The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Amanda Gorman on Making History with "The Hill We Climb"

Episode Date: February 1, 2021

"The Hill We Climb" author Amanda Gorman reflects on becoming the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, preparing to perform at the Super Bowl and the transformative power of poetry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Amanda Gorman, welcome to the

daily social distancing show. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited. I'm the one who should be excited because I mean, 2021 kicked off with a bang. It's been a whirlwind for everybody but I th, to to to to to to to to th, to th, to th, th, th, to th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, listen, th, listen, thi, listen, listen, listen, listen, to to thi, to thi, thi thi, listen, thi, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen thi thi thi thi 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 th, th, th, th, thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi's thiiiii, thi, thi, their their their their the one who should be excited because I mean 2021 kicked off with a bang. It's been a whirlwind for everybody but I think for you more than most people it has been extra whirlwindy which is a word I trademark you can use one day if you'd like to in one of your poems. You you you went from not just being notable because you read a poem the youngest ever inaugural poet but also because of what the poem meant to people because of the inspiration behind it because of how people felt after they heard what you did. What has it been like for you just just in this little period

since the inauguration what has your world been like? My world has been crazy I mean it's been turned upside down. I mean when I was writing the poem I knew it was a historic moment. I knew it was an important moment, which is why I wanted to do just service, but it wasn't really paying attention to the ways in which my own personal life might change. So I went, I did my Niagara poem, I walked off and just kind of expected everything to be the same and then I remember trying to open my Instagram just to, you know, look at other people's posts and all of my apps have just crashed

because of all the followers that were just, you know, flocking to my channel. So it's been amazing and I'm still kind of absorbing and all like a sponge. The poem, The Hill We Climb, wasn't just momentous because of the day it was performed on. I think what made it special was that you incorporated up until that day the things that so many people were feeling about America. If you don't mind, walk me through why you felt it was important to write a poem for that

moment and then even still be writing the poem on the actual day that you were delivering it. Right, exactly. Well, for me, I mean, I was writing it and Itrying to find a way to encapsulate what had gone on over the past four years and even looking more expansively than that. And then, you know, we had to be insurrection at the Capitol. So for me, it was trying to say, we've had this reminder of the ways in which democracy is both fragile and also enduring and how necessary it is to defend it.

And I think a lot of times in cultures we think of the ways in which we can cleanse ourselves with water. I think of the ways that we can cleanse ourselves with words, meaning that this poem was an opportunity to kind of resanctify, repurify and reclaim not just the capital building but American democracy and what it stands for. A pretty high ask of myself, but you know, that's what I do the the the th the th th th th th th th thi the 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, th. th, th. th. th. th. thi, th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pretty high ask of myself, but you know, that's what I do when I showed up and I rolled up my sleeves and that was the aim of the poem, to use words to try to go back to the quintessence of what America can be. I think you achieved that. I think you achieved that a thousand times not, but this is how I saw it. I went on a day when Joe Biden's inaugurated, Kamala Harris is stepping into the role as VP,

Lady Gaga is performing, Jennifer Lopez is performing, you were the thing that people were looking, you were the trending thing. I mean, it was like you competing with like Bernie Sanders's means was basically it. That must be, do you take a moment to go like, man, this is surreal. That is so surreal, especially because my friends, they're so funny and you know, they come for blood.

So they were texting me like, well, Joe Biden did a good job opening up for Amanda Gorman. You know who won that inauguration. It's th, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, I I, I, I, I, I, you, I, th, I, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. 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. toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. thi, know, it's not a competition, you know, it's not a fight of who wins the inauguration. They're like, but you did. And so I think for me, it was so daunting to be on a stage, you know, there's Michelle Obama to my right and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and what happened. So the figures that have been, you know, mythologized for me and to find myself not only being in that space, but owning th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And the. And that the. that the. the. that the. the. the. I, that that that that that the. I, that that that that that that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that. I I I I I I I I I I I I, that. I I I, that. I, that. I I, that. I I, that. I, that. I, that that that that that that the. I the. I the. I the. I was the. I was the. I'm to to to to toe. I'm toe. I'm the. I'm the. I'm the. I'm the. I'm the. I'm the, but owning it and claiming it was I think the highlight of my career. I believe that you are slated to perform at the Super Bowl, that is correct? Yes. I didn't understand. You understand the juxtaposition of this right now, right? Poetry at the Super Bowl, you

understand the levels you've made it to where they were like, this person is so good that we have to bring her to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do poetry her to do poetry her to do poetry to do poetry to do poetry to do poetry to do poetry to do poetry to do poetry 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 the the the the the th.oe?oe.oean. the. thean.oean. thean.oean. that's.oean. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's thean. thean, this person is so good that we have to bring her to do poetry at the Super Bowl. Right. Literally, that went over my head. Because I knew about the Super Bowl and the inauguration around the same time. And it was like there was not space in my head for both. Like I kept it being like, I gotta write that inauguration poem. And my team was like, there's this little thing called the Super Bowl which you should also keep in mind.

And so, you know, it's very rare and I would say, you know, if not, you know, an extant possibility that a poet will be at something like the Super Bowl. It's just nothing I have really heard about before. And so, right for moments I strive for in my lifetime, which is to bring to bring to bring to bring to bring to bring to bring to to to to to to to the to to the to to to to to to to to the to 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 the 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 to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be 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.e.e. the the the the theu. toooooo. too. too. too. too. toe. to bea. to for in my lifetime, which is to bring poetry into the spaces that we least expect it so that we can fully kind of grapple with the ways in which it can heal and kind of resurrect us. Let's talk a little bit about poetry. I mean, it feels like poetry like some art forms has its highs and then it has moments where it disappears. Why do you think we should never forget poetry? What is it about poetry that you feel society needs to hold on to? Well, what I always say is poetry stands as a great reminder of the past that we stand on and the future that we stand for. I do not think it is any coincidence that when America

seeks to kind of consecrate its ideals, it does so through poetry. I don't think it's a incidence that we see a poem at the base of the statute of liberty as opposed to like a scientific formula or even a prosaic paragraph, you know, why is it that we call forth poetry in those moments? Or even point out to students, you know, when you're out of Black Lives Matter March and you see, you know, banners that say they buried us but they didn't know we recedes, that's poetry at the first racial justice movement. And so poetry, because it's inherently rebellious in its nature, I think it really becomes the language and the rhetoric of the people.

We get to kind of co-opt it and put our own play on it. And what's more, we get to use those words to realize our thoughts and transform those thoughts into actions. You have a journey ahead of you that I think nobody can predict, which is exciting, and you've had a journey that has been unpredictable. You know, you've talked about it. You know, growing up in a family with a single mom who was raising yourself and your twin sister and your brother as well,

and how you just fought to achieve. My question to you then is, what are you aspiring to seeing that you've basically done it all, I mean, that's a great question. I mean, I'm really taking that that that that that that that that that that the their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the thi, thi, 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, t........ t. tttttttthe. the. the. the. thea. tthea. tthea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea,'m really taking that time to kind of sit back and think and be like, well, wow, that was it. Kind of what's next. And for me, I don't think it's about kind of beating my last thing or even competing against myself. I hear that a lot of thing that's fine for other people. I'm not necessarily fighting against myself or competing against anything I've done, but I want to keep on the trajectory that I started for myself. I never want to kind of dally or diverge from that. And for me, that just means using my poetry to toucest and heal and impact as many people as possible.

And that can be at the inauguration, the Super Bowl, it can be in a living room. It's often in classrooms and other students. And so that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's what's th w w wets thatsatsatsatsats thats thats wetsetsetsetsetsetsetsetsetsetsetsetsets the thats the the toesesk, to to to to to tooesk, tooesk, tooesk, to to to be tooes. to be to be to be to bea to bea to bea to bea to bea to bea to bea to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. tooome. th. tooomea. tooomea. too. too. too. toe. too. too. toe. too. too. toe that's what's next for me on the more like resume tick thing that I always have to mention when I'm on talk shows. I'm like, I have three books coming out. So there's also that in the very immediate what I need to write. But you know, I'm just shugging forward. Well, I know everyone's going to be reading. Thank you so much Amanda Goldman and congratulations on all your success. Thank you so much.

The Daily Show with CoverNoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.

Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.