*
>> Announcer: FROM
NEW YORK CITY, THE ONLY CITY IN
AMERICA, IT'S THE SHOW THAT
INVENTED NEWS.
THIS IS "THE DAILY SHOW" WITH
YOUR HOST, JORDAN KLEPPER!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
*
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
>> Jordan: WELCOME TO
"THE DAILY SHOW."
I AM JORDAN KLEPPER.
IT'S MY LAST NIGHT HOSTING THE
SHOW TONIGHT.
[AUDIENCE REACTS SADLY]
IT'S ALSO 4/20!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
WHAT AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER
WE JUST WENT ON.
WE'VE GOT A GREAT SHOW FOR YOU
TONIGHT.
SO LET'S GET INTO HEADLINES!
*
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
THERE IS A SO MUCH NEWS THAT I
WANTED TO TALK ABOUT TODAY.
I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT
ELON MUSK'S ROCKET EXPLODING
4 MINUTES AFTER LAUNCH.
IT STILL DIDN'T MAKE IT A
SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT BUT DOES MAKE
IT A SUCCESSFUL METAPHOR.
AND TO THE HATERS WHO SAID HE
COULDN'T POSSIBLY DESTROY
SOMETHING FASTER THAN TWITTER?
JOKES ON YOU.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
ALSO I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE
PRESIDENTIAL RACE AND HOW
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., THE
FAMOUS ANTI-VAXXER, LAUNCHED A
PRIMARY CAMPAIGN AGAINST
JOE BIDEN.
IF YOU ASK ME, IT IS PRETTY BOLD
TO BUILD YOUR ENTIRE CAMPAIGN ON
BEING ANTI-VACCINE, SINCE SO
MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO MIGHT
VOTE FOR YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD.
BUT UNFORTUNATELY, WE CAN TO
SPEND TIME ON ANY OF THAT,
BECAUSE THERE IS ANOTHER THING
GOING ON, AND SURPRISE,
SURPRISE, IT IS GUN VIOLENCE.
NOW I DIDN'T WANT TO SPEND EVERY
DAY THIS WEEK TALKING ABOUT
GUNS, BUT THIS IS AMERICA, AND
IT'S NOT GIVING ME A CHOICE.
BECAUSE MAYBE YOU'VE NOTICED
THAT A LOT OF THIS WEEK'S
GUN VIOLENCE HAD SOMETHING IN
COMMON.
>> THEY ARE THE THINGS THAT
HAPPEN ALL THE TIME, A MIXED UP
ADDRESS, PULLING INTO THE WRONG
DRIVEWAY, OR CONFUSING ONE CAR
FROM ANOTHER.
YET, REMARKABLY, FOR A THIRD
TIME IN A WEEK, SEEMINGLY
INNOCENT MOMENTS OF CONFUSION
HAVE LED TO BLOODSHED.
FROM KANSAS CITY, WHERE A TEEN
WHO APPROACHED THE WRONG
DOORSTEP IS RECOVERING FROM
TWO BULLET WOUNDS, TO
NEW YORK STATE, WHERE A
20-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WAS FATALLY
SHOT AFTER THE CAR SHE WAS IN
ACCIDENTALLY DROVE UP THE WRONG
DRIVEWAY, AND NOW IN ELGIN,
TEXAS, A HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADER
HAS BEEN SHOT AND SERIOUSLY
WOUNDED AFTER HER FRIEND
APPARENTLY APPROACHED THE WRONG
CAR.
>> POLICE SAY PEYTON WASHINGTON
AND HEATHER ROTH WERE IN A
PARKING LOT WHEN ROTH OPENED A
CAR SHE THOUGHT WAS ONE OF THEIR
OWN AND SAW A MAN INSIDE.
ROTH SAYS THE MAN STARTED FIRING
AS SHE WAS APOLOGIZING.
>> Jordan: DOES ANYONE ELSE
WATCHING THE STORIES FEEL LIKE
THEY ARE LOSING THEIR GODDAMN
MIND?
CALL ME OLD-FASHIONED,
BUT WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ASKING
A PERSON ONE [BLEEP] QUESTION?
ARE YOU CONFUSED ABOUT WHY
SOMEONE YOU DON'T KNOW IS AT
YOUR HOUSE?
OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND JUST.
ASK THEM!
"CAN I HELP YOU?"
IT'S NOT THAT HARD!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
I KNOW YOU HAVE SECOND AMENDMENT
RIGHTS, AMERICA, BUT
YOU ALSO HAVE FIRST AMENDMENT
RIGHTS.
USE THEM!
WE'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM
NOW BECAUSE A FEW OF THEM
HAPPENED IN ONE WEEK,
, WHAT IS WILD, THESE WRONG
POLICE SHOOTINGS HAPPEN ALL THE
TIME.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE AMERICA IS A
COUNTRY WHERE EVERY DAY,
MILLIONS OF SCARED, ARMED PEOPLE
ARE WILLING TO USE LETHAL FORCE
BUT THEM BEING BAD AT GOOGLE
I MEAN, WHAT DOES IT SAY WHEN
THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB IN
AMERICA IS JEHOVAH'S WITNESS?
YOU KNOW HOW BAD THINGS HAVE
GOTTEN?
REMEMBER THAT COUPLE IN
ST. LOUIS, THE McCLOSKEYS?
A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, THEY WENT
OUT ONTO THEIR FRONT YARD AND
POINTED THEIR GUNS AT
PROTESTERS.
AND THEY GOT A LOT OF SHIT FOR
IT.
YOU KNOW WHAT?
THEY DIDN'T FIRE AT ANYBODY!
AND I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY
THIS, BUT PLEASE, AMERICA, BE
MORE LIKE THESE GUN NUTS!
LET'S MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE
THAT IS QUINTESSENTIALLY
AMERICAN.
PEOPLE LOSING THEIR SHIT ON
AIRPLANES.
>> WE TURN NOW TO A SOUTHWEST
PASSENGER'S OUTBURST OVER A
CRYING BABY THAT FORCED THE
PLANE TO LAND BEFORE ITS
DESTINATION.
>> LOWER THAT BABY'S VOICE!
>> THIS MORNING, IT'S A MID-AIR
MELTDOWN OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
ABOARD ONE SOUTHWEST FLIGHT.
NOT JUST FROM THE BABY ON BOARD,
BUT ALSO FROM AN ADULT
PASSENGER.
>> WE ARE IN A [BLEEP] TIN CAN
WITH A BABY IN A GODDAMN ECHO
CHAMBER, AND YOU WANT TO TALK TO
ME ABOUT BEING [BLEEP] OKAY?
>> OKAY, BECAUSE YOU'RE YELLING.
>> SO IS THE BABY!
[LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE]
>> Jordan: "SO IS THE BABY?"
I DON'T CARE WHAT THE SITUATION
IS, THAT IS NEVER A STRONG
ARGUMENT.
"OH, SO A BABY CAN
POOP ITS PANTS IN PUBLIC BUT I'M
GETTING THROWN OUT OF THIS
T.J.MAXX?"
THIS GUY TOTALLY LOST IT.
SOMEBODY SHOULD HAVE CHECKED
[CHEERS AND
AT SOUTHWEST, THAT'S AN EXTRA 50
BUCKS.
THIS STORY RAISES A LOT OF
QUESTIONS ABOUT PASSENGER
BEHAVIOR AND PARENTAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.
AND I WANT TO DIG INTO ALL OF
THESE ANGLES WITH THE GREATEST
NEWS TEAM IN THE WORLD.
LET'S GO TO THE
NNOW WITH ROY WOOD JR.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
ROY.
ROY, YOU INTERVIEWED THE FLIGHT
ATTENDANTS.
WHAT DID THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
SAY?
>> OH, THIS IS SO GOOD.
OH, MY GOD.
>> Jordan: ROY.
ROY.
YOU INTERVIEWED THE FLIGHT
ATTENDANTS, RIGHT?
>> YEAH, YEAH.
I WAS GOING TO INTERVIEW THEM
BUT --
DAMN, WHY IS IT SO GOOD?
IT IS SO SMALL BUT IT'S SO GOOD.
>> Jordan: I'M SORRY, WHAT IS
GOING ON, ROY?
>> [LAUGHS]
LOOK, LOOK, JORDAN, I JUST
WANTED TO RELAX A LITTLE BIT.
IT'S 4/20.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
SO I JUST SMOKED A LITTLE BIT OF
WEED, AND THEN I SMOKED A WHOLE
LOT MORE.
[LAUGHS]
>> Jordan: YOU'RE HIGH DURING
THE SHOW?
>> COME ON, MAN, THE NEWS IS SO
DEPRESSING OUT THERE, AND I JUST
NEEDED A BREAK.
PLUS, IT'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH.
BACK UP.
>> Jordan: ROY, YOU LITERALLY
JUST TOLD ME IT'S 4/20.
THAT IS APRIL.
>> IS THAT' WHAT THE "4" STANDS
FOR?
>> Jordan: I'M DISAPPOINTED.
SORRY, FOLKS, IT IS AIRY AND
PROFESSIONAL.
LET'S GO TO SOUTHWEST
HEADQUARTERS TO GET THE
CORPORATE REACTION FROM OUR OWN
DESI LYDIC.
DESI.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
DESI, IS SOUTHWEST'S POLICY ON
BABY ATTENDANCE GOING TO
CHANGE?
>> THERE'S AN EVEN BIGGER
QUESTION HERE, JORDAN, WHICH IS,
HOW DO PLANES EVEN FLY?
LIKE, THEY HAVE WINGS, BUT THE
WINGS DON'T FLAP.
I NEVER SEEN A BIRD TAKE OFF
I NEVER SEEN A PLANE TAKE OFF
LIKE THIS.
>> Jordan: GODDAMMIT, DESI, ARE
YOU HIGH?
>> NO!
I MEAN, YES, BUT ON WEED.
NOT HIGH LIKE IN A PLANE.
IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT?
>> Jordan: NO!
THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT.
HONESTLY, DESI!
FOLKS, I'M SO SORRY, THIS IS A
TOTAL LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM.
YOU DESERVE BETTER.
IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
LET'S TRY THIS ONE MORE TIME.
MICHAEL KOSTA, ARE YOU HERE WITH
US?
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
>> YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
DON'T YOU WORRY BECAUSE I'M NOT
HIGH ON WEED, I AM HIGH ON
COCAINE!
>> Jordan: VERY ILLEGAL.
>> DON'T WORRY, IT'S MEDICINAL.
I BOUGHT IT BEHIND A WALGREENS.
SO WE ARE GOOD.
>> Jordan: DID YOU AT LEAST
INTERVIEW ANYONE?
>> OH, BUDDY, I INTERVIEWED
EVERYONE.
I INTERVIEWED THE GUY.
I INTERVIEWED THE BABY.
I INTERVIEWED EVERY PIECE OF
LUGGAGE.
I INTERVIEWED MYSELF.
THAT WAS INTERESTING.
AND I'M GONNA INTERVIEW THE
PLANE ONCE IT LANDS ON THIS
RUNWAY.
WHOO!
>> Jordan: HOW DID YOU GET ON AN
ACTIVE RUNWAY?
>> IT WAS EASY.
THERE WAS A DOOR THAT WAS
UNLOCKED.
IT WAS BASICALLY UNLOCKED.
YOU JUST WALK THROUGH IT, PUNCH
OUT A SECURITY GUARD, AND YOU'RE
HERE.
YOU ARE THERE.
>> Jordan: KOSTA, GET OUT OF
THERE, IT'S NOT SAFE!
>> DON'T WORRY, DUDE, I CAN'T
PHYSICALLY DIE.
OH, I SEE THE PLANE COMING!
BRING IT ON!
LET'S GO.
>> HEY, IS THERE ANOTHER
CINNABON OUT HERE?
>> Jordan: ROY, ROY!
>> HOW DO THEY EVEN GET THE
CINNAMON IN THE BUN?
>> I DON'T KNOW, IT IS SO GOOD!
>> Jordan: HOW DID YOU GET
THERE, YOU WEREN'T EVEN AT THE
AIRPORT?
>> I FLEW, THIS DOES WORK.
>> BY THE TIME WE DO THIS, WE
CAN GET --
>> Jordan: YOU'VE GOT THIS
WITHOUT ME.
DESI, ROY, AND MICHAEL,
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
EVERYONE.
ALL RIGHT, WHEN WE COME BACK,
WE'LL TALK ABOUT FINDING THE
SOLUTION TO ANDREW TATE.
DON'T GO AWAY.
[CHEERS AND AP
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
>> Jordan: WELCOME BACK TO
"THE DAILY SHOW."
YOU KNOW, AS PART OF MY JOB, I
TALK TO A LOT OF MEN.
A LOT OF DUMB MEN.
>> WE TREAT WOMEN WITH RESPECT
HERE.
>> YES, WE DO.
>> THAT'S AN AMERICAN IDEAL.
>> YEAH.
>> TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SHIRT.
WHAT'S IT SAY?
>> IT SAYS, "HILLARY SUCKS, BUT
NOT LIKE MONICA."
>> READ THE TRANSCRIPT.
RIGHT.
>> HAVE YOU READ THE TRANSCRIPT?
>> I HAVE NOT READ IT.
>> LOOK AT THE TRANSCRIPT,
RIGHT?
>> YEAH, LOOK AT THE TRANSCRIPT.
>> HAVE YOU READ THE TRANSCRIPT?
>> UH...
I TRUST THE WORD OF OUR
PRESIDENT, MAN.
>> COME ON, FAKE NEWS, WHAT YOU
GOT?
GO FIND YOURSELF A SAFE SPACE.
>> LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT.
YOU'RE YELLING AT ME TO FIND A
SAFE SPACE AND YOU HAVE ELEVATED
YOURSELF WITH A MEGAPHONE AND
YOU HAVE A SHIELD.
>> Jordan: AH...
[LAUGHTER AND
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
WE NEVER KEPT IN TOUCH.
BUT OUTSIDE OF MY JOB
INTERVIEWING DUMB MEN, I AM ALSO
THE FATHER OF A YOUNG SON.
AND AS A FATHER, MY BIGGEST GOAL
IS TO NOT END UP INTERVIEWING MY
SON AS PART OF MY JOB.
TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS, HE'S
GOING TO NEED SOME HELP.
AND THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO
TALK ABOUT IN TONIGHT'S
"LONG STORY SHORT."
*
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
AMERICA IS IN THE MIDST OF SOME
LONG OVERDUE CHANGES AROUND
GENDER AND POWER.
WE'RE REEXAMINING IDEAS OF
MASCULINITY, FEMININITY, THE
SPECTRUM IN BETWEEN, AND HOW
FLUID IT ALL IS.
IT'S A DIFFICULT AND NECESSARY
CONVERSATION, BUT LUCKILY FOR
US, WE GET TO HAVE THESE NUANCED
DEBATES ON TWITTER!
NOW, THIS CULTURAL CHANGE IS
IMPORTANT, AND I'M GLAD IT'S
HAPPENING.
BUT WHEN THERE IS A CULTURAL
SHIFT, IT'S EASY TO GET LOST
WITHIN IT.
AND EVEN THOUGH IT FEELS VERY
STRANGE TO SAY THIS, A GROUP
THAT IS BEING LEFT OUT IS
YOUNG BOYS.
AND I KNOW!
I KNOW!
"A WAR ON MEN?"
I SOUND LIKE I'M ON A NETWORK
THAT JUST GOT SUED OUT OF
$780 MILLION.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
BUT JOKE'S ON YOU.
COMEDY CENTRAL DOESN'T EVEN HAVE
THAT KIND OF CASH.
MY POINT IS, WE'VE HAD A GREAT
CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT MEN
SHOULDN'T BE.
MEN SHOULDN'T BE TOXIC, THEY
SHOULDN'T BE OVERLY AGGRESSIVE,
THEY SHOULDN'T PAY A PORN STAR
TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT AN AFFAIR
THEY HAD RIGHT AFTER THEIR SON
WAS BORN.
IT IS A HIGH, HIGH BAR.
BUT WE HAVEN'T BEEN TELLING MEN
WHAT THEY SHOULD BE.
AND THAT MATTERS TO YOUNG BOYS,
WHO ARE LOOKING FOR AN IDENTITY,
FOR A NARRATIVE ABOUT WHAT IT
MEANS TO BE A MAN.
AND THAT VACUUM IS BEING FILLED
WITH THE WORST POSSIBLE IDEA
ABOUT MANHOOD.
>> FORMER KICKBOXER AND
"BIG BROTHER" CONTESTANT
ANDREW TATE, INFAMOUS FOR BEING
THE SELF-PROCLAIMED KING OF
TOXIC MASCULINITY.
TATE'S CORE MESSAGE CENTERS
AROUND THE BELIEF THAT
MASCULINITY IS IN THE
CROSSHAIRS, AND HE'S DEFENDING
IT.
HIS TARGET AUDIENCE: YOUNG MEN.
>> THIS WHOLE IDEA OF BEING
TOXICALLY MASCULINE IS COMPLETE
GARBAGE.
>> THE MOST DANGEROUS MEN ON
EARTH ARE THE WEAK MEN.
>> FEEL, FEEL, FEEL, LEAVE THE
FEELINGS TO THE GIRLS, RIGHT?
THAT'S WHAT THEY DO.
WE ACT.
WE'RE MEN OF ACTION.
>> EMPOWERING FEMALES IS THE
EASIEST WAY TO WEAKEN THE WILL
OF MEN.
>> STUDY, STUDY, STUDY!
GIVE UP YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN
SCHOOL, THEN YOU CAN BE A
DOCTOR!
YOU CANT EVEN BUY A [BLEEP]
SPORTS CAR!
>> THE PROBLEM WITH MOST OF YOU
IS I AM SITTING HERE WITH MY
SUNGLASSES, BALD HEAD, MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS, NEARLY UNMATCHED
FIGHTING SKILLS.
I AM MORPHEUS.
>> I NEED ACTION.
I NEED CONSTANT CHAOS IN MY LIFE
TO FEEL CONTENT.
I NEED TO BE DRIVING A SUPERCAR
AND [BLEEP] FIGHTING AND [BLEEP]
A BUNCH OF [BLEEP] AND CHAMPAGNE
GOING CRAZY.
>> Jordan: OKAY, OKAY, WE GET
IT, YOU HAVE A SMALL PENIS!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
EVEN THROUGH THE VIDEO, YOU CAN
TELL THIS GUY WEARS TOO MUCH
COLOGNE.
AND BY THE WAY, NOT TO TARNISH
HIS SPARKLING IMAGE, BUT
ANDREW TATE IS CURRENTLY UNDER
INVESTIGATION FOR
HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
I KNOW, IT'S ALWAYS THE FIRST
ONE YOU SUSPECT.
NOW, MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW
ANDREW TATE.
MAYBE YOU'RE THINKING, "WHO IS
THIS PORN PARODY VIN DIESEL?"
YOU MAY NOT KNOW HIM, BUT TRUST
ME, YOUR SONS DO.
>> WITH OVER 13 BILLION VIEWS
ON TIKTOK, TATE'S RHETORIC IS
MOVING FROM ONLINE TO THE
CLASSROOM.
>> SO I'M A TEACHER AND I TEACH
SIXTH GRADE.
THE AMOUNT OF YOUNG 11-YEAR-OLD
BOYS THAT TOLD ME THAT THEY LOVE
ANDREW TATE IS RIDICULOUS.
>> ONE TEACHER SAYS SHE HEARS
"BLATANT MISOGYNY" FROM THE BOYS
IN HER CLASS, HEARING THEM SAY
THAT "GIRLS BELONG IN THE
KITCHEN AND ONLY EXIST FOR
REPRODUCTION" AND ANOTHER
CLAIMING "THEY TALK ABOUT ALPHAS
IN SIXTH GRADE NOW."
>> ONE TEACHER IN SOUTH LONDON
NOTICED THAT HIS STUDENTS WERE
PARROTING TATE'S IDEOLOGY.
ABOUT A THIRD OF THE 30 STUDENTS
IN THE CLASS PASSIONATELY ARGUED
THAT WOMEN WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR
THEIR OWN SEXUAL ASSAULTS, ONE
OF TATE'S TOP LINES.
>> Jordan: WOW.
TIMES HAVE REALLY CHANGED.
WHEN I WAS IN SIXTH GRADE, THE
MOST TOXIC ROLE MODEL FOR BOYS
WAS MICHAELANGELO.
HE EATS PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST,
LUNCH, AND DINNER.
THAT TURTLE DOESN'T GIVE A
[BLEEP].
SERIOUSLY, HOW CAN YOU BE
MISOGYNISTIC IN SIXTH GRADE?
IT IS LIKE THE ONE YEAR IN LIFE
WHERE ALL THE GIRLS ARE BIGGER
THAN YOU.
I WOULDN'T BE RUNNING MY MOUTH
ABOUT ALLISON IF ALLISON COULD
HANG ME BY MY UNDERWEAR ON THE
FLAGPOLE.
THOUGH SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM
IS NOT TO CANCEL ANDREW TATE.
INTERPOL IS HOPEFULLY GONNA DO
THAT FOR US.
BUT EVEN IF HE DISAPPEARED,
SOMEONE ELSE WOULD TAKE HIS
PLACE AND SPEW TOXIC SHIT AT
YOUNG BOYS JUST AS WELL,
AND SOCIAL MEDIA ALGORITHMS
WOULD PUMP IT INTO YOUNG BOYS'
EYES AND EARS JUST AS FAST.
BECAUSE THAT'S REALLY WHAT
ALL THIS IS ABOUT.
ANDREW TATE IS NOT INTERESTED IN
BEING A ROLE MODEL.
HE WANTS CLICKS FOR MONEY.
HE DOESN'T WANT TO RAISE YOUR
SON.
HE'S TAKING DAD'S SEAT AT THE
TABLE, BUT HE'S REALLY THE
LOUDMOUTH UNCLE, WHO SEEMS COOL
WHEN YOU'RE A KID, BUT WHEN YOU
GROW UP, YOU REALIZE LIVING IN A
HOTEL IS NOT A VACATION.
WHAT WE NEED IS AN ALTERNATIVE,
POSITIVE NARRATIVE FOR YOUNG MEN
TO FOLLOW.
IT IS IRONIC THAT THESE GUYS ARE
TALKING ABOUT TAKING THE RED
PILL AND USING THESE MATRIX
METAPHORS BECAUSE IF YOU ARE
LOOKING FOR A COMPLEX,
EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE MALE
ROLE MODEL TO COUNTER THEIR
BULLSHIT IDF MANHOOD, TAKE A
LOOK AT THE GUY WHO TOOK THE RED
PILL.
KEANU REEVES.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
THIS IS A MAN WHO IS WIDELY
CONSIDERED TO BE KIND AND
DECENT.
HE DONATES HUGE SUMS OF MONEY TO
CANCER RESEARCH, HE GIVES OF HIS
SEAT TO WOMAN ON THE SUBWAY, HE
BOUGHT A SANDRA BULLOCK
CHAMPAGNE AND TRAVELS BECAUSE
SHE NEVER HAD THEM BEFORE.
HE IS THE PERFECT MAN.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
MAYBE HIS MOVIES GLORIFY
GUN VIOLENCE,
BUT NOBODY IS PERFECT.
THAT MAKES A MORE PERFECT
BECAUSE OUR CHILDREN SHOULD NOT
DRIVE OR PERFECTION PARAGRAPH
THAT WILL MAKE THEM SAD.
AND THOSE MOVIES ARE SOMETIMES
PRETTY COOL.
THE POINT IS, YOUNG BOYS NEED A
CULTURAL ROLE MODEL WHO IS KIND
AND COMFORTABLE IN HIS SKIN.
NOT GUYS WHO ARE SO FRAGILE IN
THEIR MASCULINITY THAT THEY CAN
POP A CIGAR WITHOUT PUTTING IT
IN EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.
KEANU REEVES IS NOT EVEN ON
SOCIAL MEDIA!
THAT'S HOW HEALTHY HE IS.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
SO, AS A SOCIETY, WE HAVE TWO
OPTIONS:
WE CAN EITHER FOLLOW
KEANU REEVES AROUND AND PUT
EVERYTHING HE DOES ON TIKTOK,
OR, PROBABLY BETTER, WE MAKE
SURE THAT THE CONVERSATION ABOUT
MODERN SOCIETY INCLUDES A ROLE
FOR MEN THAT YOUNG BOYS CAN LOOK
UP TO.
BECAUSE, LONG STORY SHORT, IF WE
DON'T TALK TO OUR BOYS,
ANDREW TATE IS GONNA TALK TO
THEM, AND THAT MEANS TEN YEARS
FROM NOW, I'M GONNA BE TALKING
TO THEM.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
ALL RIGHT, STAY TUNED BECAUSE
WHEN WE COME BACK, RYAN HOLIDAY
WILL BE JOINING ME ON THE SHOW.
DON'T GO AWAY.
[applause]
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is considered one of the leading
stewards of stoic philosophy.
He's behind The Daily Stoic, Stillness is the Key,
The Obstacle is the Way, and much more.
Please welcome Ryan Holiday.
[music playing]
Welcome.
Thank you.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Ryan, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Ryan, I've been a fan of yours for quite some time.
You're a popular man.
12 best-selling books.
That's a lot of books.
That's almost more books than I've read.
But you have a lot of fans out there
from very successful comedians like myself,
to folks in the NFL, to senators.
Sort of what you speak to goes across many aisles,
if you will.
And I will say, I've taken a lot from some
of the ideas you have.
I will also say that you kind of talk about philosophy,
and it helps me work through life.
And then a byproduct is that I go home
and I tell my wife how she should work through life.
RYAN HOLIDAY: That's a great idea.
Yeah.
And I'm just-- before we get started,
I'm wondering if it's possible for you to apologize
to my wife for me.
People asked my wife what it's like living
with the stoic philosopher.
And she usually answers, I don't know.
That feels Socratic, but mostly maybe
it's just passive aggressive. - Yes.
Yeah.
One of us writes about it, and then the other
is sort of naturally it.
JORDAN KLEPPER: That kind of lives it.
Yeah.
For those who don't know a stoic philosopher, what
are the tenets of stoicism?
Stoicism, if I had to summarize in one sentence,
I would say it's this idea that we don't control what happens
to us in life, but we control how we respond
to what happens in life.
And the stoics say that, basically, every situation,
big ones, small ones, ones you wanted, ones you didn't want,
it's all an opportunity to respond
with these four virtues.
The virtues are courage, discipline,
justice, and wisdom.
So the idea is that that is what life is asking from you.
One or all of those virtues in some kind
of a combination, that's what it's demanding of you.
And what's cool about the stoics is, like, I think
when people hear philosopher, they think,
like, a tweed jacket, or an old white guy in a toga,
or whatever.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Sure.
But the stoics were philosophers.
They were thinkers, but they were also doers.
The most well-known stoic is Marcus
Aurelius, who was the emperor of Rome, the philosopher king.
But there were stoics who were slaves, who were
soldiers, who were artists.
They were men and women.
They were people trying to do what we're all trying to do,
which is make sense of the crazy world that we live in.
Right, but this image of them.
Marcus Aurelius doesn't seem like the most modern person
that people are drawn to.
Why do you think there's--
don't get me wrong.
Why do you think there's resonance today?
Yeah, I mean--
We have a hard time.
We're kicking Rosa Parks out of libraries in Florida.
So it feels like trying to--
I mean, maybe the fact that it's
a white guy from back in the day
makes it easier in places like Florida.
But I think we have a hard time with grappling
with historic ideas.
These feel archaic.
Why are they resonant?
I actually think that life hasn't
changed that much, good and bad, right?
Obviously, we made all sorts of progress in 2,000 years.
And, at the same time, life is still life.
Like, in one passage in Meditations,
Marcus Aurelius is like, when you're struggling to get out
of bed in the morning and you go, but it's so much warmer
here under the covers, he goes, but is
this what you were put here to do, to stay under the covers
and be warm?
He says, no, you have a purpose.
You should help people.
Should make a positive difference in the world.
You should do what you're uniquely suited to do.
So even 2,000 years ago, the most powerful man in the world
was like, ah, I don't want to get up.
It's too early.
And that's because he was a person.
And Marcus also lived through a pandemic.
He lived through social unrest.
There was an insurrection and a coup, right?
Some of this might be sounding familiar.
So--
At least the laziness does, yes.
Yes, yes.
Life is life.
People are people.
And for better or for worse, that's
going to always stay the same.
JORDAN KLEPPER: It feels like what is active.
I mean, there's been philosophy for at least 20 years.
We'll fact check that, but I know it's been around a while.
There's many tenets of philosophy.
It feels like an element of stoicism
is that it feels actionable--
RYAN HOLIDAY: Yeah.
--around your emotions.
Is that fair to say?
Yeah, you're-- it's not this thing that you think about.
It's this thing you're supposed to do, right?
So some of the stoics--
the great stoics never wrote anything down.
They were considered stoics because of how they lived.
It was the idea of deeds, not words.
So, yes, I struggle with it in my own life,
but I try to actually put the ideas into practice.
They're not-- philosophy-- it's a shame
if we think of philosophy as a series of thought
exercises, right?
How do we know if we're living in a computer
simulation, right?
Or is there such a thing as right and wrong?
Like, we can use it to answer these abstract, impractical
questions, or we can use it as a way
to make things impossibly complicated,
or we can use it to really simplify
things and go, who am I?
What am I supposed to do?
How do I make the best out of this
complicated, messy situation?
That's what I think philosophy is.
And it's a shame that so few people have access to it,
or that it's been made accessible to them
in a way that would help them make better decisions
and be better people.
All right, help me-- help me through this.
- OK. - All right?
So a real-life philosophy.
I'm-- I'm with my son at a store,
and he throws a shit fit and is screaming
and doesn't want to leave.
And I'm embarrassed.
I'm exhausted.
How do I use philosophy in a moment like that?
Well, I think what we do is we
don't do what the guy on the plane did, which is throw--
which is throw our own tantrum in response.
- Right. - Right?
So first episode--
JORDAN KLEPPER: He was more like a Nietzsche guy.
Yes. Yeah.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't know where he studied.
But the idea is we only control ourselves, right?
So our kid is throwing a tantrum.
And we have to say, OK, I'm not going to make this situation
worse by freaking out.
I'm also going to say, I'm going
to strip out the part of me from my own upbringing,
from society that says this is a reflection
on me as a person, right?
That it's reflecting that I'm a failure,
I'm embarrassing myself, everyone's looking at me.
Everyone who has kids knows exactly what's happening,
and they're too busy with their own life to even
think about for the most part.
And then I think another part of it
is understanding why they're feeling that way, right?
Which is, hey, they don't want to be doing this, right?
Life is hard.
It's hard to be a two-year-old, right?
And when we understand that people are dealing
with their own crap, right?
It gives us empathy, and passion, and compassion,
and patience for those people.
And so if you can try to think, well, why do they think
this is a good way to respond?
What are they trying to get?
How do I resolve the situation, as opposed to solving it
with force, solving it with rushing out of the situation,
or just having a meltdown because the whole thing
is overwhelming to you.
Now we're regulating emotions here using stoicism,
but are we just creating robots?
Like, is this Elon Musk territory here?
No, no, no.
Stoicism is not about making you a better sociopath.
It's not--
JORDAN KLEPPER: Which one--
which one is that?
What book is that?
Do you know?
Is that-- is that Kierkegaard?
I think Andrew Tate has some videos about this
Andrew Tate. It's an Andrew-- OK, good.
OK, good. OK.
The idea is not that you suppress the emotions.
It's that you don't over-- be overwhelmed by the situations
and make decisions from those emotions, right?
So there's a difference between being angry, right?
And then doing something out of anger.
And I think this is an important distinction that we
can miss in the moment.
Someone did something that's upsetting,
that's annoying, that caught you off guard,
you're going to have your immediate reaction.
But there's a lot of space between that
and hitting send on the email that you wrote
dressing them down, right?
Or you're getting mad at your kid
because they're having a meltdown.
And you can stop yourself part of the way
through because you're older, because you've been--
you know what this looks like.
And so the idea is have the emotions,
process the emotions, try not to make bad decisions
from those emotions.
And that we have power along the spectrum.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Now there's a criticism
of stoicism, too, about--
yeah, yeah, yeah.
[applause]
I think what I appreciate with some of this
is the idea that it takes response,
and it breaks it down little bits and pieces.
And I know this main tenet that, like,
being aware of what you can control and what you cannot,
and being able to let go of the things you cannot control.
I think a criticism of stoicism is
if you look at, is it a philosophy that comes
from a place of privilege--
RYAN HOLIDAY: Sure.
--for people that are in situations where,
even institutional situations, you look at things like
racism, activism movements, where, like,
the situation that they cannot control is one
that is inherently oppressive.
Is stoicism teaching you how to accept those things
and not push back?
Is there inherent privilege in there?
It's hard to get more privileged
than the emperor of Rome. - Sure.
Right?
But the philosopher that influences Marcus Aurelius
more than any other philosopher, who he quotes
in his writings all the time, is this guy
named Epictetus, who is a slave,
the exact opposite of Marcus.
You have extreme power, and you have extreme powerlessness.
And yet, they're all human beings.
They're all dealing with the hand that life deals us.
And they're trying to make the best of it
and trying to have the most impact
that they can in the world despite and because of
that, right?
So the stoics occupy a wide range of positions in society.
But most of all, the stoics are active in public life.
In fact, this is the big distinction.
People have heard of the word epicurean or the epicureans.
The epicureans sort of retreat from public life.
They study philosophy and they go,
let's just hang out in this cool garden.
We'll drink.
We'll have fun.
We'll enjoy life.
We will not be disturbed by things.
We'll do our own thing.
Well, the stoics say, but if you do that,
who does that seed the field to?
Like you were saying on your thing,
it seeds it to the worst people.
And the stoic's idea is that unless something
prevents them, they will get involved in public life.
They will try to contribute.
They will try to make a positive difference.
And this is why the stoics were influential to the founders
in the Renaissance.
All throughout history, the stoics
have been involved in social movements
and positive change-making because, yes, there's
a lot we don't control, but we do control what we do, right?
We control whether we vote, whether we
go out to a protest, whether we speak
out about something, right?
So courage is one of the virtues.
Justice is another virtue.
Discipline is a virtue.
And then wisdom is a virtue.
All of these, I think, propel us into being informed,
and then being active in the world.
How do we utilize something like this?
So I go on the road, I talk to a lot of folks,
and I get into infuriating conversations
more often than not.
Yeah.
People ask me, how do you deal with something like that?
And I do go to philosophy.
I go to Bourbon as well.
A hell of a philosophy.
I don't know if the philosopher Bookers.
He's great.
Macallan is a great one.
A Scottish philosopher.
He's great.
But I do find elements of, like, again, controlling
your response and your temper.
And also, empathy helped me get out of things like that.
RYAN HOLIDAY: Yeah.
People also--
I talked to a lot of people who are really frustrated
with what's going on.
Both sides of the aisle, it's-- they're scary times.
People turn to god.
I think less and less people are turning to god.
Like, what do you say and what can people
find in philosophy and stoic philosophy that can help them,
that can provide a balm to days where you
wonder just how long we're going to be
able to fight this battle?
Whether it's climate change, whether it's democracy,
whether it's just getting up in the morning.
Yeah, philosophy at its best is
what they call the guide to the good life,
to human flourishing.
Not just to happiness, but productivity, and purpose,
and meaning, and being able to endure
suffering, and pain, and loss, as we all
have to go through in life.
But I think if we can see philosophy
as something we lean on, something
that gives us counsel, that's really helpful.
Not as this thing that only people in universities do,
but that it's, like, there for all of us.
I think one of the problems is, as those other systems have
fallen away, whether people are turning away from the church,
or they're disillusioned with higher education,
or they're disillusioned with the media,
like, where do they go?
They go to random stuff on the internet.
And a lot of those people are grifters
or they're trying to weaponize those feelings,
or those doubts, or those emotions of those people.
And so people end up down these dead ends.
And we can pity them, but also understand that, like,
that's not a good way to go.
How do you--
I mean, because you're all over the internet.
You have newsletters.
You're put on Instagram videos all the time.
I think you've taken something that
seems to live in libraries in dusty back rooms,
and you've brought it to people's phones.
How do you balance using a medium that has zero depth
and is destroying our conversations,
but also is the way in which you can talk
to kids in 20-second snippets?
I do think it's important that we go to people
where they are, right?
And take what we think is important,
what needs to be said, and find out how to-- in the same way
that I speak Latin or Greek, I read the translations
of those texts.
We have to figure out how to translate these ideas that we
want kids to understand, that we want young people
to understand, that we need sort of permeating
through our culture.
We have to figure out how to translate those
into the different mediums where
people get their information.
And so I love hearing that someone discovered
me on YouTube or on Instagram.
And then they're like, and then I read your books
because that's the--
JORDAN KLEPPER: It's how you get paid.
Yes. JORDAN KLEPPER: Yes, yes, yes.
- But that's-- - I get it.
I get it.
[applause]
That's the medium that human beings
have been learning about big ideas for a really long
time, right?
books are where we--
books are, I think, one of the best mediums
to really meditate on something or think
about something over a long period of time, right?
As opposed to something that's bit-sized.
And so I think it's important that we drive people
towards books, and reading, and big ideas,
and things that are not always of the moment.
JORDAN KLEPPER: I like to-- actually, I don't--
I don't think that's articulated enough
to use social media as a conduit
to something that has more depth.
Yeah.
We talked about Andrew Tate on this show.
And I am a father.
You have a book, The Daily Dad, that is coming out.
How do you use these things to be a better
dad, to create better humans to make
this world a better place?
Yeah, first off, I mean, we have to model the stuff.
The stoics-- yeas, the hardest part.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Shit.
Epictetus says, don't talk about your philosophy,
embody it, right?
My kids aren't going to read my books.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Sounds like a real fun one to hang out with.
They're never going to read the books, right?
So what matters is, do I live the books at my house, right?
And how do we model the things we want our kids to be?
And I think, politically and culturally, that's
a big thing a lot of people my age are dealing with us, how
do you respond to the fact that your parents, apparently,
didn't believe a lot of the things they grew up talking
to you about because they're willing to throw their vote to
a carnival barker, you know?
Because they want to win elections, right?
Like, how do you deal with that?
It's not even a hypocrisy, but it's a sort of--
it's an insincerity, I guess, right?
And so what really matters is, do we model the things,
and do we show that we're sincere and we really,
like, put value?
We put stock in the things that we pay lip service to.
JORDAN KLEPPER: Do you feel there's, like,
a parenting crisis in America?
Well, I think--
I think people are struggling with the fact
that their parents are struggling, whether it's, you
know, they get sucked down some internet rabbit hole
or they're having to work longer than they thought.
I do-- I do think there is a problem.
There's a problem in every generation,
but it's not just the millennials
and the young people that are struggling,
you know what I mean?
There's a joke I heard that, you
know, all the things that my parents warned us about--
that warned us was going to happen to us on the internet,
it happened to them. JORDAN KLEPPER: Yeah.
You know?
JORDAN KLEPPER: Yeah, yeah.
A question to a healthy philosophical diet.
Obviously, you talk a lot about stoicism.
But people who are interested, myself included, one, they
should go towards your books.
They should go to the ideas of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus,
Seneca, things of that nature.
But, also, is it healthy to indulge
in other great philosophers?
Do you find yourself-- like, do you
find yourself having to be defined by one
particular philosophy?
No, we should read widely.
We should put anything to use that's good for us.
One of the stoics, Seneca, he says,
read like a spy in the enemy's camp, right?
He says, I'll quote a bad author
if the line is good, right?
So it doesn't matter who said it.
What matters is, is it true, and does it help you get
better at being a parent, a person, a professional,
whatever it is?
It of use?
That's what matters.
If you had to replace a philosophy quote,
if you had to replace live, laugh, love, one of my faves.
One of my faves.
What should if-- I take that down from my living room--
If you're looking for a sign at Home Goods.
I need a nice sign at home.
What should I look at every day?
Marcus opens book two of Meditations with a thought.
He says, today, the people you will meet
will be jealous, and stupid, and annoying,
and obnoxious, and mean, right?
It goes on.
JORDAN KLEPPER: He's right.
Yes, he's preparing for the day ahead, right?
And so some people think this is depressive stoicism
at its best.
But then he goes, but you can't hate them
and you can't let them implicate you in ugliness,
he says, because we're meant to work together.
We're like two rows of teeth or two hands,
and that we're all part of this large thing together.
And that some people are fulfilling their role
by being the kind of people that you have to interview,
and then the rest of us are doing the best we can.
And that is life. - I love it.
And that is life.
Ryan Holiday, everybody.
Be sure to check out The Daily Show's website and podcast.
And his latest book, The Daily Dad,
is available for pre-order now.
We're going to to take a quick break.
Be right back after this.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
>> Jordan: THAT'S OUR SHOW FOR
TONIGHT AND THAT'S MY TIME AS
YOU HOST THIS WEEK.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR YOUR HOST
DESI LYDIC!
NOW HERE IT IS, YOUR
"MOMENT OF ZEN."
>> THE BEST WAY TO GET SOMETHING
DONE, IF YOU HOLD IT NEAR AND
DEAR TO YOU, THAT YOU WOULD LIKE
TO BE ABLE TO -- ANYWAY.
I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE EVEN
SEEING WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE
GOING TO QUALIFY OR WHATEVER YOU
HAVE -- ANYWAY.
IT IS TOUGH STUFF.