Hello there. You're about to watch an episode
of The Daily Show.
That means there's some news and some jokes on the way.
So if you like laughing and news,
you're in the right (bleep) place, honey.
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America, it's The Daily Show.
Tonight-- math is racist,
why Tax Day is weird,
and Janelle Monáe.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
(applause and cheering)
Welcome, everybody.
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person.
(applause and cheering swelling)
Good to see you. Good to see your faces.
Half your faces. All right, take a seat, everybody.
We've got a fun show for you today.
Ronny Chieng is going to be telling you
why you're doing your taxes all wrong.
So it's gonna be just like the IRS, but funny.
Plus, the amazing Janelle Monáe is joining us on the show.
And this time, not for music or a new book.
No, she just released a book of short stories.
Yeah, which is amazing, right? Yeah.
And in case you're confused, it's not stories
about short things, but rather short stories
about things. All right.
The things can be long, but the stories are always short.
Anyway, I've said enough.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
-(applause and cheering) -♪ ♪
Okay, people, let's kick things off with the big education news.
By now, you've all heard about how school systems
across the U.S. are banning critical race theory.
And if you're still not sure what critical race theory is,
-don't worry. Neither are the people banning it. -(laughter)
Now, the state of Florida has announced
that it's officially begun its purge
of all things CRT,
but some of the targets have taken people by surprise.
The Florida Department of Education is making waves
after rejecting 41% of submitted math textbooks
because of touchy and prohibited subjects.
The state says more than 50 of those books include references
to critical race theory, among other things like common core,
and therefore, are prohibited under the new standards.
CRT teachings-- they were
banned from Florida's classrooms last year.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Orange County Classroom Teachers Association
President Wendy Doromal says she's baffled.
I can't imagine what is in a math textbook
that would indoctrinate a child.
I'd really would love to see some of these
rejected books and see what they highlighted.
-Yeah, so would I. -(laughter)
Because I mean, this makes no...
Florida is banning math textbooks
because the state says
that they teach critical race theory.
And I'll be honest.
I don't even understand how that works. I don't.
Like, I get finding critical race theory
in history books or-or social studies.
But math? How? How?
"Well, think about it, Trevor.
"Algebra is just a bunch of numbers
that rejected their slave names and now go by 'X.'"
(laughter)
How?
"Yeah, Trevor. Also, numbers can be very triggering
"for white people. Think about it.
"Whenever a Black man dunks on a white man,
"what's on his shirt?
That's right. Numbers!"
And don't get me started on the violence inherent in math.
I'll never forget the day seven eight nine.
(laughter)
Scarred me for life.
I'll be honest, man.
I don't know what Florida is trying to do here, you know?
But any sane person can agree, this is getting out of control.
I mean, it was bad before,
but this is getting out of control
because now it just feels like
the state sees critical race theory everywhere,
in everything. You know, it's almost like a hypochondriac.
It's just like "This milkshake is critical race theory!"
"What?" "Yeah. Look! It's trying to tell us
"that the white part is keeping the brown man down!
Well, maybe the chocolate just needs to work harder!"
"Maybe you need to relax, my man."
Also, think about this. Let's play with the logic.
If they were trying to sneak CRT into the schools,
-why would they do it with math? -(laughter)
Math textbooks would be the worst place to do it.
Because who remembers anything they learned in math, huh? Huh?
Do you remember how to use a hypotenuse, huh?
Do you? If I said nobody leaves this studio--
no one-- until you show me how a hypotenuse works...
We're dying here, people.
We're all dead. They're just gonna find corpses.
Nobody remembers math from school. Nobody.
Even Liam Neeson. His particular set of skills
did not include hypotenuse.
Yeah, just like, "I will find you and I will kill you."
They're like, "Well, first you have to solve math problem."
"Uh...
Uh, it's fine, I'll find another daughter."
You know, I actually wish-- I actually wish
there was CRT in math textbooks, I actually do, yeah.
Because then we could have solved racism by now
just by cheating and going to the back of the book
with all the answers in it, you know?
Just be at the back and be like, "What is it...
"'A Black Batman.' Oh, my God!
Why didn't I think of that?"
All right, but let's move on from that madness in Florida
to something that's affecting all of us: inflation.
Thanks to inflation, practically every company
is raising their prices right now. Yeah.
For instance, here in New York, a lot of dollar pizza places
are now charging $1.25.
Yeah, no, no, you-you think it's minor,
but it's actually a nightmare.
Because now you either have to carry around
an extra quarter with you
or you got to give the guy two dollars,
and now you're carrying around three quarters all day. Huh?
What am I supposed to do with that, huh?
Do you see slot machines out on the streets of New York, huh?
You're killing me!
But everyone's raising prices, everyone. Even Amazon.
They've just announced that they're charging
an extra five percent inflation fee to its merchants,
who will presumably pass that extra cost on to the customers,
which, I'm sorry, people, is bullshit. All right?
Because Amazon made $33 billion in profit last year.
If there's any company that can do, like,
just a little to absorb the cost of inflation, it's them.
You know, Amazon, if you're trying to save money,
next time I buy a toothbrush,
maybe don't package it in a cardboard box
the side of a minivan, huh? Maybe some...
you save something.
You seen the size of the boxes?
Got a giant box for a tiny thing,
now I've got to take time off to fold it,
put it in my recycling, and I'm sad
'cause I thought someone bought me a car.
Now, now, get this. According to a new report--
and this is really sinister, man--
some companies aren't just raising prices
to keep up with inflation. No.
These slick assholes are using inflation
as an excuse to gouge their customers
and make even more profits than before.
Because, you see, they know they can get away with it right now.
Think about it. A year ago, if you saw that
the price of something shot up out of nowhere,
you'd get mad at the company.
But now, when you're paying $100 for detergent,
you just think it's inflation and you curse Joe Biden.
It's brilliant. It's brilliant.
And here's how you know-- here's how you know that companies
don't have to raise their prices.
They don't have to.
Because one company is refusing to,
and they're still getting rich.
You go to the supermarket, you look just around,
and you know that nearly all products
are getting more expensive.
Except Arizona iced tea.
The beverage is staying 99 cents a bottle
regardless of the rising inflation cost.
The company's founder and chairman says
he is not budging on price on principal.
the company is privately owned. The owner is absorbing
the higher cost of everything, including the aluminum
that the can, uh, that the iced tea is in.
And they're making cuts in other areas.
NEWSWOMAN: Don Vultaggio, Arizona's 70-year-old founder
and chairman, told The Los Angeles Times...
Yeah. Yeah. -(cheering, applause)
That's exactly what I'm talking about, you see?
You don't have to squeeze every last dollar
out of your customers. This guy's
keeping his product 99 cents despite inflation
and he even puts it on the can so the store can't mark it up.
Yeah, as opposed to Florida iced tea,
which does not put its price on the can...
'cause those numbers are critical race theory.
And, you know, I, like, it's so rare to see a company
that's just like, "You know what,
"we make enough money. Yeah.
We don't need our customers to suffer."
I bet Snapple could do that too if they didn't
waste so much money researching those dumb facts.
I-- Guys-- I'm here to fill my body
with a month's worth of sugar, not to learn.
Gonna put information on the inside. I got a sugar high. Aah!
And let me tell you something.
If this Arizona iced tea company can do this,
then a company like Amazon has no excuse. Yeah.
In fact, you know what I think? You know what I think?
I think we should all boycott Amazon. Yeah.
And only order... only order,
like, three things a day instead of five.
Yeah. Make them feel the pain.
And obviously, if you need something...
If you need something, you should still order it.
I mean, no matter what. Like... No, I mean, there's no need
to run out of, like, bubble bath bombs.
That goes without saying. But aside from that,
total boycott of more than three things per day.
Yeah. I should put "activist" in my bio.
(laughter and applause)
All right, and finally,
this was a big weekend, a really big weekend
for a lot of people all over the world.
Because, you see, you had Easter,
Passover and Ramadan
all at the same time.
Yeah. It was basically the Coachella of religion.
And if you celebrate Easter,
you probably know that it marks the end of Lent,
a 40-day period when many Christians
give up a personal pleasure or a luxury
as a form of spiritual devotion.
And typically, people who observe Lent,
like, they give up something like sweets or alcohol.
But this year, one church came up
with a much more innovative form
of sacrifice.
A church in Illinois fasting from whiteness
to observe Lent.
Lent, of course, a Christian tradition
that involves giving up something
for 40 days ahead of Easter.
And First United Church of Oak Park
chose to give up white music, meaning they aren't playing
any music written by white people.
The church released a statement saying that the goal
was to lay aside usual frames of reference
and open the floor to voices of Black people,
Indigenous people and people of color.
This has been a season of the best church
that I can remember.
(laughter and applause)
Oh, man.
Oh, you can see his face.
Like, "The best ever of all..."
That's right, Reverend.
Of course this was the best season.
You guys were rocking out to Black music this whole time.
Of course it was...
Yo, what seems like a more fun church service?
This?
(choir harmonizing)
Or this?
(upbeat music playing)
(cheering and applause)
You see? You feel the spirit right now!
You know, they say they're doing this for Lent,
but you realize now that they discovered this,
they don't have to go back to boring songs, right?
No, you don't have to.
They said it was the best. The reverend said
this is the best service they could remember.
So why change it? Make all your music Black music.
Yeah. I mean, just be careful, though. Just be careful.
Not every Black song works in church.
(laughter)
♪ Gobble me, swallow me ♪
♪ Drip down the side of me ♪
♪ WAP, WAP, WAP, WAP ♪
♪ Wet-ass pussy. ♪
(vocalizing)
(laughter and applause)
(cheering and applause)
And while we're talking about church music,
there's a video-- you probably saw it--
that went viral this weekend, all right?
It's of a youth pastor who's on a flight,
and he decided with, like, I guess his band members
to surprise everyone on the flight
with an impromptu performance.
NEWSMAN: This in-flight video
is getting a lot of attention on social media
with commenters wondering if other passengers
were okay with the performance. Watch this.
♪ Great is our God ♪
♪ Sing with me ♪
♪ You're the name ♪
♪ Above all names... ♪
A youth pastor shared this video of a group of people
singing Christian songs earlier this month obviously on a plane.
Of course, everybody zeroed in on this one dude.
-Let's just see the picture of the man. -NEWSWOMAN: Yes.
(laughter and applause)
Oh, man, that dude was not having a good time.
Do you see his face?
That's the look of someone thinking,
"Oh, where's bin Laden when you need him?
Oh, man."
And he's not the only one who felt that way.
A lot of people online
are saying that it is inappropriate
for a group to randomly start playing music
in the middle of a flight, and some people...
some people were even more angry that it was religious music.
They're saying, "You can't do this.
You can't just bring religion for everybody on the plane."
But, guys,
honestly, in my opinion,
I think the most logical place for religious songs
is on a plane.
Yeah. I don't care who you are-- that's where you need God.
Because who the hell knows how to fly planes, huh?
Who even knows how planes work?
There's only, like, two people on the entire plane
who know how that thing works.
I mean really know.
Two people. If they get diarrhea at the same time,
we're all dead.
We're gone.
Yeah, on the ground, you can believe
whatever you want to believe.
But in the sky, we're all religious.
All of-- I don't care who you--
I've seen people check in as atheists.
Ah, they got all the swag at the check-in.
"I don't believe in God."
Yeah. Then, in the air, the right turbulence hits
and then, all of a sudden, it's like, "Oh, Jesus.
"Oh, please, Jesus, please. Jesus, please.
"I'll never masturbate ever again. Please.
Please!"
You know who you are.
All right, that's it for the headlines.
But before we go to a break, let's check in
on the stock market with our very own Michael Kosta,
-everybody! -(cheering and applause)
Good to see you, Mike.
It's, uh... it's been crazy out there.
Uh, what's going on with the market today?
Dude, I am crushing the market.
I mean, and... I am crushing the market.
I got a hot tip for you
and I got a hot tip for all you as well.
I don't usually share it. But hot tip for you.
-Okay. -But first I want to talk to you.
-That music on the airplane. Right? -Yeah.
I mean, how did that guy even get a full guitar back there
as his carry-on, you know what I mean?
I'm not even allowed to have
a six-ounce bottle of Dasani water?
And he's got a whole gu-- Maybe I should start putting my water
in the guitar. You know?
Is that what coach is like, back there?
(laughing)
Okay, okay.
Look, as a warning to everybody,
we don't want what happens on the subway
to start happening on the airplane, right?
People play music on the subway.
We shouldn't have that on the airplane.
People start break-dancing on the subway.
We don't need that on the airplane.
People hold the door open for their friend.
Do that on an airplane,
we're all gonna get sucked out at 30,000 feet.
Look. Right?
-Okay. -That's very valid. Yeah. It really i...
Oh, and here's the other thing about that Amazon story, Trevor.
-Okay? They're gonna raise our prices? -Inflation?
Here's an idea for Amazon--
why don't, i-instead of delivering all our goods
to each of us, put it all in one central location
and then we'll all go to that central location,
okay, bring the whole family.
Maybe put a movie theater there.
You could have different types of food
and-and they would battle it out for our business.
It'd be like a food court, so to speak.
Uh, I-I think that's a mall.
'Em all? That's a great name.
So-- 'Cause-'cause it's got 'em all right there.
That's why you get to sit down. I get it.
-I get it. It's a good name. -Just tell us
-what's happening in the market. -Look, look, I'm cru--
-I'm crushing the market, okay? All right. -Okay.
So, um, now, my high school cut a lot of its math programs
and math books.
So, to me,
this is just a lot of letters on a chart.
But there is something I'm seeing.
You see this right here? This S&P, 'kay?
That means "salt and pepper," all right?
Everyone uses salt and pepper.
Everyone's gonna continue to use salt and pepper.
So I would buy S&P, salt and pepper, big-time.
There you go, Trevor. That's the hot tip.
(laughter, applause)
You want some money, you're welcome.
Thank-thank you, Michael.
You're welcome.
Like, I'm-I'm starting to wonder about your expertise.
All right, when we come back,
Ronny Chieng is gonna be talking about money.
You don't want to miss it.
-(cheering and applause) -That's not...
that's not "salt and pepper."
(applause and cheering)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
Income tax-- it's the reason they threw Blade in jail.
Today is Tax Day here in the United States,
and the IRS deadline has Ronny Chieng thinking
about America's weird relationship with money
in another installment of "America, WTF."
♪ ♪
I love America.
It's the only country where you can get a burger
and a liposuction at the same drive-thru.
But as someone who's also lived all around the world,
I feel a responsibility to let America know
that a lot of the things it does are super weird
to the rest of us.
And one of those things is how America does money.
♪ ♪
It's tax season which, right off the bat,
is a sign that something is wrong, okay?
Because taxes shouldn't have a whole season.
Seasons are supposed to be for exciting stuff,
like baseball season or wedding season
or season two of Bridgerton.
I can't wait to see which British person
is jizzing on who this time.
But America decided that filing taxes should be
as quick and painless
as getting a root canal at the DMV.
I mean, you got your 1099s, you got your form 1040s,
you got your schedule Cs.
You got your R2-D2s.
You got your Blink-182s.
You spend days trying to figure out
what you owe the government,
and then the government tells you if you're right
because apparently, they knew the whole frigging time.
It's like the world's most pointless game show.
Aside from The Price Is Right, obviously.
Because nobody should get a new car
for knowing how much ketchup costs.
Look, I hate to break it to you guys,
but in a lot of other countries,
the government does all that filing for you.
Yeah, they do the math, they send you a statement.
And if it looks good, you click "okay,"
and then you're done.
It's so easy, a baby could do it.
But they don't have to because they're lazy freeloaders
who don't pay taxes.
It's not just your income taxes.
All taxes in America are weird.
In a lot of other countries, you see a price on something,
and that's how much it costs
because that's the whole point of a goddamn price.
But no, not in America.
When you pay for something in America,
they hit you with a surprise sales tax.
They're basically catfishing you.
I know that $600 TV looks good, but it's lying.
It's $650, and it has a secret family.
But don't get me wrong.
Taxes are far from America's only insane money issue.
Okay? I know you guys are used to it,
but I need you to realize
that the way you tip in this country is not normal.
Everywhere else, a tip is a show of appreciation,
not a GoFundMe for someone who doesn't earn a living wage.
A waiter's ability to pay rent shouldn't depend
on how generous Becky feels after three martinis.
And the real issue is how arbitrary your tipping is.
You tip the guy who delivers your food
but not the guy who delivers your packages?
And you tip the person who made your coffee
but not the person who made your Big Mac.
And don't even get me started on tip jars.
Okay? You don't have to put money in,
but if you do, you got to make a big show of it.
I like to shoot my cash into the jar
like a basketballer, shouting,
"He tips, he scores!"
If you bank it off the cashier, they usually notice.
But as weird as taxes and tipping are in America,
let's not forget about the actual money itself,
because American physical currency sucks.
I don't know if you know this, but in other countries,
every denomination is a different size
because it makes it easier to tell them apart,
especially if you're blind.
But apparently blind people
don't need to use money in America,
'cause look at this shit.
Same exact size. All of it.
You got to look over each individual bill
to figure out which slave owner to hand over.
And while we're talking about your strange money,
who decided a pyramid with a freaking eye
was a normal thing to put on the dollar?
Hey, rule of thumb, America--
if Nick Cage can make a movie about your money,
you're doing it wrong.
Not to mention the pennies.
Like, why do these still exist
when everyone's just trying to get rid of 'em?
Even convenience stores have that "take a penny,
leave a penny" dish.
It's like an animal shelter for unwanted money.
Did you know that America actually loses money
making pennies?
If you're gonna have a hobby that loses you money,
get a gambling addiction, like a normal person.
'Kay? Listen, your whole financial system's stupid
and I hate it, all right?
The money, the tipping, the taxes.
That's why I found a way
to avoid dealing with it altogether.
All right? (chuckles)
The secret is, they can't tax you
if they don't know you have it.
(alarm ringing)
(groans)
So much easier robbing a bank in Europe.
♪ ♪
Thank you so much for that, Ronny Chieng.
All right, when we come back, the one and only
iconic Janelle Monáe is joining us on the show.
-So stay tuned. -(cheering and applause)
(applause and cheering)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is Grammy-nominated artist
actor and author Janelle Monáe.
She's here to talk about her debut book,
The Memory Librarian.
Please welcome Janelle Monáe.
-(applause and cheering) -♪ ♪
-Welcome. -Thank you.
Great to see you.
Hi. Hello.
(applause and cheering)
-Welcome back to The Daily Show. -Wow. This is...
That's what I say every time I see you.
-Yes. -This is huge. Hi, Trevor.
-This is fun. This is fun. We're back. -I am so happy to be back.
-I am so happy to be back. -You know, back with the people.
-I'm so happy to see you. -I'm happy to you have here.
'Cause, like, when I talk to you over Zoom,
I don't get, like... For those who don't know,
Janelle Monáe always looks like this.
Like, just always...
No. You are easily one of the most, like, glamorous,
-stylish people I have ever come across in my life. -Oh.
Like, you look like
how we're just supposed to dress as a thing.
You are so kind.
I totally paid him to say these things.
You know, we're in the pandemic.
-He was trying to make some extra money and... -Yeah, I was.
Giving compliments.
My side hustle was complimenting Janelle Monáe.
Um, welcome back to the show. How is life?
How's everything treating you?
Because you are one of the few people I know
who just seems to excel in everything do you.
Music-- you excel, and it's your own type of music.
It's your own vibe. It's different, it's not easy.
-Mm. -Then movies you excel-- everything, Hidden Figures.
I mean, now you're gonna be in the new Knives Out.
It's just like, your life is a dream, and now a book
-that's already got starred reviews. -Oh, my God.
-Well, tell it to my therapist. -How are you? -(laughter)
Because clearly, clearly, there's a lot things
that I have to fix according to them.
-Um, I'm amazing. -Yeah?
I'm amazing, man. I'm gonna say that.
-(applause and cheering) -I love that.
And... and I'll say this.
I used to kind of just say that, you know?
'Cause "How are you doing?" "I'm doing great.
How are you doing?" But I am do...
I am, like, in the most,
"I don't have to prove anything" space
-that I've ever been in in my life. -Ooh. Ooh.
Um, yeah, and it took me a while to get there
because, you know, as public people,
we try to inspire people with our words.
But I don't feel like I was really living what I was saying.
Oh, I like that.
I wasn't really believing in it myself.
I was saying it, it was helping other people,
but I had to do some deep healing during the pandemic.
-Well... -I was dealing with a lot of rejection
-and abandonment issues... -Uh-huh.
just from, like, my childhood.
Things that I had just kind of kept in me.
And they were just coming to the surface.
And I think one of the things that the pandemic has done
is forced us all to go in,
-stay in. -To sit with ourselves. Right.
Yeah, and so, I'm at this place where, like,
I'm ready to celebrate.
If we're not talking about vacations,
I don't want to talk.
If we're not planning a vacation, I don't...
I don't... It's just like, "What are we doing?"
-I love that. -We are supposed to be living our best lives.
-I'm young, I'm creative. -Hey! Hey!
-(applause and cheering) -(speaking foreign language)
Right? I'm... No, seriously.
Like, we're supposed to be living
our earth experience in the best possible way,
and think when I first started my career, I was really serious.
-Like, I have to prove a point. -Yes. Yes.
I have to prove that just because I look like this,
-I can do this type of music. -Right, right, right.
I can say these things, I can talk about science fiction.
I had a lot to prove.
Um, but now, man, I'm floating.
We feel it.
-I love that. That's beautiful. -Yeah.
(applause)
And you know what, it's-it's interesting
because you start to feel that with artists
when they hit that groove, you know?
-Yeah. -Because I-I think everyone goes through a phase
-of "you have to prove." You know? Because... -Yeah.
-I'm sure you understand that. -Oh, yeah, definitely.
-Coming from... -Because initially,
you're going, "Will I keep the job?
-Do I belong here?" There's impostor syndrome. -Yeah.
-Mm. -Over time, you develop a trust.
Yourself, the audience, your experiences.
-Yeah. -The book feels like the perfect representation
of that for me, because I knew that you liked science fiction.
-(chuckles) -You know? I mean, like, you know,
your-your albums, for instance. Your music videos.
You-You've never been afraid
to say, like, "I like science fiction."
But now you wrote a book of short stories,
and I was like, "Oh, no,
-Janelle Monáe loves science fiction." -Yes.
-I do. -'Cause you cowrote with some amazing authors.
-Yes. -Let's-let's start with that.
How did you even begin this process of going,
"You know what? I want to write, like, a future book"?
So, this, um, short story collection
is from the soil of Dirty Computer,
-my album that came out in 2018. -Yes.
And I released a film with that.
And I knew I had more to say.
Sat down in the pandemic, 2022...
Excuse me. Look at me, don't even know my dates.
I'm from the future. Sorry. Excuse me.
-(laughter) -Um, I sat down in the pandemic.
-2020. -Right.
And I finally said that there's more.
And, um, you know, I was on mushrooms,
and I just came up with all of these thought experiments,
you know, where I was like,
"What if there was this Black woman"?
She was the memory keeper of this city.
She knew all of the people's memories
before they were cleaned,
before their identities were wiped clean.
-Mm. -And she wants to fall in love.
What does that mean when you want to fall in love
but you know everybody's secrets?
-(exhales) That's the first story. -What does that mean?
So, that's the first one. It's called "The Memory Librarian."
Yeah. That's just the first story. Imagine that.
-WOMAN: Oh. -First... You see, you were already like, "Ooh."
-First story. -Yeah.
-(laughter and applause) -And then...
And then what if you lived in New York
and there was a room that could you go into
you didn't even know existed.
But when you went into this room, time stopped.
-So... Ooh, yeah. -(laughter)
So you could...
It kind of speaks to time poverty
-in a sense. -Right. Right.
You know Black and brown folks,
-we've been spending our life fighting, right? -Mm-hmm.
To-to be included, all these things.
What if you had an opportunity to steal time, to get time back?
Would you rest? Would you show the community this place?
How-how would you...
If you could get time back, how would you use it?
I love how you've used the stories in the book
to delve into topics that sometimes are too dense
or-or too...
like, you know, they're fraught with politics.
And they don't let us just think about them.
For instance, the first story you talked about,
it's in the future. There's this woman.
She's got all these memories. How does she trust people?
-How does she know people? -Yeah.
And all I found myself thinking...
I was like, "Man, I feel like that's what social media
-is slowly slipping us into." -Mm.
People have now lived their entire life online.
-Yeah. -Now we're in a generation
where people have gone, "From my baby steps
"all the way through, I have existed online.
"So now do I have any anonymity?
"Can I write my own story
-without other people writing it from my posts?" -Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, I think that, you know,
social media is a virtual reality.
It's a whole nother world. Like, people create,
and we curate the type of people that we are.
I think being human, in my opinion, is performative.
-Mm. -I'm performing a version
of what I think Janelle Monáe should be.
-Damn. -Told you I'm from the future,
-so... -Yeah, no.
It gets deep. It gets deep.
It's all feedback.
We're getting feedback from how we should be,
-how what we've seen we didn't like, what... -Mm-hmm.
And it's like, "Ah, now I'm this person"
because of the information.
But that's a whole nother story.
Um, I think you're right.
I think that there is some gathering done there,
uh, with our memories.
And, with this book, I'm just challenging everybody
to be their own memory librarian.
Like, I started to look at my life
and I-I started to think about, man, I was...
I didn't-- I wasn't in the moment in so many ways.
-Yeah. Yes. -I was so in the future here for, like,
the majority of my career.
I was in the future.
And so how can I create memories now?
Like, our memories are the things
-that determine the quality of our life. -Right.
Without them, who are we?
You know? When you take away somebody's identity
and who they are, it's just like...
that-that was their life's experience, you know?
-That's deep. Wow. -Yeah.
-Who are we? -And I-I want to shout out Alaya Dawn Johnson.
I wrote The Memory Librarian with her.
And I wrote th-this-this entire collection--
Each short story, I partnered with a writer
-that I... -How did you choose them? I would love to know--
-Yeah. -Well, friends who were writers.
-Right. -'Cause I knew, like, okay, with--
There's a story called "Nevermind,"
and there is, uh, an incredible writer, uh,
by the name of Danny Lore. And nonbinary.
And they are just really, really good when it comes to action.
Like, they're doing some stuff with this James, uh,
Bond, uh, graphic novel, and I was like,
"Okay, Danny will be great for that."
And then, uh, Eve L. Ewing,
-I did "Timebox" with. -Oh, yes. Of course.
Um, Sheree Renée Thomas, I did "Timebox Altar(ed)" with.
Uh, Yohanca Delgado, I did "Save Changes."
Imagine if you could go back and there was this device
and you wanted to just, like--
Ah, I don't want to give too much away,
but these stories are just incredible.
And then, um, you know, I said, uh, Alaya Dawn Johnson.
-Right. -I just wanted to make sure I shout them out,
because this was a super innovative way of releasing,
-uh, a book. -It really is.
You know-- you know, what I enjoyed about it is,
when you go from story to story, what you've done is
there is the common thread of Janelle Monáe.
I can feel the future you in all these stories
and the way you think.
But then it's infused with, like,
-different elements from all of the different writers. -Yeah.
You know? If you-- if you know Eve's writing and her style,
-you can feel it in some of the dialogue... -Yes.
-...and some of the moments. -Yeah.
-She's incredible. -If you know the author,
it becomes-- So it-it's almost like you've created
the first book that has, like, "features" on it.
Yeah, it's like a-- it's like a compilation album.
-It really is. No, it's-it's... -It is. Like a mixtape.
-(laughs) -It's phenomenal. So it-- They-they feel
-so different from story to story... -Yeah. Yeah.
...and yet they have a common thread.
I can see why it's getting rave reviews.
I can see-- Like, now the question is,
are you gonna turn this into--
-I know it started with the album that's a movie... -Mm-hmm.
...and then now there's a book, but now this book seems like
-it-it's begging to be turned into a TV show. -Yeah.
You think so? Do you think it could be a TV show?
-Every time I was reading this, I was like, "Wow." -Okay, guys,
-everybody watching, listen. -(cheering and applause)
-We're gonna do it. -We need to make this happen.
-We're gonna make it happen, -Let's make it happen.
We're gonna make it happen. Thank you so much for joining me
-on the show. -Thank you. I adore you.
-Thank you for being here. -I'm so proud of you.
-Give him a round of applause! -Thank you for finding
-your happiness. -(cheering)
Janelle Monáe, everybody!
-Thank you. -The Memory Librarian
will be available April 19.
We're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
I love that.
(cheering, applause)
(cheering and applause)
Well, that's our show for tonight.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Before we go, millions of families in Ukraine
have fled their homes in search of safety.
Working with restaurant partners across Ukraine
and in six countries, World Central Kitchen
is providing hundreds of thousands of nourishing meals
for people in need every day.
Additionally, WCK teams
are working to get bulk food products
into communities under constant attack.
So, please, if you can support them
in their emergency food relief efforts,
then donate at the link below.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there.
And, remember,
if you need to calculate your tip at a restaurant
and you're struggling,
multiply the hypotenuse by x.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
♪ ♪
When the president started talking about blaming
the Putin price hike, uh, a bird pooped on him.
At what point did he realize that that had happened?
DOOCY: Uh, hopefully before he puts that jacket on again.
-(laughter) -Uh, and, for the record,
they claim that it was not from a bird
but, rather, it was from corn.
They say here at the White House,
the communications professionals here
who are tasked with responding to Bird Poop-gate,
uh, they say that it was corn.
Uh, so don't blame the bird-- blame the corn.
-Bird Poop-gate. All right. -Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Peter.