The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Michael Kosta Discusses His Week as Guest Host

Episode Date: October 28, 2023

In this podcast exclusive, Michael Kosta and Daily Show writer Kat Radley unpack Kosta's week as the first guest host back after the show's long hiatus. They discuss what it was like trying to unpack the Israel-Palestine conflict, the biggest difference between being a host and a correspondent, and why he felt passionately about covering America's plastic water bottle problem in his installment of "Long Story Short."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. Hi, your listeners, it's Daily Show Corsponat at the Daily Show writer Kat Radley.

All right, thanks for having me. Hi, ears listeners, it's Daily Show correspondent Michael Costa and Daily Showwriter Kat Radley. All right, thanks for having me. We're going to give listeners a little extra, ears extra and unpack my week as the guest host and all the work that goes into making the show come together. Let's dive right in. Cat, what was it like writing for such a monumental comedic genius? Take your time. Take your time. Take comedic genius? Take your time. Who do you write for? Take your time.

Oh, no, it'll be short. Don't worry. Oh, shit. I was like, normally comics do like raze to the other, but I am going to take one to compliment you. Come on. Here's what we want. Here's addition. Because you paid me a lot of money to say, to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to to the to their, toe, thiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thioliolk, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their thi, thi, their, their, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their their, their their their their, their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their thi, thi. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.eeateat, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiolioluoooooooooomoomoomorrow, thi, thi, I'm about to say. But in all serious news, as a writer on this show, it's especially fun since we do have a panel of

correspondence, we get to write for different voices, which is like a fun challenge as a writer. And across the board, everybody always loves writing for you because Costa, you know, if you know in comedy you're supposed to punch up. And as, you know, the handsome white man in the room, he is... He is, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi is, thi is, thi is, thi is, thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, you thi thi, you thi, you 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 thi thi thi to to thi to to thi to the thi thi thi to thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, you're supposed to punch up. And as, you know, the handsome white man in the room, he is punching up if we would make fun of him, if he does self-deprecating jokes. He always takes it like a champ. You can play the punching bag, but in a very smart, funny way. And writing for you as a host is different because you are in charge of the show now.

You're not, you know, the funny man coming in who throws the host a curveball. Right. Like, you are in control. And it was a fun challenge to still write a good classic Costa joke, but having that new kind of presence and point of view. Usually you don't trust a correspondent with what they say in the show But we did trust you as host you really took control and you know did the job is host justice So I think you did a great job and that's not easy to do. Thank you. It's very interesting what you brought up because that's a very clear statement you made. It's hard to trust the correspondent and you're right because we're coming in dressed as the lion at the zoo or getting the boat. It was a monkey and I pitched that.

And I did wonder if there was going to be any hurdles as Michael the host because it's different. And one of my favorite things as host was that I got to be host. I you, thi you, and th, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, the the the the the the the the their, because, because, because, because, because, because, their, their, their, because, their, their, because, because, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, hurdles as Michael the host because it's different. And one of my favorite things as host was that I got to be host. I got to be the leader, I got to be in charge and I didn't have to dress in the monkey costume or whatever. I like dressing in the monkey costume. I don't want to always dress in the host suit. Yeah, it was nice. I think for your weakest host was especially challenging because it was the the the the the the th. the th. It was the th. It was th. It was the th. It was the first. It was th. It was th. It was the first. It was the first. It was the first. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I was thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. I was thi. thi. It was toeeea. It was thi. It was toea. It was thii. It was thia. It was thia. I was thi. I was thi. Yeah, it was nice. I think for your weakest host was especially challenging

because it was the first show back after our long five-month hiatus because of the writer's strike. And also the stories you got that week were particularly challenging. Do you want to break down, like, those are two separate challenges that converged at the same time? Do you want to talk about what about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to toeck toeck?aqqqqqaqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq.aaaaaaaq.aaq.aaq.aq.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.a.a.a.a.a.a.athe same time. Right. Do you want to talk about what it was like? I think one of them was an unreal opportunity that kind of happens with luck that there was a lot of eyes and ears on us because we've been gone for so long. I mean, that wasn't planned. That was luck. That was I was very excited that, hey, I get to lead us into this new era after the strike

People are starving for Daily Show how cool that it gets to be me Flip side of that was there was a very still is very serious war tragedy of Israel Hamas war that I felt like we absolutely 100% had to cover and had to cover immediately. Yeah, and by the way when I say cover I don't mean, you? You know, you. the the the the th, th, th, 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 the the the the the the 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 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, thi thri, thri, thri thri thri thri thri the the toooooooooooooooooo. te, the. thri. thri. thri. the thr the the the we absolutely 100% had to cover and had to cover immediately. Yeah. And by the way, when I say cover, I don't mean you do the act and it's over. But it would be shameful for the daily show, the daily show that I know and have watched for years,

to avoid a difficult subject, because it's difficult. Hello. That's what is literally the foundation in my opinion of this show. Yeah. Anybody can write jokes about Trump farting at a UN meeting, but like doing a heartfelt real fresh take that is funny but also says something about the history of Israel and Palestine, I think is just like bread and butter daily show. Yeah, that morning meeting, like we have a morning meeting where we look at all the stories of the day, and you know, the host leads that meeting and we all talk as a group of, you know, what are different takes and angles to cover this? How did that first morning meeting

go for you? How did you feel kind of leading it for the first time. Well actually I should pay Scott Sherman attribute because Sunday I was driving back in the city with my family and Dan Amira the head writer forwarded me this thing that Scott had written that said hey if Costa wants to talk about Israel Palestine here's a couple thoughts and I was so thankful for that because I did want to talk about it but I was kind of twiddling my thumbs thinking how, right? I'm a former Catholic Michigander. I've been to a bar mitzvah, but probably, I mean, if we really want to talk, I mean, yes, I could identify Israel and Palestine on a global map, but like just didn't, like so many Americans, didn't understand the full history and were afraid to even ask.

So I was very appreciative that Scott sent that in, very appreciative that Dan didn't just block that, you know, sent it to me and said, what do you think? And I said, yes, yes, yes, I love this idea. I don't love all your stupid tennis jokes, Scott. But why don't we work with it? So coming in Monday morning to answer your question, I felt like thanks to some good effort on the writing staff, Sunday night, I already felt like a little bit ahead of it, and I felt comfortable and that was super helpful. And I'm certain from your standpoint, I don't know, are you guys supposed to pitch Sunday?

Yeah, I mean, usually. It's super helpful. It sucks because it's your Sunday night. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. that. that. that. that. that. Yeah. that's. Yeah. that's. Yeah. that's. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. that's. Yeah. 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 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 that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the the thi. I the the the the the. I's thi. I the. I thi. I thi. I thi. I th. I thi. I th. I hiatus or a long break, we try to start pitching ideas Sunday or collecting thoughts. The host does find it helpful because you have to hit the ground running as soon as the day starts and if you can already have ideas in the tank, it makes it easier. I feel like I'm turning into my mom, but I swear to God, if even from a personal standpoint, if I take 30 minutes Sunday night, and if I th, if I tomorrow. Now with kids like are the clothes clean? It's like holy shit my life is a lot easier. I'm turning into my parents. Yeah. I mean you know you got to do your homework and prepare. They were right all along. So yeah I was very pleased with how we didn't shy away from that. Yeah and Daly Show did a good job. And I think also your honesty about your honesty. 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. th. th. 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. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. their. their. their. their. their. that. Yeah. And Daly's show did a good job. And I think also your honesty about your ignorance. Because I felt another former Catholic, Virginia,

like I also, it's not my wheelhouse either. And I had the same thoughts like you said, you know, I read the Wikipedia page. I don't know if you want people to know that. No, it was in the act. But that's also also also also also also also also also also also 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 that's that's that's that's also also also, that's that's that's also, that's that's that's that's also. that's that's also, 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. that's. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. I. they. the they. the the the the the th. the th. th. that's also. that's th. that's also like, that's what a lot of people watching our show are doing too. Of course. I think they appreciated your honesty and that was the great, like the perfect take to bring people through the story because it was honest.

And there is humor in your ignorance. Again, you kind of let yourself be the punching bag a little bit. And 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 you th you th you th you th you th you th you th you that's like the the their their their their their their th you thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. thi. thi. th. thi. th. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I I th. th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. I thean. I thean. I to to thean. I to that's that's that's that's that's thean. I thean. I theean. I thean. I th bit. And that's like a great, I think, example of how you do that while also mowing people through it. It's my big week as guest host, and I get Israel Palestine. I don't mean to complain, but as far as scheduling goes, this unspeakably tragic geopolitical crisis is not super convenient time for me right now. Because no matter what I come up with, people are just going to say, this guy doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about.

And you're right. That's pretty much the only opinion everyone can agree on. Michael Costa is an idiot. And what do I know about the Middle East? I'm from the Middle West. I'm from Michigan. The best way I would describe my position on the Middle theeeeeeeeeeease is is is is thease thease thease to thease thease to thease thease to thease thease thease thease th'm from the Middle West. I'm from Michigan. The best way I would describe my position on the Middle East is poorly educated. And that sounds harsh, but at least I'm aware of it. Because I read a lot of your posts online and sometimes it's better

not to pretend you know what you're talking about. I have friends on Facebook who have the whole Middle East figured out when I know for a fact they can't even get car insurance. And everyone has an opinion for who's responsible for it. It's Israel, it's Palestine, it's Netanyahu, it's Hamas. Everyone's taking a side. But everyone is wrong. Because I spent the weekend reading two lengthy Wikipedia articles and I think it's pretty clear who we can blame for all of this mess. The British. I think I'll go on record to say this. I am tired of people on TV who wear suits knowing all the answers.

I'm sick of it. Yeah. They don't know the answers. Yeah. of people on TV who wear suits, knowing all the answers. I'm sick of it. Yeah. They don't know the answers. Maybe they have a couple researchers, that's fine. But I think there's actually more clout in admitting, an ignorance is a very strong word, admitting that you don't have this figured out.

And let's all work through this together. That's so much more human. It is. It's so much, it's so much, it's so much, it's so much th so much th so much th so much th so much th so much th so much th so much so much so much so much so much so much so much thiia. It's so much thia. It's so much thia. It's so much thia. It's their their their their thia. thia. 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 thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thia. thiiiiiiiiauuooooooooooooooomooooomeauoomoomorrow. thtogether. That's so much, that's so sexier to me. Yeah, it's so much more human. It is, it's so much more honest and, and I think there's more room for comedy in that. Hell yeah, yeah. We kind of touched on this a little bit, the big difference hosts we've had. You're one of the correspondents who, you know, you've been here for a while, you knew what the deal was going into it. How did that kind of play into your hosting week of having the familiarity?

And I'll say it, the trust of everyone at the show. That's the same word I was going to use. Maybe if I was just coming in as an outsider, I would be a little more skeptical, like do the writers know who I am? Do I trust that they can write a funny joke? Not all writers still know who you are. That's true. I definitely trust the system here. I trust the process. It's been on air for 25, 26 years. There's a lot of stuff you learn. A lot of efficiencies, they figured out how to be most productive. So it was nice to let the machine work and to be at like a little bit of a higher position in the machine where I could help guide it

towards what I thought was interesting. It was fun to kill a couple trump jokes. Yeah. You know, I don't want to talk about this. You know, I don't think this is that interesting, but then also one comes across and you go, this one is interesting, let's talk about this one. So that's really fun because typically as a correspondent, I'm not deciding. I can adjust jokes and if I don't feel comfortable, whatever, but I'm not deciding what So it was fun to play God for a week. Yeah, you were a real monster that week. But I also think the familiarity, it just only helps.

So much of comedy, as you know, from a performer too, it's just being comfortable. You know, like, I'm sure it's the same with you for stand-up, correct me if I'm wrong, but my stand-up has just gotten closer and closer to who I actually am. I get more comfortable on stage, and I felt like I feel very comfortable in this building, and I think the writing staff feels comfortable with me.

I just only helped. Yeah, I think that honesty, comfort and confidence. I mean, that's really what you need to deliver a joke. Now in terms of your your your your your your your your your the guest the guest to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to to to toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, I'm, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the their, I, I, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, tea., te., Bremer. I hate when the show goes over to the guests. I had Ian Bremer Israel Palestine. He's a political scientist. I then had Emily Oster who's a parent data expert parenting world. I then had on musician, Pulitzer, Grammy winner, Rian and Giddens, who did a pertermo performance for us. Yeah, that's really powerful. had on musician, Pulitzer Prize winner, Grammy winner, Rian and Giddens, who did a performance for us. Yeah, that's amazing. Also, a really powerful performance. She sang a song called Another Wasted Life, and behind her, she paired with

the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, behind her, the show, good job control room, directors, lighting, put up the images of all these wrongly imprisoned people. Their wrongful imprisonment added up to over 500 years. It's crazy. It's like, it's insane. And then the last guest was survivalist Jordan Jonas, who is a friend of mine and I was very thankful for him as a guest because it was nice to just talk to a dude about shit that I find fun. Not that I don't like parenting or Riannegan's music or Ian Bremer, but they're just a little it was more they're more serious topics. I think you earned it you deserve a little break up the end?

Did you want to say anything about like how you chose them or what it was you're looking for in a guest. I wanted an eclectic mix, which we definitely got. A lot comes down and booking to availability of guests. You know, I really wanted a tennis player, pro-tennis player. Duh. They're all in China. They're all playing in China. Beth and Shauna, booking department. That is a tough job. Every publicist is like pitching them and they've got 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 their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. th. th. th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. A th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. I. to. to.that is a that is a tough job. Every publicist is like pitching them and they've got to deal with all this BS and... It's so hard to schedule drinks with a friend. I know and now you're like booking, you know, so I asked for the Israel Palestine.

I said we really need somebody that can digest this, distill it, an expert because it's not me. Yeah. And I'm comfortable saying that and that was just such a beautiful booking because I could make my jokes up front, I could make a quick take that I still stand by that take. Britain did start this a hundred years ago by drawing maps. I mean, the Roman started it 3,000 years ago, but that's a different podcast. And they booked and he was great, you know, tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel tel the thea the the thea thea thea thea- 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 thi thi. thi. toea. toeauuuiiiii. toeaui. toea. that's theaui. thea. thi. thea thi000 years ago, but that's a different podcast. And they booked Ian and he was great, you know, Ian, tell me what's going on. I learned a lot from that interview. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Simple question, not to be insensitive, but for so many Americans that see this as something so far away, why should they care about what's happening? Because in principle, we the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United the United in principle we the United States stand for something beyond just ourselves. I mean maybe America First doesn't quite say that but the Statue of Liberty does. We all came from somewhere, right? I mean the Jews and the Palestinians are the same people. They came from the same place, they've grown up in the same home. And, and, and we, and we, and, and the the the the theirs their theirsirs. the, and, and, and 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 theirselfeauauau.au.auiiau.au.au.auiauiauiauiauiauia.a.a. Iea. Iea. Iea. Iea. Ie people. They came from the same place. They've grown up in the same home.

And we as Americans who have historically represented that ethos better than anyone else on the planet, how can we not care when that is falling apart right now in the most tragic possible way in front of our eyes? How can we not care about that? That's why it matters to us as Americans. Not because oil is going to 150, not because people are losing their jobs, not because we as Americans, if we stand for anything, we stand for that. And then Emily Oster, my wife just has all her books and has helped us in parenting. I read her book. I was wondering it's a pregnancy book. Yeah, yeah. And then Rian and Giddens, I love the idea of a musical guest,

to be honest, I wasn't fully aware of her prior to the booking, but one of those wonderful surprises where it's like, holy shit, I can't believe this craft, and a lot of her music has true activism behind it, so like, that's a no-brainer for the Daily Show. Yeah, that's awesome. It was fun.

And it's like when you ask your friend to come on the Daily Show, they kind of have Jonas, your friend, so you actually, you did know him before, you guys were friends. He does like wilderness experiences, he's a wilderness guide, and you took one of his courses. Yeah, I mean, I knew him because my wife bought me for a birthday gift a week in the Bitterroot Mountains at 11, thousand feet, a week with him to learn and other other psychos that wanted to do this. Actually, I think she was just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just 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 psychos that wanted to do this. Actually I think she was just trying to kill me my wife. Like here go the mountains. So he yeah he texted me she was like didn't work. He's coming back

alive and even worse he's never gonna stop talking about this trip. Yeah so he teaches you survival skills we had food and everything. wea today. to the the. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to to to toe. to toe. to to to to go go go to go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go. to go go go. to to to go go go go. to go. to go go. to to to to to to to to toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. their. their. their. their. toe. toe. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. their. their did have 24 hours where we only ate what we procured from the land. That was wild. I shot a grouse. I ate a shitload of huckleberries. We caught trout in the stream. So that was very cool and I gave me a whole new appreciation of human connection to food. I would probably describe myself as someone that hunting makes feel iicky. I don't like love the idea of killing an animal, but then I think about my purchase at the grocery store and it's like a lot of animal stuff. And it's kind of like worse. It's way worse. It's way worse. And it's like oftentimes I'll throw meat away. It's gone bad. I don't even know what this animal looks like, and so I really had a profound... I don't know what a cow looks like. I had a profound experience out there feeling really connected to nature and Jordan is such a

patient. I mean I am like an idiot. I don't know how to sharpen a knife, I don't do anything stuff. And he's like a guy who can survive in the wilderness on his own, truly and he's patient enough to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the to the the the th. th. thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I'm thr-s, thrown, I'm thin, I'm thin, I'm thin, I'm thrown, I'm their their, I'm their their, I'm their their, I their, I their, I their, I their, I their their their, I I I their, I their, their, their, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thr-s thr-s throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, throwne, the wilderness on his own truly, and he's patient enough to teach me how to make a fish hook. It was really fun and cool experience. That's awesome. Yeah, when I went back to see him before the show, he said, well now I'm in your world, because it was like, this was a lot for him. You're like, yeah, get your knife out, buddy. Let's go stab somebody. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here.

I am here to tell you about my new podcast. The weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election, economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out

on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. As terms of like the work that goes into it, like you know, we usually come to work every day, do stand up at night, now both, you know, we have two kids, family. Jesus, how are we doing? Well, you have twins. Are we allowed to say that? Yeah, you can say it. Yeah, I also feel good to come to work? Yeah, it's like a break. Yeah. This past Sunday night I was exhausted. I was like I can't wait to go to work tomorrow

and relax. I know and then what happens when they get older is I start to, I hate to say this, hate to admit this I love, I to admit to admit this, I to admit to admit this, I to admit this, 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 admit to to this I to to to to to to to to to to to to to this, I'm this, I'm this, I'm to to this, I'm to to to this, I this, I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, thi, thi, the, to to to the. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi. to thi. thi, to see the weekends as the work days and the work days as the weekends. I mean, I love both, but I mean, we also are lucky that we do have a pretty fun job. Yeah, of course. Yeah, it is like, I'm not like pressing aluminum steel and do it. Yeah, I'm like, we get to go and hang out with people and write jokes all day. What was that workload like being the host? th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Yeah, th. th. thi. thi. thi. Yeah, thi. Yeah, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I thi, thi, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I th. Yeah, I thi. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, thi. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm thi. Yeah, really took from you day to day? It is wild that the more you're involved, the more the show feels like your show, you know, so I was very appreciative that you get to that morning meeting at 9 a.m. before the writers meeting and you can help select some of the stories and it's like, that really starts things off.

Yeah. But the heart the hardest part is you go all day.. th that, th th that, th th th th that, th th 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. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th, th, th, th, th, the the the th, the 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. the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. the the the the thi that really starts things off. Yeah. But the heart the hardest part is you go all day working on the show and that at like six you're supposed to be Mr. Funny guy. I'm exhausted at six I want to go home. So also I don't know what happens if the host has a dentist appointment or an emergency or is sick because the writers have to get going and if you don't have the feedback, I guess you probably just get used more used to the host point of view. You just task grab at a guy to come fix your tea in your office. Yeah, yeah, you have a dentist come to the office. But I got better with the workload as the week went on. Part of the sadness of guest hosting is you kind of feel like you understand what's going on when it's over.

You know, it's like a vacation like, I know that's my dive bar this vacation. And it's like, you're going home tomorrow. But I know Carlos, my server. Yeah, exactly. So it's a hard job. It's a hard job. It's a today job. It makes me laugh when I read that these celebrities want the job. They don't want the job. They want their name on the poster.

It's a hard job. You gotta like be at work at 9 a.m. every day. And then if you don't know a subject, you gotta start to learn it. Yeah, so that's what's fun for me. But it is it's a hard job. And I remember at the Emmys a couple years ago when everyone was like waiting for their bus because to me that seems like all I ever remember of the Emmys is never knowing where your bus is. Somebody from succession one of the EPS was like, what you guys do is actually noteworthy.

Oh yeah. The fucking succession EP was like you guys have a hard job. We're just playing make-believe over here. And I was like, well, then give us more time at the fucking Emmys. I know. Yeah, like we get, like, the writers and different categories are like, oh, you're going to be the creative arts Emmys and we're not going to televised those categories. And it's like, all right. a deep dive into a particular topic that may not get a lot of attention or is really important to them and you wanted to tackle the plastic water bottle

crisis that's killing the environment. Let's talk about water. It's the thing you hope you just sat in on the subway. According to doctors, we're supposed to drink water basically every day and in America most, most of us do that with the help of these. The number one package drink in the United States isn't Coke or Gatorade or even Haterade, it's bottled water. We Americans buy 50 billion disposable water bottles a year. And I know what you're thinking, oh shit, another depressing environment story. So can I not even drink water without ruining my children's future? But that's the thing. This is one environment story that

actually has a really easy solution. And I'm gonna tell you what it is, another installment of long story short. What made you pick that and how did you feel it worked on the show and what you do to have to prepare for it? I like water stories. I believe it might, is it hydrologist? Is that the word that's the word? Hydrologist.

But also the other word that I really like is limnology, the study of fresh water? Oh, I know I might be pronouncing it on total nerd. I love water. I love water. It sounds funny to say into a microphone. You sound very high right now. I fucking love water. I'm a Michigander. We're surrounded by water.

We take it for granted. All these other problems in our world, social problems, they only exist because we're like functioning as humans with flesh because we have water. So it starts with this passion for water. The water bottle became a pitch in the water world that I really resonated with and that was like, oh my god, we all do this. I mean Americans using 50 billion plastic bottles a year. Thankfully since I put out this piece, people have been twea piqued thii thate, kind of like, oh yeah, Mr. Hotchot. Yeah, so! so, so, so, so, so I. So, so I. So, so I. So, so I. So, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I, so I th. So, so I th. So, so I th. So, so I th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th. th. 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. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. I put out this piece, people have been tweeting pictures of me with plastic bottles, kind of like, oh yeah, Mr. Hotshot. You know, so I was like, yeah. Gotcha. So I want it be known to everybody that, yes, I have used a plastic bottle in my life. And maybe that's how I know about the subject. He's being honest, admitting his mistakes, growing and changing. How did it work? I thi. Yeah, I don't th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I thi thi thi thi thi, I don't thi, I don't thi, I don't thi, I don't thi, I don't thi, I don't thi, I thi, I thi, th. I thi, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. Oh, thi. Oh, thi. Oh, thi. Yeah, thi. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, thi. Yeah, thi. thi. tho. th. th. th. Oh growing and changing. How did it work? I think it worked great I thought it was really funny. Yeah, I don't know like how we determine that like did plastic bottle

consumption go down after this piece? That'd be nice to know. I'll check the data. Emily Oster, what's the data? Yeah, exactly. One of my favorite parts of the piece is what you have in your hands right. I have this giant massive half gallon. Yeah, I feel. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the. the. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. th. Yeah. th. th. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. Yeah. th. th. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. th. Yeah. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. I. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeahice a day. I love that you have that. God, that's a big one too. That's great. I don't have to keep getting up to refill. No, it's excellent. It's excellent. And it was really important for me that this long story short had a answer, had a solution. Yeah. Really important. Because we're all tired of hearing that the climate's changing and then just being like, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, the the the th, th, th, thi, thi, thi of hearing that the climate's changing and then just being like, okay well I can't, what do you want me to do? Fight big oil? Yeah. Using a refillable water bottle cuts down on fossil fuels, creates less waste, and could even save you $16,000 over its lifetime. That's enough to pay for a luxury vacation or 16 shitty vacations. So long story short, this is like the easiest choice in the history of no-brainers.

If everyone in the United States just went with the reuse of water bottles, we'd save money, solve an environmental crisis. And the best part of that is then that's one less environmental crisis you'd have to hear people like me bitching about. You probably already have nine of these. Open a cabinet in your kitchen and one will fall on you. And tomorrow start using it. That's how you save the planet. One of the favorite parts of the piece was when it was like, hey, open your kitchen

cupboard right now. You have nine of these things already thinks. you already using it. People give them to his gifts and you're like, I don't want this. Yeah, just you already use it. So it's simple. If people take one thing from it, it's just reuse a reusable water bottle. I truly believe in 20 years we're going to look back on this time frame, like our parents look back on smoking. Oh yeah. And be like, oh you just use a disposable water. water bottle of it? You used what, eight a day? Eight a day? So it's ridiculous. So it was a small little attack, I hope, and I hope it, I hope it helped. Yeah, I hope Poole and Springs comes from me. Yeah, come. Well, Poland springs can still sell us water but just sell it in a reusable water bottle for double the price. Yeah. You said you like water stories, I'm not sure what you mean by water stories. Maybe this one. I do have a a the the the the the the the the the th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. tip. thin. I'm tip. tha. tha. tha. I'm tha. I tha. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I tap. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I t. I too. I'm too. too. too. I hope. too. I hope. I hope. too. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I'm not sure what you mean by water stories maybe this one we'll share this one and we'll see I do have twins I'll make this quick and so

I drink a lot of water so I can make enough breast milk for them it's so important and at the very beginning I was drinking so much water I gave myself hyponatremia no yes I've never known anybody to actually I had a I started feeling you know nausea to the doctor you know I'm to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the to the to the the the the to the the the the the to the the the the to the to to the to the to to to to the the to to the the to the the to the to the the 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 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 try. I I. I. I. I'm. I'm. I'm. I the the the the the the doctor, they took my blood. I had washed out all my electrolytes. I had no chloride. You over, overwatered. I overwater. And my doctor was like, just stop drinking water. I have never heard anybody.

I mean, I'm fully believe that this entire world would be way healthier and less war. war and anger if we were just more hydrated but you are the one example. I'm the one who took it a little too far. Plenty of breast milk though I had a lot of breast milk right but it looked it up and they were like super athletes get this people who use party drugs like ecstasy. Oh because they over drank yeah and I was just like oh well you can add lactating others to that list. I thought you could give babies water. I th. th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. th. Yeah. Yeah. th. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah............................................................................................ the. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the., you're not supposed to do that. Did you learn that the hard way? I didn't, but I was like probably filling up a bottle and my wife was like, what the fuck are you doing?

Yeah. Also, they can just take a bath by themselves too, right? Yeah, huh. No, but it's good that you wanted to talk about or say, you know, the share that maybe you didn't get a chance to. I think the viewers know this because they're really loyal to us, but there's just so many people involved. And I tried to thank a lot of people, but you leave the building going like, oh, like, graphics. There's just so many people connected to the show that the show. to to to to to to to to the the the the the the show. I. I. I the show. I the show. I the show. I the show. I the show. I the show. I th. I th. I th. I th. I that, that, that, that, their their thi thi thi, I 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 the the the the the the the the show. I the show. I the building going like, oh, audio, or oh, like, graphics. There's just so many people connected to the show that work hard,

and it's just a really fun team environment. Yeah. I love stand-up, too, because I get to say and do whatever I want, but it's fun to be in a team environment where we're all moving towards the same goal, which is to make you look good. And it's to make to good. And it's to make me look good. And one day we'll accomplish that. Even D's is tonight. He's out there trying to make me look good. No, but I was very appreciative of the week and you, the writers did an excellent job making me feel like me. Thank you. That's important. Yeah, It was great. Yeah, it was great. I said on my own podcast, the Tennis Anyone podcast with Michael Costa, that I don't understand how anybody could do this without like a supportive partner.

Oh yeah. I mean, I wasn't home all week. My kids came to the show Monday. I kissed him on the head and then ran into the writer's room. So this was a team, tie tie tie tie tie tie theatatheatheatheatat, theat, thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, 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 the, I, I, I the, I the, I the, I the. the. the thean, I the the thean, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I the thean, I to to to the. to's room. So this was a team effort all around. I felt very supported at home. It's very important. And then to have the enthusiasm of my wife too, kept coming to the shows and bringing your friends like that's so fun. It's like when you start doing stand-up and the girl you're dating like is like, oh I do want to see your show. For the first time in her life she's, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she was, she, she, she was, she was, she was, the the the th, th. th. th. thi, to have to have thi, to have thi, to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have, to have to have, to have, to have to have to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, the the the the the the the the the th, the th, th, th, th. And, th. And, th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the the. the thease, the the thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, to have to have to have the. th. Or she's just like, no, you actually have something fun to go to now. It's not just like a bar show.

A bar show 10 PM in Brooklyn. So I felt a lot of love and it makes you feel good inside. And then Monday, I came back to this studio to shoot something because they needed to throw me off a ledge. And I said said this is perfect. You're like yep and I'm back. So thanks for asking me such cool questions Kat. Oh hey anytime and again I really I think you crushed it it was super fun and you know everyone at the show and the writing staff especially I think everyone had a blast that week and we're cheering for you and to

you to succeed and you did. That's nice. I felt it. Thank you. All right, awesome. Thanks for listening to the Daily Show Ears Edition. I'm Michael Costa. And I'm Cat Radley. the Daily Show Podcast Universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcast. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out

every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them

come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.