The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump's Wall-Themed Weekend | Colson Whitehead

Episode Date: November 5, 2019

Smugglers cut holes in President Trump's border wall, Elizabeth Warren's 2020 primary rivals challenge her health care plan, and Colson Whitehead discusses "The Nickel Boys." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second.

I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. November 4th, 2019. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is the Daily Show everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in and thank you for coming out. So good to be here. Our first show of the week, I'm Trevinoa. Our guest tonight is a Pulitz surprise-winning novelist whose new book is called The Nickel-Boids. So-Colson Whitehead is joining us everybody. is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist whose new book is called The Nickel Boys. Coulson Whitehead is joining us, everybody.

It's a phenomenal author. We're going to have a great conversation with him. Also on tonight's show, Elizabeth Warren is killing private insurance, a bombshell in the fast food industry, and Mexico is unbuilding the wall. So let's catch up on today's headlines. Let's kick it off with McDonald's, the world's largest fast food chain and place where the ice cream machine always just stopped working. Well now, the mega corporation has ordered its CEO to go.

Change at the top of one of the most well-known companies in the world, the board of McDonald's announcing they have fired the CEO Steve Easterbrook. The company saying in a statement that he demonstrated poor judgment by having a relationship with an employee. Easterbrook calling the relationship a mistake. In a letter to all McDonald's staff, Easterbrook says the relationship was consensual but acknowledges he violated company policy, writing this was a mistake. Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on. That's right. The CEO of McDonald's has been fired after having a consensual relationship

with an employee. And this is the biggest McDonald's sex scandal since we saw those tapes of Mayor McChee's parting with Jeffrey Epstein in the 90s. That was a big scandal. You know who this must have been awkward for when you think about it? Is the person dating the McDonald's CEO? Because like, what did she tell her friends? It's like, so he works at McDonald's, but not like that. He's the boss. I also wonder if the McDonald's CEO is as strict in the bedroom as McDonald's was about breakfast. You know, like if she got home a little late, she'd be like, I missed you baby, let's go to bed.

He's like, I'm sorry, ma'am, it's after 12. We're not serving the sex anymore. Also, my ice cream machine just stopped working. All right, but let's move on. To another story in the news about fast food. Have you ever noticed in the last few years they've added calorie counts to all of the menus? Well, if you haven't noticed, you're not alone. Next tonight, you've seen them. Those calorie counts added to your menu, but do they really help you watch your weight? A new study in the medical journal, BMJ shows a measure requiring large restaurant chains

to display calorie information may not be changing choices as much as you might think. The study analyzed 50 million purchases over three years and found at first people were cutting back an average of 60 calories. But after one year, just a 23 calorie cutback, suggesting even with the facts right in our faces, it's not quite enough to make us think twice. Only 23 calories? That's just the smell when you walk in.

But yeah, it turns out that calorie counts aren't helping people make better food choices, which is no surprise. Because let's be honest, none of us actually knows what those numbers are supposed to mean. How do you calculate it? How much is supposed? Like, you might as well just have hieroglyphics up there. You might as well. Yeah, and then people just be like, wow, I didn't know the fries had raven, eyeball dogman calories. I'll get the salad instead. And I also get, I get that they're trying to see calories when they go to these types of restaurants. You're there to indulge. It would be like putting a mandatory black light in every strip club. Yeah, I know there are fluids everywhere. I don't need proof.

You know what would be more effective? I was thinking about this. Instead of writing the calories, if they want people to order, the cashier should just tell you their cashier should should just, I should just tell you the calories as you order, but in like a really judgmental tone. That's what they should do. So you should be like, could I get a cheeseburger? They'd be like, that's 700 calories. Anything else? And you'd be like, oh, yeah, let me get the cheese fries?

Wow, that's a thousand calories. Anything else? You're like, no, no, no, no. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the they're. they're. they're, they're they's. they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they' they' they' they' they' they. They. They. They. They. They. They. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they're. they're. they're. they're they're the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. they're they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're like, they're now where there's a lot of mistrust between police and the people they pull over and here's a new story that's not going to help. A New York Times investigation finds that breathalyzer tests given to DUI suspects are often unreliable. The study found the devices which are found virtually in every police station in America skew the results with alarming frequency. Judges in Massachusetts and New Jersey alone have had to throw out more than 30,000 breath tests in just the past year. Yeah, this is huge. The New York Times investigation has found that an alarming number of breather tests in America are inaccurate, which makes a lot of sense. Because one time I got pulled over and they told me I had seven beers, which was not true. I just had one beer from like a giant boot. That was it was one. It. It. It. It. th. It was th. It was th. It was th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thirty thirty thiou-a. th. th. th. th. theou-tha. 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. the. the. theea. theea. thea. theea. theea. theea. theea. thea. the. the. I had seven beers which was not true. I just had one beer from like a giant boot. That was it. It was one. It wasn't seven. And look, I'll be honest.

I think like all the ways that they test sobriety are dumb. Like making you walk on a line, like I can't do that while I'm sober. I've got flat feet. Or say the alphabet. I can't do that. I only the alphabet. I the alphabet. I tho. Or say the alphabet. Or say that. Or say the alphabet. I that. Or say the alphabet. I the alphabet. I tho. I th. I the alphabet. I the alphabet. I the alphabet. I the alphabet. I the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll the alphabet. I'll 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 their. I the their. I the the their. I the the the the the the the the the the the th. I th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm tho. I'm tooo. I'm too. I'm too. I was te. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I'm th. I th. I can't do that. I only learn the song forwards. Like I try, but I can't because there's like, X, X, X, X, Z, J, J, I don't know how to do it. It just doesn't make sense. But still, even though I don't agree with some of the testing, I think we can all agree that we don't want drunk drivers on the road. So we just need to find, yeah, we don't. So we just need to find another way to test people's sobriety accurately. And I think I have an idea. When the cops pull you over, they should just pull up your ex's page on Facebook,

and then ask you if you want to send them a message. And then if you're like, yeah, I'm drunk. I's drunk. think. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. 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 to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the te te te te te te. te. te te te te te te te te te teooe to to to to, I admit, then like, yeah, you're drunk. Come on, let's go, you're drunk. Get in the car, you're drunk. All right, that's it for the headlines. Let's move on to our top story. Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States and the only president to wear a weave. During his time in office, there have been several issues that he has been intently focused on, things like cutting regulations, pulling out of Iran, and legalizing flag marriage. But the one issue that he cares about more than anything else is his big, beautiful border wall.

You know, build the wall. In many ways, the wall is the son Trump always wanted. Taller, stronger, and somehow smarter. And now, now, now the president is the president. th th th. the the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president is the president. the president. the the the the thi. thi. the thi. thi. thi. 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. thi. the the the the the thi. the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the. the. the. thi. the. th wall is the son Trump always wanted. It's taller, stronger, and somehow smarter. And now, now the president is trying to groom the next generation of border wall lovers. A White House Halloween party reportedly featured a station where children were encouraged to help build the wall with their own personalized bricks. Yahoo News says the party took place at Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is used by White House staff.

Okay, okay. People might be pissed off about that, but wait until you find out that the kids were also encouraged to find dirt on the Biden's. Trump was like, I got a Kit Kat Kat, for anyone who brings me Hunter Biden's password. I call it Kit Pro Quo. kid pro quo. But yeah, I think we can all agree that children on Halloween should not be building a border wall. The only way that's appropriate is if the kids were building a wall over Rudy Giuliani's office door, then it's okay.

Then it works. So that was on Halloween, right? But it seemed like this was a wall-themed weekend for Donald Trump, because on Friday a rally in Mississippi, the president was boasting once again about just how impenetrable his border wall is. This is a very serious wall. This is the exact everything they wanted. I said, give me the specifications for the wall. They said, well, so it would like steel, but would also like concrete, and would also like rebar. I said, well, what do you want?

Which one? So I did all three. Because it's a different form of cutting. You can cut through steel, but you can't through the concrete, and then you can't through the hardened rebar. We got it all. And we also need see sehred-through, sir. Gotta see who's on the other side. That makes sense, right? Yeah, that makes sense.

You gotta have a see-through wall, because if the wall's not see-through, the only way to know what's on the other side is by yelling Marco and hope they yell, tolo. That's the only way. But, but... But some Mexicans aren't named Marco. A lot of people don't know that, folks. A lot of people don't know that.

But yes, on Friday nights, Trump gave his usual unhumble brag about how nothing can get through his wall. And you know how in a sitcom, when they cut right to the next scene, well, cut right to the next scene. According to the Washington Post. Well, cut right to the next scene. According to the Washington Post, Mexican smuggling gangs have repeatedly sawed through sections of Trump's new border wall smugglers are using a cordless tool known as a reciprocating saw.

They're pretty much sells at hardware stores for as little as $100, and when you fit it with specialized blades, the tool can pretty much slice through steel and concrete barriers within minutes. Yep, that's right. Just after Trump bragged about his super wall, we learned that smugglers have been cutting through the new border wall with basic tools that you can buy at any hardware store. And I honestly wouldn't be shocked if the guys at home depot showed the smugglers how to do it,

because those guys will help you with any project. Yeah, they're like, hey, buddy, you need you you you need you you you you help you with any project. Yeah, they don't judge. This is like, hey buddy, you need help with anything? You're like, yeah, oh, I want to open a safe that's not in my house? It's like, okay, you'll need a power drill, L7. Wait, wait, wait, wait, is this a bank safe? Oh, yeah? Oh, then you would be humiliated by the news that smugglers are cutting through his uncutsable border wall, but clearly you don't know Trump. When asked if he was concerned that people were able to cut through the border wall, he has

been touting for so long, this was the President's response. I haven't heard that. We have a very powerful wall, but no matter how powerful you can cut through anything, in all fairness. You know, cutting is one thing, but it's easily fixed. One of the reasons we did is the way we did it. It's very easily fixed. You put the chunk back in.

But we have a very powerful wall, but you can cut through any wall. Okay, hold on. For four years, this guy told us the wall would be impenetrable. But now he's like, yeah, of course, you can cut through anything. In a span of few hours, Trump's wall went from being Dwayne the Rock Johnson to literally any other guy named Dwayne. That's what just happened there. What happened?

Huh? And also, if Trump is saying he built it on purpose to be something that's to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th. th. th. th. to, to, th. to, to, to, th. Yeah, to, to, to, to, th. And, th. And, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. toe, thi. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. Yeah purpose to be something that's easy to open and then close, it isn't a wall. My man, you've built a door. I feel like that's where this whole thing is headed. Trump's just going to come out like, we've been a door on the southern border, so much easier. They can open it, but afterwards it can also be closed.

And who's going to close it? Mexico. Close that door! Close that door. We'll be right back. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, the weekly show. We're going to be talking about the election. Economics. Ingredient to Bread Ratio. to bread ratio. to sandwiches. unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're gonna be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio, on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.

Welcome back to the D.A. Guys, this is crazy, but the 2020 presidential election is in exactly 365 days. Yeah, that's right. At this time next year, you will be watching TV and saying, oh shit, I was supposed to vote today. But we still don't know who Trump's opponent will be on election night. So, let's catch up on all of his rivals in the Democratic primary race with our ongoing segment, World War D. Over the past few weeks, the Democratic herd has thinned considerably.

You know, due to low polling, due to fundraising problems, and partly because of that lion that keeps picking off the trailing candidates. They need to do something about that. But this weekend came the biggest name to drop out so far. Betto Orrach, former Texas congressman, an inflatable man outside a car dealership. And if you missed his dropout speech, it was very moving. It was like, it is with a very heavy heart that I announced my campaign is finished, bro. But on the opposite end of the spectrum is Elizabeth Warren, who has been surging in the polls. She's right behind Biden nationally. She's leading in Iowa and she's polling at 100% among registered cardigans.

But the one big criticism of Warren is that she hasn't explained how she would pay for her Medicare for All health care plan without taxing the middle class specifically. So this weekend, she showed us the money. Elizabeth Warren is today putting a price tag on Medicare for All. Twenty and a half trillion dollars in new spending over ten years, paid for by taxing billionaires and big business. I have a plan that shows how we can have Medicare for all without raising taxes one cent

on middle class families. Warren would eliminate all private employer-based insurance. How would she pay for it? Employers would pay the government almost $9 trillion over 10 years, similar to what they now spend on employees' health care. She would boost her billionaires' wealth tax, impose a new tax on stock trades, higher taxes on investment gains for the top 1% and cut military spending. Yes, to pay for her plan, Warren plans to raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy and cut military spending. Which, if you think about it, actually doubles the health care

benefits because all Americans would get health care and people in Afghanistan won't get droned and be like, oh, I feel so much healthier now that I haven't been blown up. Yay! And if you're a billionaire, you're probably not happy at the prospect of having to pay more taxes. In fact, what Warren should do is try and sweeten the deal and let the super rich get naming rights over rights, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their,the deal and let the super-rich get naming rights over the health care that they help pay for. Yeah. So then instead of getting a heart transplant, at the hospital, someone will get Jeff Bezos presents a heart for Bob Sullivan.

So that's Warren's plan to to the Medicare for All. But her Democratic opponents responded the way Sean Spiceran's to a beatter in the their. They were hearing none of it. Elizabeth Warren under attack, defending her plan for Medicare for All. Mayor Pete Budajet is questioning Warren's math. Well, the math is certainly controversial. Bernie Sanders also weighing in telling ABC News, quote, I think the approach that I have, in fact, will be much more progressive. Former Vice President Joe Biden calls Warren's plan unrealistic. I promise you, you couldn't even get a pass.

Oh, how about some personal space, Joe? Even when Joe Biden isn't giving you a massage, he looks like his eyes are giving you a massage. But yes, Warren's Democratic rivals all have different issues with her plan. Biden says it goes too far. Bernie says it doesn't go far enough. And Tom Steyer was like, oh, thank God, someone asked question? Now unless you're an economist, it might be hard to know whether Warren's plan is achievable or not, but what's easier to understand is the effect it would

have on the insurance industry. It's estimated that 385,000 people could lose their jobs under her plan, right? But don't worry, Warren says they'll land on their feet. Some of the people currently working in health insurance will work in other parts of insurance. And life insurance, and auto insurance, and car insurance, some will work for Medicaid. Damn, Lauren doesn't mess around. She's just going to move people around to another job.

No, I mean, I don't think it's going to be around to another job. I mean I don't think it's going to be that easy. So someone who works in health insurance now is this the next day going to be dealing with cars? That's going to get confusing. She's like, hi I'm calling to let you know you're fully covered for your recent prostate exam. You mean my oil change? Hey it's your body. theat to their te. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. the, the, the, the, to the, to to toe, toe, the, the, the, the, the, toe, too, too, too, the, to to to to to to to to to to tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, thi, thi. So, thi. So, thi. So, thi. So, thi. So, thi. So, thi. So, the. So, the. So, the. So, theeean, somea. So, tooooooooe. So, tooe. So, thea. So, who's scared of losing their job. But on the other hand, screw private insurance. I'm sorry. Insurance companies are assholes, man. Not the people who work for them, but the companies. They ask you what's wrong with you so they can charge you more, then they won't even cover your appendix.

And then you're like, ah, why did I even get my appendix enlarged in the first place, you know? I mean, it makes me feel more confident, but was it worth it? I don't know. And you know what, I'll be honest with you, what I really found interesting over the past few days is that Elizabeth Warren's health care plan has been dissected from every angle. It won't cost $20 trillion. It could get closer to $30 trillion. She's gonna ration your health care. Everyone is dissecting the thing, which is good. But what's funny is that Trump ran for presidents, and he got into office, and his health care plan was a lot less specific.

We have to come up, and we can come up with many different plans. In fact, plans that you don't even know about will be devised. I am going to take care of everybody. You will have the best health care you've ever, ever had. We're going to bring down the price of health care. We're going to bring it down big league. Big, big league. It's a complicated process, but actually it's very simple.

It's called good health care. Yep, you can't argue with those numbers. We'll be right back. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go,

but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to this day. My guest tonight is the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning novel, The Underground Railroad. His latest book is called The Nickel Boys. Please welcome.

Carlson Whitehead. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. You have written yet another book. And this book many are saying once again is one of the most painful examinations of a true story illustrated and told in a fictitious way. The Nickel Boys is based on what some called a rehabilitory school. Some people just call the torture facility what some call the rehabilatory school, some people just called the torture facility, it was the Dozier School, why did you choose to tell the story the way you did? Because you have such a specific way

of telling the story. Yeah, it was based on the Dozier School, the tooge, school, their too, their told, to their tooge... to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to too, too, too, too, too, too, the too, too, the, the, the, was the their their their their tooge school school is the, was their too, was 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 too, too, too, too, toogea, toogea, toogea, toogea, toogea, toogea, toogea school school school, toogea school, toogea school, toogea, toogea, toogea, too, of locking up kids with grown-up offenders, what if we give him teaching at school one day and work the next, they'll come out and be rehabilitated. But immediately, you know, three years into its being open, there were kids as young as six being shackled, put in solitary confinement. Every 15 years it'd be an expose, and talk of reform, and nothing happened until it finally closed in 2011. And I was shocked when it hit the national media. They found unmarked graves, 65 unmarked graves, and they try to reconstruct what happened. And it had been covered a lot in Florida, but not so much national media. And I felt that if there's one place like this, how many other stories are we not hearing about? It's interesting, yeah, and it's interesting that they, you know, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, the idea, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, the, the, the, they, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the like this, how many other stories are we not hearing about?

It's interesting, yeah, and it's interesting that, you know, the idea of the school seems like a great idea. You know, people go, as you said, it's a lofty ambition, we're going to go with reform. Let's not lock the kids up, let's not put them in jail, let's find a different way. But for all intent and purpose, it was almost worse, thi. And, th and a th and a th and a th and a th and a th and a thi. And, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, it's their, it's their, it's their, it's their, it's their seems, it's their, their, their, it's their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, it's seems seems seems seems seems seems seems seems seems, it's seems, it's seems, it's seems, it's seems, it's seems, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their idea, their idea, thin, thea.a. It's tea.a. It's interesting, thea. It's their idea, their their their their the Armour graves. They dug up the bodies and found kids with shotgun pellets in their skeletons, blunt force trauma to their skulls. And so, you know, usually we have great ideas and when people get involved, they turned to crap, unfortunately. You write the book from an interesting perspective because it's based on this school, but you're telling it through a very personal lens there are two characters in the book who we're following the story through and both of them are at the school but both of them

see the school through very different lenses what one sees the school as like oh this is not going well but you know it's not the world or it's not the world or it's not America as it supposed to be and th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th th th th th th thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th the. the. the. the. the. thro. theeeeeeeeean. thro. thean thean throoooooooooo. the. thee. theee. all about. Why did you choose to tell the story in that way? I could have said it in 85 and in 1924. I picked 1963, because it's the height of the civil rights movement. And Elwit, or positive character, optimistic character, has seen advances in terms of social order and justice. But it's also the height of segregation, Jim Crow laws that restricted black life and movement in America. And so we had these two warring ideas of progressivism and entrenched injustice. And so Elwood thinks he can change the world.

He's been inspired by Martin Luther King and the marches he's seen in his lifetime. And then there's Turner, who's an orphan and he's always lived by his wits and doesn't think that people change or systems change. I think, you know, I think they represent parts of me. I have an optimistic side and a pessimistic side and are often at war with each other. And I think it's a fundamental sort of philosophical disagreement we all have. When you write books like this, do you ever find yourself changing your mind as you're writing the book? Because although you're creating the story, I mean, there's, the story, the story writing the book because although you're creating the story I mean that there must be a part of you as a storyteller and as a story consumer that is also falling into the story like you write the book and then go oh I don't have hope for America and then write another page and go no

I'm very hopeful for sure sure but well you have to get in the character depending who's you know taking command of the story so some days I'm the the and forth. And sometimes I'm in my character, sometimes not. Cora, the main character, the Underground Railroad, has the least amount of me in her, which is probably why it's my most popular book. But in terms of, but with this book, you know, I sort of have my Turner Days and the to their day's and I, if someone's reading this book, I mean, the, the, the, the, th............. And, 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, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is... And, is, is, is, is, is............. And, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is..... And, is, is, is. And, is, is. And, is, is. And, I, you want to put it down, but you don't want to put it down, you want to put it down, you want to put it down because of how it makes you feel, but then you want to keep reading it because the story is so engaging and it's gripping and America. Would you say you're doing it for that reason, or you're just telling stories to try and get people

to think about their world differently? I'm try to do the right project that is appropriate for me this year. And I've written books that have a lot of jokes and books that have no jokes. I've written serious books in a row, one about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about you're going to tell the story right, you have to be all in. So it's brutal. Slavery was brutal. It's not like I'm writing Gone With the Wind where a white lady is being self-actualized against the backdrop of slavery.

It's like, oh, they're trying to burn my house down. It's like they should burn your fucking sla. And then with the Nickel Boys, you know, it's based on true story and I want to, you know, if I can get 10% of what actually happened to the kids there, I've done my job. And so, you're all in. You do a lot of research for these books, but you chose not to go to the school to do your research. Why? Yeah, I mean, the more research I can do from home on my computer and archives, the happier I am.

When you leave the house, there's so many, it's the word, people. And if I can avoid human interaction, it's usually a win. But you do have to go into the field sometimes, go to your real writer badge. In the case of this book, I meant to go to Florida and visit the school. And I kept putting it off, and I was halfway through the book, and I figured, oh, next month and next month. And then I realized that whenever I thought about going down there, I'd get this sort of sick feeling and it's really heavy feeling.

You know, I was so invested in Elwood and Turner's story and the stories stories stories stories stories stories've been to school, that I realized at some point that I would only go down there with like a bulldoze and a bulldozer to stick a dynamite and destroy it, you know, it's a place of evil. A year and a half ago, Hurricane Michael actually destroyed a lot of the buildings, and if you see it now, all those structures are sort of crumbling and that sort of inner rot is written on its outer face. And so Mother Nature took over for justice. If someone looks at this book and goes, Colson, I love your writing, but I don't know if I want to read a book

that's about a story that is this painful, why would you say reading this book would be different to just reading the story of what actually happened in real life? Yeah, I mean, it's not nonfiction. And I took the facts the facts the facts the facts the facts the facts the facts the the the the the the the thatha thatha thatha thatha thatheuuic fa thatheuicatheatheatheatheatheatheatheatheatheatheat is that is that's that's thoes thoes thoes thoes thoes that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's a that's a that's a that. that's a thoomoomoomoomorrow. thooooooooooooooooooooomooooomat. that's that's thooooomoomorrow. that's not nonfiction, and I took the facts of the school and put my own characters in there. And like I said, it's a brutal story, but it's also about a journey into selfhood. Two-thirds of the book takes place in the school, and the third follows Elwood, the main character as he comes to New York and makes a life for himself. He's overcoming trauma, this catastrophic event, and that's a really important

part of the story, his journey into making a coherent self and coming back from this terrible incident. And if you don't want to read it, you know, there are bookstores and you can buy like a book about a magical puppy who gets lost and has to find his way home. You know, you can read both. You can read the puppy one and then you can read this, but 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 th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi the the, the, thi thi thi, the. the. the. the, the, the, th. the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thi, thi, thi, thr-a. throwne. throooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome, their their the puppy one and then you can read this, but I would recommend highly that everyone read this one because you won't learn much about the puppies. Thank you so much for joining us in the show. So, sure, sure. The Nickel-Boyce is available now. A powerful story by an amazing writer. Cauten Whitehead everybody. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition.

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