The Daily Show: Ears Edition - President Biden Tests Positive for COVID-19 | Blitz Bazawule

Episode Date: July 22, 2022

President Biden tests positive for COVID-19, the January 6 hearings appear to spell trouble for Donald Trump, and artist Blitz Bazawule discusses his novel "The Scent of Burnt Flowers."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ditch the other hiring sites and let zip recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address. Zip Recruiter.com slash zip. Again that's Zip Recruiter. The smartest way to hire. You're listening to Comedy Central. Coming to you from New York City, the only city in America. It's the Daily Show. Tonight, the today's got. That's a rap on January 6th.

And Blitz Bazaulay. This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for coming out in Carson. This is lovely. Look at it. Take a seat everybody. Let's do it. We've got a jam-packed show for you tonight. Donald Trump is running from the law. Well, not running, but you know. Boris Johnson gives the greatest farewell speech of all time. And you'll never guess which US president got COVID. So, let's do this people. Let's jump straight into today's headlines. All right, let's kick things off with the big news of the day. President Biden has had a rough time recently. He couldn't get climate change action. He couldn't get free community college. He couldn't get tax hikes on the rich. But it turns out there's one thing

he could get. We began this hour with breaking news from the White House where President Joe Biden is in isolation after he tested positive for COVID. The White House press secretary saying that the president is fully vaccinated. He's been twiceed. He's experiencing what they say are very milde. th. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. thea thea thea thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. ttt. tf. tf. tf. tf. tf. tf. tf. tf. tf. te. ta. te. ta. ta. ta. fully vaccinated. He's been twice boosted. He's experiencing what they say are very mild symptoms at this point. So he will be isolating, but he will be able to continue in his role. He won't need to turn over any duties. It appears to the vice president at this point. Hey folks, guess you heard this morning, I test deposits of COVID.

But I've been double vaccinated, double boosted, symptoms are mild, and I really appreciate your inquiry and your concerns. But I'm doing well, I'm getting a lot of work done, I'm going to continue to get it done, and in the meantime, thanks for your concern and keep the faith. It's going to be okay. Okay, first things first. I'm sure all of our thoughts are with President Biden for a speedy recovery. Get well soon, sir. You made it through the Spanish flu. You can make it through this. I know you can do it. And also, it does look like he's gonna be fine, right? He's even got like swag in that video.

He's like, hey, aha. You probably heard I got COVID. But I get why he's got swag, you know, he's been vaxed, he's been boosted, he's been double-boasted, and he's taking antiviral drugs, and just to be safe, he's sipping some bleach on the side, you know? Yeah, that shit seems ridiculous, until you get COVID, you get COVID, then you're like, I'll try anything. I'm, I'm... Another reason the president's going to be fine, to be fine, to be fine, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be th of. th of. thininin. thin. thin. thin'. thin'. thin'. thin'. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. And, and, and, and, thi. And, thi. And, t. And, t. And, thea, thea, t. And, t. And, t. And, t. And, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta. And, ta. And, ta. And, ta. And, ta. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. And, to him. Yeah, think about it. What's going to happen?

The virus is going to get in his body and be like, let's see what I can do here. Time to get some brain fog, some fatigue, some dizzy. Wait, wait, wait. Have I already been here? What's going to be there? What's going to put on a strong face. Any other job, you'd be milking that shit, you know.

It's like, oh, oh, COVID really got me. Ah, I think I'm going to be sick for the rest of the summer. Oh, ha ha, ha. If you see pictures of me by the pool, oh, my phone was hacked. All the thi, thuke. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. too. too. th. too. too. th. to to th. to to thi. th th thi. to to to thi. thi. 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 th. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, th. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, th. Oh, thi. Oh, thi. thi. too. too. too. too. t toda. to to too too. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the big news that's coming out of the United Kingdom. The Queen has COVID. No, I'm joking, I'm joking. That would be crazy though, right? That would be crazy. No, I'm joking.

She doesn't have COVID. She's been dead for years. Anyway, back in 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his conservative party, they won a landslide election victory. It was huge. They won everywhere in Southern England and Manchester, in Sherlock upon Watson, and East Narnia, all the places. Basically, between Boris and Ed Sheer and 2019 was a good year, especially for British people who looked like they're from the year 1326. It was a good time.

And it was such a commanding victory that people thought Boris Johnson might become the Prime Minister who was up there for a decade, you know, which would be amazing for Britain's first human broom, but then Boris started getting caught up in scandals, right? He botched the COVID response, then he got caught throwing a bunch of parties while the rest of Britain had to the the rest of Britain had to be in lockdown, and then he hired the the, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, to, to, to, to, to, to, to be, to the the to be, to be, to, to, to, to, to, to, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, to, which, to, to, to be....... to, to bea, is is, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, is the their, is their, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe.a, toe. course, there was that time when he showed up to Parliament wearing a t-shirt that said, the carpet matches the drapes, which was totally inappropriate because it doesn't. He cones the carpet. So, finally, last month, he was forced to resign in disgrace. And yesterday, he gave the greatest farewell speech of all time.

Boris Johnson facing Parliament for one last time as British Prime Minister as only he would. Johnson defended his record in his farewell remarks. He also gave some words of advice to his successor. Number one, stay close to the Americans. Stick up for the Ukrainians. Stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere. Cut taxes and deregulate wherever you can to make this the greatest place to live and invest which it is. Focus on the road ahead, focus on the road ahead, but always remember to check the rearview mirror and

remember a bubble. It's not Twitter that counts. It's the people that sent us here. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank everybody here and... Hastelavista, baby. Thank you. Haastelavista, baby. This is the land of Shakespeare and Jane Austin, and the quote Boris chose was from the Terminator? I mean, I guess that shows you the power of American culture.

Even the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is like, farewell and Godspeed are cr-doh. The most ridiculous thing ever. And I don't know if you saw, like the speech was weird, the whole thing. In the middle, it looked like he just started giving random advice about driving. Focus on the road ahead. Always check the rearview mirror. And remember, it's not a hit and run if you drive away slowly.

You know, it's also like normally when you're giving a speech, especially about resigning or being fired, like, surely you want to make people regret it. Like, when you give the speech, you want people to go like, oh, man, have we made the wrong choice? They're leaving. Like, remember with Obama, right, when he gave his farewell speech, even racists in America were like, maybe he was one of the good ones.

But this guy, this guy gives a speech, you're like, this guy, this guy, this guy gives the speech, you're like, yo, how did he get the job? How? Did he win a content or something? Who is this person? Anyway, let's move on to some news about America's most powerful institution, Amazon. And I know, I know from the get-go, people have mixed feelings about Amazon. Oh, they exploit their workers. Oh, they ruin local economies. Quit bitching. I th. How. How. How. How, how. th, how, how, how, how, how, how, did the their, did their, did their, did their, did their, did their, did their their their their their th. Did th. Did their their thi. Did thi. Did their Oh, they exploit their workers. Oh, they ruin local economies. Quit bitching. I love them. You know why? If I need more shaman, I get it on Amazon and boom.

It's at my house in six hours. And yeah, maybe it's not exactly shaman. Maybe it's like a Chinese knockoff, and maybe the toilet paper is mostly made out of lead. But am I going to get brain poisoning from wiping with lead? No. And I certainly am not going to get brain poisoning from wiping with lead. Anyway, the fact is, Amazon is a parts of life in America. And I'm not going to get brain poisoning from wiping with lead. And now, Amazon is going to be expanding even more. We have breaking news out of Seattle this morning, home to Amazon. The company announcing it is diving further into the health care industry with plans to buy health care provider one medical for about $3.9 billion.

Amazon says health care is high on its list of things that needs reinventing. Yeah, finally a win for Jeff Bezos. Oh man. I could not be more excited. Yeah, because with Amazon's prediction algorithm, health care will never be the same. You know, you notice how they always know what you want, what you need before you even know it? Imagine them with health care, you're going to buy a pack of double-A batteries. And then just before you check out, they'll be like, you might also need chemotherapy.

I mean, chemotherapy, I don't have... Ah, shit! Shouldn't have used that lead toilet paper. Now, now, I know, I know some people are a little uncomfortable with the idea of Amazon getting into every industry, you know, because they're buying medicine now. They run the cloud. They own TV studios. They have grocery stores. And you know what?

So what? What, what? What? What? theymeas. the worst? thrown. their tooes.

their toobeze? thoe, thiiii. th................................ slaves working crazy hours in the warehouse you know peeing in bottles that doesn't sound so bad yeah at least I'll know where my packages are yeah I'll take it for myself the one thing that does suck about this is if Amazon also owns your medicine you realize that means Alexa that means Alexa knows your medical secrets they gotta watch out for that yeah because you're gonna be hanging out at home with your friends all over all of a sudden Alexa the to be like to 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 to to to their their to to to to to to 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. I I I I their. I their. I'm their. I'm t. I'm te. I'm te. I'm te. I'm te. I'm te. I'm te. I'm te. I'm to to to their their theirhoid cream is arriving this afternoon. No Alexa, cancel, cancel, cancel. You would like me to cancel your giant tub of hemorrhoid cream? No, no, no, cancel. All right that's it for the headlines but before we go to a break it's time to check in on the weather forecast with

our very own Desillidic everybody! It is absolutely insane. Please, just help us out. What is the weather looking like? Oh, Trevor, it is hot out there, so let's make it quick because I got a kid in my car, what? Relax, it's not my kid. It's just some actor I hired so I could use the carpool lane. Anyway, it is scorching all across this country as you can see and it is really important that we take precaution. So

I'm just gonna I'm gonna give everyone a few tips to stay safe out there okay, safe and cool. Now this heat is dangerous especially for pets and the elderly. Basically anyone who eats out of a bowl is considered high risk. So do your elderly neighbors a favor. Pop-by, see how they're doing, check in. Because if they die, God rest their soul, you get first dibs on that real estate. And this real estate market is a beast. You got to be competitive.

I actually checked in on my neighbor this morning. Unfortunately, she was fine. What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? Second tip, it is cooler at night. So you're going to want to leave those windows open before bed. And I know what you're thinking, Trevor, what about robbers, right? Crime rates are up.

So this is why I home alone my house every single night. Marbles on the floor, blow torches up above, the whole deal. You just takes care of everything. The one thing you're going to want to do is you're going to remind anyone that you live with about that. Because my husband has not been the same since the pain can and incident. Oh wow. A little bit rough. Next tip, wear loose clothing, okay, especially if you sweat a lot like me and I mean a lot.

Trevor it is like a slip and slide under this. It's a whole situation. I'm talking violently moist. You do not want to know what's happening. Yeah, yeah. Yes, I do not, I don't want to know. Yeah. The sheer volume of it. Sometimes there's a grit to it. You know what I'm talking about?

Have you ever opened up a dishwasher mid-cycle? That's what it's like. It's like that. Well, I'm glad you didn't tell me, Dizzy, thank you. Anyway, it is a medical condition, which is why I so appreciate you being such an ally, leaving out those towels for me, those beautiful clean towels in your bathroom for me to use three, four, five times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times tiiiiiiiiiiiiii tiii. ti. to to to to to to to to toea-a-a-a, too-a, toeateateat, toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. I me, those beautiful clean towels in your bathroom for me to use three, four, five times a day sometimes. I just, I really appreciate that. And to show you, that's why I always folded up neatly and put it exactly how you left it. Thank you. No.

No. I use those towels on my face. Of course, the most effective way to beat the heat is to stay hydrated okay but please please be careful watch out for products that claim to be more hydrating than water that's a cash grab there is only one thing that can hydrate you more than water and that is Darryl's hard brown lemonade. What makes it brown? After one or two, no one cares.

If it ain't brown, it's not going down. Has so good. So good. You know who could use Darryl's hard brown? President Biden. You know why? Because it also cures COVID. The only hard brown lemonade that also cures COVID. Mmm. That is why I love this stuff. It is thick.

Anyway, those are the big tips to carry you through this heat. Oh, one more thing, actually. If a guy named Darryl offers you $50,000, no strings attached, there are strings attached. Oh, shit, this kid's calling me again. Ugh. Yeah. No, you can't put the windows down. Someone could steal something. Well, did you home alone the car?

Is she going to leave the kid? Oh, Dizzy Leitic everybody. That's illegal. I think that's illegal. All right, when we come back, we're going to find out if Donald Trump is going to be president or prisoner. You don't want to miss it. You don't want to miss it. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience.

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the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address, Zip Recruiter.com slash Zip. Again, that's Zip Recruiter. The smartest way to the Daily Show. Tonight was the season finale of the January 6 hearings. The TV event that investigates the day a mob of mega-maniacs tried to help Mike Pence meet his hero.

So, with phase one of the hearings coming to a close, let's catch up on the latest developments in our ongoing coverage of January 6. After weeks of televised hearings, we're learning a lot about what happened on January 6. And the days that led up to it, we learned that Donald Trump was told by his closest advisors that the election wasn't stolen. We also learned that he set up a fake election defense fund that th, th, took took th, th, took took th, took took took th, took th, th, took th, took th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thoes, their, their, their up to it. We learned that Donald Trump was told by his closest advisors that the election wasn't stolen. We also learned that he set up a fake election defense fund that took millions of dollars from his supporters. We also learned that he knew his crowd was armed that day and still sent

them to the Capitol anyway. And after all of this guys, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to think this Donald Trump might think, think, think, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the thei, the the the thei, the thei, the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thr-i. thr-i. thr-i. two red flags here. And I'm not the only one. Because remember how we learned in those hearings about how Trump tried to get Mike Pence to single-handily toss out the election results? You remember that part? Yeah? Well, a bipartisan group of senators has decided that shit should never happen again. Here in Washington, a bipartisan group of senators have cut a deal that would make it much toup to pull that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th th th th th th th th th thi thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thiole partisan their thiole partisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group thi part bipartisan group to try try to try try to to trynipipipe bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group to to to to to to to to to to to to tip bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan group bipartisan to to to to to the bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan the the the the the the the the the the the their bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan their tod toda today today today try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try try to pull off a repeat of what former President Trump tried to do that effort to pressure his vice president into overturning the election. One measure would reform the Electoral Count Act to make it clear that the VP's job is quote, solely ministerial and that he or she does not have any power solely to determine,

accept, reject or otherwise adjudicate disputes over electors. Wow, this is big. This is big. Senators from both parties have agreed to amend the electoral count act of 1887 to make it clear once and for all that the VP cannot just toss out the election results. Which yes is something everyone in America already knew except for one guy. You know, it's kind of like when in kindergarten the teacher made an announcement to the whole

class but was clearly directed at one kid. You know, it's like, okay class, remember we don't poop on the toilet. We poop in the toilet. That's for everyone to understand, okay, Donald. It was obvious to everyone else. But the vice president, God just throw out the election results. That would make no sense. Why would you give so much power to someone who's otherwise totally powerless? It would be like handing over control of America's drones to whichever kid wins the national spelling bee.

It's what the founders wanted. But either way, this is a big deal. And it's also a good reminder for America that if an old-ass law doesn't make sense anymore, you can just change that shit. Right? And don't get me wrong. Don't say it's because people in the day were stupid. No, people back in the day were smart as hell. All right. They studied the classics. They knew how to write in cursive. They wore top hats, all the signs of an intelligent person.

But they wrote the laws that made sense for their time. Huh? Yeah, they need to spell this out because they didn't have a Donald Trump. So that law has changed. The vice president can't just overturn the election. And knowing America, and whoever writes this story, what's going to happen is Donald Trump's going to get all his people to become the electors in each state. They're going to ignore the voters, right? So they're gonna go, these are the votes, and then it's gonna come to Kamala Harris and we're like, Kamala, flip the thing,

she's like, man! But, it looks like overturning the next election might be the least of Donald Trump's worries, because after all the facts that the visits. The spotlight on the Justice Department's investigation is growing. Attorney General Merrick Garland, making it clear he will hold accountable every person who is criminally responsible. No person is above the law in this country. Nothing stops us. No person, I don't know how to say that again.

No person is above the law in this country. I can't say any of America. Damn. I've never seen that side of Merrick Garland. It looked like he was about a cutter bitch. Do you see what he did that? Yeah, he like, he turned into Samuel L. Jackson for a second. He's like, no person is above the...

What about the American? He's like, what part of no person? Don't you understand, mother-feeh? I said, no person. Now, what's interesting about the story is that some Democrats are actually mad at Mary Garland because they think he doesn't really want to prosecute Trump. All right, they say he's slow rolling, he's trying to hide behind things, but I'll be honest, I get it. I think the man is in a tough spot here. Think about it. Even if Trump is definitely guilty, can you imagine what would happen if he gets sent to prison?

The country would explode. Yeah, you thought January 6th was bad? Trump supporters would be storming everything if he got arrested. The Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court. The only th, would be safe from them is libraries. He's like, don't go in there, they got history books. But it turns out, it turns out Mary Carlin isn't even Trump's only problem because right now he's being investigated by everyone, right? Congress, the state of New York, a district attorney in Georgia, the men in black. And I get it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, th. No, thi. No, thi. No, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, 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. thii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, don't thi, don't thi, a district attorney in Georgia, the men in black, and I get it, I get it. No, human beings don't just look like this. It doesn't make sense. That's not a human thing.

So Trump looks like he's in a tough spot right now. But if there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, is that getting out of his speciality. He can get out of his current troubles. It is sounding more likely that an announcement from former President Trump about a 2024 election bid is more of a matter of when and not an if. But it's not just about avenging a loss. Four people with knowledge of the situation tell Rolling Stone magazine that mounting legal issues

are a motivating factor for Trump's desire to retake the Oval Office. According to the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, a sitting president cannot be charged with a federal crime. Yeah. So it turns out some people are above the law. And it's crazy that Trump might run for president so that he doesn't go to jail. Yeah, you know it's almost wild that Donald Trump is the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only the only.. the only the only. the only. the only. the only. the only. 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 to their. their. t. t. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. true. true. true. tru. the tru. the the tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. true. true. true. true. tr Trump might run for president so that he doesn't go to jail. Yeah, you know, it's almost wild that Donald Trump is the only person who runs for president but has no interest in being president. You know, the first time he did it to try and drum up ratings for the apprentice,

and now he's going to run just to stay out of jail. Like his campaign slogan is probably going to be, Trump 2024, I can't do time? I actually think it would make the campaign more fun. Yeah, can you imagine if Trump's running for president while he's running from the law? At every red, he's just like, no child should ever learn pronouns or what, oh shit, the cops are here. Rudy, open the sewer gate, you'll never get me. Ppia piao! Piao!

So, that's the end of the first season of the January 6th committee. And it ends with the possibility of Trump going to prison. And I'm sure right now wherever he is, the man is probably terrified. He's just like, what do I do? Melania, I can't go to prison. How am I going to survive? Don't worry, Donald. I'll give you tips. I've been a prisoner for 20 years. All right, stay true, because when we come back,

Bliss Vazza Vunger-Rule, will be joining me on the show. Don't go away. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free at Zip Recruiter's smart technology identifies top talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, zip recruiters powerful matching technology

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How are you doing, sir? Fantastic. This is so good to have you here because, you know, there are few people in the world who can say that? they have you that. This is so good to have you here, because, you know, there are few people in the world who can say that they have people like Oprah Winfrey and Biance as their fans. For you? None. Maybe you. Maybe you. Let's start with this idea. I mean, you know, people have seen your work, even if they don't know your name. You do so many different things, you know, no, no, no, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, nominated, thomenomenomenomenomenomenomenomenomenom. Let, let, let, let, let, let, let, let's, let's, let's, let th. Let, let's, let's, th, th. their, their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. their th. their th. th. tho, their tho, tho, their thoooooooooooooooooooo, their their their their their their their their their their th mean, you know, people have seen your work, even if they don't know, if they don't know your name. You do so many different things, you know, nominated for a Grammy for co-directing Black is King, right? You're also now creating the musical adaptation of a color purple. Absolutely. And all of this, and your journey begins in Ghana. I'm always fascinated as an African. How does that journey begin, how does it get you to this point here? Well, first, no African has one job. We know.

You know, you got to do them all, you got to do it all. And I've always been in an armoured by storytelling. That's for me, it's the beginning. I grew up with a grandmother that told stories. They were incredible. They were always visual. I call it the HBO Showtime, Netflix of its time. And the beauty of that was they were imaginative. So I grew understanding that stories could be nonlinear.

They could be their powerful tools for the imagination. And so over time, for me, that's just been it. It's just chasing this idea of storytelling, understanding that stories bring us together, understanding, especially as a continent, where stories are so few and far between and so few people know about our stories, I found that having to do it in multiple mediums allows me to tell more of the same exact story. I love that you've done that across multiple mediums because you know, you don't just direct and you don't just, you know, produce and create movies.

You also are a rapper. You have like four self-release albums, right? Right? You, I do. And now a novel is throw into the mix? What's happening? You just, you you you you you you you you just, 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, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. thi, 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. th, th. th, th. th. th. th, th. th. th. th. th. to, having, having, having, having, to, having, having, having, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi. thi. thi. thi. th th th throw into the mix? Absolutely. What's happening? You're just winning so hard and then you get bored and you run to the next thing? Like not many people would think that they can write the book and then not many people would write a book that is getting the reviews your book is getting. Indeed, I mean I really, look, it was COVID. Look, it was COVID.

to their, to take it. Everyone else's baking bread, you were writing a book. It's a fantastic book as well, you know, and the premise to your points of stories is beautiful. I won't give away all of the details, but essentially it's the story of a couple in the 60s, a black couple in the 60s, living in America who escape. Yes. Yes. A whole journey unfolds. tooomorrow. Yes. to their thoomk. thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. too. to to the to the the the to the the 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. too. too. to. to. too. toda. toda. toda. to. to. to. to. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to 60s, and we know the civil rights movement, and we know all the stories are in and around their time, but it feels strangely like it could be set today as well. You know? Because people going like, America, I'm not sure, I need to go to Africa. Absolutely.

And it's been an ongoing thing. And for me, what it is also about expectation. You know, I have a lot a a a a tha tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thus, tho, tho, tho, tho, that, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, is thi, is thi, is thi, is thi, is that, is that, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, to Africa. And they go and they go, oh, this is the real Africa. And it's real. It's very real to them. And I find that ultimately, I also have friends who want to come to America. Yes. And you know, you're told they're, you go, oh wait, that happens here too. And so the expectation back and forth for me has been one of the most interesting juxtapositions of this book.

And whether it's now, whether it's then, I think the story is still the same. We're all longing for a home that we hope will be better than the one we're in. I love that. Wow. I really. I really. I really. I really. I really. Thank. I really. I really. I really. Thank. I really. I really. I really. Thank. I really. I really. I really really. I really really really really. I really really. I really really. I really really really really really. I really really. I really really really. I really. I really really really that. I really that. I really that. I really that. I really that. I really that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I really really really really really really really th. I really th. I really th. I really th. I really th. I really love. I really love. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thi. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I also enjoy how real you made the story. This is, if I'm not mistaken, this has already been bought to be turned into a series, correct? Absolutely. This is wild because, most of the time, most of the time, the book has to be out. And then people were like, oh, we need to make this into a movie or a TV series. And then you wrote the book and the, 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, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, how, how, how, how, how, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, how, their, how, how, how, their, how, their, how, how, how, how, how, their, how, their, th, th, th, th. th. th. How, th. How, th. How, th. How, th. th. thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, th. has to be out. Yes. And then people were like, oh we need to make this

into a movie or a TV series. And then you wrote the book and then there was a bidding war. And people were like, we want the book, we want the book. Yes. How did they even know what was in? the book? they even know what was in the book? the book. We'll take it. the book. tod. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the book. the question I have. Everyone says the same thing about everything. Oh, the book was always better. The book is better. The book is better. How are you going to make sure that the book isn't just better? How do you make sure that the series, you know, holds a candle to the book? Absolutely. I mean, I think first, you know, shout out to Yaiyaya Ya, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, yya, yya, yya, yya, yya, yya, the the yi, yi, yi, yi, yi, yi, yi, y'a, y'a, the y'a, the y'a, the book is the book, the book, the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book, the book is the book is the book, the book is the book, the book is th. the book is the book is the book is the book is the book is the book, the book, the book, to be a fantastic exploration because one thing I found about writing is that you can create these multiple layers and back story in ways that you probably couldn't in television or film you've got a visual medium in which you can tell nonverbal story tell so you can show people that's supposed to tell them. And so I feel like I'm, I have the best of both worlds

because I can go in here whenever I need it, but I also have the visual to tell the story. I love that. So you're gonna be working on the adaptation, the musical is, what's the process purple is one of those stories that is really held in high esteem in the United It's such an important story. It's you know it's multi-generational You're going to be redoing it as a musical which which is particularly interesting. Yes. How do you How do you capture the essence of something whilst also bringing in elements of the new And then making sure that the worlds merged together?

How you did it? How did it? I didn't make don't the the th? I th? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? It? It? It? It? It? It? It? It's? It? It's? It's th? It's th? It's th? It's? It's? It's? It's thi? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's? It's th. It's thi? It's thi? It's the thi? It's the the the the the the the the the the the the thiii? It's the the the the the the thi? It's thi? It's th the world's merged together. How you did it. What? How you did it? I didn't make the color purple. No, no, no. I mean, you're confusing me with Stephen Spielberg. That's why there are a lot of people tell me that on this side. You know, Stephen Spielberg, they're not telling me like, sorry. I mean, I mean, I, I mean, I mean, the daily, the daily, the daily, the daily, the daily, the daily, I, the daily, I, I, the daily, the daily, the daily, 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, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I'm, 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, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, the the the the th.a.a.a.a.a. I mean, I'm th. I'm. I'm th. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, did, and I have to be honest, it's such an inspiration. You know, when I, seriously, when I got this job, when I got this job, you were one of the

first people I thought about, which is how do you take something that is classic, how do you take something that people love and make it your own? And you did that. And so, in going into the color purple, which we just wrapped by the way. Yes, fantastic. Shout out to Stephen Spielberg and Oprah for the support and love and the Warner Brothers family for the love. But they really allowed me to make this my own.

And they allowed me to experiment. They allowed me to give Seely and imagination. They allowed me to do things that I think elevate the the to to to elevate the to elevate to elevate the to elevate to elevate to elevate the to elevate the to elevate to elevate the to elevate the to elevate to elevate the to elevate the the to elevate the the to experiment. They allowed me to give Seely an imagination. They allowed me to do things that I think elevate the story and make it something that's modern and something that still holds its foundations together. And so also Alice Walker's amazing text, which is the original inspiration for all of this. Very, very lucky. I think we're lucky because we're going to be the ones who experience, you know, how you put the work together. I find I the the their, I their, I their, I their, I their, I their, I their, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, their, their, their, 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, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. I, the.e.e. I, the.a, thi.a.a, the.a.a.a.a.a. the. thi. I, thi. thi. I'm, thi. thi. I'm, we're lucky because we're going to be the ones who experience you know how you put the work together. I find myself intrigued with a lot of the work you create because you can tell that you know Ghana and Africa as a whole

have an indelible impression on how you think and how you apply your mind to the projects that you're working on. You see this in the book, and I loved how you did it. You tell a story about people who are connected by so many things and yet have so many things that actually make them different. You know, particularly an African-American couple going to Africa and going, this is our home, and then realizing it's not but it is, and there are things that are different. How did you tackle that sensitively? Because what I reading the book was wow we are the people but we can also celebrate the fact that new cultures have emerged and new ideas have spread across

the you know from generation to generation how did you how do you do it on purpose or is it just innate? I mean it's it's on purpose I mean the fact that I grew up in Ghana throughthrough high school. I went to Ratchemota Secondary School, which is fantastic school, produced presidents. I'm lucky to be from that school. Okay, okay, okay. And, but the beauty there was that I've been able to really never let go of, you know, that early, those early years of my life,

which then, you know, spending as much time as I have now in the US, years of my life, which then, you know, spending as much time as I have now in the U.S., it's kind of found a way to kind of all-quagalesce as one thing, which now is kind of the mirror through which I am or the vessel through which I've made music. It's the same. It was like taking, you know, public enemy and mixing it with Fe La Couti. Which, which, you know, now you got Afro beats and everybody knows it, but 10 years ago it was, that idea was wild. It was wild, it was Canaan, it was myself, it was very few people who were attempting to

do this and I think it's all about this double consciousness where you kind of zigzac through these worlds where you know that you're never quite either because they both become one thing and and that's 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 th th th th th th th th th th th th th their thi their their their their their their their their thi. thi. thi. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. th. th. the. thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thiiiiiiiiiii. thiiiiii. thii. thii. thi. thi. th either because they both become one thing. And that's how these characters find themselves. They find themselves constantly wrestling with identity. Who am I? You know, where am I going? And what world do I belong ultimately? Is it where you are? Is it where you were born? Is it where you're going next?

And that's kind of where I find, I personally wrestled with that myself, and many immigrants do, and so that's kind of how I filter all that through into this book. You've done an amazing job, it's going to be an amazing show and thank you so much. I appreciate you. I appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. The scent of burns flowers is available now. Letitz-Bazardoulao everybody.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back after this. Thank you, my brother. We're not toughur for tonight, but before we go, please consider supporting Keene. They're a fantastic organization providing free, fitness and recreation programs for youth with disabilities. So if you want to help them offer equal opportunities for recreation, fitness and friendship then please donate at the link below. Until next time, stay safe out there. And remember, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime or just run for

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