The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Michael Kosta Reacts To Biden's Student Debt Relief Plan | Alex Garland

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

Michael Kosta reports on the aftermath of the solar eclipse as Google searches for “my eyes hurt” skyrocket. Plus, a new legal precedent is set by a verdict in Michigan, which found a school shooter’s parents guilty. Also, President Biden makes his appeal to young voters with a new student loan debt forgiveness plan, and Josh Johnson weighs in on just how much cash it will take to sell the idea to young people. Donald Trump is also changing his tune on abortion yet again, this time to attract voters in the 2024 election, while Arizona is turning to abortion laws from the 1860s. And Award-winning director and writer, Alex Garland, sits down with Michael Kosta to discuss his new dystopian thriller “Civil War.” Garland talks about his intention to inspire conversation, why he chose to set the film in America, and the importance of journalism in a system of checks and balances.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The candidates for November are set. I know Donald Trump's tight. Between now and Election Day. We are not going back. A campaign season unfolding faster. Kamila Harris is not getting a promotion. Then any in recent history. Make America great again.

Follow it all with new episodes every weekday on the NPR politics podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only sorts for news. This is the Daily Show with your host, Michael Costa. Yes. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Michael Costa. We've got so much news to cover tonight. Americans Google their symptoms.

Trump throws an abortion policy reveal party. We've got so much news to cover tonight. Americans Google their symptoms. Trump throws an abortion policy reveal party and student debt must have some bad tweets because it just got canceled. So, let's get into the headlines. Let's kick things off with yesterday's solar eclipse when people across the continent came together to have their wallets stolen while they were distracted by space. Hopefully everyone wore the correct safety glasses

so they didn't catch COVID from the sun, but even if you did wear them, you still might have had a solar hangover. Google Trends report shows some of the eclipse watchers may not have been using proper eye protection. The company says it saw a spike in searches of my eyes hurt following the solar eclipse on Monday. My eyes hurt? That's not even a question. That just sounds like people were complaining to their computer. My eyes hurt, Google. Get some friends, losers. By the way, I hate that Google uses our searches to monitor trends.

That's why you've got to throw up some fake searches every day. Like, I'll put in My Eyes Hurt plus something random like hockey skates, edible, just to throw it off. But this story does say a lot about the state of our health care system. Back in the day, if you had eye paine, and to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the the the their their their their their their their their their their theirseyes, theirseyes, thiii's, theirseyshirty's, thiase, thi, theirseysh. I's, theirseysh. I's, thi, theirse. I's, thi, thi, their, thi, th. I I I I's, th. I I's, th. I's, th. I I's, th. I's, th. I's, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their, thiiiii. I's, thi. I's, thiiiii. I's, thooooooooooooooooooooooooooomoomoomorrow, their, their, their, the state of our health care system. Back in the day, if you had eye pain, you'd call up your family doctor, and he'd tell you to smoke more cigarettes. Nowadays, you have to wait six weeks to get an appointment with your eye doctor, or you can go online and immediately find out that the eclipse glasses gave you autism.

Look, the good news is for most people. the thrown the tau-inininininininininininin. 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 pain, to to the pain, to the pain, the pain, to to the pain, the pain, the pain. 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 too.. too. too. too. 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 same high-tech advanced material as the birthday crown they give you at Burger King. Now speaking of looming shadows over America, let's move on to gun violence. America treats its gun problem the way a dog treats a new baby by hoping that if we ignore it, it'll disappear. But at this point, any progress, no matter how small, would be better than the status quo. And now, a legal verdict might have set an important precedent. Breaking today for the first time in the United States. Parents, whose son killed four teenagers,

will themselves spend 10 to 15 years in prison. The Crumblies provided unrestricted access to the gun, ignored their son spiraling mental health problems, and enabled his actions by ignoring all of the warning signs. School staff testified that parents were called to the school and urged to get Ethan's psychological help just hours before the shooting, but the Crumblies refused to take them home.

That's right. For the first time ever, parents are going to be liable for their kids' school shooting, which honestly makes sense to me. You know, we already blame the parents for a lot less. When a teenager throws a loud party, we blame the parents. Or when a kid has a stupid haircut, we blame the parents when a kid shoots up a school. And why stop with the parents? The grandparents raise those parents. So throw them in prison too. In fact, go all the way up the family tree, you know?

Great grandparents. Great, great grandparents. Exume all the bodies and put them in a special ghost jail. And, yeah, and if you're thinking, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, we have to build ghost prisons now? Wouldn't it be more reasonable just to regulate guns? Yeah, I agree. Either way, after hearing what these parents did, I don't ever want to hear again that I'm a bad parent,

just for giving my kid an iPad, okay? The worst thing my kid is going to do is go to school and talk in a Peppa Pig accent all day. Let's move on. To some presidential news in our ongoing coverage of Indecision 2024. If you're like most young Americans, you have thousands of dollars of college debt after getting your degree in Tick-Tock gender studies. Thankfully, President Biden is here to help. President Biden unveiled his latest effort to free up more Americans who are bogged down by student debt. The plan announced during a visit to Wisconsin includes debt cancellation for those who now owe

more than they borrowed because of runaway interest. We plan to deliver up to $20,000 in interest relief to over 20 million borrowers. Whoa, yeah. Wow. That's a nice forgiveness. Speaking of it, interesting that they call this student debt forgiveness, as though the student did something wrong.

We forgive you for being a poor, broke bitch. But as long as Biden's paying off student loans, how about paying off the other debt college kids incur? You know, my buddy Greg never got me back from that time. I spotted him for the Seedu rental in Panama City. Where's my check, Joe? But this is a reminder that college is too expensive. Tuition, room and board, books, a computer to create a social network that'll one day ruin democracy. It adds up. Now some critics are saying that this student loan forgiveness is just a cynical bribe by Joe to give young people what they want so they vote for him and they're right it's an ancient tactic called politics and Joe Biden better hope it works because he really really needs young people.

In the 2020 NBC News exit poll candidate Biden led former president Trump by 24 percentage points among voters under 30 but an NBC survey in January had president Biden up by just eight percentage points among voters under 30. But in NBC survey in January had President Biden up by just 8 percentage points among that group. Another poll last month showed Mr. Trump ahead by 18 points among voters under 30. Are you excited to vote for President Biden? Um, I would personally say no. I'm excited to vote for someone that's not Trump, but I wouldn't say that it is, I'm excited

for Biden. Ugh, man, Joe Biden is in trouble. The most liberal city in a critical swing state in its college students around the fence. I'm excited to vote for anyone besides Trump. What about Joe Biden? No. So, the big question is, will this new plan work? To help us answer that question, we go live to our own Josh Johnson.

Josh, yeah. Josh, you've been talking to young voters. What do they think of Joe Biden's student loan cancellation? I'll be blunt, Michael. They think it's bullshit, okay? Young voters have deep principal problems with the Biden administration. He has failed us on climate change, social justice, and immigration. And the way he eats ice cream is nasty.

These are serious failures. They need to be addressed. Young people don't want a bribe. They want a leader who will secure our future. Biden is not going to paper over these foundational shortcomings by promising us $20,000. Okay, what have you offered $25,000? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, but... That was easy. That was too easy. Josh, what about 21,000? Hell no! You're gonna offer money on matters of principle? What, 24,000? Deal! 22, 250,000? Uh-20? Uh-20? Uh-uh-20, 20-20. Uh-20? Uh-20-20, th-20, th-20, th-20, th-20, th-20, th-20, th-huh, th-huh, th-huh, th-huh, th-huh, th-huh, th-huh, th-$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $2, th- th- th- th- th-$ $ $ $20, $2, $2, $2, $2, $20, $20, $ $ $20, $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, money on matters of principle? What, $24,000? Deal! $2250.

Uh, 23. Ooh, here we go, Joe, bill back, better, baby, all right? Oh, wow. He already has the money. Josh Johnson, everybody. When we come back, we'll talk about Donald Trump's latest election strategy. Don't go away. Look at this.

Wait a second. What? Yes. Yes. The candidates for November are set. I know Donald Trump's type. Between now and Election Day. We are not going back.

A campaign season unfolding faster. Comola Harris is not getting a promotion than any in recent history. Make America great again. Follow it all with new episodes every weekday on the Nthe Daily Show. As we all know, there's an ongoing battle in America about who should decide on abortion. Should it be women?

Should it be Congress? Should it be Congress? Well, today, Arizona is saying, how about men from the Civil War era? Arizona going back to the Civil War era for their abortion laws. The Arizona Supreme Court ruling the state must comply with a 160-year-old law, barring all abortions, the only exception to save a pregnant woman's life. But no exceptions for rape, no exceptions for incestment. This is, yeah, this is crazy.

Boo! Bo, this is crazy. Is Arizona really doing an abortion law from the 1860s? Back then, there wasn't even a test to become a doctor. It was just a gross guy saying, I love looking at scabs, I want to be a doctor. It's like, and it's not just abortion, we shouldn't be using any civil war law. At least every hundred years, we should just do a review of all the laws, you know? Guys, we're still against murder? All great, moving on. All post offices have mandatory horse ties? No, scrap that one.

But this is the kind of thing women have been facing ever since Roe v. Wade was was killed by the Supreme Court. And while many Republicans like the whole country to look like Arizona, Donald Trump, the guy who appointed those Supreme Court justices is now trying to position himself as a moderate on abortion. Now to the race for the White House after months of questions, former President Donald Trump today revealing his position on abortion, declining to call for a national ban saying he would leave it declining to call for a national ban, saying he would leave it up to the states.

The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state. At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. Elsewhere in the video, Trump expressed support for IVF and abortion exceptions for rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at risk. I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby. Did he just say precious baby?

Carcastically? Congrats on your bundle of joy. Also, not the main point here, but that's more spray tan than usual, right? Your first thought when you see someone's face should never be, is it cake? But more importantly, yes, Donald Trump now says that states should choose their own abortion laws, although I don't know why that states should choose their own abortion laws. Although I don't know why that's considered a moderate position. As a reasonable man, I think only some women should be forced to give birth against their

will depending on which state they live in. It's called common sense. Honestly, I'm just shocked Trump came out in support of IVF. I expected him to be like, if your loser husband can't get it done, give me a call, I'll be in and out two minutes. And by the way, Trump isn't just trying to position himself as a moderate on abortion. He also wants to portray the Democrats as the real extremists. It must be remembered that the Democrats are the radical ones on this position

because they support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month. And even execution after birth, and that's exactly what it is. The baby is born, the baby is executed after birth is unacceptable and almost everyone agrees with that. Come on, dude. Democrats don't execute babies after birth. They send them to Hillary so she can harvest their organs. Seriously, that's such an obvious lie. Nobody wants to execute babies.

Now, when they're three or four, and they're talking all day in a god-dam Peppa pig accent, well, then you might find some execution support. But, of course, you might be wondering, has this always been Donald Trump's position on abortion? Well, in a way it has, in that Donald Trump has had every position on abortion. I'm very pro-choice. I am pro-choice. Trump says he has since changed his thinking and is now, quote, 100% pro-life. I am pro-life.

Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no, it's a principle? The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. For the woman? Yeah, it has to be some form. Within three hours, Trump did a 180. If abortion were illegal, his campaign wrote, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman. It will go back to the states and the states will then make a determination.

It could be state or it could be federal. I don't frankly care. We're also seeking passage of the 20-week abortion bill. The number of weeks now, people are agreeing on 15, and I'm thinking in terms of that. I'm pro're opposed to abortion. Right. I'm pro choice. You're your pro choice or pro life? I'm sorry. Pro life. I'm pro life. I mean and people claim Biden has memory issues. Trump's like, remind me what my principled stand is. I'm one of the biggest issues in this country. This guy has truly been all over the place on abortion. I feel like his positions changed based on which of his kids he saw last.

You know? Ivanka? Pro-life. Eric and Don? Mandatory abortion. Now, the cynics might say that Trump is just taking whatever position on abortion is most helpful to him. But how dare they, okay? I believe these are genuine changes of heart. It's not like Trump is coming right in saying, which th, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, heing, heing, heing, heing, which heing, heing, heing, but how dare they, okay? I believe these are genuine changes of heart. It's not like Trump is coming right out and saying he's trying to win the election.

You must follow your heart of this issue, but remember, you must also win elections. We must win. We have to win. Okay, so I guess he is saying it. I should probably watch these clips before I host the show. But look, I I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the right to life you can compromise on but the right to an election Well, that's Trump's precious baby now when we come back Alex Garland will be joining me on the show so don't go away the candidates for November are set. I know Donald Trump's type. Between now and Election Day. We are not going back.

A campaign season unfolding faster. Comely Harris is not getting a promotion than any in recent history. Make America great again. Follow it all with new episodes every weekday on the NPR Politics Podcast. Welcome back to Danis' show. My guest tonight is an award-winning writer and director whose new film is called Civil War. Please welcome Alex Garland. How you doing, buddy?

Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. I loved your film. The whole thing is intense. Okay, good. There was a lot of assumptions I loved your film. The whole thing is intense. Okay, good. There was a lot of assumptions about the film just based on the trailer. You wrote it, you directed it. What do you want to tell us about Civil War?

You mean how do I want to sell it? I... People heard Civil War and they saw the trailer and they immediately went, you know, it was, it's this and it's this. And... All right. What I wanted to do was make something compelling and exciting and engaging and all that stuff, but also lead to some kind of conversation, have a thought process. Not all films do that. Not all films have to do that. That's fine, but that's what this one is aiming for.

And it's, you know, it's set in a world where division and polarized politics have led to some really strange authoritarian state, and the country's disintegrated. And you're, I believe, you're purposely vague about how we got here, who's fighting, who, was that was that on purpose? Am I right to assume that? Sort of, yes and no. I think... I go for sort of. Yeah, it's sort of. It is very vague about some stuff. Yeah, it is very, very specific about other stuff. And I think because it's vague about some things, it creates an assumption that there's an overall vagueness,

but actually it's quite on point in some areas. You know, that itself is a vague statement. Well, yeah, you answered it. You know, one of the things that I felt so much in this film was so many of these American places that I love, born and raised in America, is the golf course, is the football stadium. And that scene we just saw, I mean, here's a sniper trying to take someone out on a golf course while Christmas music is playing in the background. I mean, it's like, holy shit, as an American, I don't want this to happen.

I don't want us this to happen. I don't want it this this this this this this to happen this to happen, I to happen, I to happen, I to happen. I don't, I don't want it to happen either. I have to say also, seeing as we're talking about it, seeing as I appear to be on a television show right now, I ought to say. Yeah, you are. Exactly. It's not, it really isn't just America. It's set in America, but this situation exists in my country, and in many European countries, the Middle East and Asia and South America. And I chose America because everybody looks to America. But the things it's talking about are quite global. As a Brit, was it a little bit fun watching America crush itself? Okay.

No, honestly, I hate it. I don't, I, by the way, to be serious, nobody on the planet, apart from psychopaths, needs disintegration in this country. They don't, nobody on the planet wants division in this country. They want stability and decency. And, yeah yeah for sure. I think... I think...

Sometimes when you're sitting on your couch at home on Twitter and we've got our political identities and we... there's kind of this cute idea of, oh we're going to a civil war, but when you watch your film, it's fucking terrifying, dude, and it's like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, we should be having these conversations. One scene comes to mind in particular, the Lincoln Memorial, right? I mean, it's in the trailer, so I don't want to, it gets exploded. Yeah, don't blow it up. thrown. to, tho, the the the their. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. thin. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that. the the that, 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 th. th. th. th. th. th. thr. th. t. t. t. toda. toda. toda. ta. today, today, today, today, today, today, th. th. th honestly, I went there as a seventh grader with my middle school and I just was like, holy shit, how would I feel if this happened? Of all the places you could have blown up in this film, and a lot of places do blow up, but the Lincoln Memorial, I mean, tell me why that was important to you. Well, actually because particularly towards the

end of the film, I wanted the audience having gone through hopefully a compelling, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to toe-s, their, their, their, their, their, howeckeckeckeckeckecki-s, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, how I would, how I would, how I would, how I would their, how I would I would I would I would I would I would I would I would I would I would I would I would I wi, how I wi, how I we, how I we, how their, how their, how their, how their, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how their, howe, how their, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, howe, how their, how would, how would, how would, how would, how would I'm, how the, I wanted the audience, having gone through, hopefully a compelling, engaging story, to suddenly feel a really strong sense of aversion. Yes. Like a really deep instinctive sense of sort of being appalled. And although it was written before January the 6th, there was something about January 6th, that it was a disgrace, right? It was various things, but one of the 6th. There was something about January the 6th that it was a disgrace, right? It was various things, but one of the things was it was a disgrace and it provoked a feeling of whatever is happening this shouldn't be

happening. This just has a has like a deep wrongness about it. And this is this is a kind this is that writ large I suppose. And I guess it says a lot about you that you take great pleasure in giving us these things that should not be happening. There's no pleasure in it. No, no, it's just humility in my job that leads me to do these things. Yeah. We haven't spoken about the role of the press in this film and it's in the clip as well. But, I mean, 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 just just just just the the the the the the the the press in this film and it's in the clip as well but I mean that's the center character is press because on a personal level I'm completely over completely over this demonization and villainization of the

press it's been happening a lot yeah it's been happening a lot yeah it's it comes from politicians social media, which is this weird public discourse space that doesn't really relate to how people talk to each other at all. We all know that, right? Yeah. And in some places it happens within the press, but whatever it is, we need journalists, we need trusted journalists in pretty much exactly the same way we need doctors. So I'm done with this thing and I thought, when I was setting out to make it, someone said,

don't make it about journalists, everybody hates journalists, and I thought this is just nuts. Right. I mean, is that a leap for me to say if we gut journalism, we lead to Civil War? You know what? I will be very serious. I know this is a comedy show, I'm not very good at all. Are you kidding me?

I mean, I haven't told the joke and the first two acts of this thing. So here's the thing. There's a system of checks and balances. Government has checks and balances, executive, judiciary, legislature, and then there's the fourth estate, there's journalists watching that. That's a system of checks and balances which is not arbitrary. It's for a reason. It's guarding against something, it's guarding against something real. If you erode it, if you erode government, if you erode the people watching the government, the thing you're guarding against may just turn up. And what is that that that that that thing that thing that thing that thing that thing th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thing th thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing??. the the the the thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the people watching the government, the thing you're guarding against me just turn up. And what is that thing? Actually in Europe, we know exactly

what it looks like because fascism there came out of democracy. And a lot of fascists don't know they're fascists. They kind of know it's a bad word. They don't identify as fascists. It's not a thing, I know some do, but most don't, right. And, um, they, they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they's, and they' they' they' they' they as fascists, it's not a thing they don't, I know some do, but most don't, right? And it's actually really a state of mind that people drift into as opposed to following some kind of swastika flag. It's not really that. And it is actually a danger. It's easy for, to watch this film and to go, America, watch out, America, this civil war could be yours, but really, I think you briefly stated, this isn't just the United States.

We had a prime minister, a guy called Boris Johnson. It was an interesting thing, he was manifestly a liar. It was completely obvious, he was a liar. And journalists would point this out, but they didn't have any traction. It didn't do anything. It just sort of bounced off him. That was weird.

So your country, my country, many other countries. I wish I had a joke up my sleeve. No, you don't need a joke. You swore right this is fused up this is actually fucked up but it is dangerous. Dude I watched your film and then I got in a cab in Manhattan and I was like I want to get the f- I want to go to the country right now and just like I mean it is very powerful it's an anti-war film for sure and is is there a lesson I should be taking?

Should I be having more conversations with people that ideologically I'm different then? Here's my feeling, right? Most people are not extremists. Most people just are not. Yeah. They don't really have a voice. Extremists have occupied noise. And I think the key thing to be...

Thank you. Thank you for coming to chat with us. Thank you for your film. It's tremendous. I hope everybody sees it. Civil War is in theaters in IMAX nationwide, April 12th. Alan Scarden. We'll take a quick break.

I'll be right after this. You don't be a joke. We're going to have a real question. The candidates for November are set. I know Donald Trump's type. Between now and Election Day. We are not going back. A campaign season unfolding faster. Commola Harris is not getting a promotion.

Then any in recent history. Make America great again. Follow it all with new episodes every weekday on the NPR Politics Podcast. That's our show for tonight. Now here it is, your moment of zen. Giving parents an opportunity to get back to work. Well, I'll tell you what, you want to come make a speech or shush up, okay? I'm not missing out with him.

He looked like he could take him. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. The candidates for November are set. I know Donald Trump's type. Between now and Election Day. We are not going back. A campaign season unfolding faster. Kamala Harris is not getting a promotion. Then any in recent history.

Make America great again. Follow it all with new episodes every weekday on the NPR Politics podcast.