June 6, 2023 • 38 mins
How is Switzerland able to have so many guns per capita, but no mass shootings? Host Roy Wood Jr. sits down with correspondent Michael Kosta, segment director Stacey Angeles, and their Swiss producer Pierre-Adrian Irlé, to discuss how the country’s approach to military service and common sense laws have created a safe gun culture that America can learn from.
Watch the original segments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjlT4BME2aE&t=0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgYJ5V2HYy4&t=0s
Originally aired: August 31, 2021
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, what's up. I'm Roy Wood Junior. Now have you
ever gone to the music store to buy a CD?
Remember CD? These young people back in the day you
have to show up to a building to buy music. Well,
they used to have something called bonus tracks. You would
have a CD and then at the end of the
CD would be music that you didn't even know was
(00:31):
on the CD bonus tracks. That's what this podcast is.
This podcast is the bonus track to what is the
Daily Show. We're talking about correspondence, writers, producers and past
guests who've been on the show to go a little
deeper into topics that we've already seen explored on the show,
and to also see where we are today on those issues.
(00:52):
We go beyond beyond the scenes. So this week we
want to talk about a two parts segment where Michael
Costra went over to Switzerland to explore the gun laws
and so, you know, they don't really have a lot
of mass shootings in Switzerland, but everybody owns a gun.
Here's a little piece from that segment.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
When it comes to gun culture, Switzerland has a few
more regulations than America, and thanks to these gun regulations
and strict ammunition control, Switzerland has a murder rate of
nearly zero.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Sure that's a great statistic, but how safe can it
really be? How many school shootings have there been?
Speaker 4 (01:30):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
What about malls?
Speaker 1 (01:32):
People should know?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
What about like major holidays? People get shot up at
major holidays.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
Here proa love it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
This is the dream, shooting guns without the fear of
getting shot. This is where America should be. All we
need to do is keep AMMO separate and have universal
criminal and mental background checks, have extremely strict open carry laws,
justification for ownership, send written request to authorities, and basically
just change our entire gun culture.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
We can do that right, all right? So to help
us go beyond the scenes, we have correspondent and stand
up comedian and you know what, just an all around
good damn guy, Michael Costa.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
That's nice. I was wondering what you were gonna say,
but thank you, Roy.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
You know, we we go way back to our Los
Angeles day, pre Daily show. I don't have a lot
of friends in that building that predate my employment there,
so it's always known me.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
A long time, and you've always been supportive of my
comedy and I appreciate it. Now here we are beyond
the scenes bonus.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Track Going Beyond the Sea. Did you ever think when
we were at In and Out Burger after bombing somewhere
on Milrose, No, I did not think that. Also joining
us a field producer Stacy Angelie, Stacy, how are you
doing good?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Thanks for having me and for that depressing intro about CDs.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Oh, because you remember CDs as well. Now I want
to also introduce our guests. He was one of our producers,
kind of a slash fix it. Look, when we do
Internet national episodes and we travel abroad, we need somebody
over there to make sure that the shit don't go south,
and we need someone to make sure that we know
what the hell we're doing while we're in the country.
And they can also help us connect the dots because
(03:13):
they have a deep and even deeper understanding of the
issue because they're actually boots on the ground. Pierre Adrian Eerly,
welcome to us from Switzerland, sir, how are you good?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
So let's just jump right into it. Costa, what was
the genesis of this of this piece besides you really
wanting to go out of the country for free on
viacoms don that's true?
Speaker 6 (03:36):
Well, you know, I would love to claim that this
piece originated from the mind of Michael Costa, but as
can happen at the Daily Show, I got to the
office late, probably, and I saw an email that Stacey
had pitched to the Field department about how Switzerland owns
more guns per capita than America and has so few,
(03:59):
if any, mass shooting. So I read Stacy's email and
was excited and hoped that I would be the correspondent
that could do this piece, and it turned out to
be true. But Stacy is really the one that I
think fired the first shot, if you.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Will, yes, nicely done.
Speaker 6 (04:20):
Where did this come from, Stacy?
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Well, it was after the Parkland shooting, and I mean,
I'm from Texas also, where there's a lot of guns,
so I have my opinion about guns where And then
I remembered I wanted to do a piece because it
just felt like it was getting worse and worse. And
I loved the John Oliver Old Daily Show piece in Australia.
It was like a great example of you know, successful
(04:44):
gun control legislation. But I was like, there's no way
in hell America is going to get rid of all
their guns. That's just not going to happen. So I
started like googling countries that had a lot of guns,
but you know, no mass shootings or very minimal you know,
gun violence.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Hear that, listeners, She did some goddamn research. I googled, oh, oh, okay, well, yeah,
that's still research.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
And then at the time the top three places that
had gun well, that had guns was I forgot what
number one was. Oh, it was America, and then number
two was Yemen, and then three was Switzerland. And I
was like, well, Yemen's in a civil war, and I
did I too, wanted a free trip to another country
if it got approved. So that's how it happens.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
But really, like if you would have picked, if you
would have picked countries that didn't have a lot of
gun violence, the easy answer would have been, yeah, but
they don't have any guns. The beauty of this pitch
and story is that Switzerland has a lot of guns
and a lot of assault writings.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
And that that surprised me too, because it's obviously a
very depressing topic. But I was like, when you think
of Switzerland, you think of like, you know, neutral, Sorry
Pierre if I'm insulting you know, but you think of
like you know, chocolate and and fun. You just you
don't think of guns. And so I was like, maybe
this is the best way to approach a dark topic
by putting it in a in a vehicle that has
(06:09):
like that is known for like you know, pure bliss.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Welcome to Switzerland, a neutral country most known for its
cobblestone streets, perfect for skipping, its clocks, sophisticated pocket knives,
and guns.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Even from a place of conflict, Switzerland is like, it's
it's almost like a euphemism for just I'm not in it.
I'm not involved whatever you all are arguing about over there,
I'm over here. I'm Switzerland. Like that was always the
perception Pierre, before we get into you know, kind of
your role and you know and helping to produce this
piece and your thoughts on it. First, what is the
(06:48):
perception of America in Switzerland when it comes to violence,
just in general.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
I think it's it's it's the perception is that it's
kind of the jungle law when it comes to gun
ownership and how people can actually go to the supermarket
and buy a gun. And that seems a little bit
shocking from Europe, not only from Switzerland, but from European perspective,
(07:20):
because there is so many of these what so called
common sense rules that you have to provide background check
and so on and so forth. So I think that's
that's the main perception and maybe also misunderstanding of the
culture of guns in the US is how the hell
(07:40):
can you go in a supermarket and buy a gun
and then do whatever you want.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
You can also buy groceries at that same supermarket. Pierre,
and I don't appreciate what you generalize.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
In your tomatoes getting regulated here.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I mean it is crazy.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
I remember I told Pierre, I have a friend in
Texas that has over thirty guns, like we counted them.
He has over thirty, and I just think that's the
most like that wouldn't happen in Switzerland's You know how easy.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
It is to get a gun in the US. I
just go to Walmart, give him the money a gun.
I know my uncle Paul out.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Of his truck.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
He's got a bunch of guns. My brother Todd has
a gun. You want to use it, borrow for the weekend.
That's nice.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Not really.
Speaker 6 (08:20):
In Switzerland, you can get a gun from your grandparents
or from your father.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But you still have to do the paperwork.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Even if I get a gun from my grandpa, I
still got to tell the cops about it.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, that's crazy because in most states in America you
can buy a gun almost immediately without any background check,
but not in Switzerland.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
You applied the permit from the police, you provide clearance
of your criminal record that you don't have any convictions.
Wait for two weeks. What if it's a small crime.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
What if you got caught urinating in public, You got
caught for sleeping with your cousin because you didn't know
it was a cousin because it was at your family
reunion and she looked like she worked at catering. What
if it's assaulting a police officer, but really you were
just tickling them.
Speaker 6 (09:03):
If you can't be responsible of following some other simple
rules in society to behave, why should you have a gun?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
All right? So kassa for the people who haven't seen
the guns in Switzerland, peace, just walk us through some
of the beats of it, because I know that Switzerland
has these wild gun laws and everybody has a gun,
but there are no shootings. What were you all exactly
unpacking in the piece?
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Yeah, you know, there's there's compulsory military involvement, and when
you turn eighteen in Switzerland, you are assigned assault rifle,
just as an American listened to that and just and
think about that.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
So wait, Gosa, So everybody, just you're eighteen, here's your gun?
You gun?
Speaker 6 (09:47):
I think you go, Pierre? Is that right?
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, that's correct. Every man at eighteen years old get
gets central in the army. It's a militia army. And
basically whether you are in the office or on the
ground or in the air force, you receive this assault
rifle to SIG five fifty. We call it Fest ninety
(10:11):
and it's a pretty badass gun actually.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
And so to meet and go to a culture that
has so many weapons of war, We're not talking about
a little tiny handgun. We're talking about assault rifles, right,
pretty much the same guns that are used in such
the tragic events in America. To go to a country
that has that same passion but doesn't have the murder,
(10:37):
doesn't have the tragedy, doesn't have the Elementary School of
Deaths was something that I was genuinely very interested in
learning and hope that we can all learn from.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
So I think what's interesting to say about the gun
laws and culture in Switzerland is you basically you can
carry your gun. And what's interesting also is that the army.
Once you're done with the army, you can keep your
gun for the rest of your life as a souvenir actually,
but you cannot carry the AMMO with you. So your
(11:10):
AMMO has to stay at the base. And so that's
just so for you when when if if shit hits
the fan, you have your gun, you go to the
base and then you get the AMMO. That's in theory,
but in practice we all have those guns under the
bed without the AMMO.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And that's that's where buy ammo.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Pierre is you cannot buy AMMO easily in a way
that you go just to the shop and say, hey,
I want that that ammo and you have to register,
They will ask your name. Look if if you're basically
low allowed to buy ammunition. So I think that's also
(11:54):
interesting when it comes to a gun is nothing without
the AMMO, and it's all about how do you separate
the two things in a way that yeah, you have
guns everywhere, but you don't have mon guns everywhere. That's
a big difference. Another interesting thing for me that I
discovered and the piece is the entire the popular gun culture.
(12:15):
Because when you're in the army, you have to shoot
once a year for training. That's compulsory. And so you
have all these little clubs in the regions where you
go and shoot, and those clubs have developed into introducing
shooting but sports shooting to young people, to teenagers and
so on. So you go there and you actually see
(12:36):
those twelve year old teenager shooting. But there's no relationship
to violence. It's all about precision. And the interesting thing
is as soon as they can use a compressed air rifle,
they'll do it because it's it's just more precise. And
so it just shows that it's all about the sports,
(12:56):
the precision rather than the violence and and uh the
relationship to violence. So that that I discovered during during
during the segment and the prep and it was super
interesting for me as well.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I decided to embrace this culture and hang with the
only group that would let me in.
Speaker 7 (13:15):
Wow, yeah, you guys got air fifteens here huh, meet
the Shooting Society of Press. It was time to show
these Swiss fondues how Americans shoot guns.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
I missed, You're missed, Ye did you ever take your
gun to school?
Speaker 7 (13:33):
No, no, we don't.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
You're not American.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
No, okay, well I can say that, but he.
Speaker 6 (13:39):
Can't Swiss kids.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Huh, even if it is true, because the fact is,
for Swiss kids, life with guns is very different.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's nothing happens.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
It's not like like in the US where you have
those last shootings.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
When he goes to school, he just has to worry
about school.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, catching the bus sometime.
Speaker 6 (13:58):
What's the distance that they shoot as three hundred meters?
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Three hundred meters?
Speaker 6 (14:02):
Yeah, okay, So Roy, we're in the Swiss country side, bro,
keep talking. I know it's like, yeah, it's like three
football fields so to speak. Away it's long, okay, thousand feet.
So we are in the Swiss countryside. I'm with these
like twelve thirteen year old boys and girls and they
are shooting assault rifles three hundred meters away at targets.
(14:24):
Now there's cows just chilling close to the targets. Okay,
real big Swiss cows with bells on. So I say,
as a dumb thirty nine year old American, I go, hey, kids,
do you ever like take a couple of shots at
the cows? And they looked at me like I was insane.
(14:47):
They looked at me like, one they never even thought
of that. Two, that wouldn't be right. Three. You know,
it's just like my dumb American culture was like, yo,
what can you wipe out with this gun? And these
kids are like, I'm trying to hit the target. I'm
not even thinking about it.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
That's why you don't get a gun cut.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
That's why exactly. But that is the epitome of this
American mentality of fun or guns. And you know, there
was a mass shooting in Switzerland in two thousand and
one and they immediately made a new regulation, and I
think that was the separate AMMO one was that it here. Okay, So,
and the reason I bring that up is regulations work,
(15:27):
they are successful, and I just wish we no one's
trying to take away Americans guns. I wish we I
put myself in this would do a much better job
at regulating that.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
It's like the old Chris Rock joke. The least America
could do it start charging like five hundred dollars for
a bullet, so if you shoot somebody, it's really you
gotta really mean it expensive.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
Yeah, you know, we sat down in the second part,
we sat down at a shooting festival with the former
Prime Minister of Switzerland and he said something that was
so simple but so powerful, and it was that here
in Switzerland we respect guns and we can talk in
(16:14):
and out hours and hours about these pieces. At the
end of the day, that is what it comes down to.
You give an eighteen year old male assault rifle and
they have the respect to not use it against their
fellow man.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Woman Costa, as you're unpacking this, you know, because this
is the two part piece, which isn't the norm on
the Daily Show, so it's a lot to bite off,
but this is also one of your first pieces. Dude.
I'm just gonna be honest. When I first started here,
I felt pressure every day. It was, oh my god,
they gonna fire me. Oh he looked at me funny.
The first week I was at the Daily Show, two
of the dogs barked at me. We have dogs in
(16:50):
the office, and I was like, they're gonna fire me.
The fucking dog take me. I'm not doing a good job.
So was there a lot of pressure? Did you feel
a lot of pressure rather.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
Well, and you know, Roy as a stand up comic,
like You're only as good as your last job, so
there is always this feeling of I better deliver. This
was an earlier piece of mind. It was international. I
probably being new, didn't realize kind of how big that was.
(17:20):
The flight is more expensive, the hotel. This is also Switzerland,
where a chicken sandwich is like fifty three dollars. So I,
you know, I feel more pressure doing pieces that I
am not so interested in. This was truly fascinating to me,
and so I was genuinely interested. And I do think
(17:41):
that that comes off in the piece as someone who
I believe is pretty American and for the most part,
understands our passion for guns. I'm not saying I agree
with how we executed, but I understand maybe how we
got here.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Well. After the break, I want to talk with you
a little bit more, Pierre, about the people of Switzerland,
what it was like being on the ground helping to
produce this piece. And I want to hear more about
this fifty five dollars chicken sandwich, because you know, I'm
a connoisseur of chicken. That's a separate episode of the podcast.
We'll be right back, Pierre. You do a lot of
(18:23):
production work and you are a person that is on
the ground in Switzerland, you know, connecting the dots on
a lot of different journalistic issues. What was it like
working in an international capacity. The thing that I'm always
curious about is how our brand of humor will translate
in another country. So let's just start with that. What
(18:45):
did you think of Costa, What did you think of Stacy?
What did you think of the piece?
Speaker 4 (18:49):
First of all, I think we had we had a
lot of prep work with Stacy, and we worked very
well together and prepping this segment, and it was a
lot of fun. Actually, we were a really good group
and traveling in a little van across the country, and
we have so much fun that it was really hard
(19:13):
to handle. But overall, I think that we're working with
an American production, is it's fairly easy in a way
that we share the same humor I think sort of
the same sense of humor. Would probably be more difficult
with a Japanese or a Chinese production, which doesn't have
(19:36):
the same humoristic standards at all. And what was really
interesting for me is I'm not a gun specialist at all,
so I had to learn a lot and it was
the opportunity for me really to dig into that culture
of guns in Switzerland, and I was fascinating to really
understand how opposite is it from the US gun culture?
(19:57):
And we can say a little bit more about that later.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Can I step into brag about Pierre for a second?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Two?
Speaker 5 (20:03):
Because I didn't know where to begin, and I would
just be like, you know, Pierre, I read this, this,
this is this true? Can like that kid start training
at twelve at guns shooting schools after school? And then
the next day like we became like BFFs. We were
like skyping all the time. The next day he actually
went to a place scouted it, met the students, met
and like gave me pictures and videos and was like
(20:26):
you want their releases? They already said yes, And I
was just like can we hot? Can you move to America?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Can we?
Speaker 5 (20:32):
He was just so great and on top of everything.
And then I was like, who are people who think
American gun culture is great? And he would have a
list ready, So I just wanted to brag about how
great he was.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Told you sorry, And that's the thing that's very that
I think goes understated about the Daily Show and our
productions and how would you show up somewhere to try
to film people to have a legitimate conversation. Yes, there's
going to be humor, but we're not out to make
you look like an idiot. That's a very delicate conversation
because the only the only scary thing to point at
(21:05):
someone than a gun is a camera. So you're coming
in with all of this equipment like, hey, they're cool,
So Pasta, I was gonna talk to you about this
a little later, but since we're on it, what was
it like? Just what you're a father, I assume your
child is not a gun owner at what two?
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Now, yeah, my child is not a gun owner. I
didn't have a kid then.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You know.
Speaker 6 (21:30):
Now, if someone said you're going to Switzerland for a week,
I'd go. Can I go for a month?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
You know?
Speaker 6 (21:34):
I haven't slept, you know. But look, there was a
there's a very wonderful, comedic, poignant half a second shot
in this piece of a man or woman I forget
pushing a baby in a baby stroller and their assault
rifle is underneath the baby in that little part of
(21:57):
the stroller where the when the diaper bag goes. When
I in the second part, when I walked into the
shooting festival, and I saw people holding a beer in
a left hand and an assault rifle over their shoulder.
I stopped and I said, what am I doing here?
(22:18):
Do I want to walk into this? The feeling of
assault rifle and violence are tied together, and I didn't
feel super warm. Now it takes about two minutes for
the Swiss to be nice to you and welcome you
and say come on in here. And they called me
a pussy because I was wearing a bulletproof vest. And
I liked him immediately, but yeah, it was It was jarring.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
To learn more about their gun culture. I attended injured Chiosholm,
the world's largest annual shooting festival right here, and holy,
that's a lot of guns.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Even that baby has a gun.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
There's not enough training in the world to prepare me
for this. So I brought my two secret weapons, my
translator Pierre, and my supermanly rock hard American vest.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Why are you wearing a pussy West?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
What are you Pierre?
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Pussy best?
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Oh, that's that's funny, pussy best.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Why aren't you wearing a pussy best? People are walking
around with guns.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Because it's safe.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
What is that?
Speaker 4 (23:21):
What is that?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Not shooting lories.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
They're shooting, yeah, shooting over there.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Now.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
I will also say this real quick about pre production.
Stacy was telling me back in the office, there's this
guy Pierre. He's really he's setting us up. He's really smart.
So we knew it was going to be a good piece.
There's also been a piece there was a Pfizer factory
in Ireland and the locals were claiming that they would
get extra strong erections because viagra was seeping into their
(23:51):
drinking water. So we hired a fixer in Ireland to
go check it out, and it was all bullshit. It
wasn't a real story. So then we don't fly to Ireland.
We don't spend the time and the money and the
energy shooting that piece.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
You really wanted to do that piece.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
I thought that piece was hilarious. But thankfully the person
we hired in Ireland was like, this is all just
a joke. But when you hire Pierre and you see,
oh there is something here, it's that knowledge. It's that
local knowledge that makes you go, okay, we can do
a piece.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
And Pierre was like a fluffer because people were hesitant
to have us, you know, they're like, who are these
Americans and they all have this view of us, and
Pierre was also good with it. He was right when
he had the same since he knew American gun culture
was like shitty, and he knew that theirs was better.
He knew he was better than us. But he also
made it like acceptable for people to talk to us,
(24:38):
because there's always that barrier, that wall, and he helped
make us look you know, legit and acceptable.
Speaker 6 (24:46):
We would never have spoken to the Prime Minister of
Switzerland if it weren't for Pierre, also because we wouldn't
have known he was sitting there.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
How did that happen, Pierre? Because I know in America
politicians fade into the moment they're out of office. They're like,
fuck you, I'm not sitting here answering more questions about
the world. I quit my job. So how do you
get a prime minister on board?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So we were at this this this kind of shooting
party would say, it's called this countryside shooting.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Uh, I've heard of a gun range. I've heard of
a gun club, which is more exclusive.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
It's sort of an outdoor.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
A bullet ski shooting. Do you believe you will exactly?
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Guns and beers. This was an American wet dream, but
something was different in this country.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Care respect guns, and if you respect it, it's not
the problem.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Why should I listen to this drunk Swiss role?
Speaker 6 (25:51):
I was president for five years.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
You're telling me I'm having beer with the former president
of Switzerland. Yes, here, nowhere else could a former president
be surrounded by thousands of firearms with no security. How
can we get America to feel this safe?
Speaker 5 (26:09):
That's your prol But that's my problem.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Well, that's as neutral as it gets.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
It's kind of this yearly event where every region in
Switzerland organizes its own kind of shooting event outdoors in
the fields, and it's sort of important for every region.
And that Prime Minister character was there because it's his
hometown or is he region basically, so he was there
(26:38):
and probably has still some some activity in you know,
associations and stuff, and it's important for him to be there,
I guess, with a group of people and show up.
So he was sitting there, and I was also a
little bit impressed that we just came across him, no bodyguard, nothing,
(27:00):
He was just sitting there and actually having a couple
of beers with his friends that.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
He But do you remember Pierre I go, he goes,
You go, oh my god, there's the president of Susoi
and like, what now, And You're like, no, I said
something like president of what I was thinking he was
president of a club, president of something else. He goes, no,
president of our country and I go.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
What former former president?
Speaker 6 (27:21):
Yeah for former.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
President, yeah, like it.
Speaker 5 (27:22):
But I was just like, that's absurd because even former
presidents of our country. I mean, granted, you know, America
is a lot bigger than Switzerland, but.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
That's that's the thing. Also, you mentioned Stacey, the the
whole challenge of this piece, at least for me as
a producer, was to make sure that we had access
to all the clubs and the people. And because it's
it still is a sensitive topic. I mean, gun culture everywhere,
even in Switzerland it is very sensitive topic. And when
(27:51):
you go in a shooting range with cameras and Americans,
the first thing they'll think is, oh, they're going to
show basically show us shooting, and we don't control what
they're going to say about us and so on. So
that that was a little bit of a challenge. Take
a lot of time in prep to to to introduce
the show to those people and make them sure that
(28:13):
we're going to be friendly and not making fun of them,
but actually doing something good and worked out a little bit.
The same when when we meet like the former president
of Switzerland, we have just to introduce ourselves in a
certain way, so we make sure that that it works out.
And that's the magic of producing.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
I guess it's magic a peer.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, I guess what you're saying, Pierre, is that essentially
setting up these segments in a country as an unknown
foreign outlet, it's kind of like buying cocaine from someone
you never met before and you've got to earn.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Although well, never done that, but I guess so me neither.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Of course, of course we neither. After the break, I Pierre,
I want to ask you and a costas well, what
do you think Americans stand to learn from the gun
culture in Switzerland. It's beyond the scenes. We'll be right back, Pierre. Now,
first of all, I did some googling during the break
and apparently Switzerland has a president, not a prime minister.
(29:19):
My apologies if I've disrespected the honor of your country
by calling that dude a prime minister.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Poetyes accepted.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
What do you think Americans could learn from the Swiss
on just gun safety and how do y'all not murder
and help us not murder.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
I think what Costa said before, it's all about respect
the gun, and why do this Swiss respect the guns?
I think is ingrained in the culture because when you
receive a gun from the army, so basically from the States,
when you're eighteen years old, this is quite impressive. It's
(30:02):
probably the first time someone trusts you in your life
with something so important, and in return you owe that respect,
I guess. And there is an entire organization around I.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
Mean, even the idea alone that the military is who
provides you the weapon is interesting and it sends a
very clear message that this is a weapon of war.
This isn't a hunting device, this isn't a recreational toy.
I mean, I know this would be crazy in America.
But if you want an assault rifle in America, that's fine.
(30:38):
The United States military will present it to you. That
might change things a little bit.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
But I think that's really interesting, Costa, because the big
difference between the two cultures is in Switzerland, the state
gives you that gun to protect the state, and I
think in the US. The individual buys that gun to
protect himself against the States, and that's the complete opposite.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Yeah, And and look, we're different countries, right, with different histories.
And this country, United States is founded on rebelling against
the English and having in defending itself against the States.
So it is different. And that's one thing that would
(31:23):
be dumb if I didn't mention. These are entirely different
countries and entirely different histories. And I'm not saying America
has to copy Switzerland, but there's things we can learn
from them.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
That's fair. That's very fair. Now, was there anything I
forgot to ask you all this earlier? Was there anything
that didn't make it into the piece that you wish had?
Because I know when you go shoot overseas, and I've
been on shoots with Stacy, there's always so much to
see and get that going to get you shooting.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
Yeah, you guys are good sports. We did have an interview,
and actually this is a good time to chat with
Pierre's mediator because he didn't speak any English. His name
was Jean Luke, and from my understanding, he loved American
gun culture and wanted the Switzerland gun culture to be
more like American, more gun freedom, but we ended up
(32:16):
cutting that. I don't remember why. I think it's because
we already know that point of view, because he kind
of had an American point of view. But Pierre can
clarify that, because again we didn't understand one thing. You said.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
Yeah, well, Jean, he's a he's a right like right wing,
point like far right wing politician and lobbyist for for
a more open gun culture than it is even And
what's interesting is we got to interview his opponent, so
Lisa Matzuna, who's actually in in in the in the segment,
(32:48):
and and I think the arguments we all know them, right,
they're pretty much the same with with with this that
you have in the US. It's self defense to freedom,
it's this and that. But overall, I think even the
far right wing politician wants to have proper gun laws.
(33:12):
It's not like, uh, completely out in the wild.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
So Roy, you know, I don't know if you can
relate to this, but I got steamroll of that interview.
I mean I came in wanting to hear his point
of view so we so I could have something to
respond to. But like any well seasoned successful politician, this
(33:37):
motherfucker did not stop talking, okay, and I'm trying to
get in there, but we're also waiting on Pierre, who
is not a un translator. Okay, he just happens to
speak French, so he's trying to translate this guy who
won't stop talking. He's then to you know, Yeah, it
(33:58):
was It was very hard. I think if I would
love to go back into that interview again because I
would literally put my hand over his mouth and say
stop talking for a second. He was so so as
a correspondent, I learned from that interview and I think
that more experience on the job would have been helpful.
But that didn't make it also because he didn't shut
(34:19):
the fuck up.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Yeah, he was actually super, super calculated, and he baby
gave us fit. He made us wait for a long
time like he was prince or something, and then he
made us He gave us maybe like fifteen minutes, and
his answers were so long, so by the time it
came for Peer to translate, it was like he knew
he was eating up more time. But that was like, whatever,
screw that guy not being in it. But I did
(34:42):
want to give Costa a shout out for being a
good sport because there were stunt things that were cut
out that he really put his body through, because we
made Costa do a lot of stuff to show off
switzerland stereotypes in the beginning, before we introduced the idea
that they had a lot of guns. And so there
was one part where it's like, you know, Switzerland known
for cobblestone streets, chocolate fondu whatever, and then like there
(35:05):
are many rivers and there's a river, what's it called Pierre,
the Burn River.
Speaker 6 (35:10):
It's in the city of Burn.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
Yeah, okay, I wasn't too far off, but it's basically
like a natural you know six fikes. How they have
the Lazy river that like that has a natural flow
that you can just float in it. It's like a
one that goes around the city. No urine, but it
has like a really and so the joke was for
Costa to flow through the frame and be like it's
many rivers as he was centered, and then like float away.
(35:34):
But the current ended up being super strong, so he
would always be a little bit off camera when he
like shouted or whatever. So he jumped in there like
so many times, and it kept getting messed up and
He's like ruh, and I was like, I'm sorry, you
gotta do it again. And people's spectators started gathering and
like really rooting for Costa, and then he would just
start like it provis to be like what the fuck.
Speaker 6 (35:55):
Help me mom?
Speaker 5 (35:56):
Somebody called my mom. And he just kept missing the mark.
I mean, it was really really hard shot to do.
And then at the end he finally nailed it and
he had a crowd and they all cheered him on.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Never made the.
Speaker 5 (36:08):
Never made the piece. And afterwards we all jumped in solidarity.
And it was hard because you have to swim back
against the current to redo the shot. And I think
we also had coach chasing you.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
We had running away.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
It was a cool moment at the end of a
long day where the whole crew stripped down and we
all jumped in the river of burn together. It was fun.
It was a cool It was a cool thing that
you don't get to do too often.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
So, Pierre, I'll end with this question to you, since
you are our foreign correspondent, which is more likely to
happen Americans influencing Swiss gun culture or vice versa.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Sadly, probably the first, because it's it's always easier to
get a little bit yeah, more populist then the other
way around, especially when it comes to that that those
very controversial things. But but I think there is only
(37:10):
a certain amount of freedom you will get. I mean,
our political system or laws are made in a way
that you can't just have a situation like like like
in the US, and I think sadly the other way around,
you probably won't be able to have the exact same
thing we have in Switzerland because you're the culture, the
(37:32):
root cause is is so different, and so what we
what we can't imagine is that in the US we
just get inspired by a few best practices, uh so
as to put put put yourself back in the right
track when it comes to having less mass shootings, having
(37:52):
less people dying in the streets for nothing, because it
is just unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
All right, Well, thank you all for kicking back and
going beyond the scenes. Britty Stacy, I love your Pierre.
When I get over to Switzerland to have one of
those fifty dollars chicken sandwiches, and I'm now thinking about
trying to see what that means.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
That's your only take away from this podcast is expensive sandwiches.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Somewhere over sea is actually not true.
Speaker 6 (38:22):
Shut up, Pierre.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Listen to The Daily Show Beyond the Scenes on Apple Podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. I
want to go even further beyond the scenes. Check out
the video version of Beyond the Scenes on the Daily
Show's YouTube page.
Hey, what's up. I'm Roy Wood Junior. Now have you
ever gone to the music store to buy a CD?
Remember CD? These young people back in the day you
have to show up to a building to buy music. Well,
they used to have something called bonus tracks. You would
have a CD and then at the end of the
CD would be music that you didn't even know was
(00:31):
on the CD bonus tracks. That's what this podcast is.
This podcast is the bonus track to what is the
Daily Show. We're talking about correspondence, writers, producers and past
guests who've been on the show to go a little
deeper into topics that we've already seen explored on the show,
and to also see where we are today on those issues.
(00:52):
We go beyond beyond the scenes. So this week we
want to talk about a two parts segment where Michael
Costra went over to Switzerland to explore the gun laws
and so, you know, they don't really have a lot
of mass shootings in Switzerland, but everybody owns a gun.
Here's a little piece from that segment.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
When it comes to gun culture, Switzerland has a few
more regulations than America, and thanks to these gun regulations
and strict ammunition control, Switzerland has a murder rate of
nearly zero.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Sure that's a great statistic, but how safe can it
really be? How many school shootings have there been?
Speaker 4 (01:30):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
What about malls?
Speaker 1 (01:32):
People should know?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
What about like major holidays? People get shot up at
major holidays.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
Here proa love it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
This is the dream, shooting guns without the fear of
getting shot. This is where America should be. All we
need to do is keep AMMO separate and have universal
criminal and mental background checks, have extremely strict open carry laws,
justification for ownership, send written request to authorities, and basically
just change our entire gun culture.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
We can do that right, all right? So to help
us go beyond the scenes, we have correspondent and stand
up comedian and you know what, just an all around
good damn guy, Michael Costa.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
That's nice. I was wondering what you were gonna say,
but thank you, Roy.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
You know, we we go way back to our Los
Angeles day, pre Daily show. I don't have a lot
of friends in that building that predate my employment there,
so it's always known me.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
A long time, and you've always been supportive of my
comedy and I appreciate it. Now here we are beyond
the scenes bonus.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Track Going Beyond the Sea. Did you ever think when
we were at In and Out Burger after bombing somewhere
on Milrose, No, I did not think that. Also joining
us a field producer Stacy Angelie, Stacy, how are you
doing good?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Thanks for having me and for that depressing intro about CDs.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Oh, because you remember CDs as well. Now I want
to also introduce our guests. He was one of our producers,
kind of a slash fix it. Look, when we do
Internet national episodes and we travel abroad, we need somebody
over there to make sure that the shit don't go south,
and we need someone to make sure that we know
what the hell we're doing while we're in the country.
And they can also help us connect the dots because
(03:13):
they have a deep and even deeper understanding of the
issue because they're actually boots on the ground. Pierre Adrian Eerly,
welcome to us from Switzerland, sir, how are you good?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
So let's just jump right into it. Costa, what was
the genesis of this of this piece besides you really
wanting to go out of the country for free on
viacoms don that's true?
Speaker 6 (03:36):
Well, you know, I would love to claim that this
piece originated from the mind of Michael Costa, but as
can happen at the Daily Show, I got to the
office late, probably, and I saw an email that Stacey
had pitched to the Field department about how Switzerland owns
more guns per capita than America and has so few,
(03:59):
if any, mass shooting. So I read Stacy's email and
was excited and hoped that I would be the correspondent
that could do this piece, and it turned out to
be true. But Stacy is really the one that I
think fired the first shot, if you.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Will, yes, nicely done.
Speaker 6 (04:20):
Where did this come from, Stacy?
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Well, it was after the Parkland shooting, and I mean,
I'm from Texas also, where there's a lot of guns,
so I have my opinion about guns where And then
I remembered I wanted to do a piece because it
just felt like it was getting worse and worse. And
I loved the John Oliver Old Daily Show piece in Australia.
It was like a great example of you know, successful
(04:44):
gun control legislation. But I was like, there's no way
in hell America is going to get rid of all
their guns. That's just not going to happen. So I
started like googling countries that had a lot of guns,
but you know, no mass shootings or very minimal you know,
gun violence.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Hear that, listeners, She did some goddamn research. I googled, oh, oh, okay, well, yeah,
that's still research.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
And then at the time the top three places that
had gun well, that had guns was I forgot what
number one was. Oh, it was America, and then number
two was Yemen, and then three was Switzerland. And I
was like, well, Yemen's in a civil war, and I
did I too, wanted a free trip to another country
if it got approved. So that's how it happens.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
But really, like if you would have picked, if you
would have picked countries that didn't have a lot of
gun violence, the easy answer would have been, yeah, but
they don't have any guns. The beauty of this pitch
and story is that Switzerland has a lot of guns
and a lot of assault writings.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
And that that surprised me too, because it's obviously a
very depressing topic. But I was like, when you think
of Switzerland, you think of like, you know, neutral, Sorry
Pierre if I'm insulting you know, but you think of
like you know, chocolate and and fun. You just you
don't think of guns. And so I was like, maybe
this is the best way to approach a dark topic
by putting it in a in a vehicle that has
(06:09):
like that is known for like you know, pure bliss.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Welcome to Switzerland, a neutral country most known for its
cobblestone streets, perfect for skipping, its clocks, sophisticated pocket knives,
and guns.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Even from a place of conflict, Switzerland is like, it's
it's almost like a euphemism for just I'm not in it.
I'm not involved whatever you all are arguing about over there,
I'm over here. I'm Switzerland. Like that was always the
perception Pierre, before we get into you know, kind of
your role and you know and helping to produce this
piece and your thoughts on it. First, what is the
(06:48):
perception of America in Switzerland when it comes to violence,
just in general.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
I think it's it's it's the perception is that it's
kind of the jungle law when it comes to gun
ownership and how people can actually go to the supermarket
and buy a gun. And that seems a little bit
shocking from Europe, not only from Switzerland, but from European perspective,
(07:20):
because there is so many of these what so called
common sense rules that you have to provide background check
and so on and so forth. So I think that's
that's the main perception and maybe also misunderstanding of the
culture of guns in the US is how the hell
(07:40):
can you go in a supermarket and buy a gun
and then do whatever you want.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
You can also buy groceries at that same supermarket. Pierre,
and I don't appreciate what you generalize.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
In your tomatoes getting regulated here.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I mean it is crazy.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
I remember I told Pierre, I have a friend in
Texas that has over thirty guns, like we counted them.
He has over thirty, and I just think that's the
most like that wouldn't happen in Switzerland's You know how easy.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
It is to get a gun in the US. I
just go to Walmart, give him the money a gun.
I know my uncle Paul out.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Of his truck.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
He's got a bunch of guns. My brother Todd has
a gun. You want to use it, borrow for the weekend.
That's nice.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Not really.
Speaker 6 (08:20):
In Switzerland, you can get a gun from your grandparents
or from your father.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But you still have to do the paperwork.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Even if I get a gun from my grandpa, I
still got to tell the cops about it.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, that's crazy because in most states in America you
can buy a gun almost immediately without any background check,
but not in Switzerland.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
You applied the permit from the police, you provide clearance
of your criminal record that you don't have any convictions.
Wait for two weeks. What if it's a small crime.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
What if you got caught urinating in public, You got
caught for sleeping with your cousin because you didn't know
it was a cousin because it was at your family
reunion and she looked like she worked at catering. What
if it's assaulting a police officer, but really you were
just tickling them.
Speaker 6 (09:03):
If you can't be responsible of following some other simple
rules in society to behave, why should you have a gun?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
All right? So kassa for the people who haven't seen
the guns in Switzerland, peace, just walk us through some
of the beats of it, because I know that Switzerland
has these wild gun laws and everybody has a gun,
but there are no shootings. What were you all exactly
unpacking in the piece?
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Yeah, you know, there's there's compulsory military involvement, and when
you turn eighteen in Switzerland, you are assigned assault rifle,
just as an American listened to that and just and
think about that.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
So wait, Gosa, So everybody, just you're eighteen, here's your gun?
You gun?
Speaker 6 (09:47):
I think you go, Pierre? Is that right?
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, that's correct. Every man at eighteen years old get
gets central in the army. It's a militia army. And
basically whether you are in the office or on the
ground or in the air force, you receive this assault
rifle to SIG five fifty. We call it Fest ninety
(10:11):
and it's a pretty badass gun actually.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
And so to meet and go to a culture that
has so many weapons of war, We're not talking about
a little tiny handgun. We're talking about assault rifles, right,
pretty much the same guns that are used in such
the tragic events in America. To go to a country
that has that same passion but doesn't have the murder,
(10:37):
doesn't have the tragedy, doesn't have the Elementary School of
Deaths was something that I was genuinely very interested in
learning and hope that we can all learn from.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
So I think what's interesting to say about the gun
laws and culture in Switzerland is you basically you can
carry your gun. And what's interesting also is that the army.
Once you're done with the army, you can keep your
gun for the rest of your life as a souvenir actually,
but you cannot carry the AMMO with you. So your
(11:10):
AMMO has to stay at the base. And so that's
just so for you when when if if shit hits
the fan, you have your gun, you go to the
base and then you get the AMMO. That's in theory,
but in practice we all have those guns under the
bed without the AMMO.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And that's that's where buy ammo.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Pierre is you cannot buy AMMO easily in a way
that you go just to the shop and say, hey,
I want that that ammo and you have to register,
They will ask your name. Look if if you're basically
low allowed to buy ammunition. So I think that's also
(11:54):
interesting when it comes to a gun is nothing without
the AMMO, and it's all about how do you separate
the two things in a way that yeah, you have
guns everywhere, but you don't have mon guns everywhere. That's
a big difference. Another interesting thing for me that I
discovered and the piece is the entire the popular gun culture.
(12:15):
Because when you're in the army, you have to shoot
once a year for training. That's compulsory. And so you
have all these little clubs in the regions where you
go and shoot, and those clubs have developed into introducing
shooting but sports shooting to young people, to teenagers and
so on. So you go there and you actually see
(12:36):
those twelve year old teenager shooting. But there's no relationship
to violence. It's all about precision. And the interesting thing
is as soon as they can use a compressed air rifle,
they'll do it because it's it's just more precise. And
so it just shows that it's all about the sports,
(12:56):
the precision rather than the violence and and uh the
relationship to violence. So that that I discovered during during
during the segment and the prep and it was super
interesting for me as well.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I decided to embrace this culture and hang with the
only group that would let me in.
Speaker 7 (13:15):
Wow, yeah, you guys got air fifteens here huh, meet
the Shooting Society of Press. It was time to show
these Swiss fondues how Americans shoot guns.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
I missed, You're missed, Ye did you ever take your
gun to school?
Speaker 7 (13:33):
No, no, we don't.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
You're not American.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
No, okay, well I can say that, but he.
Speaker 6 (13:39):
Can't Swiss kids.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Huh, even if it is true, because the fact is,
for Swiss kids, life with guns is very different.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's nothing happens.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
It's not like like in the US where you have
those last shootings.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
When he goes to school, he just has to worry
about school.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, catching the bus sometime.
Speaker 6 (13:58):
What's the distance that they shoot as three hundred meters?
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Three hundred meters?
Speaker 6 (14:02):
Yeah, okay, So Roy, we're in the Swiss country side, bro,
keep talking. I know it's like, yeah, it's like three
football fields so to speak. Away it's long, okay, thousand feet.
So we are in the Swiss countryside. I'm with these
like twelve thirteen year old boys and girls and they
are shooting assault rifles three hundred meters away at targets.
(14:24):
Now there's cows just chilling close to the targets. Okay,
real big Swiss cows with bells on. So I say,
as a dumb thirty nine year old American, I go, hey, kids,
do you ever like take a couple of shots at
the cows? And they looked at me like I was insane.
(14:47):
They looked at me like, one they never even thought
of that. Two, that wouldn't be right. Three. You know,
it's just like my dumb American culture was like, yo,
what can you wipe out with this gun? And these
kids are like, I'm trying to hit the target. I'm
not even thinking about it.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
That's why you don't get a gun cut.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
That's why exactly. But that is the epitome of this
American mentality of fun or guns. And you know, there
was a mass shooting in Switzerland in two thousand and
one and they immediately made a new regulation, and I
think that was the separate AMMO one was that it here. Okay, So,
and the reason I bring that up is regulations work,
(15:27):
they are successful, and I just wish we no one's
trying to take away Americans guns. I wish we I
put myself in this would do a much better job
at regulating that.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
It's like the old Chris Rock joke. The least America
could do it start charging like five hundred dollars for
a bullet, so if you shoot somebody, it's really you
gotta really mean it expensive.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
Yeah, you know, we sat down in the second part,
we sat down at a shooting festival with the former
Prime Minister of Switzerland and he said something that was
so simple but so powerful, and it was that here
in Switzerland we respect guns and we can talk in
(16:14):
and out hours and hours about these pieces. At the
end of the day, that is what it comes down to.
You give an eighteen year old male assault rifle and
they have the respect to not use it against their
fellow man.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Woman Costa, as you're unpacking this, you know, because this
is the two part piece, which isn't the norm on
the Daily Show, so it's a lot to bite off,
but this is also one of your first pieces. Dude.
I'm just gonna be honest. When I first started here,
I felt pressure every day. It was, oh my god,
they gonna fire me. Oh he looked at me funny.
The first week I was at the Daily Show, two
of the dogs barked at me. We have dogs in
(16:50):
the office, and I was like, they're gonna fire me.
The fucking dog take me. I'm not doing a good job.
So was there a lot of pressure? Did you feel
a lot of pressure rather.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
Well, and you know, Roy as a stand up comic,
like You're only as good as your last job, so
there is always this feeling of I better deliver. This
was an earlier piece of mind. It was international. I
probably being new, didn't realize kind of how big that was.
(17:20):
The flight is more expensive, the hotel. This is also Switzerland,
where a chicken sandwich is like fifty three dollars. So I,
you know, I feel more pressure doing pieces that I
am not so interested in. This was truly fascinating to me,
and so I was genuinely interested. And I do think
(17:41):
that that comes off in the piece as someone who
I believe is pretty American and for the most part,
understands our passion for guns. I'm not saying I agree
with how we executed, but I understand maybe how we
got here.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Well. After the break, I want to talk with you
a little bit more, Pierre, about the people of Switzerland,
what it was like being on the ground helping to
produce this piece. And I want to hear more about
this fifty five dollars chicken sandwich, because you know, I'm
a connoisseur of chicken. That's a separate episode of the podcast.
We'll be right back, Pierre. You do a lot of
(18:23):
production work and you are a person that is on
the ground in Switzerland, you know, connecting the dots on
a lot of different journalistic issues. What was it like
working in an international capacity. The thing that I'm always
curious about is how our brand of humor will translate
in another country. So let's just start with that. What
(18:45):
did you think of Costa, What did you think of Stacy?
What did you think of the piece?
Speaker 4 (18:49):
First of all, I think we had we had a
lot of prep work with Stacy, and we worked very
well together and prepping this segment, and it was a
lot of fun. Actually, we were a really good group
and traveling in a little van across the country, and
we have so much fun that it was really hard
(19:13):
to handle. But overall, I think that we're working with
an American production, is it's fairly easy in a way
that we share the same humor I think sort of
the same sense of humor. Would probably be more difficult
with a Japanese or a Chinese production, which doesn't have
(19:36):
the same humoristic standards at all. And what was really
interesting for me is I'm not a gun specialist at all,
so I had to learn a lot and it was
the opportunity for me really to dig into that culture
of guns in Switzerland, and I was fascinating to really
understand how opposite is it from the US gun culture?
(19:57):
And we can say a little bit more about that later.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Can I step into brag about Pierre for a second?
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Two?
Speaker 5 (20:03):
Because I didn't know where to begin, and I would
just be like, you know, Pierre, I read this, this,
this is this true? Can like that kid start training
at twelve at guns shooting schools after school? And then
the next day like we became like BFFs. We were
like skyping all the time. The next day he actually
went to a place scouted it, met the students, met
and like gave me pictures and videos and was like
(20:26):
you want their releases? They already said yes, And I
was just like can we hot? Can you move to America?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Can we?
Speaker 5 (20:32):
He was just so great and on top of everything.
And then I was like, who are people who think
American gun culture is great? And he would have a
list ready, So I just wanted to brag about how
great he was.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Told you sorry, And that's the thing that's very that
I think goes understated about the Daily Show and our
productions and how would you show up somewhere to try
to film people to have a legitimate conversation. Yes, there's
going to be humor, but we're not out to make
you look like an idiot. That's a very delicate conversation
because the only the only scary thing to point at
(21:05):
someone than a gun is a camera. So you're coming
in with all of this equipment like, hey, they're cool,
So Pasta, I was gonna talk to you about this
a little later, but since we're on it, what was
it like? Just what you're a father, I assume your
child is not a gun owner at what two?
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Now, yeah, my child is not a gun owner. I
didn't have a kid then.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
You know.
Speaker 6 (21:30):
Now, if someone said you're going to Switzerland for a week,
I'd go. Can I go for a month?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
You know?
Speaker 6 (21:34):
I haven't slept, you know. But look, there was a
there's a very wonderful, comedic, poignant half a second shot
in this piece of a man or woman I forget
pushing a baby in a baby stroller and their assault
rifle is underneath the baby in that little part of
(21:57):
the stroller where the when the diaper bag goes. When
I in the second part, when I walked into the
shooting festival, and I saw people holding a beer in
a left hand and an assault rifle over their shoulder.
I stopped and I said, what am I doing here?
(22:18):
Do I want to walk into this? The feeling of
assault rifle and violence are tied together, and I didn't
feel super warm. Now it takes about two minutes for
the Swiss to be nice to you and welcome you
and say come on in here. And they called me
a pussy because I was wearing a bulletproof vest. And
I liked him immediately, but yeah, it was It was jarring.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
To learn more about their gun culture. I attended injured Chiosholm,
the world's largest annual shooting festival right here, and holy,
that's a lot of guns.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Even that baby has a gun.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
There's not enough training in the world to prepare me
for this. So I brought my two secret weapons, my
translator Pierre, and my supermanly rock hard American vest.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Why are you wearing a pussy West?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
What are you Pierre?
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Pussy best?
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Oh, that's that's funny, pussy best.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Why aren't you wearing a pussy best? People are walking
around with guns.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Because it's safe.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
What is that?
Speaker 4 (23:21):
What is that?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Not shooting lories.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
They're shooting, yeah, shooting over there.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Now.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
I will also say this real quick about pre production.
Stacy was telling me back in the office, there's this
guy Pierre. He's really he's setting us up. He's really smart.
So we knew it was going to be a good piece.
There's also been a piece there was a Pfizer factory
in Ireland and the locals were claiming that they would
get extra strong erections because viagra was seeping into their
(23:51):
drinking water. So we hired a fixer in Ireland to
go check it out, and it was all bullshit. It
wasn't a real story. So then we don't fly to Ireland.
We don't spend the time and the money and the
energy shooting that piece.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
You really wanted to do that piece.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
I thought that piece was hilarious. But thankfully the person
we hired in Ireland was like, this is all just
a joke. But when you hire Pierre and you see,
oh there is something here, it's that knowledge. It's that
local knowledge that makes you go, okay, we can do
a piece.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
And Pierre was like a fluffer because people were hesitant
to have us, you know, they're like, who are these
Americans and they all have this view of us, and
Pierre was also good with it. He was right when
he had the same since he knew American gun culture
was like shitty, and he knew that theirs was better.
He knew he was better than us. But he also
made it like acceptable for people to talk to us,
(24:38):
because there's always that barrier, that wall, and he helped
make us look you know, legit and acceptable.
Speaker 6 (24:46):
We would never have spoken to the Prime Minister of
Switzerland if it weren't for Pierre, also because we wouldn't
have known he was sitting there.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
How did that happen, Pierre? Because I know in America
politicians fade into the moment they're out of office. They're like,
fuck you, I'm not sitting here answering more questions about
the world. I quit my job. So how do you
get a prime minister on board?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So we were at this this this kind of shooting
party would say, it's called this countryside shooting.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Uh, I've heard of a gun range. I've heard of
a gun club, which is more exclusive.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
It's sort of an outdoor.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
A bullet ski shooting. Do you believe you will exactly?
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Guns and beers. This was an American wet dream, but
something was different in this country.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Care respect guns, and if you respect it, it's not
the problem.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Why should I listen to this drunk Swiss role?
Speaker 6 (25:51):
I was president for five years.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
You're telling me I'm having beer with the former president
of Switzerland. Yes, here, nowhere else could a former president
be surrounded by thousands of firearms with no security. How
can we get America to feel this safe?
Speaker 5 (26:09):
That's your prol But that's my problem.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Well, that's as neutral as it gets.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
It's kind of this yearly event where every region in
Switzerland organizes its own kind of shooting event outdoors in
the fields, and it's sort of important for every region.
And that Prime Minister character was there because it's his
hometown or is he region basically, so he was there
(26:38):
and probably has still some some activity in you know,
associations and stuff, and it's important for him to be there,
I guess, with a group of people and show up.
So he was sitting there, and I was also a
little bit impressed that we just came across him, no bodyguard, nothing,
(27:00):
He was just sitting there and actually having a couple
of beers with his friends that.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
He But do you remember Pierre I go, he goes,
You go, oh my god, there's the president of Susoi
and like, what now, And You're like, no, I said
something like president of what I was thinking he was
president of a club, president of something else. He goes, no,
president of our country and I go.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
What former former president?
Speaker 6 (27:21):
Yeah for former.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
President, yeah, like it.
Speaker 5 (27:22):
But I was just like, that's absurd because even former
presidents of our country. I mean, granted, you know, America
is a lot bigger than Switzerland, but.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
That's that's the thing. Also, you mentioned Stacey, the the
whole challenge of this piece, at least for me as
a producer, was to make sure that we had access
to all the clubs and the people. And because it's
it still is a sensitive topic. I mean, gun culture everywhere,
even in Switzerland it is very sensitive topic. And when
(27:51):
you go in a shooting range with cameras and Americans,
the first thing they'll think is, oh, they're going to
show basically show us shooting, and we don't control what
they're going to say about us and so on. So
that that was a little bit of a challenge. Take
a lot of time in prep to to to introduce
the show to those people and make them sure that
(28:13):
we're going to be friendly and not making fun of them,
but actually doing something good and worked out a little bit.
The same when when we meet like the former president
of Switzerland, we have just to introduce ourselves in a
certain way, so we make sure that that it works out.
And that's the magic of producing.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
I guess it's magic a peer.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, I guess what you're saying, Pierre, is that essentially
setting up these segments in a country as an unknown
foreign outlet, it's kind of like buying cocaine from someone
you never met before and you've got to earn.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Although well, never done that, but I guess so me neither.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Of course, of course we neither. After the break, I Pierre,
I want to ask you and a costas well, what
do you think Americans stand to learn from the gun
culture in Switzerland. It's beyond the scenes. We'll be right back, Pierre. Now,
first of all, I did some googling during the break
and apparently Switzerland has a president, not a prime minister.
(29:19):
My apologies if I've disrespected the honor of your country
by calling that dude a prime minister.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Poetyes accepted.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
What do you think Americans could learn from the Swiss
on just gun safety and how do y'all not murder
and help us not murder.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
I think what Costa said before, it's all about respect
the gun, and why do this Swiss respect the guns?
I think is ingrained in the culture because when you
receive a gun from the army, so basically from the States,
when you're eighteen years old, this is quite impressive. It's
(30:02):
probably the first time someone trusts you in your life
with something so important, and in return you owe that respect,
I guess. And there is an entire organization around I.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
Mean, even the idea alone that the military is who
provides you the weapon is interesting and it sends a
very clear message that this is a weapon of war.
This isn't a hunting device, this isn't a recreational toy.
I mean, I know this would be crazy in America.
But if you want an assault rifle in America, that's fine.
(30:38):
The United States military will present it to you. That
might change things a little bit.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
But I think that's really interesting, Costa, because the big
difference between the two cultures is in Switzerland, the state
gives you that gun to protect the state, and I
think in the US. The individual buys that gun to
protect himself against the States, and that's the complete opposite.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Yeah, And and look, we're different countries, right, with different histories.
And this country, United States is founded on rebelling against
the English and having in defending itself against the States.
So it is different. And that's one thing that would
(31:23):
be dumb if I didn't mention. These are entirely different
countries and entirely different histories. And I'm not saying America
has to copy Switzerland, but there's things we can learn
from them.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
That's fair. That's very fair. Now, was there anything I
forgot to ask you all this earlier? Was there anything
that didn't make it into the piece that you wish had?
Because I know when you go shoot overseas, and I've
been on shoots with Stacy, there's always so much to
see and get that going to get you shooting.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
Yeah, you guys are good sports. We did have an interview,
and actually this is a good time to chat with
Pierre's mediator because he didn't speak any English. His name
was Jean Luke, and from my understanding, he loved American
gun culture and wanted the Switzerland gun culture to be
more like American, more gun freedom, but we ended up
(32:16):
cutting that. I don't remember why. I think it's because
we already know that point of view, because he kind
of had an American point of view. But Pierre can
clarify that, because again we didn't understand one thing. You said.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
Yeah, well, Jean, he's a he's a right like right wing,
point like far right wing politician and lobbyist for for
a more open gun culture than it is even And
what's interesting is we got to interview his opponent, so
Lisa Matzuna, who's actually in in in the in the segment,
(32:48):
and and I think the arguments we all know them, right,
they're pretty much the same with with with this that
you have in the US. It's self defense to freedom,
it's this and that. But overall, I think even the
far right wing politician wants to have proper gun laws.
(33:12):
It's not like, uh, completely out in the wild.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
So Roy, you know, I don't know if you can
relate to this, but I got steamroll of that interview.
I mean I came in wanting to hear his point
of view so we so I could have something to
respond to. But like any well seasoned successful politician, this
(33:37):
motherfucker did not stop talking, okay, and I'm trying to
get in there, but we're also waiting on Pierre, who
is not a un translator. Okay, he just happens to
speak French, so he's trying to translate this guy who
won't stop talking. He's then to you know, Yeah, it
(33:58):
was It was very hard. I think if I would
love to go back into that interview again because I
would literally put my hand over his mouth and say
stop talking for a second. He was so so as
a correspondent, I learned from that interview and I think
that more experience on the job would have been helpful.
But that didn't make it also because he didn't shut
(34:19):
the fuck up.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Yeah, he was actually super, super calculated, and he baby
gave us fit. He made us wait for a long
time like he was prince or something, and then he
made us He gave us maybe like fifteen minutes, and
his answers were so long, so by the time it
came for Peer to translate, it was like he knew
he was eating up more time. But that was like, whatever,
screw that guy not being in it. But I did
(34:42):
want to give Costa a shout out for being a
good sport because there were stunt things that were cut
out that he really put his body through, because we
made Costa do a lot of stuff to show off
switzerland stereotypes in the beginning, before we introduced the idea
that they had a lot of guns. And so there
was one part where it's like, you know, Switzerland known
for cobblestone streets, chocolate fondu whatever, and then like there
(35:05):
are many rivers and there's a river, what's it called Pierre,
the Burn River.
Speaker 6 (35:10):
It's in the city of Burn.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
Yeah, okay, I wasn't too far off, but it's basically
like a natural you know six fikes. How they have
the Lazy river that like that has a natural flow
that you can just float in it. It's like a
one that goes around the city. No urine, but it
has like a really and so the joke was for
Costa to flow through the frame and be like it's
many rivers as he was centered, and then like float away.
(35:34):
But the current ended up being super strong, so he
would always be a little bit off camera when he
like shouted or whatever. So he jumped in there like
so many times, and it kept getting messed up and
He's like ruh, and I was like, I'm sorry, you
gotta do it again. And people's spectators started gathering and
like really rooting for Costa, and then he would just
start like it provis to be like what the fuck.
Speaker 6 (35:55):
Help me mom?
Speaker 5 (35:56):
Somebody called my mom. And he just kept missing the mark.
I mean, it was really really hard shot to do.
And then at the end he finally nailed it and
he had a crowd and they all cheered him on.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Never made the.
Speaker 5 (36:08):
Never made the piece. And afterwards we all jumped in solidarity.
And it was hard because you have to swim back
against the current to redo the shot. And I think
we also had coach chasing you.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
We had running away.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
It was a cool moment at the end of a
long day where the whole crew stripped down and we
all jumped in the river of burn together. It was fun.
It was a cool It was a cool thing that
you don't get to do too often.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
So, Pierre, I'll end with this question to you, since
you are our foreign correspondent, which is more likely to
happen Americans influencing Swiss gun culture or vice versa.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Sadly, probably the first, because it's it's always easier to
get a little bit yeah, more populist then the other
way around, especially when it comes to that that those
very controversial things. But but I think there is only
(37:10):
a certain amount of freedom you will get. I mean,
our political system or laws are made in a way
that you can't just have a situation like like like
in the US, and I think sadly the other way around,
you probably won't be able to have the exact same
thing we have in Switzerland because you're the culture, the
(37:32):
root cause is is so different, and so what we
what we can't imagine is that in the US we
just get inspired by a few best practices, uh so
as to put put put yourself back in the right
track when it comes to having less mass shootings, having
(37:52):
less people dying in the streets for nothing, because it
is just unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
All right, Well, thank you all for kicking back and
going beyond the scenes. Britty Stacy, I love your Pierre.
When I get over to Switzerland to have one of
those fifty dollars chicken sandwiches, and I'm now thinking about
trying to see what that means.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
That's your only take away from this podcast is expensive sandwiches.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Somewhere over sea is actually not true.
Speaker 6 (38:22):
Shut up, Pierre.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Listen to The Daily Show Beyond the Scenes on Apple Podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. I
want to go even further beyond the scenes. Check out
the video version of Beyond the Scenes on the Daily
Show's YouTube page.
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