The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump's Spiraling Hush-Money Scandal & The GOP's See-No-Evil Response| Bob Woodward & Janelle Monae

Episode Date: December 14, 2018

GOP lawmakers shrug off President Trump's illegal hush-money scandal, author Bob Woodward discusses "Fear," and Janelle Monae chats about her album "Dirty Computer."  Learn more about your ad-choice...s at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey guys, this is Tom Segura. And I'm Bert Kreischer. And you're listening to Two Bears One Cave, or you should be listening to Two Bears One Cave. We are on Spotify. On Spotify. And we are not smart.
Starting point is 00:00:15 That's an understatement. But you'll have a lot of fun, hopefully. I think you might enjoy it if you'll your perfect blood work back from your doctor and you have full permission to tie one on, make sure you check out Two Bears One Cave. It's with me, Tom Stegora and my co-host. Bert Kreiser. The Machine. My shirt's off. December 13, 2018. From Comedy Central's World News headquarters in New York. This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Thank you so much. You're far too kind. Welcome, everybody. Welcome to the daily show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Starting point is 00:01:09 Thank you so much. Thank you Steve. Wow, you guys are nice. You guys are warm. This is great, really warm. I'm Trevor to know it. Tonight we have two amazing guests. First, renowned journalist.
Starting point is 00:01:21 Bob Woodward is here everybody. Two legends. And then, singer singer and actor Janelle Monay is going to be here. Couldn't not be more excited for that. But first, let's catch up on today's headlines. As you may know, Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars last week. Although I don't know how you stepped down from anything when you're his height. And now the Oscars are trying to find a host who has no history of offensive tweets, which means nobody.
Starting point is 00:01:54 The Oscars may go without a host. Published reports say, the Academy is considering scrapping the gig after Kevin Hart stepped down. The Academy held a board meeting last night, but so far no official word on the host position. The Oscars have gone hostless before, but not since 1988. No! The Oscars will have no host. But who will introduce the person who introduces the presenter, introduces the nominees? Who will tell me that Amy Adams is in the audience? No. Seriously, sometimes I don't get the Oscars. It's like, why does America celebrate the best movies with the worst TV show?
Starting point is 00:02:34 Like, I don't get it. Like, if you ask me, they should use this opportunity to revamp the entire show. Yeah, don't have a host. In fact, don't even the their their their their their their their thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, thoom. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the the their, the the the the the their, their, the thi.. thi. the. too, too, too, too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. together. together, together, together. t't even have a presenter for the awards, right? The people in each category should have to announce who gets their award. Then we really get to see best actor, yeah. We're not to give it to someone else. The winner is, oh hell, yay! And also, and also, they should change the in-memorium segment. Instead of showing the people who they think are going to die next year. Then you can enjoy the applause now.
Starting point is 00:03:07 Yeah. Moving on. The Holland Tunnel, right here in New York City. It's one of the most frustrating tunnels to drive through. But not everyone hates it for the same reason. The New Jersey man is taking on the Port Authority. He is not happy with how they decked the halls of the Holland Tunnel and he wants the decorations to be changed. On the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel, a reef covers the O in Holland
Starting point is 00:03:33 perfectly this time of year like it was designed for that spot. Another reef covers the U in tunnel snugly and then there's the tree. You're creeping up inch by inch and that that tree is tree is t inch, and that tree is just staring at you, and you go, how is that not in the right place? The right place for the tree, Corey Wendelsbeck says, is over the preceding A, which would, he says, seemed to fit a tree shaped perfectly. Yo, ladies, ladies, find you a man who cares about you as much as this guy cares about the Harlem Tunnels Christmas decorations. Now this guy's been so serious and he's pushed so hard that the state has said they're
Starting point is 00:04:15 actually going to consider changing the decorations. But I can only imagine all the New Jersey bureaucracy that's going to be involved. You know? It's going to be people in New Jersey being like, you've got to full out form W-Dash 7J, but because it's Jersey it's going to be like on the form, you got a fucking problem, tough guy, followed by form J-27 where you explain, wait, you know little Anthony? If yes, from the old neighborhood, no kissing, his mind used to make the best chicken cutlets! Moving on to international news, poor Britain, guys, in 2016 they voted for Brexit, which was to leave the European Union, but they can't figure out a way to do it that doesn't screw themselves.
Starting point is 00:04:55 In fact, this week, Teresa May, their prime minister, offered a Brexit plan that was so unpopular that party held a vote to kick her out of office. Now she survived that votethat vote and the good news actually is for her is that she won, but the bad news is is that she has had to promise that as soon as Brexit is done, she will leave, which is a terrible deal for her. It's basically I'll do the worst part of the job and then I'll quit. It's also a bad deal for Britain because you don't want their tough job if they know they're going to be fired no matter what happens. Like if I was a surgeon and I knew I was getting fired after I finished a kidney tran-transpon, you better believe I'm replacing that kidney with a whoopi cushion.
Starting point is 00:05:32 I don't play games. I'm out. I'm out. I'm gone. I'm gone. But now, in an interesting twist, Britain might have an out, because the European Court, the EU court has just ruled that if Britain wants to, it can cancel Brexit without facing any repercussions, which sounds like a great deal to me. I wish there were bad decisions I could just magically undo without any repercussions.
Starting point is 00:05:58 Yeah, but I can't, and now I'm pregnant. Moving on, finally, let's talk about Christmas shopping. It's the only time of the year you're allowed to fight an old lady for a Panini press. And everyone knows that when it comes to gift-giving, it's the thought that counts. Well, not everyone knows. Donald Trump Jr. is revealing what Christmas is like in the Trump family. The president's eldest son says his father is a, quote, re-gifter.
Starting point is 00:06:27 There was one Christmas where he may or may not have given me the gift that I had given him the year before because I monogrammed it. And it was like, oh yeah, here. I'm like, I know you didn't get there. How do you know that? Because I gave it to you last years. Yeah, you laugh now, Don Jr. but wait until next Christmas when he tries to re-gift you his subpoenas.
Starting point is 00:06:48 Oh, look, it says you're impeached and you're going to jail. Merry Christmas, son. You know, I...I don't know what's more awkward. Trump re-gifting something to his son or the time he gave Milania and Stomy Daniels the same penis. Oh! Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Did I do that?
Starting point is 00:07:27 All right, let's move on to our main story. Ah, yesterday, Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney and world's droopiest man was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging payments to cover up Trump's affairs. And no wonder this guy looks so sad. He's going to jail and his arm has no bones in it. It's a waste of money. And can I just say, can I just say, can I don't get why Trump and his people paid women to
Starting point is 00:08:05 keep quiet about his affairs. It's a waste of money. We all know the guy has affairs. If anything, the women should be paying Trump-hush money. They should be like, hey, Donald, you just keep this between us and your cheese doodle, yeah? Don't tell anybody. And now, I look, I know that it seems like every that that that that that that that tha, that seems, that seems, tham, tham, tham, tham, themem, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the 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 thi, thi, thi, thi, the the thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, th Trump story. But this update, this update could actually be major. Another friend of the president is now cooperating.
Starting point is 00:08:30 Prosecutors say the publisher of the National Enquirer agreed to talk about paying hush money to cover up an alleged sexual affair for the president. Prosecutors revealed yesterday they struck a deal not to charge the inquirer's parent company, AMI, for its involvement. In exchange, AMI admitted that its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman's story to prevent it from influencing the election. Okay, now this is massive. The national inquirer has agreed to testify against Donald Trump. And I know you wondering, oh, what could a gossip magazine possibly tell prosecutors? Yeah, what are they just going to be like?
Starting point is 00:09:06 All right, I'll tell you everything I know. Here are five celebs who look fat on vacation. I'll tell you. And you won't believe number four. But in this case, it's a big deal, right? Because the National Inquirer would pay for that story and literally lock it away in a safe. And now, now that they're cooperating with the feds, we may get to see what's in that safe,
Starting point is 00:09:33 which means Chuck Schumer can put his favorite cat suits away. Yeah, yeah, you can change out of that, Chuck, we're good. Although, if there is a safe filled with Trump secrets, I the secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secrets. Although, if there is a safe filled with Trump secrets, I just assume whoever enters it immediately gets HPV. It's just like, blah. Now look, now look. Paying people hush money is not a crime.
Starting point is 00:09:54 Remember this. But if it turns out that a presidential candidate secretly used campaign funds to hide damaging information from voters, that is a felony. And today, it's being reported that Donald Trump was actually in the room when the whole plan was hatched, which is a big deal. Because remember, he wasn't even in the room when his own son was hatched. Yeah. And that's right, I said it.
Starting point is 00:10:17 Eric is part bird. It's one of the stories the National Inquirer locked away, people. So the president is implicated the the the president the president is implied the president is implied the president is implicated the president is implicated the president is implicated the president the president is implicated. the president the president the president the president is implicated. the president the president the president thi. thiated. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi is the National Enquirer locked away people. So the president is implicated in a criminal conspiracy. And most people agree that this looks really bad for President Trump. But according to many top Republicans, no it doesn't. If shift is taking this beyond to go forward and say there's an impeachable offense because of a campaign finance problem, there's a lot of members in Congress who would have to leave for that same place. If we're going to prosecute people and put them in jail for campaign finance, finance violations, we're going to become a banana republic, like where they have.
Starting point is 00:10:54 Every president gets prosecuted and everybody gets thrown in jail when they're done with the office. Okay, hold out. Hello. Did he just say that upholding the law will turn America into a banana republic? Is that what he just said? This is mind-blowing. How are lawmakers going on TV complaining about the law when they make the law? They're out there like, these laws are crazy. You make the law! This would be like God complaining to us about the commandment. Oh, I mean, what do you mean though, Shelton, not covered? Have you seen Greg's wife? Have you seen her? Have you seen her Instagram?
Starting point is 00:11:25 She's been posting thirst traps, guys. I can't control myself. Seriously, his argument is that politicians shouldn't be held accountable for campaign finance violation laws. But if campaign finance laws aren't for politicians, then who the fuck are they for? But at least, at least those politicians, at least those Republicans pretended that they had a reason. For Orrin Hatch, he just told us the truth. The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president. Anything. But this is not the Democrats. It's a Southern District of Europe, the U.S. Attorney.
Starting point is 00:12:05 I mean, that's what's making this delegation. Okay, but I don't care. All I can say is he's doing a good job as president. Really? You think he's doing a good job as president? Orn Hatch, you need to get your imaginary glasses checked, my friend. That's what you need to do. You you thue thua you thua you thua you need thua you need tho. You need tho. You need tho. You need to get to get to get to get their to get their to get their their to get to get to get to get their to get imaginary glasses checked my friend that's that's what you need to do you need to get them checked okay and also and also doing a good job doesn't
Starting point is 00:12:33 absolve you of previous crimes all right the hamburger did a good job of volunteering for doctors without borders but that doesn't change the fact that he stole all those big Macs and exposed himself to grimace. It's still a crime. And look, I understand, I understand the Republican's desire to protect their party's president. I get that. But they're pivoting so far just to defend him, that they're moving away from what they said the Republican Party stands for in the first place, law and order. No one is above the law.
Starting point is 00:13:05 The American people have a right to know the answers and to know what was going on here. We should treat people fairly. No one should be above the rules and no one should be above the law. We are enforcing the laws as they exist on the books. I can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law. That is actually repeated a number of times throughout the Bible. We must maintain law and order at the highest level or we will cease to have a country. 100%. I am the law and order candidate.
Starting point is 00:13:39 That's right, folks. I am the law and order candidate. As in, I will break the law in order to become president. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. to the today's one cave. to be listening to Two Bears One Cave, or you should be listening to Two Bears One Cave. We are on Spotify.
Starting point is 00:14:07 On Spotify. And we are not smart? That's an understatement. But you'll have a lot of fun, hopefully. I think you might enjoy it if you give us a listen. If you got your perfect blood work back from your doctor. to tie one on. Make sure you check out Two Bears One Cave. It's with me, Tom Segura and my co-host, Bert Chryser. The Machine. My shirt's off. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is the legendary Pulitzer
Starting point is 00:14:37 Prize-winning investigative journalist, best-selling author and associate editor of the Washington Post. His latest book is called Fear, Trump, in the White House. Please welcome, Bob Woodward. Welcome. Thank you. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Great to be here. to be here. Can I just tell you.
Starting point is 00:14:54 One of my favorite experiences was I was doing shows in Washington DC and I went to eat at a restaurant and you were eating at the same restaurant and you got up to what you were just leaving the restaurant I guess but it felt like everyone in D.C. like thi. Like that's the guy who could write about us and end our careers. You, you've written... I remember that night, my fly was down. I don't remember because I was looking at your eyes, Bob.
Starting point is 00:15:40 You have written about nine presidents. It feels like for a long time, people always regarded yours. Bob Woodward, the journalist who is impartial, he writes the story as it is. I mean, you wrote about Nixon as well. You wrote about nine presidents. This book feels different, though. It still feels like you're impartial, but it feels like it really, really condemns President Trump. Because of the evidence, time and time again. If you look for a summary, it's a war on truth.
Starting point is 00:16:13 And he's making all these decisions in foreign policy and the economy. And it's not based on facts. And so I think we're really, I think this is a pivot moment. and it's not based on facts. And so I think we're really, I think this is a pivot moment. And the country needs to come to grips with what's going on. And there are going to be investigations going on for years probably. But here you have a situation where the president, people who work for him have to take papers
Starting point is 00:16:47 off his desk in order to prevent him from beginning a catastrophe. Like there was an order about a trade agreement in South Korea and you think, oh, that's just a trade agreement. But it's a part of an alliance with South Korea. Where we have 28,000 of our troops there, we have top-secret, special access, intelligence programs that allow us to detect a North Korean missile launch in seven seconds, and Trump wants to begin that process. And Gary Cohen, his top economic aid, says,
Starting point is 00:17:30 I have to take that in order to prevent a calamity. Now, I've done this for 47 years, and I've never seen people who felt there was such an emergency. This is an interesting idea. A president who has people around him who publicly defend him, but then privately seemed to lambast his every single move. Because this book is not written as an observation. You spoke to people who work in the White House, who work for the president. You have notes, you have tape recordings.
Starting point is 00:18:06 I'm constantly amazed, and I struggle to understand the fact that these people work for him, and they all seem to know that the Emperor has no clothes, but they tell us that he's wearing Vasaci. Yeah. And what you find, because I have the time to really develop relationships of trust with people who are there, is the more they know, the closer they are to Trump, the more they are on the verge of having a cardiac arrest because of what he does and what he does not know.
Starting point is 00:18:45 And he will get locked into these ideas. Oh, like NATO, that security agreement that has kept the peace for 70 years. He said, oh, we're wasting our money. We're suckers for doing that. And finally, I mean, I never thought this would happen. The Secretary of Defense has to tell the President, oh, we're doing these things to prevent World War III.
Starting point is 00:19:12 Job one for a President. Prevent World War III, right? Just to put it in context, can you imagine Dick Cheney when he was Secretary of Defense to Bush Sr. having to tell him, oh, by the way, this is all designed to prevent World War III? Inconceivable, when I...It seems like the very basic understandings of the presidency and what's happening in the country are things that Trump doesn't grasp. But there's always something that people bring up in that is they say, this is just like Nixon now.
Starting point is 00:19:53 You know, apart from his knowledge, they're saying like, oh, the shady deal is, this is just like Nixon. You actually wrote about Nixon. You are, in many ways, part of the reason thap thap thap, thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. theei. thi. thei. thei. thei. thei. thi. thi. thi. thi.that Nixon got into the trouble that he got into. Now, do you think this is similar to Richard Nixon? We're going to find out, and it all depends on the quality of evidence. And there's a lot of aroma, there are lots of things going on, as you're rightly pointing out, wait a minute, these are violations of the law.
Starting point is 00:20:23 When does it get so serious that the Republicans will wake up that's the question and they now are the enablers of Trump in all of this stuff and you get to them privately and you say what do you think and they say my head hurts so hard tough we are you know this this, I mean, just take in the book, John Dowd, who was Trump's personal attorney in the Mueller investigation, worked with him for eight months, closely, big supporter, and said, okay, you're going to have to testify to the special council Mueller and Trump says okay I can do that no problem so they do a
Starting point is 00:21:11 practice session and Trump starts making up things, lying blows up and in the practice session. In the practice session and this is his lawyer said you can't testify. If you testify you will perjure yourself and the practice session. In the practice session, and this is his lawyer, you can't testify. If you testify, you will perjure yourself and you'll wind up in an orange jump suit, like the one you picture Trump in. And then he finally concludes that Trump is a effing liar. I know you're not supposed to say that word on the area. You can say it here.
Starting point is 00:21:51 You can say it here. I mean, I'd say. Here's something that you might be able to help me understand. Because what I loved about this book is that honestly, it's a retelling of a story. I don't feel your personal attachment to it. It is a complete factual a retelling of a story. I don't feel your personal attachment to it. It is a complete factual telling of a story and interviews that you have with people. But from your personal perspective,
Starting point is 00:22:14 from the interactions you've had with some of the people who work with Trump, why don't they just move on? They have Pence. What is the end game for them? What do they hope will happen? It's survival. And imagine where, I'm at Merrill Streep, the actress, great actress, said just recently, imagine what Donald Trump's 3 a.m. is like. Just think of that.
Starting point is 00:22:39 He gets up and he tweets. You look at, this morning, he was tweeting from 7 to 10 or 11, all about taking defensive positions on all of this. You know, one of the things from doing nine presidents, you come to the moment when somebody asks you, well, what's the job of the president? And my definition of the job of the president? And my definition of the job of the president is to figure out the next stage of good for a majority of people in the country.
Starting point is 00:23:14 Win a war, fix the economy. We could put a board up here. And we would come up with a list. Not for the base or one party or interest groups. You know, there really is a next stage of good for this country. As best I can tell, in Trump's world and presidency, that never comes up. It is not addressed. It's all about the moment of, you know, you saw that 20-minute oval office. Right, right. It's all about Trump and his emotions, his impulses, and he got to the point of
Starting point is 00:23:55 saying, well I'll close down the government and be proud of it. That will be a good thing. Well, come on. I mean, he's, I mean, imagine the head of GM saying that, oh, we'll close down all the plants. And I'll take the plan. And I'll be proud of it. So then, do you think, do you think, if you just look at this on the face of it, one thing we've always said is, he has earned the nickname, the Teflon Don, it seems like nothing sticks to do? th. And, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, the the the the the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and I. the they. the the the the, and I's, and I's, and I'll, and I'll, and I'll, and I'll, and I'll, and I'll, and I's, and I. And, and I. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and. And, and. And, and. the. the. the to. the to. the to. the to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the the the to. the the to. to. the to. the to Donald Trump. Do you think there's a world where Cohen goes down, Flynn goes down, Manifort goes down, Papadopoulos goes down, everybody around him goes down and he miraculously comes out unscathed? We don't know, but having Cohen, the personal lawyer for 10 years, we know Cohen taped all kinds of things in the Nixon case, it was thousands of hours of tapes, I don't think those exists exists....., those those those those those those those those those thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thinks, thinks, thinks, thinks, thiiops thiops thiops th goes th goes th goes thinks, thinks, th goes th goes all kinds of things in the Nixon case.
Starting point is 00:24:45 It was thousands of hours of tapes. I don't think those exist. But if there's one witness you want, it's the president's lawyer. Because you see, when Trump was in New York real estate, people would do deals with him. And they called it the Donald Risk, taking any deals with him. And they called it the Donald Risk, taking any arrangement with him. And what they made sure they did is they would structure the deal
Starting point is 00:25:16 so he couldn't get his hands on the cash flow, on the money, because he would just take it out and they would try to prevent that from happening. So the operation, saddest moment in journalism and American politics of the last decade is we did not get his tax returns. We should know his tax returns. If anyone out there has them, please let me know.
Starting point is 00:25:47 Really? Thank you so much for being on the show. The book is phenomenal. A true legend. Bob Woodward, everybody. Fear is available now. Don't get it. We'll be right back.
Starting point is 00:26:01 Thank you. Have you ever been watching the news and thought to yourself, wow, the Supreme Court sure does suck. We made a podcast about that. We sure did. There is a super majority of conservative maniacs on the Supreme Court right now, really doing some damage. I'm Michael. I'm Riannan.
Starting point is 00:26:23 And I'm Peter. Our podcast, 5 5-4 is about all of this. Every week we dissect and analyze a different ruling that has made our country a little worse, a little more cruel. And you would not believe how many of them there are. Check out 5 to 4. That's the number 5-4, wherever you listen to the Daily Show. My next guest is an actor and an award-winning musician who was just nominated for two Grammys, Album of the Year for Dirty Computer, and Best Music Video for Pink. Please welcome, Janelle Monet! I'm finally here. You are finally here. I have been a fan of yours chasing you around from event to event.
Starting point is 00:27:07 I have been a fan of yours chasing you around from event to event. I have loved everything that you have done for so long. First of all, congratulations on your Grammy nomination. Thank you very much. Thank you you have done for so long. First of all, congratulations on your Grammy nomination. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. You've always struck me as somebody who creates because you love creating. You know, you don't create to win, to sell, to do a thing. I mean, these are byproducts of it, but you've always struck me as an artist, artist.
Starting point is 00:27:42 But being nominated, that hit you, right? Oh yeah. I've been wanting, you know, to do this album for a while now. It was actually supposed to be the album I did before my first album, the Ark Android. Right. And so I went through a lot to get this album done. A lot of conversations I've had to have with myself, with my family. You know, as I became a young woman, my perspective started to change and the way I wanted to create art started to evolve. And, you know, it just took a lot and I worked with a lot of amazing people to get it done. And I was very shocked and humbled that, you know, I could do an album that was so much about me and about my truth. And because I, you, you, you, you, you, the, you, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, you, th, you, th, you, th, th, th, thi, you, thi, you, you, thi, you, you, you, you that, you know, I could do an album that was so much about me
Starting point is 00:28:25 and about my truth and because I was walking in my truth. Right. Other folks, you know, saw themselves in this project, so it just feels like, you know, it's a great acknowledgement to me and the community of people I wanted to celebrate. That's something that's really beautiful about. Yeah. Something that I found really powerful about dirty computer is that you created this passion project that said everything you wanted to say but at the same time it felt like it was speaking to all of us in our individual ways. You know some people said that this was a proud celebration of
Starting point is 00:29:01 womanhood for all women. Some said no this is a proud celebration of being gay, of being queer. This is, this is, and at the same time it feels like it's this this this this this this this this this this this th, it's th, th, th, th, th, th, th, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, th, th, the, the, th, the, thi, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, said, no, this is a proud celebration of being gay, of being queer. This is, and at the same time, it feels like it's all of those things. When you were constructing the album, when you're writing these songs, are you thinking of the message in the song? Or do you write the song?
Starting point is 00:29:17 And then you realized that it has a message? at all of this? Well, it went through many stages. There were moments where I would write songs on the way to the dentist. I had a song on the album that I wrote called So Afraid. And I was, oh, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, I was, I am indeed afraid of the dentist. Right. But yeah, I was in my car and only at stop lights. I would stop and be like, ah. And just singing the background vocals. And then, once I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their th. th. th. th. th. I was their th. th. th. I was, th. I was, th. I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I was. I was. I was, th. I was, th. I was, th. I was th. I was th. I was t. I was, t. S. I was, to. S. S. I was, to. S. S. I was, th. S. So, th. I was, th. I was, th. I was stop and be like, ah, and just singing the background vocals. And then once I was in the chair, I was still mouth open. Ah, the tell. told my lead producer, Nate Rocked Wonder, how I wanted the song to go. And he helped me realize that there were moments where I would wake up out of my sleep
Starting point is 00:30:03 and have to put it on my My voice memo, right and then there were just moments where I would collaborate with incredible people like Zoe Kravitz Stevie Wonder these are people on the album Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, right? Forrell Williams Grimes, you know, so many amazing folks who came together and said, we believe in what it means to be a dirty computer, what it means to have us, you walking in your truth so that other marginalized groups can have a soundtrack to their life. Wow.
Starting point is 00:30:45 When you, when you released Dirty Computer, I remember watching the full film. I mean, it's a film. I did. I told you about this. It's beautiful. It's a story that you watch from beginning to end. And it's a journey of lovers and it's a journey of the world it's it's such a beautiful story Tessa Thompson stars in and she's amazing as well. Shout out to Tess and it really is amazing and in that in that
Starting point is 00:31:13 in that clip that we saw of pink that was something that got people buzzing I mean some people in the audience haven't seen that video and I saw some of you were watching that and you were like are those isthose is, is that, are those are, is that? And everyone's giving them a different name. People would be like, are those the vagina pans? Right. Are those the vulva pans? But what was the vows. But what was that about?
Starting point is 00:31:37 Why was that so significant? Because I know it went beyond just, it wasn't like shock value, it's a beautiful artistic form, but what was the message behind all of that for you? And why were they all so different? Well, the messages on the album start with me first, you know. And as a woman, as a black woman who is, you know, I own my sexuality and I have agency. If I want to show my skin, I can. If I don't want to, I don't have to, I don't have to, but, but, 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, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, and, the, the, they.s, and, for forr of, fore.s, forweree.s, forweree.s, forweree.s, toe.s, toe.s, toe.s, to, to, to show my skin, I can. If I don't want to, I don't have to, but it's up to me to make those decisions. Right. And so, I wanted to celebrate women who share those same beliefs as well as other women who may not. Just all of us coming together, embracing those things that make us unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable. I wanted it to just be a love fest of women saying,
Starting point is 00:32:25 hey girl, I see you. You know? I support you. Yeah. It feels like it's done that. I mean, I know now it's going to be the Grammys push. Now it's going to be that, you know, that monumental, you know, I'm everyone has it before the Grammys come up. But this has been a chapter a a a a a thaaaaaaaaa, I tha, I tha, I, I tha, I tha, I, I, I, I tha, I, I, I thi, I've, I've, I've, I've, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I's, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I. that, I. that, I. th. th. th. th. th. th, I, I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'ma, I'ma, tha, tha, tha, tha, t t t t t t t t t t th th th thanks, I this has been a chapter in your life.
Starting point is 00:32:45 We know that you're acting as well now. You are phenomenal. I mean, you've been in, I don't know, is it now, two Academy Award-nominated films. You've been amazing in all of them. Thank you. Thank you. I know where you're trying to go, but what are you trying to do with your work moving forward, both in acting and in music? I love storytelling.
Starting point is 00:33:07 I love telling these universal stories in unforgettable ways. And you know, with moonlight and with hidden figures, it was just, it was such an honor to be in those films because they're, they could have been stories that could have been erased. You know, I didn't know about the three black women or all the women who helped get John Glenn into orbit. I didn't realize we were at NASA literally calculating and making sure that our astronauts went to space and came back safely. The first computers, yeah. We were the human computers and it's crazy. I was working on dirty computer when I was shooting hidden figures. Right. And when they referred to me as a computer when I was shooting hidden figures. Right.
Starting point is 00:33:45 And when they referred to me as a computer on set, it was always a reminder of, oh my gosh, I have to continue to write this album. Because in the same way that we're telling these stories of these women, my story could be a race. There's nobody who could have done that album except for me. And so I had to make myself available and like really, you know, take the time to just dig deep. You've dug deep, you've taken us with you. It's amazing. You have the nominations to show for. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you for having them. Thank you so much. Welcome to Marwan. The new movie Shazan. We'll be in theater December 21st. She'll be touring touring touring touring touring to to to the t. toe, toe, the toe, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi, thi, th th th th th th th to be th th thi, th th th th th th tho, tho, tho, th th. th. th. th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. You, th. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. And, thi. And, to to the to to the to the the thooooooooooooooooooo. You've the, th. She'll be touring Europe this summer and Dirty Computer is available now. Janelle Monet everybody. The Daily Show with Coverno Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy
Starting point is 00:34:28 Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. the Daily Show and videos at the Daily Show. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. Have you ever been watching the news and thought to yourself, wow, the Supreme Court sure does suck. We made a podcast about that. We sure did. There is a super majority of conservative
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