over a short time. I think that if you're doing like a monthly show where you have, you know, almost like how the weekly morning shows are doing, you have more time to actually edit it and really figure it out.

But I still like the long form more. Now, I'm probably in the minority, but I like hanging out with the people and really trying to get a feel for what they're like. We've had some awesome podcasts in here where you spend an hour with somebody, you feel like you kind of... You get to know them? You have a feel for them. I don't know if you

get to know them, but you actually kind of feel maybe what they care about will make them tick, how they got to where they got. That's what I like in a podcast like when I'm in I mean that's one thing I miss about LA driving listening to a podcast

I feel like I'm hanging out with some people you know LA is much more fun than it used to be like in that respect the driving's better because there's more stuff

to listen to yes the Uber thing's a game changer right and that's happened since oh yeah I don't. I cannot Uber in LA.

Oh, we don't. Totally. The joy of driving. Well, if you're going out for a dinner, you want to have a drink or two. At that point, I'm Ubering. Yeah, I guess. I'd rather drive than drink. I love driving so much.

It's a hot take. It's true. I'd rather drive. So it doesn't sound like you're long for New York then. How good is alcohol? I'm like, man, drive. I'll drink when I get home. So you love the Fast and Furious movies.

You assume that I'm driving fast. No, man, I just, I don't know. There's something that, because I, you know, I come from a country where we drive everywhere. And what I loved about my car was that it was my cocoon. It's my little world where everything is the way I set it. You know, my radio, my volume, my everything. It's like, it's my little meditation chamber that gets me from my home to my office space.

Yeah. You know, whereas New York, you leave your home and you are just in like the craziest. There's a siren going past. There's school kids flying by you. There's, you know, there's like a homeless going past, there's school kids flying by you. There's, you know, there's like a homeless guy who's not homeless, but maybe he is. And he's like swatting at you and swearing at you. And then there's dogs and like, that's chaos.

And then you get into work. You forget about the pile drivers. There's always pile drivers. Dude, it's like, come on. People just drilling. It's just drilling. New York is never finished. It's just never, ever finished.

What are we building? Nothing, but it's going. I i was there a couple weeks ago and it just every time i'm anti-new york but part of it's because i'm from boston and i've just conditioned that's like that but um every time i'm there it's just complete chaos and some people love it and i don't like it as much i don't like just the the smell of garbage. You don't? Just this guy walking through. I can't walk down this street unless I walk under this little hastily made thing that might collapse on me. The scaffolding? Yeah, yeah.

That's how you know you're living, Bill. Apparently. I mean, there is a real energy to it. We went to a play. We went to Kill a Mockingbird one of the days we were there. And it's like, come out of that play and you're in Times Square and Broadway like there really is

nothing like that I'm not sure it's worth some of the other stuff I ride my bicycle in New York that's my piece what is it? I ride my bicycle in New York oh do you?

yeah that's my piece you put the little airpods on? no no I don't want to die yeah no you got to hear everything that's happening because I see the bicyclist

with the airpods on that seems like a suicide mission whenever I see that I'm just like why would you anything could be coming from any direction in New York yeah all the time right No, you got to hear everything that's happening. Because I see the bicyclist with the AirPods on. That seems like a suicide mission. Whenever I see that, I'm just like, why would you? Anything could be coming from any direction in New York. Yeah.

All the time. Right. No, so I'm on the bicycle and it just, yeah, it keeps me alive. It keeps me alert. So how does New York compare to UK? Oh, it's really different. I mean, London, first of all, it's London, New York. Because as soon as you get out of London, it's countryside. It's just's just like you know and then you get to like newcastle or manchester little cities but they're completely different but london is like a very i'll say it's a very

tame version of new york a lot cleaner a lot more historic you the buildings aren't as high so you don't feel as claustrophobic you know um it also doesn't stay open as late. So it gets quiet at a nice time. Other than like Soho, you'll have like a cool vibe in London where you just, you know, you can walk through the streets at like 10 PM and it's really quiet in certain places. And you just get to enjoy the feeling of the buildings and the history. Whereas New York, that's the biggest reason I have to leave every weekend. Sunday and Monday is the same thing in New York like if I blindfolded you spun you around for three weeks

and then dropped you in New York City and said what day of the week it is you wouldn't be able to tell me there's no there's no telling that was when they had the Super Bowl in New York probably 2014

it was so weird because you're in there and it's like yeah Super Bowl and it's like just another day in New York everything is another day you would have had no idea

the Super Bowl was there everything there are days I drive past Madison Square Garden and I didn't realize one of the biggest touring artists in the world is there. That's how you'll be walking into your own show at a venue. Like I've literally been doing shows where it's like there's 6,000 people waiting for me

and I'm rushing through a crowd and these people have no clue who I am or that I'm doing a show. They're just like, hey, you. And I'm like, oh, someone's going to ask for an autograph. Like, get out of the way, man. I'm rushing through a crowd and these people have no clue who I am or that I'm doing a show. They're just like, hey, you. And I'm like, oh, someone's going to ask for an autograph. Like, get out of the way, man. I'm missing my train. People are just running to do their own thing.

It's a city where everyone has something else going on, which I do like. I do like that part of it. Whereas in LA, like even your plumber has a script. I don't like that. I love London. I went for the Olympics for four weeks with my family right

and in 2012 and the weather came through which I think is a big you know it changes it right when London's nice and happy and sunny it's a different place

but you know it has obviously some Boston DNA in there because everybody from England built Boston so

the whole concept of people it is old England of course yes you know the three o'clock, just people at bars. Right.

Just having a good time. I was like, ah, this makes sense. That's your vibe? Yeah. That's kind of what Boston was like. But, uh. How often do you go back to Boston? I try to go back six to seven times a year.

Oh, okay. That's enough. Yeah. And. I love Boston. I try to go back at times. I try not to go back always when it's nice. It's important to go back when it's like horrible,

when it's like 10 degrees. Oh, I've only been there when it's nice. Because it'd be like, oh, this is why I'm okay with not living here. That's funny. But no, it's great. It's still the best visiting city because it's compact, you know. You can kind of hit all the places you want to hit. I always try to follow that like historic trail.

You know the thing where they draw, there's like arrows on the ground? Yeah, the freedom trail. Yeah, I just follow that. I didn't even know where it was leading me. I was just like, let's go. How often do you go back to South Africa? I'll do maybe four or five times a year.

Really? Yeah. How come? What do you mean? Why do you go back four or five times a year? Same reason you go back. What do you mean? I don't know how come. Why would you how come me for South Africa? Well, you go back four or five times a year? Same reason you go back. What do you mean? I didn't ask you how come.

Why would you how come me for South Africa? It's really far away, isn't it? You know what? Once a flight goes over five hours, it's all the same. I thought it was like 15 hours. Yeah, 16. 16 hours. It's all the same.

You don't find that? For me, there's only two types of flights. There's a short flight and there's a not short flight. Yeah. That's it. If a flight is two hours, two and a half, somewhere there, that's a short flight. Anything below that. Once it gets five, six, 10, 15, it's all the same to me.

You know why? Because you're sleeping. Yeah, because LA is like one of the worst flights. LA, New York, it's five or seven, depending on like the pilot that day. And then it's just long enough to be annoying but it's not long enough that you can fully sleep or like watch a movie properly and like it's just it's like a weird time whereas if I go for 16 hours I know I have like a full rotation I can stay on the plane I can watch movies I can eat I can read a book I can sleep for eight hours

wake up in the next place and I'm gone gone. Like, I like that feeling about it, you know? You agree with this case, Tommy? I completely agree. So you think after four hours, it doesn't matter if it's 16 or 17? After five, six, it's all the same. I'm done. That's fair. I want to go back to London pretty soon because now it's almost been seven years.

But from LA, it's like... You should go back before they Brexit. That's what you need to do. How much time do I have? That's the question everyone's asking. Do I have like four months left? Apparently, now it's like nine months. It's like the never-ending divorce. Hey, let's take a break.

It can be a little frustrating, especially if you're in a hurry or running late to find yourself at a railway crossing waiting for a train and if the signals are going and the train's not even there yet, you can feel a little frustrating, especially if you're in a hurry or running late to find yourself at a railway crossing waiting for a train and if the signals are going and the train's not even there yet, you can feel a little bit tempted to try and sneak across the tracks. Well, don't do that ever.

Trains are often going a lot faster than you expect them to be and they can't stop. Even if the engineer hits the brakes right away, it can take a train over a mile to stop. By that time,

what used to be your car is just a crushed hunk of metal. What used to be you, oof, I don't even want to think about that. By that time, what used to be your car is just a crushed hunk of metal. What used to be you, oof, I don't even want to think about that. The point is, you can't know how quickly the train will arrive. The train can't stop. Even if it sees you,

the result is disaster. So if the signals are on, the train is on its way. And you, you just need to remember one thing. Stop. Trains can't. That's a message from NHTSA. Back to Trevor Noah. So I want to talk about narratives with you because when you took over The Daily Show, certain narrative takes hold and that just becomes the narrative. And then you

have to break out of the narrative. And then all these months pass and then it's like, oh, you know, actually, and then that becomes the new narrative. It's a distinctly American thing. Did you notice that as it was happening? I was intrigued by how American news and media can create a story about you before you've had a chance to create a story for yourself. You know, I remember the whirlwind

of getting the Daily Show being announced as host of the Daily Show and then being vilified within the space of like 48 hours and I was like wait what just happened like I remember I was in Dubai and I walked down into the hotel lobby

and one of the bellhops turned to me and he's like hey you you're the guy and I was like I thought he was going to say the comedian he's like you're the to me and he's like, hey, you, you are the guy, you are the guy. And I was like, I thought he was going to say the comedian. He's like, you're the CNN guy. And I was like, what? And I look and I'm on CNN

and people are just like discussing my appointment. And I was like, my appointment to this position, like I'm taking office or something. And yeah, that was, I mean, it was a, you know, it was a baptism of fire to understand a lot of how American culture is designed. You know, people- Do you feel like it was like an out-of-body experience almost?

Like it was happening to somebody else? I'll tell you this. I'm glad that I was in a random place that wasn't even home for me. Yeah. You know, to be in Dubai is like, if you ever want to get bad news, be in Dubai. Okay. Because it's like the one place where nothing is real. Like, it's like, like yeah it all feels like a

dream right you know and they're so out of it like it's not like they're connected to what's happening here so you're just like it's very much a great place to be in the world when things are going bad for you when when did you feel like things were finally stable good lord probably around the conventions that was like what maybe eight months into hosting the show. Yeah. Because it was really hard. I remember like when I joined, everything, I mean, like people were like, who is, people would call me like this prep school jock.

And I was like, oh, wait, what? You know when you're Googling terms about yourself? I was like, what's a prep school? What's a jock? And I was like, dude, I was on the chess team in school i like i wish i was a jock and you're like going through all of this stuff and people have these ideas about you like i i genuinely was shocked at how people just had an idea of who i was and where i'd come from you know they were like oh this kid who probably had everything in his life and now he's getting the daily show he

didn't have to work hard and who is he i was like wait I had everything but you know and Jon Stewart I remember he was like he was genuinely the rock that kept me going because he said to me he said kid put your head down forget these people they're gonna try and create narratives about you you've just got to make a good show how much how much did you know him before you took the job and then how much did you get to know him well I'm lucky that I I got to work with John for months before he announced he was leaving. So John called me. You were a correspondent for like a year, right? Yeah, yeah.

On and off. It wasn't even that long, but I was just playing around with him for maybe it was six months, maybe even less. But he had known me for a while and we had kept in touch. And, you know, I think we have kindred spirits. We see the world in a similar way even though we come from completely different backgrounds I think we connect on many ideas and even though like the joke I always have with John is like it's like it's like

math we would have completely different formulas but we'd always come to the same number as our answer. And so what I enjoyed with him was we just engaged like that. And that's how I got on the show. And that's what we played with. Those are the jokes that we tell with each other. And so when he said he was leaving, that became another journey. I didn't expect the show. I didn't even, it's like, you know, I was like, in my head, I was coming to work with Jon Stewart. Then Jon Stewart said he's leaving. Then I was like, well, and now I'm carrying on my journey touring comedy in the world. And then my name got thrown into the hat. And I was like, well, let's see what happens.

Why do you think your name got thrown in the hat? I think because I did well on the show a few times I was on. You think they were trying to make a distinct decision to disguise you? No, Jon surprised everyone. No, Jon surprised everyone. But I think Jon as well. Like one thing he said to me he was really kind he said hey man from the first time I saw you I was like yeah this guy could do what I do when he's ready he can do what I do so he's really fucking smart I mean then not a newsflash

but one of the more interesting conversations I've ever had with anybody was with him like three years ago. And it was just really interesting to see how his brain worked. Yeah, it's phenomenal. And he probably, it's like producer smart guy John versus like performer John. Right, right, right. And it's almost like two different people. It is different people.

It's not almost, it's two different people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he just, like he could have cloned himself and become like the best showrunner in Hollywood or something. Easily. But he just like solves problems. Yeah, I think he is become like the best showrunner in Hollywood or something. Easily. But he just like solves problems. Yeah, I think he is one of the best showrunners. I think he like he show ran many shows within The Daily Show, which is why so many people were able to spin off and create great shows. True.

You know, I think it's the reason Oliver is so successful. I think Sam Bee. I think, you know, Colbert. I think myself. We were all showrun by Jon Stewart. I was thinking about like him like running law and order or csi hartford he would have it like 10 dramas he would do it but i mean he would be so bored after like one episode good lord did you did you ever fully understand why he left

he was just tired and angry i mean that's that's what happens. I get it. It seemed like he just completely had it with the way the cycle was, the election was coming, and he looked at it big picture and was like, I just don't want to do this again. You get tired. And look, I could never speak to every reason John left, but I think all he said, and he said this publicly, and he said it to me as well, was, look, I'm tired,

and the show deserves a host who is not and so you need to take this over and and he said that's interesting he said don't rush to be angry he said i'm angry and i'm tired yeah and he said don't rush to be angry someone people will want you to be as angry as i was but don't rush for that you'll get angry in time, trust me. For now, use the joy of your youth to reinvigorate the show. And that's what I try to do is I'm not angry about everything. I don't think the world is ending all the time. I haven't been completely infuriated by every single person. I also don't have the right to be. You know, sometimes that's what's great about being an outsider is that I go, hey, I'm not going to talk about this like it's been happening to me for 20 years. I'm going to give you my perspective as a human being. I pay taxes in America. I live

in America. And here's my opinion on what's happening. Why do you think somebody who's had a show for a long time, when the show ends, they grow a beard? What's your theory on this? I think it's just- Because it's 100% of the time. It's just freedom. I don't know how Sam B is going to do it, but I know it's going to happen. It's just freedom. Can I tell you? That's the first thing I do is,

you know why? The one thing you have to do when you're on TV is shave. That's like the one thing you always have to do is you just got to shave. You got to look presentable. You got to shave. And then just to let it just be like, bah!

Your face is a reminder of your freedom. It's a face rebellion. That's exactly what it is. You just go like, just let it go. What are you the proudest of, of these first couple of years of the show? What am I the proudest of? Is probably that

we've created a world where I think we've expanded like who watches the show and why they watch it. And it changes per platform. But I'm proud that we've been able to get back some of the old viewers who initially left with John, which made sense. And then we've also been able to get new viewers, people who say, I'll be honest. I wasn't into politics. I don't think I'm smart enough.

It's intimidating, et cetera. But now I'm in. Because I always think it should be as simple as any other conversation you have. I think politicians have gotten good at creating such a convoluted conversation around politics that it seems like it's not meant for the rest of us. Whereas if you can't understand what a politician is saying, it's probably because it's bullshit. It should be straight up and to the point. And so I'm proud that we've been able to do that because politics should be pop culture. I'm also proud that we've been able to get funny people on

who've gone on to become successful in their own right. Like Hasan Minhaj. I worked with Hasan from the very beginning. He's one of my close friends and a really, really great guy. I was rooting for him 100% to go out and be successful. Because that's what I see the Daily Show as. It's an incubator for talent to come in and then blow up and go out. You know, Roy Wood Jr. has got a pilot coming up as well. Jordan Klepper's got a new show that he's doing as well, more documentary style, more in his voice.

So I'm constantly excited about that. That's what makes me proud. And I'm proud to still be on the air. It's not easy. It's really, really not easy, especially the way we started. Yeah, I wouldn't know. I wouldn't know. It's not easy. Hassan needed a win because he's a Sacramento Kings fan. That's hilarious.

He just loses constantly. That's hilarious. And you know what's funny? This is the one win he's had. I feel like that's what's made him even harder, is that he's born from the fire. There's something to that though. I mean, I'm a lifelong Red Sox fan and we just got our guts ripped out for the first 35 years of my life.

It definitely shapes your perspective on things. Are you a sports fan or no? I love sports. Love sports. Who are your teams? Do you have a team? I don't support teams. I don't buy into that philosophy.

I can't. You really don't like being tied that philosophy I can't you really don't like being tied down I can't man I can't I don't like the idea that I'm gonna support a team and I love this team because of who they have on the team and then those people leave because of the team and then I have to stay there right what the hell just happened in your car you don't need a team so I came here because of Zinedine Zidane or because of Cristiano Ronaldo, because of LeBron James. And then like they leave and then I have to stay? It's like, imagine if you told me, yo, Beyonce's throwing a party. Come through. And I'm like, oh, hell yeah, I'm coming to Beyonce's party.

And then I get to the party and then Beyonce leaves. Now you want me to stay at the non-Beyonce party? I came to the party because of Beyonce. That's why I was having fun. Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't go to a party if Beyonce wasn't there, but if I come to the party based on the premise that Beyonce's at that party, I would like Beyonce to be present when I'm dancing. That's what I'm trying to say.

So I support players. I love players. By the way, this is, I think, the under 25 American generation of sports fans is players, not teams. Yeah, why should I? Unless you're in like, you know, you're in a place with hardcore.

No. Boston's more hardcore. For me, sports- There's certain cities like that. Sports is like religion. People just adopted. How did you become a fan? My father was a fan.

My father's father was a fan. Wait, what? So that's why I should support? It's the same as religion. I go like, why do you believe what you believe? Well, because my family, yeah, but why do you believe? I don't mind being a fan of a team. You know? So like, for instance, my rule has been this. I will support any team. The first team I go and watch live, I support. It's as simple as that. You know? So in English football, I support

Liverpool, right? First team I saw live, I love the ups. I love the downs. I love the fact that they're always on the edge of success. And then it's always heartbreak. When it comes to baseball, the Mets was the first team that I got to see live. So I support the Mets, right? I go like, hey man, these people lose or win. Yeah, it doesn't matter. I'm just like- Tough beat for you. I go with it. I go with it. Then basketball, I support the Knicks. That was the first team I went to see. And people always tell me that there was a time

when they won. I've never seen it. And so it doesn't matter to me. I'm just enjoying myself. The people throw the ball in the hoop most of the time. And that's all I need in my life. Soccer is your favorite though, right? I love soccer. I love it like, man. Who's your must watch person right now? Right now? Yeah.

Oh, that's tough. That's tough. In English football, Eden Hazard is my must-watch person. As a player. Like, just, he's truly something special to watch on the ball. I still think Neymar, just like, when he, like… I love Neymar. When he wants to, he'll decimate everybody, man.

Neymar would have been a great NBA star because he kind of come... He tantalizes you, which is like the most polarizing NBA players are always the ones whose ceiling is the highest. But they don't always do it. People love that in the NBA. He would have been great.

And he's good at flopping. So yeah, that's become a new thing in the NBA that's really strong. How about Mbappe? Mbappe is good, but he's like, he's good at flopping so yeah that's become a new thing in the NBA that's really strong how about Mbappe Mbappe is good but he's like he's very direct for me like it's it seems like it's all power it's a lot of skill a lot of speed you know he's phenomenal in his positioning and he's finishing but but for me Neymar there's some players that do things with a ball that don't seem possible. You know, like there are players in every sport that can do things where you go, that doesn't seem real.

It doesn't seem right. Like when you can make a player, you know, like for instance, like let's say like an Allen Iverson. When someone is making your body do involuntary movements with their hands, that's like magic to me. Kyrie Irving's like that in basketball.

Yes. He's exceptionally coordinated on both sides of his body. So he can do things with his left hand that just if you're right-handed, you shouldn't be able to do. Right. But he does it perfectly. And I'm always like, because he's on my team, I just, oh, I'm as frustrating as he is.

I just marvel at how coordinated he is. Yeah, it's, Messi's like that. Exactly. Every once in a while, there'd be some free kick that Messi had on

my Twitter feed. I'm like, what the fuck just happened? How did he make that? My favorite goal Messi ever scored was one where he was running. It was on the right side

of the field and he's, and he moves in and he cuts into the box and it's him one-on-one with the goalkeeper and he just faints his body like two or three times and the goalkeeper falls down. He never touches the ball. He just shimmers and shakes. Optical illusion. But that's exactly what it is. So to be on that level and I, oh man, I love soccer so much. I love basketball, but I always feel like I don't

understand what the other three quarters are for. I'll be honest with you. And maybe like someone can explain it to me. No, I love basketball, but I just go like, why do I not watch the final quarter? I don't understand. I feel like it's a, it's a trick. This is a big problem with the league for years. Oh really? Yeah. Cause it, I mean, there were a bunch of problems when people used to criticize it, but the big thing was like, y', there were a bunch of problems when people used to criticize it, but the big thing was like, all you have to do is watch the last six minutes.

Yeah, because I've seen games where it's like a team is up 20 and then it's always, it always comes back. Even in the, in the March Madness, I was watching the game

and then I was like, I was like, oh, these guys are gone. They're like, no, they're not gone. Well, it's because of the three-pointer. You can be down 20 with eight minutes left

and still come back. In the old days, you're down 20 and the game is over. Huh. So, the three-po has made it a little more random. I also feel like the three-pointer is just the everything. Like I've never seen this many threes in my entire life. Yeah, it's math is kind of won over.

Everyone did the math and it's like, oh, you can make slightly more points if you take more threes. And now people are taking like 45 threes. I guess the assumption used to be that it's harder to do a three, right? Yeah, because you made a lower percentage of them. But then last decade, somebody was like, well, actually, if you take 10 threes and you make three, that's nine points. But then, and they did all the math and it was like, it actually made more sense.

They get rebounded. It's easier to get an offensive rebound off a three. There's all these little ticks to it. Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, are you surprised? What are you, four years in America? Yes.

By how much attention the basketball players command versus the other sports here, even though football is more popular. But like LeBron, Giannis, all that stuff. Right. You don't see their faces in football. Yeah, you don't see their faces.

So I can understand that. Do you go to basketball games? Yeah, I love them. Oh, I think basketball is the best sport to watch live. I agree. Hands down.

You can see a bad basketball game and it'll still be really fun. I watch the Knicks, as I said. There you go. Like every week, I will go and I will watch the games and I can, can I tell you, cause I don't care how bad you think they are.

Those are impressive athletes. When you're watching them live, you will see how quickly you need to shut your couch mouth up. Everyone sits at home. Why didn't he do? Yo, go. You know what my favorite moment is, is when you're sitting at the game and the pass is missed, like the receiver misses it and it flies towards the crowd. And the crowd was watching the ball, but nobody seems to have quick enough hands to catch a ball that was meant for a person three feet away from the initial throw. Right.

And people on the sides, their popcorn is flying into their faces, they're drinking. And you're like, yeah, why didn't he catch that? Why didn't you catch that? That's what I love about basketball, is those moments where you realize how quick and powerful the game actually is. So for me, watching that live, it's like baseball. I used to think baseball was trash. I won't lie.

And I went to watch baseball live. And I was like, man, these people run far. That's how far he's throwing the ball on TV. I'm just like, man, come on. Everyone can do this. And then when you watch the game live, you truly appreciate the intensity of what's happening. And you also, the time also flows differently, you know, because when you're watching a game like baseball on camera, I don't know, it's like, because it's a moment, your eyes don't get to

consume the entire, you know, the entire field, the atmosphere. You don't get to watch the guy on the outfield. You don't get to watch like the, everyone doing everything, every twitch, every movement you don't get to experience. So yeah, there's a fun rhythm to baseball that's hard to explain unless you go to the games every once in a while. Yeah, so definitely old school.

Basketball, number one. And then soccer, I watch at home. I've been to finals galore. I don't like it. I watch soccer on TV. The lower youth soccer is pretty great. I don't know it I watch soccer on TV The lower youth soccer Is pretty great I don't know how much you go

Like kids To be right You get to be right Midfield Great seats They're right there Talk about being in the action Oh that's funny

Yeah my daughter's 13 I've seen some great games That is hilarious Right there Courtside That is funny It's pretty great Pretty intense

No I like soccer What about boxing MMA? Boxing I like on TV. Not in person? No, no. Have you been close in person? I haven't been close. Maybe that's the difference.

You have to do that. Really? Bend that one out, yeah. Okay. Yeah, you want to be close for one. Okay. Because then you realize like, oh my God, these guys are getting annihilated. This is crazy.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Like every punch really would be the most painful thing that's ever happened to you in your life. Yeah. And you're like, this is incredible. I remember I put my fist next to Anthony Joshua's. Yeah. And his hand was the same as, like,

basically both of my hands combined holding a small fruit. Like, I was like, how, like, human beings are being hit with this weekly. How does he do it? I don't know. Yeah. I don't know

how he hasn't like destroyed somebody's head. He's truly one of the most impressive athletes I've ever come across. Because like, he looks like heavyweights

looked in my mind as a child. The heavyweights are now too big. They actually need to be called something else. We need like super heavyweights and they need... Didn They actually need to be called something else. We need like super heavyweights.

Didn't they have that for a while? They did and they gave up on it. Remember when they had that and it was like all the fat dudes? Yeah. But now it's like these dudes are 6'8". Like they're gigantic. They're 6'7". Like needs to be at something.

Where do you stand on this whole Game of Thrones phenomenon? Well, I'm a season behind. Again, remember what I told you at the beginning don't don't do the cliffhanger thing to me i don't like how did against yeah so i was like i watched up to season six and then when they told me season seven was only going to be like seven episodes i was like no you won't do that to me are you surprised i'm not going to become a crack addict like all my friends i've seen these people oh man it's coming oh man it's coming oh oh this sunday it's coming man then you drop yo man you hear about this shit, man. Oh, I heard something's

going to happen to Breon, man. Oh man, you're going to get some of that, man. Oh man, I'm so excited. I don't need that in my life. Can you believe what a command it has over the culture? Like it's dominating our website right now. Everything we're doing is Game of Thrones. Yeah, it's like NBA playoffs, Game of Thrones six weeks. Yeah, I know. People love it. They can't get enough of it. I love it, but I don't like what it does to me.

So what I would like to do is I would like to watch it as a story and finish it and then move on with my life. In your car. Everything in my car.

Can you explain cricket to me in 50 seconds? Yeah. Think of baseball. Yeah. But instead of the four bases, you have two. And all you're doing is running back and forth between the bases. And that's how you score.

And then otherwise, it's the exact same game. So why hasn't it ever even come close to taking off here? Because you guys hate sports that are not American. Which sport has taken off here? I'm trying to think. I guess soccer has made big strides last 10 years. Big strides. It really has. But like, not like, yo, do you know how big soccer is in the world?

I'm aware. Like, soccer is a religion in the world. This is how you know soccer hasn't taken off in America. You have Champions League games at 3.30pm if you're in New York or at 12.30 midday if you're in LA. That is sacrilege. I'm in my... I'm

working while Lionel Messi is playing a game. That's ridiculous. There should be like some kind of lunch break that is like agreed upon or the game should be moved to a later... That's where you understand America's like it's not that big. It's not our choice. It's driven from European television schedules. No, but if it was big enough, they not our choice. It's driven from European television schedules.

No, but if it was big enough, they would move it. Everything gets moved when the viewership is big enough. Here's the thing. If soccer was actually big enough, and I think we'll get there at some point, they'll start spending real money on MLS. Those teams will actually try to compete with Premier League

and La Liga and all that and really try to go and get real guys in their prime that are big ticket guys. I think also another reason- We're not that far away from that. But another reason soccer hasn't become as big in the US is because I think American viewers have been taught and indoctrinated

that sport has to be, it's goal-driven. 100%. So you guys, it's actually funny when you look at it, like your politics is capitalist, but then your sports is very like socialist. Home runs, three pointers. Yeah. But like your sports is like, all right, you guys got a chance.

Now you guys get the ball. Now it's like, all right, now you guys get the ball. Now you guys get the ball. Oh, I see what you mean. Now you guys get the ball. Now you guys get the ball. Oh, they've had it for 24 seconds. They should get the ball now.

Soccer, they don't play that game. One team can have possession the entire game and they can dominate you. There's no you get the ball. Other than the goal, that's it. So I've done a 180 on soccer. And I was anti for a lot of the reasons you talk about. Did you think it was boring?

It's like, it was fucking zero, zero tie. What the hell happened? Why did anyone like that? Nobody tie. What the hell happened? Why did anyone like that? Nobody scored. What are you guys doing? Oh, man. Or they decided they gave him penalty kicks.

And I really started to get into it 0-7-0-8. And it just clicked in my head. What changed? I just understood it more. I saw the angles and the nuances. And some of the things that I really love about basketball, soccer has those same things and like the give and goes and the triangles. Right, right, right.

The fact that, as you said, like how important possession is and somebody can dominate a game and somehow still lose because one of their backs screwed up, all of a sudden they're down 1-0. Right. If they had the ball the whole time. But then when my daughter got into it, it went to another level. up, I'll send her down 1-0. Right. If I had the ball the whole time. But then when my daughter got into it, it went to another level. Oh, I can imagine.

And now I feel like I actually understand it. And now that I understand it, I get it. I just get it. It's an amazing game. I can watch whatever version of a really good game and I don't need goals necessarily. Like sometimes a missed goal is more exciting than a goal. Well, that's what I always say to people. You've got to think of soccer

like like a true romance you know it's a beautiful journey two people go out on a date one person's trying to score the other one person

the other person's trying to prolong how long how long it takes to score there's a lot of defense and offense going on there's a game going back and forth and there's moments where you think it's going to happen then it doesn't happen maybe it does happen then it

does happen and it's like that joy and it's like you know sometimes in life you don't score you know but you go like yeah but that was a great night I had a wonderful time there was a lot of tension that built up and you know we'll see what happens next time that's like there's like a joy that comes from that it's like American sports like it's gonna happen we're gonna make it happen yeah over time more over time over over no no guys why can't you just say these two things are equal yeah wouldn't that be great to just walk away from a gang being like hey we were equal you guys like no someone's gotta be better it's over time over time no that no it's we are equal for this one day the biggest problem here is just that we've been so incompetent with our teams. The women have been good, but the men have been so bad.

They don't play a good style. We haven't really had a signature guy. Pulisic is going to be the first kind of signature guy we've probably had. Pulisic is great. He's really, really high level. Of course, we missed the World Cup and what would have been his first one. But I think

in the last 10 years, the TVs have helped the fact that the widescreen and the HD. Right. The two hours and it's over, I think has really helped.

Yeah, no ads. The internet and people just kind of get it. I do feel like it is really coming on. All I think that you need to incorporate into your sports

is I've noticed because I play pickup games quite a lot in New York. And one thing I've realized is American soccer players don't believe in going backwards. And I don't know if that's a byproduct of like the sports that you play, like baseball and basketball and football, all your rules in American sports.

You mean playing the ball backwards? Yeah, your sports don't allow you to go backwards. So in baseball, once you hit the ball, you have to run. In cricket, you don't. You can just be like, no, that ball is not going the way I planned it. I'm going to stay here. Well, that was a hard... So my daughter plays high forward.

And we play the Barcelona style. And sometimes she has to play the ball backwards. Yes. And a big part of her position is am I possessing or am I actually going to try to attack or make the move

and it was so hard for me to grasp as a parrot for the same thing you said like what the fuck turn around

and fucking shoot you know and it took it took years to kind of be like oh I get it it's actually the right move to play backwards

because then we got to reset it and attack again but you guys have what you have like a what's it backcourt violation is that a thing in basketball like a, what's it? Backcourt violation? Is that a thing? In basketball.

So you would get rid of the backcourt violation. No, no, no. In basketball, that would be fun, actually. That would be interesting. Get rid of it. I don't know how to change the game. But yeah, like it's just, it like, you force action, which makes your sport very exciting.

Shot clock. Don't get me wrong. Yeah. Near shot. Soon. Yeah. Somebody shoot. Time's up.

Time's up. Time's up. Shoot the ball. Football. 40 seconds. Go. Let's go. Clock is counting. What's happening? Yeah, there is something Soon. Somebody shoot. Time's up. Time's up. Time's up. Shoot the ball. Football, 40 seconds. Go. Let's go. Clock is counting.

What's happening? Yeah, there is something to be said for Pacian. Well, they're trying to speed up baseball now, which I'm not necessarily against. Mostly because the games are just too long. Nobody wants to watch a baseball game for four and a half hours. Nobody wants to do anything for four and a half hours. Cricket is five days.

Five days? Yeah. Yeah, see, I don't know if that's a sport for me. I don't know if that one works. They break for tea in the middle of

the game. One more break to talk about all of the Game of Thrones coverage we have on TheRinger.com. We are having record-setting traffic

for us and also all kinds of fun on Twitter with our Twitter show, which had over three million viewers last Sunday for the first episode. It is on again right after Game of Thrones ends on HBO.

Go to Twitter, at Ringer. You can watch Mallory Rubin, Jace Concepcion, and Chris Ryan breaking down everything you just watched on Game of Thrones. It is called Talk the Thrones, hashtag Talk the Thrones. Also, Binge Mode,

the world's best Game of Thrones podcast. And by the way, everyone thinks that. It's not just me. I'm not just biased. It really is the world's best Game of Thrones podcast. And by the way, everyone thinks that. It's not just me. I'm not just biased. It really is the world's best Game of Thrones podcast. It is back this week. Check it out. Mallory and Jason breaking it down.

I showed her to think how long this podcast is going to be. It might be seven hours. They're going to break down every single thing that happened. Episode one is coming Wednesday night, Thursday morning, somewhere around there. Check it out. Binge Mode. Subscribe right now on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.

So who's the greatest South African athlete ever? Depends what discipline. Let me think. Oh, that's interesting. I mean, our greatest sprinter, I would say is Wade Van Niekak, probably. Our greatest cricket player who was it

some people would fight me on this legend Alan Donald how do you not have like a LeBron James of South Africa but like

the problem is that you're competing against the world right so that's the thing with America you have the luxury of calling yourselves

world champions for national sports right do you know what i mean yeah so we we literally base our players versus the world so like in soccer we we have guys that were really great but i mean we've seen players from the up from the world and we compete against them so you're like oh i mean this guy's not the best yeah he's good but he's not the best I have the most important question anyone's ever asked you can't wait to ask you this oh wow

Leo's accent and blood diamond break it down for me what went right what went wrong oh man was it worse than I thought it was

what's your reaction 13 years later you know what you know what for that time, maybe it wasn't that bad. Here's what Leo did. I think he,

he combined Australian with South African, with like Afrikaans, with like, so like, like the accent went to all the bloody blood diamond. These bloody, y'all are gonna, let me tell you something about who I am.

Like it goes like it goes it goes too many places like it you know what I mean it bounces up in so it's a little too much Australian in there yeah just a little

I feel like it cost him the Oscar wasn't quite good enough it's possible because he was great in Blood Diamond he was phenomenal couldn't quite master the accent South African accent

is very hard Morgan Freeman I thought he was just Morgan Freeman did he do Mandela? he did in Invictus I thought he was just Morgan Freeman did he do Mandela? he did in Invictus I thought he was just speaking like himself

he kind of he kind of tried a little bit sometimes people give up I thought that was just like old voice sometimes they give up halfway through the movie

we're like ah fuck it I couldn't do it that kills me all the time ah fuck it hey remember when I had the accent before it's gone down I've seen some people like in a scene and they'll just like skip out on the accent they'll just be like I'm like, ah, fuck it. I couldn't do it. That kills me all the time. Ah, fuck it. Hey, remember when I had the accent before it's gone down? Yeah, I've seen some people like in a scene

and they'll just like skip out on the accent. They'll just be like, I'm done. Koster did that in Robin Hood. He just gave up. Yeah. He was English for the first 30 minutes. He's like, I'm done.

Come on, guys. They get it. I can't do this. They get it. Has anyone ever nailed the South African accent for you? Matt Damon. Matt Damon, hands down,

destroyed that accent like I've never seen it destroyed before. Man, he crushed it. crushed it that boy was phenomenal have you talked to him about this no I've never met him he was phenomenal he's never been on

The Daily Show no no he has actually he was oh jeez I never talked to him about that you should have brought this up I didn't bring that up

he would have been so fired up yeah no truly one of the no like maybe okay it's him and it is who is it is, who is it? Is it Andy Serkis?

Oh, the Planet of the Apes guy? Yeah, but in Black Panther. Oh. He has the most, I thought he was South African for the first half of that movie. Then I was like, wait a minute, who is this guy? When he was there talking about the bloody, the vibranium. Yeah, you think you know who they are, but they're not who you think they are, eh?

Yeah, let me tell you about Wakanda. You ever been to Wakanda? And he had like this authentic, I was like, wow. Matt Damon was like, whew, because it was subtle. He was flawless. I get very particular about the Boston accents. This is a big passion thing for me. Yeah, it's a hard accent

it's people bat 50-50 with it in movies I've it can go really really horribly wrong who's your best that you've seen

who's not from Boston oh not from Boston uh Jeremy Renner in The Town was really good I was impressed by him yeah because on paper

that could have gone badly right um because like Damon Affleck those are the OGs Wahlberg can do it Damon's the best ever Damon in Good Will Hunting

that's the best Boston accent of all time he's really good man because he really Matt Damon is like I think one of the most underrated actors out there I agree

I have him over Leo which is controversial I would I would agree with you because I feel like he can do all of Leo's parts yeah but Leo has you know where Leo gets like he can do all of Leo's parts. Yeah, but Leo has the, you know, when Leo gets like the charisma, the magic,

the like the, you know, but Matt Damon is like a, he's like the potato of actors. You could put him in anything and you could just spice him up differently. And it's like, wow, what a dish. He did The Martian and that's when people should have,

that's when he should have gotten the proper amount of credit. Because The Martian is he's just by himself for like 45 minutes. It's his I Am Legend. Yeah. Well, the best version, Hank's in Castaway. Yes.

It's just Hank's on an island for an hour. Will Smith in I Am Legend, unfortunately, that wasn't the greatest movie. But he was phenomenal in that movie. He was getting it.

He was great. He did a nice run, Will Smith. Have you had him on? If you can carry on, yeah, yeah. He's been on the show. Who have you not had on that you want to have on? Who have we not on? We just had Oprah, so that like sort of rounded it out for me.

What was that like? It was, interviewing Oprah is honestly the most stressful thing I've ever done. I can imagine. Because she is the queen of that. I mean, come on. She knows every trick you have. Anyone who, you know, it's like going one-on-one with Michael Jordan. Like, okay, what are you going to do?

Because you were probably watching them to learn your moves. So Oprah, everything. She'd call it out. Nice segue. Oh, not a bad little move. Like she just. Oh, she was actually calling out your moves. In the interview, she's like calling out the plays.

Like while they were happening. The hardest person I've ever interviewed was Obama. Because he's just, he can filibuster. Yeah. He's killing the clock, basically. He's running the possession game. What he does is, you know, well, it's interesting you ask that. He'll hold you.

Well, I think what you want to do, though, is go back to the initial part. He does that thing where he, you know, I hear what you're saying. Let me ask you to the the initial part he does that thing where he you know I hear what you're saying let me ask you this yeah and he takes you back and you got to go back

a little earlier and then you're like wow that was one question in 20 minutes here's my second question of 20 he kills the clock yeah

but I learned it takes 48 minutes and turns into a 20 minute game but I learned why he did that though control no he's Obama had to be so careful of everything he said. Here's an example.

When he did the interview with Letterman on his Netflix show, Obama said, he was starting a sentence where he said, in this world, we now only live in bubbles, right? We only consume what we consume. And he said, people on fox news live in their own in another dimension and then the crowd cheered yeah and then he went on to say and people on npr live in another dimension that didn't go anywhere the clip that was cut was obama says peep fox news viewers live in another dimension yeah fox news played that played that. People went with it online.

That was the clip. And so I understood that this guy lives in a world where anything he says can and will be used against him. And so he's like processing clickbait headlines as he's speaking to you. You get what I'm saying? I feel like that happened. So you're asking the most basic question. Yeah, he's putting it through his Obama computer. Okay he's going, okay, how could this be clickbait?

How could this be clickbait? How could this be? And he's like processing as he's giving you the answer that he has to give you the context first. He has to give you this side and that side and this side and that side. I feel like that happened to Jon Stewart a little bit. Because once he got into that whole clickbait universe,

it's hard not to think about that. Oh, that's interesting. Something is going to be yanked around and used against you. Like you said, it's hard not to think about that. Oh, that's interesting. That something is going to be yanked around and used against you. Like you said, it's like a weapon. I remember once I met a guy at an event. It was just like a conversation like we're having now. And afterwards, I was chatting to some of the people in the audience. And this guy came up to me and he said, hey, I just let you know that i i hated your guts uh until i saw

you speak and you're not a bad guy and i don't agree with you on a lot of the the politics that you speak about but as a human being you're not a bad guy i was like thank you but where did you hate me from then i was like do you watch my show and he's like no i just see a few things on facebook that come up sometimes and you know it just didn't make me like you. And I understood where he's, man, if you go online and search the things about yourself, people, sometimes there's like headlines that don't even match what you said. Literally, there'll just be a headline with a video link that no one clicks on that doesn't even match what you said. And the people will comment. Someone will say online, they'll be like, Trevor mocks the victims of this tragedy. And then you go into the link

and it has nothing to do with that. And the people commenting are like, of course, that's why I hate him. And that's what we all like, that's what media has become now. It's just like, you can put up anything. Trump said this, people don't even check if he said it or not. You know how weird I feel sometimes when I have to correct people and be like, actually, Trump didn't say that. He didn't. Yeah. Because I sometimes think it's weird to go after a guy for things he didn't do when he's got all the things he did do. Like people make stuff up about Trump.

Trump said this. I'm like, he didn't actually say that, man. Like, come on. You know, and then it'll happen. People throw, Ocasio-Cortez, no, she didn't say that. Man, it's crazy to me. She's definitely right in the vortex of that now. Yeah, but I've stepped out.

Because people are getting traffic from her. Yeah. She's become the new, this is who we're going after. It happened to me on a smaller degree when I got suspended from ESPN the next six, seven months. Right. And it was like, anytime I said anything on a podcast or people could get headlines from it. And that was like, you know, the 1% version of what's happening

to somebody like her. Right. I like looking at Apple News on my iPhone. I like seeing what four stories they picked. And I'm amazed by how much she's in there. Like she's a fucking congresswoman. Yeah. She's way, way, way down on the totem pole

of people who are affecting our country every day, but she's traffic. Right. But that's the thing in America. It's not what's the news. It's who makes the news. Yeah. You know, it's not what you need. It's not what you need to know.

It's what's the reality show of the news that you know. Right. So it literally has become that. One other thing that was hard about interviewing Obama, you can't interrupt him, especially when he's the president. No. So if he's on a four minute, you know, whatever,

off the reservation, you can't like jump in and steer him elsewhere because he's the president. He's also good at doing the judo, the judo thing to stop you from, I tried to interrupting. Oh yeah,

and he does, puts the hand up. So I'd do like the, I'd go like, but, and then he like lifts up his hand with the little thumb sticking out thing, little fist with the thumb. Yeah. And then be like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, like, but, and then he lifts up his hand with the little thumb sticking out thing, little fist with the thumb.

Yeah, and then be like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Bill. Bill, before you interrupt me. Now, here's my thing. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Oh, no, no, hold on, hold on. Oh, we'll get to that. We'll get to that. But here's the thing.

Obamacare. And then you're like, oh, man. And it's like back another four minutes. We're gone. You can't get out. We're gone. I remember doing the math in my head. Like I could just see,

it's like an hourglass that's turned. You're like, oh no, 23 minutes, 22 minutes. Oh my God, he's got three minutes left. You know who's the complete opposite of that? Bernie Sanders. In what way? What a pleasure to interview. That guy does not waste time.

It's like there's a shot clock on his answers. Oh, he's old. He's got to get it all out. He literally is like, I don't have time for anything. All right. What do we do? No. What's your plan?

Healthcare. Everybody. Done. Do you think you're going to do this? No. Next question. The thing we got to understand is the people of this country move on. No.

That's a waste of time. No. He's just like, what, what, what, what, what, what? It's like, I got to understand this. The people of this country, move on. No. That's a waste of time. No. He's just like, what, what, what, what, what, what? It's like, I've got to go. You've had Mayor P, right? No, he's coming on soon. Oh, it got booked? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I want to interview him at some

point. Let me ask you this question. He seems like... Off of that. Yeah. What do you think of the whole debate people have around politics and sports? You know when people would be like, don't involve politics in sports. Sports is the one place where we go to get away from politics. What do you think? What do you make of that?

I was a big believer in it for most of my career. I think we hit a point a couple years ago where it bled into each other too much and there was no way to avoid it. I see what ESPN was doing though. I had the former head ESPN here two weeks ago, John Skipper talking about it, where at some point people just want to go to ESPN and watch games and see how that's. And they don't want politics. So I get that.

There's a safe space element to it. Even when we talk politics on this pod, I usually put it at the end. I try not to do it that much. I think it's just so raw for everybody right now. It's really, unless you're in it every day, I think it's really hard to just be like, okay, now are my thoughts.

That's why I haven't even asked you about Trump yet. I was saving it for the tail end. People could just get out. But it's just too raw now. I don't have to talk about him. No, seriously. I'm sure you've been asked every day. So what's it like with Trump every day? I'm sure you've been asked every... So what's it like? What's it like with Trump every day?

I'm sure you've gotten every version of that question. Every version of that question. And I try not to repeat the generic questions. Right. But at the same time, he bleeds into so many things. Well, he gets involved in everything, so it's different.

He did. He got involved with Tiger Woods today. Yeah, he gets involved in everything. He announced that he's giving Tiger Woods the presidential medal of freedom. And then you have all these people like, fuck this!

Stay out of this! This is our moment! We don't want you in this! And everybody gets mad. He gets exactly what he wants, you know? I don't know. I mean, I'm sure

you're always trying to figure out the balance of how much you want to put in the show versus what people expect. Well, what I do is this. I go, look, he is the president of the United States.

So I will afford him the attention that he deserves because of his position. I'm not going to ignore him when he's the president of the United States. He says things that move the world. When he announces there's going to be tariffs on Europe for $11 billion, that will affect your life as a human being in this country. Right. So I'm not just going to be like, oh, it's just Trump. I'm going to ignore it.

It's like, no, guys, you have to ignore the Trump part of it and be like, the president has done a thing. Yes. Right? But beyond that, I don't like, I don't get angry about like small, like some people will be like, he can't spell the word council. I'm like, yes, I'm over that. It doesn't affect your life.

There's a difference between being offended and affected. And so for me, what I try and focus on is the things that will affect you, I try and inform you about on the show. Things that you may be offended by, I make jokes about. I'm like, hey, man, everyone's offense is going to be a different thing. If he says something that offends you, but it doesn't affect you, I'm like, yeah, I'm going to make jokes. I can't live in a state of constant rage. I don't think it's healthy. I agree with you. I think the apology culture that's kind of blossomed over the last four years where people getting mad and demanding either an apology or that other people admit that this was bad. Right. And sometimes it just feels like a hamster wheel.

You know what the problem I have with apology culture online is? Is that people don't really want the apology they don't want atonement they want you to apologize to them to make them feel important they want to be the person that got the apology from you yeah i've had that online where like let's say i said something or it was a joke or an idea and like it's funny michael chave from snl we always talk about this where we'll be like, it's funny how in the news, they'll report about something a comedian said, and they'll be like, comedian said this. And it's like, no, comedian joked this. We are joking. You know what I mean? It's funny how like, people won't believe any of the stories we tell on stage,

but then they'll believe the points of view that we have on stage for some strange reason. You go like, yeah, sometimes you're telling a joke to try and get to a place to make another point. If you clip it out of context, it doesn't work. You know? And so like, that's a space. But apologies, I feel like a lot of the time, people just want you to apologize to them. At Bill Simmons 123, Trevor, why did you say this?

Then I go, oh, actually, I apologize for that. Well, I don't remember the apology. Yeah, but it's already happened. But can I have one? Can I get one? And then a year later, someone else tweets. It's like a free latte. Yeah, at Bill Simmons 135.

I didn't see the apology. This happened seven years ago. Where's the apology? It already happened. But I didn't. It's like everyone wants their thing. They want their moment. It's like it's a mob.

Everyone wants to get their punch in in the mob to say that, yeah, I was part of his, you know, I was part of that justice. We did it. It's just people walking around with the torches. But people care less about atonement though. I don't care about apologies. I care about what you're going to do. I get mad when people get mad about stuff like art, like Game of Thrones. Yeah.

Like why they do that. I don't like the way the female characters, I'm like, this is a TV show. They're making all this shit up. They don't have a moral responsibility with the show. This is set, I don't even know what world we're in. It's a fantasy world with dragons. That's funny.

And the first episode was a brother and sister having sex and then pushing an 11-year-old boy off the wall. Why are we litigating this? This is a ridiculous show. That's funny. I think they've done a good job, though, with if you look at women in Game of Thrones, I mean, maybe someone will fight me on this, but man, they...

They have awesome female characters in Game of Thrones. And also varying degrees of... Because it's not like the women are just stereotyped or typecast into a certain role you have different degrees of power

different styles of power you have from Circe to Khaleesi it's like you know what I mean that's what I've grown up believing is that like

woman can be evil woman can be good it's not like woman is one thing what about the big story this week about dragon shaming wait are you being serious

you can't be serious. No, I'm making that up. I think you would have believed that though. Yo, you got to believe everything these days. Drogon got dragon shamed in the last episode. I'll believe anything. There's the people, they don't realize what's happening with dragons. I'll believe anything.

You really did believe that for a second. Can I tell you the things that I've seen that people get behind these days online is like like i get that you want to live in a society where everybody understands everything about everybody else yeah but i also think that there has to be a certain level of tolerance that goes both ways you have to understand that everybody doesn't get everything about you. Right. And so sometimes we like, it, it gets so, it gets so intense that people are just like, like, I'll see someone post a picture with their puppy online when they put a hat on their dog and people would be like, take that. A dog is not a toy. How dare you? That animal should be taken away from you and killed. Like, like, wait, what are we doing?

What are we doing? My dog's having a good time. Now, I don't have a dog personally. I never did this. This is just like a hypothetical thing before people start tweeting me about a dog that's fictitious. Trevor, no, it's going to be Trevor Noah hates dogs. Trevor Noah puts hats on dogs and gets them killed.

Trevor Noah rips dogs on Bill Simmons' podcast. Simmons agrees. Yeah, I always have fun on Twitter with these emotional rescue dogs. Yes. These people that, you know,

you can do it right now. You can get some doctor to write some note that you need to travel with your dog. It's really a way of getting out. It's really a way of getting out and putting your dog up.

Emotional support dogs. Emotional support animals. Yes. um yeah people have abused that system oh you think yeah they've abused that system riding on a plane next to somebody with a golden retriever in their lap it's like this is my emotional you know what the worst thing for me is like i've seen people where i'm like yo you emotionally supporting your animal that animal's afraid of everybody yeah guess what a dog doesn't want to do? Flat cross country. Oh, man. That's why people just like abuse the system. Oh, it's unbelievable. And people can write their notes.

Do you see the woman in New York with the emotional support peacock? Yeah. I mean, people are lunatics. And then I love how people were like, but that's just ridiculous. I'm like, why? Why is it any more ridiculous? Your animal's your animal. I mean, I don't know which animal emotionally supports you.

I have three dogs so I feel like I can I can make fun of this stuff I feel like when I see some guy who clearly just didn't want to board his dog for two weeks right

taking his dog on a flight to Boston that's like a German shepherd it's like what emotional support are you getting from this? but what sucks is that there are people who really need emotional support. Yeah. I fully support that.

So now it's going to be Simmons slams emotional rescue. It's like, no, I'm not. I get the emotional rescue dogs. That's funny. Emotional support. I don't know. Anything else? We hit everything.

No, man. We're in the game. I'm so glad how low we kept the Trump part of the conversation. That's how it should be. It was like three minutes. We're here to talk about sports. Two and a half minutes? All right.

Who's your favorite athlete you've interviewed? Who's my favorite athlete I've interviewed? LeBron James. How come? He's so hit or miss in interviews. He was amazing for me, man. He like, you know, what I like about LeBron is like, he's always doing it wrong for somebody.

And so I appreciate how much of a statesman he has to be while he's being a sportsman. People take that for granted. A lot of sportsmen can just put their heads down and dunk or score the touchdown or score the goals and carry on with their lives. But he has to be a statesman for the game. How he sits on the side of the court affects what stories they're going to tell about him. How he hangs his head after a loss is going to determine the narrative for the next week. And a lot of that, like carrying the game as a statesman comes with a certain responsibility and a strain that I don't

think a lot of people understand. And so what I liked about him is that like he sat down with me and he spoke about everything. He spoke about what it was like growing up in a home where he didn't have everything, growing up in a community where he didn't have everything. But then like, but like sharing stories of like how he engages with kids and how he's trying to make their world a better place and talking about the sports itself. Like I told him the story of how I used to wear these LeBron t-shirts when I traveled because I used to be on the road every weekend and I didn't have a home. When I first came to the US and I wore, so I used to find clothes that didn't wrinkle easily, you know, because I was packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking every city you go to. And I bought a bunch of these Nike dry fits that were LeBron shirts and they had like a giant lion on the front. It was his logo. And it didn't have Nike anywhere on it, it just had a lion. I was like, I love lions. I'm from Africa. And so I got the lion, went everywhere. And I went to

Cleveland just after he had left. And I did not follow basketball that way. I did not know how big of a deal it was. And I walked through the streets and people were cussing me out. They were like, you fucking asshole, get the fuck out of here. And I was just like, this is the most racist city I've ever visited. And my people don't even, I was like, this is insane. I got on stage, people booed me. And then finally someone said to me, yo, you've got a lot of balls wearing that shirt in Cleveland right now. And I was like, what do you mean? And they're like, LeBron just left and the town is decimated.

Oh my God. And I was like, oh shit shit no one told me this and then i come back years after he's won like after he won the championship and i came back and i was wearing a similar shirt and all of a sudden people like great shirt man yeah and so we're talking about that and so we just talked about like his journey and like you know what it's like to go from being a villain to a hero, hero, villain back to hero. Like it's, so I, like I just, he was great, man. Great sense of humor, wonderful guy. He's like, can I tell you, man, for LeBron James to be performing at the level that he's performing at and still have the mental just wherewithal to function as a human being without drunken rants in the streets,

you know, without going crazy in the world. He is truly an icon for me. That's like, that's like, he's easily one of my favorite people I've interviewed. One of my favorite people that I know as a human being. I'm not even, not even a close friend of his, just like, just to know him. Hey, LeBron, how you doing? Phenomenal. You just made me like him again. I was down on him the last couple of weeks. Now I'm rallying back. Nah, man. He's like, he's special.

He really is special. We never talked about your podcast. So what's your podcast? It's funny. It's funny enough. It's going to be in and around what we're doing. You know what I spoke to you about now. Long form interviews.

On second thought. Not even long form interviews,, long-form conversations. Yeah. Just breaking down how we think about what is happening in the world around us. So when something, when a story breaks, there's the initial wave and then it dies down and then we move on. But I want to take a moment to go, hey, let's talk about that story now that our emotions are not involved. Yeah. You know, they always say like the worst time to go grocery shopping is when you're hungry. And I think a lot they always say like the worst time to go grocery shopping is when you're hungry. And I think a lot of the time, the worst time to discuss the news is when it's just happened because everyone's emotional about it.

So the podcast that I'm creating is literally on second thought. Take a step back. Let's go back to that moment. Talk about it and figure out what the underlying issues really are. Yeah. One guest, maybe a friend of mine who's a comedian, you know, just keep it light, have fun. There's no wrong, there's no right.

It's just like, this is how we think. And the guest most of the time is going to be someone who has some expertise in the field, you know, so we're not just rambling about stuff that we don't know. Someone who can be like, actually this and this and this, actually that and that and that. And, you know, just give us a bit of insight into the world that we're discussing.

And that premieres next week. That's going to premiere next week, yeah. Luminary. On Luminary. We have a couple of Luminary things coming as well. That's exciting. Yeah, yeah. I'm interested to see how it goes.

But now you've inspired me, man. I didn't think a podcast could be this chilled. Oh, that's good. This is dope. I've never been to a podcast like this. See, now I feel threatened by you because I'm super competitive. Now it's like yet another person I have to compete with. Oh, no, but I'm not trying to do it in the same world.

Listen, I'm so glad the dragon shaming thing happened. I was like my interview highlight of the year so far. How sad is the internet that you actually genuinely believe that for a half second and you should have? I get questions like that all the time. I'll be on a red carpet and someone will ask me something like that. They'll be like, Trevor, what do you think

about the da-da-da? And I'll be like, the what? And then I have to go research and I'll be like, is this a thing? And then you find it is a thing. You're like,

how is this a thing, people? Nice to meet you and hang out with you finally. This was fun. Good luck with the podcast. Good luck with the show. I've been a fan of yours for a while,

so thank you very much, Bill. Thank you. All right, thanks to DAZN. Don't forget to sign up for DAZN. You can with the podcast. Good luck with the show. I've been a fan of yours for a while. So thank you very much, Bill. Thank you. All right. Thanks to DAZN. Don't forget to sign up for DAZN. You can watch the Whip Around show right now if you love baseball. Change up.

Check that out. Thanks to SimpliSafe. Before you guys start giving me crap, saying I like SimpliSafe because they're from Boston. That's not true. I like SimpliSafe because it's easy to use protection with no contracts and fair prices. It's engineered to keep working during power outages or down Wi-Fi.

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