The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Alex Wagner Interviews Trevor

Episode Date: June 19, 2022

Alex Wagner sits down with Trevor to discuss the value of leading honest conversations during difficult times, how the Daily Show “cinematic universe” finds success in its News Team, and the power optimism has in comedy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Welcome Home, I guess. This is the studio that you first were in with live human beings. And now you're back, you spent some time, hold away in your apartment. But recently you guys moved the show back to a live studio audience. It's been fun, it's been different. It's interesting that you say welcome home because for me, the home is less the place and the people. Our floor manager says that all the time is we says,

welcome home. And what I loved about the idea was moving with the home people as opposed to the space. So what's been fun about coming home isn't necessarily where we physically are, but who we physically are with, so the audience has been back, staff is slowly coming back, so, you know, it does, it feels like, but it feels like new home. It's like post-pandemic home. Yeah, you guys are one of the first shows to get back on the air after the pandemic. And you sort of rebooted the format in a completely different way. Talk to me a little bit about how th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, thoom, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, theeeeean. And, thean. And, to thean. toean. toean. toean. thooooooooooooooo. little bit about how you came up with that concept. What do they say?

Necessities the mother-of-born invention. It was just a situation of realizing that the 21 days that they told us about was going to be a little bit longer. And we were at home. How do you create a show? What is that show? How do you stay sane? I think that's really what it was about, you know, and I've really been You know blessed to have people say thank you for getting us through the pandemic Thank you for being with us through but really I was the other way around I go thank you for getting me through the pandemic I had things to do I didn't have to try and bake bread I didn't have to it. It was just try to get to get through it and it was just trying to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It was just. It was just. It was just. It was just. It was just to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get th. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It was just th. It was just th. It was just th. It was just th. It was th. It was thr. It was th. It was just thr-I. It was just thr-I. It was just th. It was just th. It was just with everybody, because I was in New York.

I didn't get to leave. I didn't want to leave. I didn't even know you could leave, should leave. I was just here. You were allowed to leave your apartment if you wanted, but you apparently didn't want to. Yeah, people were like, we're in Miami, we're in this place. I'm in New York. And so I thi th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th. I th. I thin, I th. I thin, I th. I thin, I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to. I to to. to. to. to. to. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. to. the. to. to. to. to to to to to we get to talk about a situation

that we are intrinsically part of. You know, it's the same thing for news I guess, you know, sometimes you're talking about a story but you're not in the story. And yet here we were all of us going through the same thing, the same fear, the same not knowing of what's going to happen. And so that was a thoe. And that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was a that was a that was a that was a that was a that was a that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey. that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a journey. that was a. that was a journey. And then we had an interim period where we knew we couldn't go back to an audience yet, but we were allowed to be out of an apartment and what is that journey and what is that show? And so I've just looked at it as learnings. You know, you go to one place, you learn something new, you go to the next place, you learn something new.

What is the thing that same thing that everybody else was going, but the show actually became, you were closer to the audience in a lot of ways, right? I mean, we felt viscerally with you in that room. And I wonder how that informed when you came back to the big studio audience. Like, what did you want to do differently? thi, thii. differently apart from like snack a lot. I think no that was my goal was to not put on what they call them the pandemic pounds everyone was doing it and I promised myself I don't want to come out and then be sad and it was a whole

thing. So what was the biggest change for me I think it was probably being in an environment where I didn't have an audience to interact with and so I had to to imagine them I had to think about who I would would w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w. the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. they. they. they. they they they they th. th. the. the. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they they they they they so I had to imagine them. I had to think about who I would wish the audience to be. You know, it wasn't me responding to the audience but me thinking about the idea of an audience and then even getting the word audience out of my head and thinking more about just the people I like. to the people I lough with. the the the people I like. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their their. their their their their their. their to laugh. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their. I was was was was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. their their their. their. their. their. their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the all of these pieces came together and so I found myself in a place where I started thinking about these people who I was speaking to, you know, and I think what what that did for me, which was really great, was it helped me remember that the thing we do here is, you know, in many ways the beginning of the conversation that I have with

the audience at home. You know, that is where the viewer is. And so when I first started on the show, it was an interesting dilemma for me because I've done stand-up, you know, and then I've done TV shows, but there was this world where it's a live audience and who are you really performing to and what is that, and I think that created an evolution, the evolution, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, is where, is where, their, their, is where, their, is their, their, is where, their, their, thr, thr, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, the, thrown, the, thrown, their, their, their, is where, is where what is that and and I think that created an evolution for me so when I came back here the biggest thing I wanted to make sure of is that I didn't forget the people who are still at home because those are the people who got me through the pandemic and the people who come here are those people is just they come to see the show live and so it really became an amalgam of thi.. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th is is. It is. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's th is thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. thi. thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi's thi's thi's thi thi thi thi thi the biggest the biggest thi thi the biggest thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th of this as the in-studio audience and that's the home audience. I go, you're all the audience, some of you just come in person. It feels like you think greatly about your responsibilities as a host, as a television figure,

but I also wonder how you conceive of your responsibilities as a public figure with a background that you have, right? I think a lot of people have come to know you, not just through the Daily Show, but through Born a Crime, your memoir, and the fact that you have firsthand experience with issues concerning race and racism, gun violence in a way that not only few people in late night do, but few people in American journalism understand those issues in the sort of visceral, personal way that you do. And I guess I wonder, as you think about your role, how do you balance the desire and the need to entertain audiences with the kind of responsibility of being true to those issues and those experiences and the people affected by those issues. I mean, that's a very delicate line to balance.

The first thing that helped me was when I came to the realization that I wasn't trying to entertain the audience. I think that was the biggest shift. I realize that I am not on the daily show because I want to entertain the people who are watching it. I want to try and create a space where we come to engage in ideas. You know like you and I will have conversations about everything you, it can be something trivial, it can be something serious, we'll laugh, we'll get serious, we'll go into it, we'll argue, whatever it may be. I think that's the best space to be in with other human beings. I love that, you

know, and so what I realized was, oh, I'm actually not t, then I don't give my truest feeling. I don't delve into a topic the way I really think it should be delved into. I find myself thinking about performing and entertaining as opposed to communicating as honestly as possible. I laugh, you know? I use laughter to pocte to point out absurdity. I use comedy to process information in the world. So for me, I then realize that that's that that that that that's that's that's that's th is th is th is th is thi the the the the the the the the the the the their their to to to to to to to to to to to to process to process to process to process to process to process to process to process to process to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to what I'm trying to do with the audience. I would like to get to know the audience, and I would like them to get to know me.

And in that we start to build context. And I think every conversation needs context. Without context, no joke makes sense. You know, no issue can be tackled because it's far too complicated. But with context, you start to develop to develop to develop to develop to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be, you start to develop a familiarity. You develop a trust. And so what I realized was, I'm just being Trevor. I'm trying to be as much Trevor as possible. And I want the audience to understand that this is Trevor.

And as I get to know the audience, and as they get to know me, we start to develop more of which change what we can talk about, how we can talk about it, and what we can put on the show. And so I'm not thinking about, oh, this is a story involving domestic abuse, how do I entertain the audience? This is a story involving gun violence. How do I don't think about that.

I think how do I communicate most honestly with them? And part of that honesty that honesty that honesty that honesty is that honesty is that honesty is that honesty is that honesty is that that part of that honesty is that I use comedy to process a multitude of emotions that may not necessarily be ha, funny. Yeah, I think that's the human experience too, right? Humor is a way of processing the events around us. Sometimes funerals can be funny, right? My grandmother's funeral is one of the funniest experiences I've ever watched in my life. I want to extend my condolence as she sounded like like like like like like like fantastic, thank you, yeah. And I know that she plays a big role and kind

of, you know, who Trevor Noah is. How did her passing affect you? I mean, what do you think you will carry with you from her? I think it's exactly that. It's, it's perspective. You know, we, when we went down to South Africa? I think it's exactly that, it's perspective. You know, when we went down to South Africa and we were there for the Global Citizen Festival, and we never planned a thing around my grandmother, well you know I planned to take the show to my childhood home and let them see a bit of the neighborhood that I lived in for many years. And we never planned. I never assume anything of my family. I don't, you know, go, Grand, you're going to be on TV and no. She just, you know, wanted to talk to the people and I, and my friend who was with us,

who was directing, said, hey, you, you want to have such a candid conversation with somebody who I've only known love from my entire life, but who I never got into any of those specific conversations with because I had never come with the attitude of the daily show. And here I was talking to my grand not just about food or about life or about me being a child but about politics. And here was this woman saying to me, yeah, I know the country is struggling now, but you can't tell me it's worse. She's like, were you in apartheid? You know, did you experience this?

If you didn't, you can't say it's worse. And she gave me perspective, and I think that was something she always did for myself, for my family is she put things into into into into into lived for nine decades, the perspective that you have on progress, on, you know, on, I guess, you know, progressive ideas, on just improving your life as a person, whatever it may be. The perspective you have is a really interesting one, and I think she taught me to not allow the frustration of the moment to overwhelm the idea of progress over time.

And I'm eternally grateful because she has left an indelible impression on the daily show. She's part of my daily show that you can't separate it from that. And so, yeah, it was, you know, grief is an interesting emotion because, you know, everyone said you sad. I was like, it's not sad, it's more, it's multifaceted. And so, and again, that's from my grand, is that we knew we were saying goodbye over the last two years, you know, because she's old, she's 95, but you still never ready for that moment. And I think that's who she was and that's what she left me. Always laughing, always remembering, always appreciating,

and just trying to remember where you were, where you are, and where you're trying to be. Well, and maybe a little bit hopeful. I mean, beyond a little bit, yeah. One of the things that I think is so notable about this, and all that it does and all that it does in thia isthere's a philanthropic side to this, right? There's not just the commentary itself, but it's the desire and the efforts to make real change, whether that's, you know, donating proceeds from merchandise sales to certain organizations,

be it the Equal Justice Initiative or A26 National, the, you know, the companies that you partner with to make the merchandise, lifting up marginalized voices, you know, black women-owned businesses, or even issuing a call to your audience to say, hey, we're going to maybe be short on poll workers in the 2020 election, you should volunteer. Where does that desire come from? Because I think a lot of people think comics and late night show hosts are cynics, right? That they're there to be this kind of satirical take on what's happening in society,

but embedded in that philanthropic work seems to be a real optimism that changes possible. I think comics are cynics on the surface and eternal optimists at heart, because just by the very mere fact that they get out there and say things and then think that people might might thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi-tha thi-tha thi-thae thae tha tha tha tha tha tha tha tha thi-aicicicicicicicicicic thi-a thi-a thi-a thii thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. ta. ta. ta'''eateateateateateateateat. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. fact that they get out there and say things and then think that people might laugh tells you about a certain optimism that we have to possess as human beings. Just a naked hope. I mean if we were truly cynics we wouldn't even try. You know, we'd be like, this is never going to work. We wouldn't even do it. But fundamentally we do it. I think, you know, it's maybe it's a defense mechanism. It's, you know, not allowing ourselves to be too hopeful because the world has hurt us so many times. And so with the show, it was really, again, us experiencing what was happening in the world.

It was, it was us seeing how many people needed help. The pandemic was, I were, somebody was feeling something in and around your world and everything collapsed in and on top of itself. You had, you know, non-profit organizations, you had, you know, NGOs, you know, non-governmental organizations, they just stopped getting help. Nobody could get help. And then people who never needed help, now needed help, and you had food banks, and you had all of this happening. And one thing I've thi thi thi tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the thi thi thi thi the thi thi thi thi thi, you had thin thin tho tho tho tho thi, you had their tho tho tho tho tho, you had tho, you had their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. tho, you had tho, you had thi, you had thi, you had thi, you had the, you had the, you had the, you had to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thoo. thoo. tho America that I've always really found admirable, is, you know, America is one of the most charitable countries in the world.

People love giving, but oftentimes people don't know how to give or where to give to, you know, and what we realize was we could just be the conduit. We could just take time out of our show to say, here's an issue. You may, you may be, you may be, for, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, our show to say, here's an issue. You may be, you know, for, against, you may, whatever it may be, but here's how you can connect to these people. You know, and it started with disasters, you know, before the pandemic where, you know, chef Jose Andres would be telling us how he's feeding people, whether it would be in Puerto Rico or whether he'd be traveling to Haiti, and we'd be traveling they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, their, they, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. their, their, th. thee, thee, thee, thee, th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Here, th. Here, th. Here, thi, here, to, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here is to to to toeeea. Here, here is to to toeea. Here, here is the. Here, here is the difference. And on my set, I don't feel like we're sacrificing, we're giving up, we're literally just using a bit of our airtime

to help the audience touch base with the issue and it makes a difference. And so we decided why not do that? You know, why not find... Thousands of people showed up to volunteer to be poll workers. It's amazing. It it really really is amazing. And so it's, that's, that's been, that's been, that's been, that's been, that's been, that's been, that's been, that's been, that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's, that's, that's, th. thi, thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. We's thi. We's thi. We's thi. We's thi. We's thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. We're, thi. thi. We're, thi. We're, thi. We're, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. We're, thi. thei. be poll workers. It's amazing. It really, really is amazing. And so that's been great to see as a byproduct of what we do, because you can't fix everything all the time. But if you can help in the little way that you can, then why not? I mean, I think you are doing this sort of philanthropic angle is expressed most specifically in those donations and the sort of calls to action, but there's also the kind of be the change you want to see in the world aspect to your actual production staff.

Like that you have late night television journalism in general, the media in general in America tends to be fairly monochromatic and male. And what you have done being one of the few late night hosts of color is change your, you change your team to be more reflective of the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the change the the change the change the the change the change of of of of of of of the change the change of of of of of of of of of to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the change the ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch cha the cha........ the cha. the the the the the the the the the the the.ea. thea.ea. thea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea. thea. toea. toea. toea. their the thenight hosts of color, is change your, you've changed your team to be more reflective of the America that we are all in. Tell me a little bit about, you know, when you started this show, what you wanted to do in terms of hiring people of color, women, having a more diverse room when you sat down

to craft the daily show. Well, to be honest with you, I wanted to continue to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the the the the the the the the the, the the, the, the the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, theyymeaughe naugh, theyyyyyyfoome na, mea, you're, mea, you're, you're, you're, you're, mea, you're, mea, you're, theymea, theymea, theymeto craft the Daily Show. Well, to be honest with you, I wanted to continue something that I was asked to be a part of, you know. I will never take for granted the fact that John Stewart started changing the Daily Show, you know, before he left. I mean, I was asked to join his show. Right. You know, so was Hassan Minhaj. You know, you had all these people who had been brought in, they were asked to join that show. And I loved that world. I loved who we were and where we had come from and how we'd communicate. And it seemed like a natural journey to carry on, you know, and one thing. And one thing I enjoyed is I've had a team that understands that you can continue growing, it's adding. You know, it's not a zero-sum game. People make it seem like, oh, you've got to kick all of these people

and then you're going to get these people in. But it's not that we've grown over the years as opposed to the show shrinking down and cutting people off. You know, we've found ways to include more people. You know, I don't often think of it thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thrown thrown thrown thrown thrown thrown thrown tho thrown thrown the tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho their tho tho tho their their tho tho tho the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their.. the. the. the, the. theeean. toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, more through the lens of knowing or not knowing. Right. You know, in this industry, just like in many other industries, oftentimes referrals are how people get a job. When you understand that that's the process, you realize how important it is to look outside of the general referrals because we normally refer who we know,

we normally know who we've been allowed to know. And then America tells you a story that helps you understand how we got to this point. So I've been really, really lucky that my team, you know, now for instance my showrunner, Jen Flans, like she's been one of the people who always, I'll say to her, hey, watch out for my blind spots. I'm not a woman. So just let me know if I'm missing anything. We don't have to make it heavy. that's holding us back, no, let's speak up, let's move, let's talk. If we have members on staff who are part of the LGBTQ community, they can say something, hey, I don't know if you noticed this, I don't know if you saw that, hey, this is something,

yeah, great, let's do it because it's not supposed to be as heavy as everybody makes it. You're trying to be a team. And I think what what what what what what what what the the the talk to your teammates. You say, watch out for that, look out for that gap, watch out for that space. And that's what we've continually tried to do. We've tried to be in a space where we give everybody an opportunity to get to the show. We understand that not everybody had the opportunity to be seenthat gap the other way around and find people who just bring value to the show. You know, now you have people from, you know, Uganda, South Africa, you have Nigerians, you have English people, you have Americans from the West Coast, the East Coast, from the South, from the North. Where are the Burmese? The Burmese? You're here now, you see? They ask me about about Burmese and their Burmese and they's, they they they they, they, and they, they, they, and they, they, they, they, and they, they, they, they, they, they, you're they, you're they, you're they, you're they, you're they're they're they're they're they're they're th, you their, you have, you have, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you you you you you, you you, you their, you their, you their, you their, you their, you their, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you, you, you, you, you, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you know, you th, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you have th. You know, th. You know, thi. You know, thi. You know, you know, you have thi. You know, you have their, you know, you know, you have, you th. You know, you make it happen. And yeah, it's like, it's one of those things that only adds just to the flavor of what you're trying to create.

Yeah, well, I mean, it's hard to imagine the downside of having a staff that is better reflective of the country, but also knows more collectively, right? Like, your blind spots are less, they're fewer of them, if you have more eyeballs looking in different directions. Funny enough, the downside is that it's harder. The downside is that it's harder. You mean to find the staff?

No, not to find the stuff. If you're looking for people, you'll find them. Oh, you mean because they're different voices. Yes. There is nothing easier than were in a boardroom and it's like we're a white man, you don't have to worry about what you say because everyone gets it. You know what I mean, Tim? It's the boys club, right? It is harder. You bring in the first woman. Right? It is harder. You bring in the first woman and then they go, what can we say, what can we say? What can we say? And thrown. And th, for the woman, for, for, the woman, the woman, the woman, the woman, the, th. thin, thin, thin, the, thin, thin, thin, thin, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. tho. tho. to. to. to. toooooo. tha. tha. too. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. th. things that are worth doing are going to be harder. But if you look at it only through the lens of how hard or how easy it is, you don't think of it through the greater lens, which is what can you improve, how can you grow,

what can you change, how many perspectives can you add to a show. So if you're now telling a story about Nigerians protesting against their police, oh wow, having a Nigerian on staff really helps. Having somebody who's connected to that part of the continent really helps. You know, when you're telling a story about whatever it may be, it just helps, it improves, you know, the complexity with which you can tell a story. And so it is harder, and that's the downside, but I thinkthe upside of it is is what you can come away with. I mean you speaking of hard you guys have taken it upon yourselves to really screw it up for the rest of us who just want to do one

thing at a time. Like I know people who just want to write or just do television but here at the Daily Show everybody does one trillion things. There are podcasts, there are the correspondent segments and spin-offs. There's like just a host of different pieces of content. You guys are flooding the zone. Social. There's like just there's the viral clips. I mean you are blanketing media, both online, digital, you know, broadcast, cable, whatever it is. And making it really hard for the rest of us. That's not really, it's not a complaint.

But I guess I wonder how you think of, the landscape we're in in terms of content generation. You guys are a factory, and at the same time, you're also doing a daily TV show. Yes. I don't understand how the time space continuum and are the rest of it are the rest of us expected to do the same thanks to you Trevor Noah? I you know what I think it is a combination of a few things one it's people who are passionate about what they're doing. Yeah. I find oftentimes that helps people manage a workload in a different way because they're not trying to chase a task. They're try to express their creativity. You know, so our digital team who are responsible for everything that you see on Twitter,

Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, there's so many different ones, you know, you know, all the platforms. Yes. They love it. They're on the platform. Like, I remember when Tick-tick-ti the their their their their their their their their their their? All the platforms. Yes. They love it. They're on the platform, you know. Like I remember when TikTok first started and they came to me and like, oh there's a new thing, TikTok when I was like, oh boy, I literally sounded like a 50 old man. I was like, TikTok, what is that? Why? And now look at it. They were passionate. They were passionate. And so it was easy for them to get into that space. th.... But you're making it just sound like people kind of like, oh, I want to grow tomato plants.

Go for it. You're establishing a certain culture inside the building. That is making people feel free enough to be creative and then execute on those creative ideas. You want to have fun. Here's the thing. I mean, maybe you're experiencing this in the pandemic, I know I did. I realize during the pandemic, you want to be in a world where you're enjoying yourself. Everyone talks about life, work balance, but I live here as well.

This is, my life doesn't stop when I come here. This is not an episode of severance, you know, I work here and I have to enjoy that. So I want to be with that are fun. I don't want to feel like it's a laborious exercise that I'm, you know, counting down the hours until I get to leave the place. No, I understand this is what I'm doing for my, you know, my living. But I'm also living. Yeah. And so the people that we've managed to get,

we're so lucky. It was just, in every team in every department is people who understand what we're trying to do, why we're trying to do it, and then we just try to think of new ways to keep on doing it. So we understand that not everyone watches the show on linear television. I know some people who watch the show on, they devia the whole week, and then they binge me. I didn't know thing I haven't considered. So you have some people binging, you know, you have some people who only watch the clips. You have some people who are the biggest fans of us

and they go, I love your show on Facebook. I'm like, oh, well, I'll take it. And instead of fighting that, we've learned to embrace it. We've learned to go, find the people where to them as opposed to trying to force people to do a thing that they're not doing. I think platforms are always going to change. Content is the one thing that will remain ubiquitous. And so as we keep on growing that footprint, we get the opportunity to grow your staff, and that's where all these other opportunities come in, to grow your staff, diversify your staff, look at new ways to present yourselves. And I I I I I I I I I, I, I, I, I, I, and I, and I thap, and I th and I th and I th and I that, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, and I thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the is the is the is the is the is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is thi is thi is thi is thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the is the is the the the the an thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, the the the the becomes a win-win in the end. Well, but you also have these correspondence who have gone out and built effectively franchises. Jordan Klepper is one that comes to mind because he's, you know, some of his work has met with great success and lots of my eyeballs, right?

And here you have Jordan, I mean, there are no late night shows that have that same organizational structure, right? You have correspondence out in the field, you have their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th.., th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, is, is, is one, is one, is one, is one, is one, is one, is one, is one, is, is one, is one, is, is, is, is their, is, is, is, is, is their, is their, is their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, they....... their, their, their, their, their, their, is their, is the field bringing the viewers to Trump rallies, which they almost certainly would rather not attend. And that, I mean, that's breaking the mold. It's giving a lot of independence to people who are part of your world. And it's been successful, but there's also an inherent risk in that, right? And I guess I just wonder, how did you think about doing that when you, you know, when you when you guys began sort of conceiving that idea? Well, the riskiest part of anyone going to a Trump rally is, you know, Trump pointing at them and saying there's the media, the fake news media, you've been to some of those rallies. That moment gets a little hairy sometimes.

Other than that, Jordan has told me stories of moments where they're at a rally and sometimes th, hey, you're the guy who talks to us, let's talk. Sometimes they go, you're the guy who talks to us, you need to leave. But luckily, you know, he's managed to play it safe, he's managed to talk to people, he's managed to give us a certain level of insight funny enough, into what people are saying. which I've always found fascinating because in America so many people live in one world, the bubbles as they call it, and then they're shocked when things happen. I can't believe this happened. How did these people vote like this? I think that was everyone in the year 2016, Trevor. But I'm like, but these people were there. Nobody was talking to them,

nobody was bringing into your world. I'm not saying you can change them, I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I'm not saying you can convince them, but at least you can be aware of them to understand what you're dealing with. You know, and so once you understand that you're occupying the same space as people that you may or may not agree with, you realize that that space is occupied. You are your people. You're in it. And what the correspondence have done, you know, Jordan's a great example is, he's taken us into a world that many people were unfamiliar with and have now become a lot more aware of as an idea and as a concept and as an energy. And so all the correspondence have done that in different ways and what I've enjoyed is seeing each correspondent find their own thing. What is the way they want to tell it?

What do they want to tell it? And what it then does for the show is it means it's no longer just this, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, the the the the the the the the the way, the way, the way, the way, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, the way, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to to to to, to, to to, to, to, to, thi.ei.e.I.I.I. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, ththey want to tell it? What makes it funny? What makes it them? And what it then does for the show is, it means it's no longer just this, you know, monolithic blob of trevanness. It's me, and it's all the people I find funny. You know, I laugh it half the things Rory's saying, I love it half the to do is build this, you know, almost cinematic universe of the Daily Show where you don't just see it through one lens because it shouldn't be seen through one lens. Some monolithic blob of Trevarness.

You do a thing on your show that nobody else does, which is you have new authors on your program, you have people whose voices are almost never given the platform of something like the Daily Show. You have activists, you have names that are not household names, you of course also have big names as well. But talk to me a little bit about why you chose to do that and sort of what that means for the show. Because of the conversations.

Yeah. You know, I love having an actor on the show. I love having a the th the th the, th the, th, th, the, th, the the, th, th, the the th, th, the th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi..eeauuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....... And, the the thi, thi, the th conversations, you know, I love having an actor on the show. I love having a performer on the show, a musician, whoever, I love all of that. However, I also think it's great to have an author on the show, someone who's shaping people's minds, telling stories, they may have written a fiction novel that's changing how young people see themselves in the world. What informs them? How do they do it? I remember? I I the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. I the. I tho, I thoo, I tea. I tea. I tea. I tea. I tea. I tea. I thooo. I thooo. I see themselves in the world. What informs them? How do they do it? I remember the first time we had an artist on, you know, like a painter.

When I asked him to come on, he was like, but why? I said, because art shapes how we see the world. You know, till this day, people are shaping, you know how we see the world through art. I want to talk to you. I want to understand how you decide what to shape, or how you shape it. You know, you want to talk to activists themselves, not just to give people a platform, but also to challenge people. I like challenging people.

I like discussing ideas. I love it when ideas clash while people still respect each other. I enjoy that. And so I want to talk to somebody and understand their points of view, be able to disagree with them, come away with a deeper understanding of what they believe in, and have the audience, you know, be in the position where they get to choose what they want to believe or how they see the topic now either from a different perspective, or just from a slightly more informed perspective. And so that's why I try and have as many different people in the show who just come from different. It's not just about entertainment, because the world is not just about entertainment.

You know, there are many things that are informing entertainment, ironically. So I want to talk to those people. I want to see what their lives are about. I want to see why we we're doing what we are doing what we are doing talking to the people who are actually doing it. I have two more questions for you, and then we'll be giving you an Emmy. The first is, you guys are on every night, pretty much, and there's a sort of responsibility

to cover the big news stories of the day, but you also cover things that other people aren't necessarily covering, or you cover those big stories in a way that nobody predicted. A totally unique Trevor Angle. How do you guys decide on what you're going to cover each night? What's that process like? The journey has evolved over time. When I first started the Daily Show, I thought of it as I'm trying to do the Daily Show. Over time I came to realize, no, this place is a vehicle and so my job is to steer that vehicle in a certain direction and the way I do that is by having informed conversations with the people I'm lucky enough to work with. And what those conversations illuminate is what's oftentimes happening in the

world. So I've come to learn that there's an interesting thing that's happened in America where people created this and I don't know if it was the politicians purposefully, I don't know if it was the news, they created this this illusion that like politics is for the part, rather beltway, do you know what's happening? the filibuster, do you know what's up? the Senate chairman, do you understand the committee? If if, the, the, the, th is, th is, the, th is, th is, the, th is, th is, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, thi, their, thi, the, thi, the, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the thi, the politics, the politics, the politics, the politics, the politics, the politics, the politics, the politics, I I I I I I I I is, I is, I is, I I I is, I is, I I I thi, I thi, I I thi, I I thi, I thi, I thi, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I'm thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi's, thi's, thi's, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, chairman do you understand the committee or you don't know the committee if you don't know the committee you can't participate yeah and then the people's topics are you know tabloid and what oh what's happening with Kanye and Kim oh yeah oh yeah that's a tabloid topic and I realize a lot of the time it isn't that first of all politics is literally of the people the people are discussing, it affects you.

And if you don't understand what the people are saying, that's because they're doing that on purpose. What I'm always trying to do is have the conversation in a way that we all can understand. I'm not afraid to say that. I didn't get that. Can you say it to me again? Can you explain that the people are talking about. You know, some topics may seem on the surface frivolous,

but they toucest on an issue that maybe everyone is going through. You know, they they toubts to try and they toub. the tools to have. And what I've allowed myself and the Daily Show to do is be a space where we engage in the real conversations we're having. You know, I think it is important to be in a place and to be a place where we can say, you're not just one thing. You have opinions on politics, you have opinions on news, you have opinions on geopolitics, on the economy, on whatever it may be.

You don't think you do, but you do, you know. Do you own a home or do you rent a home? Well, then you have an opinion on the economy, whether you think you do or not. You know, do you have an opinion on laws that are being written, the to, thia, thired, thired, thired, thired, thired, thired, thired, thrown, tho, thrown, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the, the the the the tho, tho, tho, the. to, too. toooooooo. toee. toooooooooooo. You, thooo. You, tho, tho, in Congress, you do, whether you think you do or don't. And so what I've tried to do as much as possible is put the show in a position where we have the conversations in the most accessible way because they're affecting people indiscriminately, you know, just because you don't understand an issue where you don't care about, it doesn't mean it won't affect you.

And so what the daily show with Trevor Noah is trying to do is not shy away from stories that may on the surface seem frivolous when in fact those could be the entryways to some of the best conversations that you can have. In many ways, I think it's what like a lot of lawyers or consultants slash whoever they are, they do for the Supreme Court. They take something really small and that goes on to define what the country is talking about. It's one person who won't bake a cake. What does that have to do with anything? Well, it's a larger conversation about who should bake a cake or shouldn't bake a cake

or who should they be allowed to not bake a cake for. You see? But it's, I mean, it's just a cake. And yet, all of these cake issues are the issues that are defining how America is shaped as a whole. I do think a lot of the Daily Show audience thinks of this as their own Supreme Court. You have hosted the White House Correspondence Dinner. You have hosted the Grammys twice.

You have been interviewed at 60 Minutes. You've been doing the show for a little while now, but this sort of feels like a moment when your voice is resonating as wanted in a way that it hasn't ever, I mean it's, it's, you've reached a different stage in your career it feels like. I think the Chinese zodiac this year is not the year of the pig but the year of Trevor Noah winning and me. But I mean I guess I wonder, um, why do you think the media in particular, and I would say American culture, writ more largely, is responding to you so, it's so keen to hear from you in this moment as opposed

to others? Wow. This is a difficult question to answer because I would first have to accept your premise. Well, it's not, I mean, they keep asking you to do these big deal big ticket things and it's not just because no one else would do them right I mean I happily would have hosted the Grammy's place nobody asked. Nobody asked me to host a White House correspondent center and so far 60 Minutes has not booked my interview. Okay anyway so the point is you know what you're in demand why? I

hope it's because people know that I work hard. I hope it's because people appreciate what I bring to any project that I step into. I think it's also a culmination you know. It's interesting that you said you've been at this show for a while now and as I walk through the you said you've been at this show for a while now. And as I walked through the hallways, we've hung up pictures from our time at the show. And I realize when walking through the hallways, it's like, it's not a show, it's been many shows. You know, for about two years, I hosted the daily show with Trevor Noah of John Stewart, you know? And I only realize that in

hindsight, you know, and then you look at the next years and it's like, okay, this is the daily show with Trevor Noah about Trump, you know, because that's what it really was, processing this madman who Americans had never seen and yet for an African I found so familiar, you know, and then the next era became doing the daily show, but from home, what even is the daily, th................ I, th. th. I, th. th. th. the th. the the the the th. th. the the th. the th. the th. th. th. th. th. the the the th. the thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thea. thealalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala. tea.a. thea. thean. th. And became doing the daily show, but from home, what even is the daily show now? Now it is truly just you, you've jumped out of bed and you showered, you got ready, you're in your hoodie. It's a very intimate space to be in with an audience now. Then you, in the post-ish pandemic phase,

and what is that thing? That's another show. And now, feel like we are, we are beginning a journey of a completely new show once again. And so this show is a culmination of all the other shows that have followed it. This show is a culmination of every experience I've had. It's everything we've done. You know, whether it's us going on the road to places like Florida or, you know, going out to Cleveland for conventions or you know or creating parts of the show that travel in unique and interesting ways you know creating a Donald J. Trump Twitter library that that takes people into

the mind of of the tweets you know it's it's been a wonderful way to you know to explore what we do why we do it and how we do it and so yeah what's what, what's invigorating is the fact that it feels like it's a new one yet again. And I think many people are feeling this in life. You know, people have switched jobs. People have switched cities that they live in. People have switched just who they wish to be. And so for myself, you know, this feels like this this feels like th th th th th feels like th feels like th feels like th feels like thi th feels like that. It feels like we left something behind and we're moving towards something else and we're taking the parts that we feel we need to keep. This feels like, it feels like the best version yet.

It feels like, certainly the one that wins an Emmy. I would hope so. Do you hear us? From your lips to the voters' ears. I think for anybody who has watched you from the the the the the the the to the voters ears? I think for anybody who has watched you from the beginning of this journey, right, when you were Trevor Who, to now when you're hosting these huge big ticket events, you're becoming, dare I say it, the voice of a certain generation. It's a big deal and it's exhilarating to watch someone do it with the

grace and the consideration and the intelligence that you have. So I'm not one to offer accolades. I genuinely like shy away from them but really congratulations my friend I'm really happy for you and I hope this year is your best one yeah. Thank you so much thank you that's would be a fun journey Trevor who to triv who won the triv who the guy guy you did it. One can't one can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One can. One it. One can hope. Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.