The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Michelle Obama - "Waffles + Mochi" and Pass the Love

Episode Date: April 3, 2021

Former first lady Michelle Obama talks about inspiring kids to embrace healthy eating via her Netflix show, "Waffles + Mochi," and combating food insecurity with her Pass the Love campaign. 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. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Seth Done of CBS News, listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. Michelle Obama, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. It's my first time being on your show. It's just, you know, I'm sad that it's not in face-to-face or in-person, but I'm glad to be here. I am, I'm to, I'm to, I'm to, I'm to, I'm 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 60. I'm to 60. I'm to 60 to 60 their their to 60 to 60 to 60 minutes to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 to 60 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 thi. I'm thi. I'm thiii. I'm thii. I'm thii. I'm thiii. thi. thi. thi. I'm their their their, you know, I'm sad that it's not in face to face or in person,

but I'm glad to be. I'm sad, I'm sad too, but I don't mind. You're still here. I've gotten used to this being here for me. Okay. So, you know, it's still you. It's still you. It is. You're going to tell me like your personality changes when you're in person. It does does not. It does. It does. It does. It does. It does. It does. It does. It does. It does. You to to to to to to to to me. I to me. I to me. I to me. I to me. I to me. I to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to me. I, I'm going. I'm going, I'm going, I'm to be to be to be. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm to be. I, I, I, I, I, I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I, I. I, I. I. I, I, I, I. I, I, I, I, I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to me. I'm to. I'm to. I'm to. I'm to. I It does not. I'm, maybe I'm more silly in person, but I've gotten silly on, you know, in Zoom too. I can do it both now, just plain silly. Before we get into talking about your projects, let's talk a little bit about that.

I would love to know on a personal level, what your life has felt like since you left the White House. Because I remember, and I mean I was one of the fans, maybe because, you know, I've also had hair journeys, I remember everyone just being like, wow, Michelle, the Afro and the hair is coming, and everyone is just like, she's got a different swag about her. Was there a weight that's lifted from your shoulders when leaving the White House as First Lady? Absolutely. I mean, you know, for so many reasons, I mean, you know, being the First Lady and be the President, it's a huge responsibility and being the first, you know, we felt a deep responsibility to do it right and to do it better, to be careful with our words, all the things thinne thin thinn. Things like the things we thoughting about thiiiiiiiiiiiii thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thin. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their.. their, their. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. that's, that's, that's, that's that's that's that's that's the. the. the. thea. thea. thea. tea. tea. tea. tea. thea. thea. the. the. the. thethings we thought were important, things like thinking about what you say before you say it, you know, telling the truth, you know, getting your facts right,

all of this. We worried for no reason. We could have done it so differently. It could have been easier. But no, no, we were doing the traditional thing. And so, you know, it was a big responsibility, a big weight on our shoulders, but it was an honor to serve and we kept our eye focused on just every day trying to show up right and push the ball forward on the issues that we cared about.

But we were also doing it while raising our kids. All right. So, you know, they were 10 and seven when we entered, they lived in the White House longer than they lived in any house they've ever lived in. Wow. So they grew, they were growing up right in that spotlight and so we had that pressure of getting through the adolescent years and the teen years and sending a kid to college. So we were exhausted and stressed because not only are you trying to get it right on the big picture

level but you're trying to get it right as a parent and now we're on the other end of that, on literally on the other end of all of that and our kids are about to be 23 and 20. Our oldest is graduating from college. They are alive. So all of that, you know, being at the end of that part of the journey, you know, I am in a different place. I feel freer, I feel more at peace. I'm also older, so I'm more comfortable, I'm even more comfortable in my own skin.

I can imagine. So yeah, yeah, it was, you know, I mean, living in the White House is like living in an nice older hotel where you can't get out unless you call 20 people. It almost feels like you were living a sort of quarantine life before all of us were. Well, this is what I tell people. This is why we're fine. Barack and I are like, well, you can't go out just when you want to. Yes, it feels like that.

We've been doing that for eight years. You've got security with you at all times. You can't make a move and you have to think about how your movements impact the rest of the world. Every time we went out, we had to think about it. It's like, who's going to have to shut down what gate? How is this going to disrupt this whole community because the presidential motorcade is coming through? We have to worry about agents and not doing something that we'll thiiii. We're good in quarantine. We're like, welcome to our world, everyone.

This is what it's been like. You've been somebody who has been, not just an icon, but somebody that people have followed so passionately from the beginning. And what I loved about reading your book and talking to your husband is that, you know, is getting into the familial side of things the personal side of things I've always wanted to know from your perspective because a lot of people may not think of it like this because of president but you're the cool one in the relationship right

and so like Barack was like this like you know what I mean and? Who's this dude? Like, you know what I mean? And yes, he's Mr. President, don't get me wrong, but I mean, to you, he's still Baroque. Is there a part of you that like, when it was done, you were like, all right, finally, the power balance can go want to lose the queen, you know? I'm going to use that at dinner tonight. But what's fun to see is how it feels like you are each other's biggest fans.

The way you show your love towards each other, you've never been afraid to do that. But at the same time, there's also a healthy competitive spirit. I mean, whether you're selling your work their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to to to to to to to to to to toe. toeathea. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. tooes. toe. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. th. th. th. the the. the. to. toe. t. t. te. toe. the. the. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to. documentaries, is there a little bit of that where you look at your numbers and then you go, I mean, you know, you go like Barry, you're doing well, but you know, you know, is there a little bit of that? Uh, yeah, yeah, he, he's, Barack is super competitive. So, you know, and shoot, let me, I mean, the, the, and shoot, the, the, the, the, the, 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, the, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, I, I, I, I, I, I, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, 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, let me, I am too. So yeah, there's a little bit of that. I mean, but you know, you can do that when, you know, your partner holds their own. It's a nice funny joke, you know,

I mean, if he wrote his book and nobody bought it, we wouldn't be joking about it, right? We would be like, you're doing a great job. Oh, yeah, it's a great book. A great, We love it. Tell your dad how much you like his book. But, you know, I mean, he's written like a thousand books, you know, he's like, yeah, I've done this before. You're the newbie, you know, he was, he fed us on his book, books for a very long time. So, you know, it's a funny joke when it's you know when it's not true

yeah when it's said when it's not fully true the kids are actually joking they're talking about how you know my mom's doing a lot of work out there dad you're at home looking kind of cute you know they're like you're now now the cute one that is hilarious you are the cute one mr. president 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 on Apple podcasts starting September 17. Let's talk a little bit about your new project on Netflix. It is a passion of yours that we've known from the very beginning, and that is eating healthy. You know, America has internationally, you know, established a reputation as being the

country where people have some of the most unhealthy choices in how they eat. I remember when I came to America, I didn't understand it, genuinely, came to America, I ate the way I ate in South Africa, did not really care, and then I got here and I remember the first time I came, I was traveling around the US, and nobody knew me, I was just doing my thing, was around 2010, and I gained, I think it was 18 to 20 pounds in six months. And I didn't realize this was happening to me, and then I went back to South Africa. And in Africa, 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 there, we, we, we, we, because because because because there, we, because because there, because because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, because there, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, th. th body shaming in that way, everyone was just like, Ah Trevor, they're like, wow, did you eat half of America?

What happened to you, Trevor? Wow, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, you know? And it was actually interesting because I didn't think I changed anything, I didn't, but then I came to realize how hard it is for so many Americans to eat healthy, to eat healthy, to exist healthy, to exist, to exist, to exist, to be healthy, to be healthy, to be healthy, to be, and be, and be, and be, and to be, and to be, and to be, and that's always been your passion, which is part of the show that you have on Netflix, Waffles and Mochi, the most adorable exploration of eating healthy. Please just told me through why you thought,

you know what, this is the avenue that I'm gonna take to further this message for what I'm passionate about. The co-creators, Erica Thormlin and Jeremy Connor, you know, came up with this idea because, you know, Jeremy had young kids and struggled with this as a parent and getting their kids excited about vegetables. So they came up with the idea and presented it to us and kind of proposed, would you be in it? And I looked at the concept and thought, this, this is a no-brainer. I mean, this is what we had been talking about for eight years through th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, thi, and, and, thi, and, thi, and, thi, and, the their, 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 thr-a, thro, thro, throomoomorrow, throomorrow, throomorrow, throoomorrow, and, thr-tooomorrow, and, and, and, their, and, thr-too. the concept and thought, this is a no-brainer. I mean, this is what we had been talking about for eight years through Let's Move is that

you can have these conversations, not making them punitive or not shaming people, but just beginning to introduce positive concepts about what food is, making it fun, making it enjoyable. Now, the part that I'm excited about is the work that we're doing through the past the love campaign. we're, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, we're th, we're the th, the th, th, th, the th, the thi, thi, the thi, the thi, the the thi, the tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, we're the, we're th. We're the, we're th. We're thi, we're thi, we're thi, we're their, thi, their, the thi, thi. the thi. the thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. the the thi.'m excited about is the work that we're doing through the past the love campaign. We're hoping to do more education around food insecurity and food deserts and reminding people that there are millions of people in this country that are going hungry, even as they sit in communities with food all around them, right? But it's the type of food.

So many families don't have access to fresh produce. If they want to buy a bundle of kale, they've got to get on a bus or it costs way too much money. Yes. They don't have the ability to do at-home cooking. The Past the Love Campaign is designed to raise money to help feed a million families in this country.. so. so. so. so. so. so. so. so. the the the the the the the families, the families, the the families, the the the tho, tho, tho, so tho, so many, so many, so many, so many, so many families, so many families, so many families, so many families, so many families, so many families, so many many families, so many many many many families tho, so many many many many many many many many families tho, so many many many many families tho, so many many families families families families families families families families families families families families, so many their their th. So their their their their their their their their families families families families families, their their their their families, their their their families, their tha, tha, tham, Past-The Love campaign is designed to raise money to help feed a million families in this country. What I love about waffles and mochi is, I mean we all grew up watching puppets and cartoons and it's really fun to see you know these discussions like my favorite episode

is just the argument about whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. I've had this fight with people my entire life. Tomatoes, thos, th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. I th. the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the. their their their their. their. I've their. I've their. I've their. I's, their. I's, their. I's, their. I's, their. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, their. I's, their. I's, their. I's, their their their. I's their their their their their the. the. t. tme. tmo. tmo. tm. tm. I'm tm. I'm tmo. I've today. I've tmea. I'm tome. I'm tme. I've had this fight with people my entire life. Tomatoes, tomatoes, whatever it is, I go, hey man, I have a simple metric. Is it sweet? Then it's a fruit and then people want to fight with me. And I mean, it's fun. It's fun to engage with that I can imagine enjoying that with kids and having these conversations. You know, because I grew up, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, I, I, funny, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tho, tho, th. thr. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thr. thr. th thr. thr. thr. the the the the the th grew up loving vegetables is because we didn't always have a lot of food. And I realized very, very young that if I could learn to love the things that nobody else

wanted, then I would always have more food. So all the other kids, they were running for like the meat and the delicious. And I was like, I'll take the broccoli, I'll take the cauliflower. And I just learned to love it. But it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's cool, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's to to to love to love. to love to love to love to love. to love to love to love to love to love. to love to love to love to love to love to love to love to love to love to love to love to love. to love to love. to love to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to love. to to love. to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. to to to to to to to to to th. to side for the kids. Yeah, I knew you were smart. On the other side, with pasta love, what I've really enjoyed is, you're having the conversation about the truth about how difficult it is. You know, a lot of the time in America people blame the victim. Yes. They go, you should be eating healthy. You should be making better choice. And then I remember when I first got to America, I was, I was, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, when, when, th. tho, when, when I, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the thi, thi, the the the the the the the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thea. tea. tea.a. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea, thi, th I remember when I when I first got to America I was like, how much is an avocado? That's right. I was like, this is how much is this? Because in South Africa, the treats is the McDonald's.

Your family can't just buy you that every day. In America, it's like no, the fast food is affordable. Well, and that's how, People couldn't afford it and it wasn't available like that. So going to a fast food place was a treat but for the most part the being able to afford to live meant you had to cook. That was the cheapest way to you bought a whole chicken, you knew how to cut it up, You knew how to dice up some some vegetables. You knew how to cook a pot of greens. I mean that's how we all grew up and it's with this change in sort of mass-producing, you know, the quick, easy and understandably parents struggle with that because everybody's busy now

and we're overworked. So it's easy to pick up, grab something, pop something, to do something processed and we don't realize that these processed foods are high in sugar and salt in ways that that's the kind of thing that affects you. It's the content of the food. People think, well a french fry is a potato and it's like well you know if that's all you're eating and it's fried and it's processed, you're getting extra stuff in there. So, you know, the key, like you said, is not to shame people, not to blame folks, and that's where it gets personal because people do feel judged and criticized for doing the best

that they can. So that's why we start with kids. It's like, let's make these conversations fun. Again, not a lot of stick, but a whole lot of carrot, which is what we try to do with Let's move. Let's not talk about not eliminating soda and soda is bad. Let's talk about drinking more water, right? Because if you drink more water, by that very tr drink less soda. That doesn't make soda bad. We're just talking about drink a little more water. So, you know, we've had to learn how to balance that because even in the White House, we got criticized for having those conversations.

I mean, getting kids to eat healthy was a controversial. And people were like, how dare she, it's Nanny state. I'm like, I, I thought, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, th, th, tha, thi, I, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, to, think, to, to, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, how dare she, it's Nanny State, and I'm like, I thought we were like on some like even, you know, I started like, what? What? So, you know, you had to sort of be really strategic and how you talked about this so that people wouldn't feel like you were judging the very core of who they are and that's the thing. Food is personal. You know? And Waffles and Mochi addressed the notion that, you know, cultures are built on the food that they eat. You know, it's

love, it's family, however you do it, it is at the core of who we are. So you've got to be careful not to judge the way people do it, just offer them different approaches, you know, open their minds and starting with kids who will bring their own curiosity. I saw this dish cooked on this show. Can we try it? And you notice the cooking is done a lot on hot plates in toaster ovens, you know. A lot of it, it's accessible, and that's for reason. And the recipes are on the website along with the past-the-love campaign, Waffles and Mochi.org, so we're encouraging people to interact with the show through the website.

Kids can earn their badges like Waffles and Mochi. So, you know, again, our goal is to make it fun. Well, I think you're well on the way to achieving that goal, and I really hope that pass the love goes from a million to 10 million to 100 million until there's no need to pass any more love. Michelle Obama, thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you for joining us. Say hi to the husband, and good luck on the rest of your journey. So good to see you. Congratulations on all your good stuff. Very proud of you.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that. The Daily Show with CoverNoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central Act. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show, 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. You're rolling? 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 on Apple podcasts starting September 17.

This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.