The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump Puts the Squeeze on Venezuela's Oil & Eyes Greenland as Next Target | Stephen J. Dubner

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

Ronny Chieng covers how Trump is taking charge of Venezuela's oil industry and replacing their old dictator with a new one: himself. Plus, this Venezuela takeover is so much fun, the president adds a ...bunch of other countries to his To-Be-Overthrown list, including Greenland, and Michael Kosta couldn't be more excited to be part of Trump's nation-extorting mafia. Jordan Klepper profiles Benny Johnson, social media star turned White House press commentator, who caught Trump’s eye with his generic vitriol, Russian backing, penchant for plagiarism, and unyielding obsession with Batman. Stephen J. Dubner, host of "Freakonomics Radio" and co-author of "Freakonomics," sits down with Ronny Chieng to discuss the book’s 20th anniversary edition. They talk about how Dubner and his co-author Steven Levitt wove together storytelling and data to present case studies without imposing their own judgment, and how their publisher, doubtful of the title, liberated them to write the book they wanted. Dubner also offers some Freakonomics insights for 2026 pertaining to animals and artificial insemination, and why one should never go before a judge just before lunch. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster—join at https://RocketMoney.com/DAILYSHOW. Refresh your winter wardrobe with Quince—visit https://quince.com/DAILYSHOW for free shipping and 365-day returns. Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family. Apply today in just minutes at https://meetfabric.com/daily Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:34 I'm Roy Chegg. We got so much to talk about tonight. Trump grabs more oil than diddy. The new Batman reboot sucks. And did you know, Iceland is actually green. And Greenland is actually under threat from the president of the United States. So let's find out more
Starting point is 00:01:51 in our ongoing coverage of the war in Venezuela. Leave the oil to me. It's been five days since America invaded Venezuela, arrested its president, and seized control of the country. And now the real work begins. Nation building. I'm sorry, I read that wrong. I meant narrative building.
Starting point is 00:02:20 The bottom line is we now have freedom in Venezuela. I have so many Venezuelan friends. They are crying tears of joy. This is their first real opportunity. for to experience democracy and freedom. Listen, people smell freedom in the air, and they can thank Donald J. Trump. That's right.
Starting point is 00:02:40 Trump is stinking up the joint with freedom. Can you smell it? It's just crop dusting our hemisphere of democracy. Breathe it in, people. Finally, the Venezuelan people are in charge of their own destiny. Let's see exactly what kind of freedom they have won. President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela
Starting point is 00:03:03 will be giving the U.S. 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to be sold. This oil will be sold at its market price and that money will be controlled by me as president of the United States of America. Okay, okay, look, say what you want about his corruption. At least Trump is hands-on with it, okay? Dick Cheney had to funnel it through Halliburton or whatever,
Starting point is 00:03:28 But Donald Trump is like, yo, just give me the oil. I'll open a gas pump outside the Oval Office. Okay? Just come drive right up, but no Amex. So yes, Venezuela has agreed to hand over approximately $2 billion worth of oil to the United States,
Starting point is 00:03:46 either the goodness of their hearts, and because we are mugging them. Which seems harsh, but you know what? A little bit of oil money for President Trump is a small price to pay for illegally kidnapping the president. And now that this payoff is taking care of,
Starting point is 00:04:02 America will get out of your hair. Goodbye forever, Venezuela. You're finally free. The U.S. now composing a military blockade on its oil exports, using it as leverage to get Venezuela to give in to the Trump administration's demands. The U.S. has conveyed to the interim leader of Venezuela
Starting point is 00:04:20 that she must agree to partner exclusively with the U.S. on oil production and kick out officials from China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba, severing all economic ties with those countries. I think we all know what's going on here. Ladies, when your new boyfriend forces you to cut ties with all of your friends, he's a keeper. Sorry, it kind of feels like Trump wants to be the new dictator of Venezuela,
Starting point is 00:04:49 but that can't be right, right? We obviously have maximum leverage over the international. authorities, their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America. Okay, look, I know how that sounds, but just because you dictate doesn't make you a dictator. Okay? Because, no, it doesn't. Because dictators, they live in like a gold palace or so off, oh, And to any Venezuelans looking for advice on how to get rid of Donald Trump, we have no idea. But I can tell you one thing that doesn't work, satire. Doesn't do shit.
Starting point is 00:05:49 But if you're in a country in the area and this sounds like a good deal, well, good news. news. You're next. This is the start of changing Venezuela. Then we're going to fix Cuba. Nicaragua will get fixed. Next year we'll get a new president in Colombia. Democracy is coming back to this hemisphere. Okay. First of all,
Starting point is 00:06:11 congratulations to this guy on surviving the Ark of the Covenant. And second, Look, okay, the world is a messed up place. If an oil rampage is what it takes to spread democracy, maybe that's what it takes, okay? Stop being such babies. So which of these tyrannical dictatorships are we going after next?
Starting point is 00:06:40 President Trump and his team are also targeting a northern ally of the U.S. with new threats to take over Greenland. That's right, Greenland. Because the only thing we hate more than a brutal authoritarian regime is whatever the complete opposite of that is. That's just one little hitch with invading Greenland. Denmark, which controls the independent territory, is a close NATO ally. The Danish Prime Minister has said a U.S. attack on NATO territory would effectively end the
Starting point is 00:07:14 alliance, which has never seen one member attack another. Great, okay? That means they won't expect it. The definition of a sneak attack. The point is we need Greenland. Why? For their freedom or their oil or for national defense. Look, I don't remember what excuse we're using. But, okay, this congressman, he'll explain.
Starting point is 00:07:41 It's important that we have a stake in Greenland. When you look at the Western Hemisphere, we are the dominant predator, quite frankly, force in the Western Hemisphere. Yeah, Trump is the dominant predator in the Western Hemisphere. predator in the Western Hemisphere. At least now that Jeffrey Epstein is dead.
Starting point is 00:08:05 For more on America's plans in Venezuela, we go live to Caracas with Michael Costa. Michael. Michael. Michael. Michael. How are Venezuelans reacting to this extortion?
Starting point is 00:08:28 Extortion. Oh, Ronnie. What America is doing here is legitimate international business. Trump is simply offering Venezuela protection from dictators and foreign enemies, and in exchange, they give him money for that protection. Capiche? Michael, that's the business model of the mafia. You're describing the mafia.
Starting point is 00:08:53 The mafia. Oh, stugats. This is not the mob. This is just Venezuela tucking an envelope of cash in the Donald Trump's pocket every week because it would be a real shame if they forgot to pay
Starting point is 00:09:11 and their economy blew up when it turned on its car. Everything you're describing is what the mob does, okay? You're even dressed like you're in the mob. All right, fine. Maybe America is a little bit of a mafia face. So what?
Starting point is 00:09:26 The mafia's Mouto Ben. You get to wear nice suits. You skip the line at the Copa, and you get to kiss guys on the lips when they portray you, and you get to drink from fancy little cup, Salute.
Starting point is 00:09:43 Okay, Costa, it's a little late in the day to be drinking espresso. This? This is crude oil. As Mynona used to say, and that's a spicy diesel fuel. Have you not seen any mafia movies? It never ends well for them. Name one mob movie that doesn't end well.
Starting point is 00:10:09 The Godfather. Name two. The Godfather, two. Name three. The Godfather three. Name six more. All those Scorsese movies and the Sopranos. Technically, we don't know how the Supreme.
Starting point is 00:10:23 For all we know, Tony is still at the strip club, eating gabagool, getting a lap dance from a girl wearing a bikini made of gabagool. Oh! Costa, I know it's great to live by Lala's mob rules when you have power, but what's to start someone bigger from doing all this mafia shit on us? Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie, your brain is like a canoli with no filling. If that happens to America, we'll just turn state witness. I'm already wearing a wire. No, this isn't TV, okay? If we abandon international law,
Starting point is 00:11:00 what will stop the next superpower from extorting us once our run as an empire is over? Name one time an empire's come to an end. One time, the Romans, the British, the Germans, the Germans, Mongolians, Ottomans. Stop making places up, Ronnie. And trust me, this is not going to happen this time.
Starting point is 00:11:20 Oh, really? Why not? Because there's only one way this Venezuela stuff to end. And that is... Ah, fuck, he sopranoed me. God damn. Michael Costa, everyone. When we come back, we discover America's best reporter, so don't go away.
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Starting point is 00:13:28 segment, News to Meet Ya. Lately, President Trump has been introducing a slew of new reporters to the White House press pool, including social media star and fellow forehead American, Benny Johnson. Lucky for us, he's not afraid to hold the powerful accountable and, ask the tough questions. Will the President consider giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Big Balls?
Starting point is 00:14:01 Ooh. That's a very important question. It'll be the first Medal of Freedom awarded to a human scrotum since Rush Limbaugh. Now, it is these. It is these kinds of bold
Starting point is 00:14:21 and very wrinkly questions that Benny Johnson has been asking for years on his creatively titled programs like The Benny Show, the Benny Report, Benny Brews, and Benny on the Block, and of course, breaking Benny, two and a half Benny's, and the Kelly Clarkson Show featuring Benny Johnson. But before he was getting literally a billion views online, Benny worked at storied news outlets like Breitbart, The Blaze, and BuzzFeed, where he honed a huge. unique perspective that was definitely authentic and original. BuzzFeed announced it was firing its viral politics editor, Benny Johnson, for plagiarism.
Starting point is 00:15:03 Johnson wholesale copied words and entire phrases from The Guardian, U.S. News and World Report, and even Yahoo Answers. Wow! How bad of a writer do you have to be to cheat on a BuzzFeed article with Yahoo Answers? Yahoo! Answers, the website that bravely asks, what if Wikipedia was written by guys who scrawl graffiti in public toilets? But, now that he's no longer at bus feed, he's not forced to write drivel like,
Starting point is 00:15:43 which Harry Potter house matches your Disney princess style. I'm a Hufflepuff Moana, but that's beside the point. Benny is now free to talk politics. Give us a taste. Every single thing you hate about your life right now or American culture is caused by mass immigration. American cities are treasures, and we should not sacrifice them
Starting point is 00:16:04 to be Mongoloid horde. White rage is how you win a war. Leftists are a death cult. Save this country from literal demons, from Satanists and from scum. You Slytherin Elsa bitch. Wow. Wow.
Starting point is 00:16:27 Maybe we were too hard on plagiarism, you know? Regardless, Benny's constant stream of vitriol and cruelty has reaped him billions of views. Frankly, it blows my mind that someone this unoriginal and derivative can garner such online attention and the ear of the president. I mean, what am I missing? Some of the most famous, most viewed right-wing online influencers were being paid by Russia.
Starting point is 00:16:53 Part of a Kremlin-backed campaign to fuel Russian narratives. Among those stars, Benny Johnson. Oh! He's just being paid by foreign forces to destroy America from within. Phew! I thought my neighbors actually like the guy! You know, and his popularity can't just all be Russia putting their finger on the scale. Perhaps there's a star quality.
Starting point is 00:17:18 there. Just show me the undeniable charisma, Benny. Whoa. Benny, that's the good, the first good question I've heard you ask. What is going on? He dances like a jabberwocky with polio. Now, I know J.D. Vance said we don't have to apologize
Starting point is 00:18:00 for being white anymore, but on behalf of the whites, I'm sorry you all had to see that. But you know what? You know what? Hey, you know what? You know what? You don't have to have coordinated limbs or a,
Starting point is 00:18:18 Toddler's sense of rhythm to be compelling. Hit us with your classic Benny Johnson charm and humor. Welcome to the Benny Report. I'm Batman. Actually, I'm Benny Johnson. Okay. Okay. For a second, I thought he was Batman. You got me, Benny?
Starting point is 00:18:36 And I'll tell you what, if you like that Batman reference, don't worry, there's plenty more. Have you ever watched The Dark Night, arguably the greatest superhero film of all time? The scene when Batman comes up the floor and there's like seven bad guys and they're like who he is and it's a big Batman just takes them all out I want Batman to stay Batman not turn into Antifa man so I'm a big Batman fan we're gonna begin by saying Batman for your boy
Starting point is 00:19:04 no no no we are not we are adults and we do adult things yes adults and we do adult things like crossword puzzles by orthotic inserts and drink quietly over the sink after our wife goes to bed. We do adult things. But yeah, Benny loves Batman so much. He even released
Starting point is 00:19:31 an AI video of himself dressed as Batman and punching immigrants in a Walmart parking lot. I know what you're thinking. What a xenophobic and cruel vision of Batman. But
Starting point is 00:19:47 But it's still better than the George Clooney one. You're all thinking of it. You're all thinking. And you know what? I know I'm going to hate this answer. But what is it about the Cape Crusader you even like so much, Benny? Both Trump and Batman are rich, mysterious, unpredictable guys. They own skyscrapers in Gotham.
Starting point is 00:20:10 Okay. So your favorite thing about Batman is that he's rich and owns buildings. Benny, you don't like Batman, you like Bruce Wayne. Benny Johnson watches Batman fighting the Joker, like, boo, you're missing the black tie gala for this. I got to admit, Benny, Benny, you're running out of chances to win me over here. Can you show me anything that proves you have the goods to speak truth to power? What's up, guys?
Starting point is 00:20:39 We are taking you inside alligator Alcatraz today with President Trump. One of the most deadly spots on earth, the middle of the Florida Everglades. Let's freaking cook. This is going to be a wild one. We're in rock and roll. So come along with us on a nice raid in Chicago. Let's go. Let's rock and roll.
Starting point is 00:20:58 Oh, yeah, nothing says let's rock and roll like a quarter zip and some Warby Parkers. Although I will say one thing I liked, not one mention of Batman. Underneath Chicago, you recognize some of these tunnels. from the actual Dark Night series. God damn it! Damn it! For the last time, you are not Batman! You're a thirsty influencer cosplay
Starting point is 00:21:25 as a journalist. At best, you are the nipples on George Clooney's Batman suits. Yes. That's... A gross appendage that years from now history would prefer to forget. At least I think that's true, according to Yahoo answers. I'm Jordan Klepper. Good night and seriously. Good fucking luck.
Starting point is 00:21:57 Thank you, Jordan. When we come back, Stephen J. Wobbner will be joining us on the show so don't go away. A new year, colder days. This is the moment your winter. winter wardrobe really has to deliver. If you're craving a winter reset, start with pieces truly made to last season after season. Quince brings together premium materials, thoughtful design, and enduring quality, so you stay warm, look sharp, and feel your best all season long. Quince is everything you need. Men's Mongolian cashmere sweaters, wool coats, leather and suede outer wear that actually hold up to daily wear and still look good. Each piece is made from premium materials by trusted factories that meet rigorous standards for craftsmanship and ethical production.
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Starting point is 00:23:30 That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash daily show. Free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash daily show. Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is the host of Freakonomics Radio and co-author of Freakonomics. Now in a new 20th anniversary edition, please welcome Mr. Stephen Dubner.
Starting point is 00:24:13 Thank you. Thanks for coming on the show. You're welcome. Thank you for having it. I read this book in college, and it changed the way I saw the world. Why is everything in this wrong? Well, we... We didn't have chat GPT yet.
Starting point is 00:24:43 Let's start with the title, Freakonomics, come on. Like, that makes everyone think it's a study on, like, Diddy Potty's or something. That's what our publisher thought. They said, there's no way we can call this book Freakonomics. They said, do you know what Freak means? And I thought I did, but then they said it has to do with, you know, children, animals, sex, things like that. And I didn't actually know that. But you went with it anyway.
Starting point is 00:25:07 We persevered, yes. And it's a real, I mean, before we get into the substance of the book, it's almost a triumph of publishing, this story. that you made this book because when you wrote it, co-wrote it, you guys didn't think that it was going to become the phenomenon? We did not. We did not. I think every writer, like, you finish your manuscript, and it goes to the publisher, and they're getting it ready. And that's the period that we call the lull before the lull.
Starting point is 00:25:31 Because you assume that, like, you work hard on it, but most books, you know how many books that are published every year? It's like 250,000. And most people, the average American, reads, like, zero. So, um... So the numbers are not good. The numbers are not good. You could say the Freakonomics don't make sense in that one.
Starting point is 00:25:50 But when you, I like, it's an interesting story. You talk about in the foreword of this 20th edition that you called it Freakonomics, a publisher said that name's not going to work, and you did it, and so it kind of freed you from the burden of expectation and you wrote the book you want. Is that because the publisher kind of gave up on it after you named it that? No, in the sense, no, it's the publisher going like,
Starting point is 00:26:11 hey, these f*** are not listening to us anyway. You don't want to listen. We're just publishers. What do we know? We just sell books every day. You don't want to listen to us. All right, right, what you want you want? And then you wrote it and it blew up. And then you want to rub it in their faces the whole time. Yes. That is exactly what happened. Very awesome.
Starting point is 00:26:29 No, I love it. Yeah. Dude, we all love underdog showbiz stories of sticking it to meddlesome, you know, producers and studios. And, I mean, in case for the less educated people here, we don't know, this book is divided into kind of almost case studies. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:49 Right? Which is also unconventional structure for a book. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, we didn't have, so I have a co-author, Steve Levitt, who was on this show, probably in the studio right near here, but not the same one 20 years ago when the book first came out. He was on with John Stewart. Oh, I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:27:04 I'm sorry you had to come out with me. And, yeah, we didn't expect the book, like, we had a blast writing it. And Leavitt is an economist. I'm a writer. We started to spend some time together. And he did, in economics, what I like to do as a writer, which is find whatever stories, often odd or surprising, and just go deep on them.
Starting point is 00:27:25 But the beauty of this is, I'm a writer. We look for stories, but Leavitt as an economist, had data. So we had data on sumo wrestlers and real estate agents and what people name their babies and all these different things. And so what we did is we just told stories like you do in a regular book, but with a lot of data, and we showed our homework. We tried to really explain to the listener why this thing that we say that is true, why you should believe it. And it's really hard for me to understand why it succeeded the way it did other than there were a lot of young people like you
Starting point is 00:27:55 in college trying to figure out like, I know when the authority figures tell me the way the world works, they're lying. I know that. And institutions, you know, they kind of tell you one story, but it doesn't work out that way. So we were just trying to blow the lid off that with data. For sure, now that you mentioned it, it did feel very countercultural at the time when, you know, and now 20 years later, you guys are the institutions now. I guess that's... You guys are the old guys here, you know? But, no, but I mean that when I said it changed the way I look at the world, it did because it kind of made me think about...
Starting point is 00:28:24 It was written, it was very easy to read, first of all. So it was kind of like academics, but made dumber. Yeah, I was... I was the... My partner is in academics, so you know what part I am of that. Yeah. No, you made it accessible, and regardless of... you know, whatever was the facts involved.
Starting point is 00:28:44 But it just made me think of a, it's a different way to look at the world, that there's these, you could take two separate situations and there could be hidden causation between them. So, you know, for people, again, for the uneducated people on social media, who are watching this on YouTube, on the toilet, while taking a shit.
Starting point is 00:29:02 You know, so for example, if you haven't read the book, it's that there's a story in here about connect. Can I just say, I'm glad that they're taking a shit on the toilet. I mean, that's a win. You got to, I guess. I mean, I somewhat consider it the bare minimum, but I guess in 2226, we take that as a win these days. If you're taking a shit on the toilet, congratulations. You made it to the toilet. And there's connections here between, you know, abortion and crime rates and stuff like that. You know, 20 years later, I reread this. I think there was a second edition. You added a
Starting point is 00:29:39 forward. Yeah. But really it hasn't changed that much. It didn't. I mean... Do the studies and the connections still hold up? Yeah, I mean, I know thanks to the internet, which we all love in many different ways. The internet. I hate you guys. Legacy media for life. So, um, it is true that if you do good nonfiction work, so, you know, I'm a journalist by worked at the New York Times, et cetera. There are a lot of things that are great about real journalism,
Starting point is 00:30:13 including the fact that rather than asking one person what's going on, you ask a lot, you fact check it, et cetera, et cetera. That said, if you write a book, which is full of what we argue is all true stuff backed up by data, there will be a million people who say, well, in my experience, that's not true. And then it starts a kind of pissing war there. The good news is that the book, which we kind of went back
Starting point is 00:30:35 and reexamined a bunch of times in Levitt and his co-author on the abortion crime study that you mentioned, actually went back and did a whole new study with 20 years more worth of data. And, yeah, the book is legit. I was very happy. Great. That's good to know.
Starting point is 00:30:50 It was great to know. If you were to rewrite this book in 2026. Oh, not possible. Oh, why not possible? Like, when I read it now, like, you know, I hear the voices of the people that we were, then. And when you're 20 years younger, you're a different person. I think we're a little bit more like callow. And also the environment was different. You could just say stuff. Now you're in an
Starting point is 00:31:19 environment where because of the amplification of social, no matter what you say, there will be an avalanche coming at you. And unless you're really good at tuning it out, which I encourage everyone to become really good at, because that's important, then you're going to doubt yourself and you're going to dial it down and you're going to make boring stuff. And we did not want to be boring okay i don't know if you watch this show we talk about a ton of shit every day and i i say this i i say this with truly no bravado i object objectively we truly do not give a on this show if you watch it so i i kind of disagree on this we can't say anything now okay i'm gonna leave no no no please don't but but i guess what i was trying to not so much that
Starting point is 00:32:04 you are younger and more spry back then i just mean like i I was so spied. Let me tell you. But what I meant more was, like, if you were to write this book now, what case studies might you put in there? That's kind of why I made. I would, I mean, the ones I'm thinking about are not necessarily as fun. Like, there were a lot of fun ones, sumo wrestling, I mentioned, so on.
Starting point is 00:32:25 Like, I would write a lot about AI now. I think... Just to sell the book, could you quickly explain the connection being sumo wrestling and... Oh, yeah. So it turns out that sumo wrestlers will collude with each other. even sumo wrestlers from opposite teams or stables, because they will help each other kind of maintain their rank in the big rankings that determines basically whether you eat or not.
Starting point is 00:32:47 So we looked at collusion in sumo wrestlers. We looked at cheating teachers, which I think probably still happens a little bit. Can I tell you what's so interesting about that? We looked at, it turned out that teachers, when the standards were raised for children, the no child left behind standards where schools would be punished if a certain number of children would fail,
Starting point is 00:33:05 It turned out there were some teachers that would actually cheat on behalf of their students. They would actually take their standardized tests, erase the wrong answers, and write in the right ones, which is terrible and sad, sad face. But what was particularly interesting was that the teachers who cheated were the bad teachers. In other words, it was the bad teachers who had to cheat on behalf of their students because the teachers hadn't done a good job teaching them. So now I think we would write about AI. What I love, sorry, before you get to the 2226 stuff.
Starting point is 00:33:33 I don't even have to get to the 2026. No, no, no, I do want to hear what. you hear, but one thing I love about the whole tone of these books is that you kind of present all this stuff as you just did, kind of objectively without judgment, here's the connections where you're like it or not, without providing any solutions whatsoever. And I, I love it. I love it. That's what it's about, yeah. It's all right. You're like, I would argue. Socrates just throwing these mediocrities in the air and going, you know. But, uh, I mean,
Starting point is 00:34:00 please answer to you, but I do want to hear about 2026, though. I don't care about 2026. No, no, I do. I can't. But what I would say is that you're right that we probably don't provide a lot of solutions, but I really appreciate and like that you said without judgment. Because I feel that whether you're in entertainment, journalism, running a country, whatever, I think the easiest trap to fall into is bringing your, what you think, your values, which you think are the only values, to every argument, whether it's about health care, whether it's about housing and so on.
Starting point is 00:34:33 And that's just prima facie a stupid way to operate because not everybody believes like you. So we were trying to just lay out like, this is the way the world works using these case studies or stories and you, smart person who reads a book. Now you go in the world and do something with it without us telling you what to do.
Starting point is 00:34:50 Sure. No, and I think there is value there. It is value that without. So I actually appreciate the tone you guys took with it. And I guess that's why I would love to hear what your 2026 kind of insights would be. so that we could go into the world and act like smart asses like you guys
Starting point is 00:35:07 and just drop some factoids on this place. Let me think. Okay, if you happen to be seeking asylum and you get before a judge, an asylum judge, make sure you don't have the slot right before lunch. Okay? Bad, bad fortune for you. So if you happen to be like the last one before lunch, you should do something like vomit to clear the courtroom, so the judge comes back after he or she is eaten?
Starting point is 00:35:31 Who says you don't provide solutions? This is what I'm talking about. Yeah. I'll tell you what I'd be writing about now. Oh, sorry, could you just explain a little bit why that's the bad... Oh, because hungry people make bad decisions. It's no joke. And if you look at like sports referees...
Starting point is 00:35:50 But what if my case is weak, I need the judge to make a bad decision to get me into the country. Oh, to get you into the... Oh, that's a different story. Yeah, yeah, okay. So I haven't gone that far with that logic. I'll tell you, how do you feel about artificial insemination? Is that a topic that interests you? It interests me a lot, I would have to say, yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:09 I like watching that a lot. So one thing I've learned recently is that there are two animals that are very popular in America, one of which is conceived almost Republicans and Democrats. One of which is conceived almost always by artificial insemination. The other, never. And I found this interesting.
Starting point is 00:36:30 The one that always is is turkeys. is turkeys. And the reason is that we like to eat breast meat from turkey in America with mayonnaise and mustard and so on. And so they've bred the turkeys to have such big breasts that they physically cannot get close enough to procreate anymore. Therefore, all turkeys you eat are the product of artificial insemination. But on the other hand, on the other hand, thoroughbred race horses, they're not allowed to be bred by artificial insemination. And the reason is that Kentucky has this real stranglehold, a monopoly, on the thoroughbred breeding industry.
Starting point is 00:37:07 And they know that if they were to allow artificial insemination, then no longer does everybody have to bring their horses to Kentucky to be bred by a real horse with a real, you know, thing. Okay, but how do they police that? There is a horse penis police force. No, I know. Just blocking the artificial insemination.
Starting point is 00:37:29 Yeah, you're, I guess it's, in the registry. You have to have a, the mother and father need to be physically present at the same time. Aren't you glad now you know? No, I, hey, but this, honestly, being 20 years old and reading all this was actually very eye-opening, so I really appreciate it. And like, what else, I mean, any other lessons you take from this that, I guess, you know, how do we get people to, I don't know, just read more? Oh, you know, here's my thing. First of all, people are reading more books now than they were five and ten years ago, which is really interesting. Oh, that's good.
Starting point is 00:38:04 It's very interesting. It's a surprise because the trend was not going there. I will tell you, I mean, this is apropos of nothing other than I'm a fan of this guy. He's a guy named James Daunt, who's an English bookstore owner. He opened a store called Daunt in London years ago. He was so good at running these small, great bookstores that the Barnes & Noble of England hired him to run their stores, Waterstons. And now the Barnes & Noble of America, which is called Barnes & Noble, hired him to also run Barnes & Noble here. So this one guy has really changed the way books are being
Starting point is 00:38:36 sold in America. And I think the Amazon model, everybody liked it because it's easy, but it wasn't really about loving books. And so I think books are coming back with a force. I understand that that one is available in finer books. Stephen, thanks for writing the book. Thanks for changing the way I looked at the world. It was really insightful as a young person in college. I really appreciate it. Freakonomics, 20th anniversary edition, is available now. You should check out the Freakonomics Radio podcast, Stephen Dubin, everybody. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back after this. No, that's right.
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Starting point is 00:40:48 prices subject to underwriting and health questions. That's our show for tonight. Now, here it is your moment of then. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you. You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dog's men. It's true.
Starting point is 00:41:16 They thought that was a great move. 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 on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.

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