June 23, 2022 • 33 mins
Congress comes to an agreement on gun control legislation, Lewis Black rants about the sudden rise of high-priced weddings in 2022, and Angela Garbes discusses her book "Essential Labor."
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Comedy Central coming to you from New
York City, the only city in America. It's the Daily
Show tonight. The high cost of gas, the high cost
of wedding, andrew a garment. It's the Daily Show with
(00:24):
driver Noel. What's come about? Everybody looking to the day
shot travel no Thank you so much for shooting it.
(00:45):
Thank you for coming out of home, Thank you for
coming and join and take a sea. Let's do it
you We're the rarely fun show for you Tonight. President
Biden is stepping on the gas. Louis Black is getting
ready for a wedding season, and call Risk has agreed
on gun reforms that are somehow a huge deal and
a huge disappointment at the same time. So let's do
(01:07):
this people, Let's jump straight into today's headlines art. Let's
kick things off with gasoline or a scientists call it
dinosaur pep. Over the past few months, global demand for
oil has kept rising faster than the supply, to the
(01:28):
point where the price of gas in the United States
is now six babillion dollars a gallant, So drivers are hurting.
The good news is that, as always, President Biden wants
to help the bad news is that, as always, it
doesn't look like he can. The President this afternoon called
on Congress the temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, which
is right now about eighteen Santa Gallen. It's a move
(01:50):
President Biden has resisted until today, given that it is
unlikely to pass Congress. Will officials say a gas tax
holiday is worth considering. There is a cost. Those funds
are used for repairing roads and infrastructure, important priorities across
the country. What the President wants is a three month
gas tax holiday on both regular gas and diesel going
(02:14):
into September. You also want states to pass their similar
versions of that gas tax holiday. The President also had
a word specifically here for the oil companies. Here's what
he said, Bring down the press you are charging at
the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for
the product. Do it now? Do it today? Why are
(02:35):
you talking about that? Is this a secret? Should the
rest of us be listening? Where does he do that thing?
It's so strange, like Joe Biden is the only president
whose vibe shifts in the middle of a sentence. Oil companies,
you better lower the prices, please use I'm begging you.
If your presidents. You just gotta say things otherwise it
(02:57):
makes you look weak. You know, you can't be like
Mr Garbage chev turn down this wall if you get
around to it. It's such an ugly wall, or at
least painted. Come on, you know. I feel like this
is the big difference between Trump and Biden. You know,
it's how they use their power. Because with Trumpet was
always like ship is he gonna use his power? And
(03:18):
with Biden it's like a ship is he gonna use
his power? Also, whoever decided to call it a gas
tax holiday? That person should be fired. It's not a holiday.
What does that mean? It's a gas tax holiday? No,
it's just be like, we're not charging gas a gas
tax holiday. That's the worst holiday of all time? Or
do you save eighteen cents off of gas and I
still have to go to work? Are you shipping me?
(03:39):
Even a day is better than that ship? And this
is what always confuses me about this country. Right everywhere
in the world, governments managed to protect their populations from
corporate greed, Right like South Africa will limit how high
bread prices can go. The EU will be like you
cannot pump chickens with the same hormones they use in
the Hulk in China, they're like Crypto has done and
(04:00):
no more dancing on TikTok, only homework. But whenever the
American government has to deal with corporations, they've got about
as much power as a tortoise that's stuck on its back.
You know, it's just like, come on, oil companies, come on,
pass on your savings. Drug companies don't over judge, but
life saving drugs, please clear. But still, this is good
(04:26):
news for Americans. Instead of the gas tax going to
maintaining roads and infrastructure, drivers will now save eighteen cents
per gallon, and then you can use those savings to
buy a new car after yours get swallowed up by
a pothole. But let's move on to a different problem
facing practically everyone in America. Gun violence. There have been
(04:48):
many mass shootings in America over the past couple of decades,
and after each one, people have always said, maybe this
time will be different, maybe Congress will do something about this,
And every time Congress was like no. Ever since the
mass shooting in Buffalo and you've aldi lost month, a
group of sentences from both parties have been working together
to see if they can find any common ground on
(05:10):
gun reform. And it turns out this time is different,
ever so slightly. This morning, after decades of partisan gridlock,
a major breakthrough in Congress, fourteen Republicans joining all fifty
Democrats to advance a new compromise on gun restrictions. This
is a breakthrough, and more importantly, it's a bipartisan breakthrough.
(05:33):
The deal includes enhanced background checks for people between eighteen
and twenty one, closing the so called boyfriend loophole, preventing
romantic partners convicted of domestic violence from buying guns, directing
more money for states to implement their own plans to
address gun violence, and billions for school security upgrades and
mental health services. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls
(05:56):
the deal a common sense package of popular steps that
will helped make these horrifying incidents less likely. Will fully
upholding the Second Amendment. Oh, I agree with, sending Mitch McConnell.
Thank god, the prescious Second Amendment has been preserved. Oh yes,
I mean, I'm all for protecting kids, but the Second Amendment?
Oh have you seen that little face? Have you seen it? Who?
(06:18):
Checking Amendment? Are you? Who? Checking Amendment? Are you you do?
You're durable? Sometimes I feel like Americans want to protect
the Constitution more than they want to protect the Americans
the Constitution is supposed to protect. It doesn't make any sense.
So I'm glad we could protect the Second Amendment. I'll
tell you know, if the Second Amendment was in that
(06:39):
classroom in your valley, the cops would have bust the
door down, with Mitch McConnell right behind them. Her ah,
And I will say, Look, I know for a lot
of people, it can be hard to know how to
feel about this deal because it doesn't include a lot
of things that people want. You know, it doesn't ban
assault rifles, it doesn't raise age limits. It doesn't even
(07:00):
do universal background checks, which is the most basic thing imaginable.
So for some of this kind of thing, you know,
it feels like trying to stop Godzilla by dropping a
few mouse traps around the city. But on the other hand,
on the other hand, after three decades of nothing happening,
this deal is something. Please remember that it is something.
(07:20):
It's not going to solve everything, but it's something, and
something is always better than nothing. That's the entire philosophy
behind the hand job. All right, let's move on. And
you've been out to New York City over the past
few years, especially pandemic, and through it you've probably noticed
(07:41):
a wild new phenomenon. And no, I'm not talking about
how the stuff dripping from air conditions doesn't taste as
good as is used to, which you know it really
bothers me. Do you sound like a flavor? It had
a tang when it was like falling your mouth. No,
the problem I'm talking about is the squads of dirt
bikes and a t vs flooding the streets inside walks
like Trump supporters trying to find Mike Pence. Well, now,
(08:05):
the Mayor of New York City has decided to crush
this problem literally today, having machinery crushed to illegal a
t v s, dirt bikes and motorcycles confiscated by the NYPD,
Mayor Eric Adams waved checkered flag and work began. He
said this effort was to ensure these vehicles cannot ever
(08:26):
terrorize the city again. The NYPD says that it has
ceased more than two thousand of these vehicle citywide, an
increase of more than eight percent from this time last year.
Hell yeah, baby crushed those blacks. That's what I want
from my city government. Yeah, I don't even care about
the undefunded schools anymore because this ship rocks. By the way,
(08:51):
why is he waving a checkered flag at the beginning
of a race? Does he not understand how a race works?
Kind of truck is like, I've I've finished already. Now look,
I will admit as a New Yorker humble bragg. Maybe
this isn't the biggest problem the city is facing right now.
(09:11):
You know, rents are driving people out of their homes,
Traffic is always bad, and the subways are always shutting
down because I think we have trains that are scared
of the dock or something. Yeah, yeah, no, I think
that's what it is in New York, you see, because
they find and then they go into a tunnel and
then they're just like, ah, you guys should walk. I
don't know what there is a scary In fact, instead
(09:34):
of crushing these bikes, maybe the city could have used
them to solve some of the city's problems, you know,
I mean, this could have been a solution to the
subway problem. Instead of those trains that always breaking down.
Just drop a bunch of dirt bikes into the tunnel.
You know, yeah, let people we need to work, or
give them to the police so they don't have to
ride horses anymore. What are you doing stopping criming the
eighteen fifties, there are cattle russells on Broadway or just higher.
(09:59):
The dirt bike used to ride around neighborhoods where the
rents have gotten unaffordable. Helped keep the prices down. The
studio apartment with no back room. You want it, you
want it. It costs six thousand dollars a month one dinging.
All right, give me fifty bucks. You can have it.
(10:20):
And finally, if you want of those people who really
likes to vape, first of all, congratulations on being basic.
A Second of all, you might want to stock up
because your supply is about to run out. One of
the largest makers of e cigarettes may soon be forced
to stop selling its products in this country. The Wall
Street Journal says the FDA could order Jewel e cigarettes
(10:43):
off the market as soon as today. The FDA is
criticized Jewel for gearing its products towards young people, and
already barred the sale of fruity and sweet eat cigarette cartridges,
Jewel and hoped to continue selling tobacco flavors. It can
appeal if the FDA does hand down that band as expected.
That's right, people, Jewel et cigarettes are about to be banned.
(11:06):
So your days of going around looking like you're blowing
R two D two are over. But this is a
big move by the FDA because you realize Jewel is
the iconic vaping brand. So by them doing this, it's
like going off the soda by banning coke, or going
off to coke by banning Don Junior. All right, that's
(11:28):
it for the headlines, but before we go, let's check
it on the traffic without very own Royal Junior. Everybody
what to see me again? We're going good? Yeah, I'm good.
I'm good now. I know we want to get to
the traffic man. But that that brings up a good point.
Am I am? I supposed to be excited about eight
(11:49):
teens that off the gas? I guess they want you
to be excited. I don't know. I don't feel like
that's a lot. I'm sure eighteen sent off. I'm sure
there's a lot of gas where you from. I'm sure
that's like a lot of gas because I'm from Africa.
You said it, not me like I feel like eighteens.
It's like it's a nice gesture, but it ain't really
(12:10):
doing nothing. Expart when your grandma still give you ten
dollars for your birthday and I'm like, I'm forty three,
What amnna do with these ten dollars? This ain't even
a sandwich, ain't even Oh you're looking at you want
to do the traffic? You know what to fix this traffic?
Because like perfect thing about the gas right? All right,
so gases up because everybody consuming gas? Right, people consume
(12:32):
gas because they stuck in traffic. They ain't really moving.
What gives you good gas mileage? Motion the car moving.
So the way you get to fix the traffic. All
green lights, every light, every intersection of America, green lights,
same time traffic moved. I think that would create another problem, though,
what's the problem. What because it's all the green lights,
(12:54):
than like the cause are probably gonna smash into each
other even better, even better car smash your car. Don't
run now you're walking saving gas? You understanding it's that hurt?
Mean all grew lights. Look at all these motorcycles. Why
we didn't just sell motorcycles to these people. What what
(13:14):
countries that even I don't know, a country with traffic,
I don't understand. Why Why would the city of New
York not just sell the bikes? Police love to put
stuff out and then just tear it up. Man, you
could have sold them bikes for parts. You could have
took them to another country or some ship. Man, why
would you get rid of the I bet you they
ain't even siph in the gas off the bikes before
they crashed the start. Man, that's a lot of money.
(13:36):
I'm from Alabama, man, I'm from Alabama. The police down
there they do something called the police auction. The police
take your ship and then once everything too three times
a year they just have a yard sale and they
just sell everybody's stuff. And that's how you make a
little bit of bread. You don't burn the stuff up, man,
Like would they be burning into the drugs. They'd be
burning up the drugs. Why would you burn that cocaine?
(13:57):
Oh that good cocaine. Maybe you can bag that up.
You can take that down to Knoxville. Holliday, big mix.
He got two plugs from the Salvadorian As. When you
get that and shift where if you cut it the
right way, you can get a couple of extra dollars
and stretch that you're gonna incriminate yourself that say, let's
jump to the traffic. That's bad to the traffic. You
(14:18):
know what the jewels people have been stuff the jewel
the jewels cigarette people. They may try too hard to
sell the children. You can't just go right at the children.
That's what happened to Joe Campbell. That's why they got
Joe Camel out of here. You remember Joe Cambell. You
remember the camel cigarettes They had to dude. I remember
the sixth grade. Everybody either wanted to be Michael Jordan
(14:39):
or Joe Cammel. That's who you wanted to be. It
was a camel. He had shades, he had a leather
jacket on, he had a white woman on his own.
I was like, that's the man. Also, also that the
thing with jewel man, it's the people who smoke the six.
This they fault y'all had all this time to normalize
the six. But every time you ever seen somebody pulling
e c out, they look weird. They we you know,
(15:00):
in the Kilton. Then they put it back down. Then
they look at the floor when they're hitting it. While
you looking at the floor, look up at me. That's
a that's addiction behavior. You don't look down. Smokers look
you in the eyes. Smoking. Also, when people smoke a cigarette,
they don't smoke in the center. They're like, you gotta
this is cool. You gotta smoke in the corner of
(15:21):
your mouth. You don't smoke nothing. This is a crack pipe.
Let's just crack pipe. This is cool. This is meth
and that's why people be tripping on them jewel cigarettes. Back.
You can't be you won't look cool. You're smoke around
the corner. I hear you that, man, I hear that.
I'm just man, it's a nice traffic, man. What do
(15:47):
you What do you want me to say about the traffic?
Let's people people like every wing because people, what do
you want me to say? People like want to know
what roads to drive on, not this one. Don't drop
on this one. You know what I think? Thank you little.
When we come back now it's black, we'll be talking
about weddings, So don't go away. Welcome back to the
(16:26):
day show. When a news story falls through the cracks,
Lewis Black catches it for a segment we called back
in Black. Wedding season is here, everyone, my favorite time
of year. The brides and radiant and grooms are terrified,
(16:51):
and I'm in the photo booth letting my artistic side out.
My nipple rings really pop in a wedding album. And
it's a great time for someone who loves love as
much as I do. Because this year there are more
weddings than ever. Two is going to be a record year.
They're talking about two point five million weddings set to
(17:13):
take place, the biggest number since numbers up by six
hundred thousand. One out of every five weddings last year
was rescheduled for this year, which means everything from dresses
to venues to hotel rooms are in high demand. Planning
to marry then get ready to rumble. You can kiss
(17:33):
the romantic venues goodbye because the only one left is
the octagon, and you're gonna have to choke someone out
for it. And I guess that's America for you. It's
easier to get a shotgun than it is to get
a shotgun wedding. But at least post pandemic marriages are
gonna be strong. After all, most of these couples have
(17:55):
been through lockdown together, they already know they can spend
hours in the same room watching TV without speaking to
each other until one of them falls asleep and the
other one can finally masturbate in peace, you know. Marriage.
Of course, even if you manage to find an aisle
(18:18):
to walk down this year, guess what it's gonna cost you,
and the cost of tie the knot astronomical. All of
the vendors really didn't have any sort of income for
almost two years, so they are really trying to make
up for that lost revenue that, coupled with supply chain
issues and inflation, have sent prices soaring. Couples will spend
(18:41):
an average of more than twenty four thousand dollars on
their wedding this year, up nearly two thousand dollars from
last year. But it's not just the bride and groom.
Guests should expect to spend more to as a record
travel season boost demand for flights, hotel rooms, and rental cars.
That's Matt Tressler from Louisville, Kentucky, and this is his
tenth wet so far this summer. Weekend after weekend he's
(19:02):
showing out for gifts, gas, hotels and more. I don't
want to say any exact number, but let's just say
it was like four digits. Have had to buy a
lot of suits for weddings and hate to brag. I'm
a professional wedding guests on the Wedding King. Wedding King
is Yiddish for schmuck funny funny. Four thousand dollars for
(19:24):
a wedding me hard. But that price you won't have
anything left for the divorce lawyer. And thanks to the
price of gas, even get getting to a wedding costs
and arm and a leg. Guess is so expensive you
can bring it as a wedding gift and make sure
you hold on to it, though your grandkids can sell
(19:46):
it to a warlord for water. So with all the
logistical and financial challenges, it's no wonder that some couples
are finding creative ways to save money. Weddings can cost fortune.
The national average close to thirty grand and in Kira
and Joel's home state of California, the average is even higher.
(20:08):
Dress is check. So how did Kiera pull it off?
She started with the dress, which costs just forty seven dollars.
I didn't want to spend a lot of money on
a dress because I had the mindset, I'm gonna wear
this one time for a few hours. Then she found
the perfect location right off the freeway. Keyword being free.
(20:30):
A wedding by the freeway genius. I found love on
the side of the road loads of times, and never
once did I think to invite a photographer, and I
definitely wouldn't have invited my grandmother. But even if you
beat the costs in the crowds, there's one more thing
(20:51):
you need to worry about, the COVID one nelliwa couple
didn't want to reschedule their already postponed wedding. Understandable, there
was option with the groom tested positive for COVID. It
happened just three days before, so the bride still attended
the wedding, but took this cardboard cutout of her groom instead.
The couple says it was their way of making the
(21:13):
best of a very disappointing situation after their numptials had
already been rescheduled several times throughout the course of the pandemic.
Don't worry, though, the groom didn't completely miss out on
all the fun and festivities it did show up on
screen in the ballroom as a surprise to his bride. Look,
if you find yourself dancing with a cutout, you're certifiably insane.
(21:37):
And what does it say about the groom? Then he
can be replaced by a cardboard cutout and nobody seems
the care and the bride is in for a rude
awakening because there's no way the husband is ever gonna
live up to that cutout. It's well dressed, it listens,
(21:57):
and it has a flat stomach. It's a total package. Now,
if you'll excuse me, Trevor, I've got a wedding to
get to. Some assholes getting married to a woman he
doesn't even like. Those idiots have decided to make it
a destination wedding. Oh wow, Louis who who's getting married?
I am? And I gotta pick up my bride at Kenko's.
(22:19):
Who is black? Everyone back? Welcome back to the Data Show.
(22:40):
My guest tonight is best selling author Angela Gobbess. She's
here to talk about her new book, Essential Labor, which
reflects on the state of caregiving in America and explores
mothering as a means of social change. So please welcome
Angela Gobbess to say, people, welcome to the show. Thank you,
(23:08):
Thank you Trevor for having Are you kidding me? Thank
you for writing one of the most fascinating books on
a topic that I I love delving into because I
feel like it is the roots of everything, and that
is mothering. I'm glad that you see that we share vibe. Right,
But let's let's start with with the you know, the
title of the book, essential Labor. You wrote this book,
(23:29):
you know, based on an article that got acclaim from everyone,
I mean mothers all over the country. Ready, some people
around the world, really, even people like Melinda Gates and
Elizabeth Warren chimed and said, yeah, this is this is
spot on. What do you think people have been missing
about mothering for so long? Sure? I mean I wrote
this book, you know. Part of it came out of
the grief and loss that I felt at the start
of the pandemic um As a writer, I had sort
(23:51):
of nebulous deadlines and I didn't get a regular paycheck
or health insurance. But my husband's job gave us that,
so I basically stopped writing. And because child Our Centers closed,
I was taking care of my kids and I knew
that that was the most important work I could be doing. Um,
But it also I felt like I wasn't getting any
recognition for it. We were hearing about essential workers, healthcare workers,
(24:14):
sanitation workers, who are yes, essential, but we were never
hearing about parents who were working twenty four seven, trying
to take care of their families, trying to keep communities safe. Um.
And that's really where like, this is what I like,
what I know you understand is that domestic work, mothering. Um,
we do it to ourselves every day, feeding ourselves, taking
a shower without care. Work and domestic labor, you know,
(24:37):
this is the work that makes all other work possible.
The idea that domestic labor is somehow less valuable than
quote unquote professional work. I just think it's a myth.
You don't, you don't what you what you tap into
in this book is so powerful because it even goes
to let's say somebody's like a rampant capitalist. They go like,
(24:57):
the country is to make money. We gotta get people
out there, we gotta and yet they don't want the
policies that support mothers in doing that. So you see mothers,
you know, you talk about in the book way they
have to choose, am I going to be a mom?
Or am I going to find somebody to be a
mom to my child? I can't afford them. This is
so many you know, we talked about this care crisis
that was exposed in the pandemic. Right when childcare centers
and schools closed down. We were lost. People didn't know
(25:21):
what to do. But many of us have always known that,
you know, until your child is aged six in America,
you're really on your own. And there are many people
who are choosing between should I put my child in
daycare or should I work? Because it's really about the
same amount of money, right But so studies have been done.
So ox Fan has a study that if women in
America were paid minimum wage for the amount of domestic
(25:43):
labor that they do unpaid right now, it would be
worth one point nine trillion dollars per year. So that's
talk about putting you know, a value on that like
that is part of our economy and that's a thing
that we just have not reckoned with in this country.
Our country, American capital them realize just as much on
the labor that happens in the home as any other
(26:04):
labor that happens in the office or on a job site.
And other countries have have done that in many ways.
You know, when you see countries like Sweden, countries like Switzerland,
et cetera, they've got different methods of doing it, but
they'll say this is so valuable to the country that
we will pay a mother, will make sure that the
government is supporting a mother, because you know, you talk
about this in the book, and it's really fascinating to
get into. Is like everything that we struggle with in society,
(26:26):
whether it's crime, you know, whether it's poverty, whether it's
mental issues, etcetera. You can link so many of those things. Absolutely, yes,
when you invest. So I believe that raising children, you know,
it's a choice that people make to have kids or
not have kids, and I think we should all Unfortunately
this is not guaranteed in our country. We should all
be allowed to make that choice for ourselves, right, But
(26:47):
whether or not you have children, you know, raising kids
is a social responsibility. And when we invest, like, no
one gets to adulthood without someone taking care of them,
and that's their parents. It's also beloved Auntie is it's
a preschool teacher, the teacher, right there's so many people
who are part of that. And when we invest in
children and families and mothers, it's investing in public health.
(27:08):
It's investing in the very future and health of our society.
It's interesting that you also wrote this not just as
a mom but you I enjoyed how many prisons you
look through, you know, like at the issue through you know,
you wrote about it as a mom um, you wrote
about it as a worker and as a writer, and
you also wrote about it through the lens of being
an immigrants or family of immigrants, but specifically Filipino, which
(27:30):
I which I really enjoyed because you talked about how
key giving and mothering seems almost like it's it's part
of the fabric of being Filipino. I'd love to know
where you think that came from or or why that's
so important to um. I'm so glad you asked. Thank you.
So I didn't set out to write about my Filipino
American family. I do think that Filippino X American history
(27:51):
is something that is underrepresented, you know, within the Asian
American community. Sometimes I'm like, what about us? What about right?
But so they're my mom is a nurse and Um,
I won't go into the whole long history of American
imperialism in the United States, but the reason why my
parents immigrated here is because my parents um spoke English
because of American education system that was created by American colonialism.
(28:13):
And when there was a health worker shortage, the United
States allowed highly skilled immigrants like my mother and father
to come. And when I was thinking about the history
of caregiving in this country, you know, you have to
really reckon with the reason why we devalue care work,
which is performed mostly by women of color. It's because
of slavery, right, this is why we accept women of
(28:35):
color working in the home for free or for low wages.
So I was trying to wrestle with like how do
I take this on? But there is a statistic that
came out during COVID that, um, we'll never leave my body,
and it is that Philippino x nurses are four percent
of the nursing workforce in the United States. They are
thirty of COVID related nursing doves. Wow, yeah, yeah, thank you.
(29:01):
And that to me, I was like, this could be
my mother, this could be my children's grandmother. And it's
because when Philippine X nurses came over. They tell me
this is a familiar trope with immigrants here in the
United States. They took jobs that white workers didn't want.
They took I see you in critical care jobs that
were more intimate with patients bodies. And since that means
(29:23):
they've been caring for COVID patients and so they're dying
in disproportionate numbers. And that's really where I was like,
wait a second, Like I don't there are so many
ways into this story of caregiving in America, right, But
this I realized I could tell my family story, and
it's all of the same forces that are happening. It's capitalism,
(29:44):
it's colonialism, it's exploitation, right, it's white supremacy. Um, these
are the things that we are living with now, and
I see it in my family, and I see it
reflected in this crisis that we're dealing with, which is
going to outlast the pandemic if we don't figure out
how to care for each other. How do we moved
towards a situation where women are not in a position
where as mothers or and you know, you talk about
(30:06):
in the book how mothering extends beyond just the cliche
idea of what a mother is. You know, we talk
about communities, we talk about the ants, the grandmother, the
old mothering in some way. Do you see any viable solution?
Do you see a world that we can get to
where we say, oh, this is where the government could help,
this is what we could do, this where companies could
help ex Yes, yes, well so I mean companies I
want at this point, I want the government to be
(30:29):
part of this, because we've privatized everything, right like I
don't think that employees and employers and corporations are going
to save us at this point. We privatize all human
rights in America, right like universal healthcare, right like education.
We've we've made all of those things like it's time
for government support. And I've gone through phases of being
really angry and really disillusioned. But right now, my friend
(30:49):
I Gen Poo, who's the director of the National Domestic
Workers Alliance, who's part of a coalition called Care Can't Wait,
and they formed during COVID to deal with this care crisis,
there is actually right now, senators are doing budget reconciliation
on a bill that would put money into child care,
home care, and elder care. And so in this moment,
if you're looking for something to do, if you've been
(31:10):
affected by care, and I know all of us have been,
you can call your senators right now and tell them
to fun care. And this is not an opportunity that
comes up all the time. So I feel hopeful, you know,
because there's an actionable item that we can do. I
also feel hopeful because in the pandemic, what I saw
when people formed pods, right when people started having these
play dates, that was people saying, I can't do this alone. Right.
(31:34):
We are not meant to take care of children, to
take care of our elders, to take care of the disabled,
the care care of the sick. We're not meant to
do that in isolation. We can't. And I saw so
many examples in the pandemic, like, we are surviving this
not because the government sent us eight tests. We're surviving
this because we took care of each other. And I
see that all around me, and I think if we
(31:54):
lean into that and continue, I don't want that to
go away as we like, as the pandemic moves more
into the your view mirror, want more and part of it.
More community, more looking after each other and more honoring mothering.
Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate the
essential labor. A fascinating book is available. Now We're gonna
take a quick veraightfoll be right back after this. Thank
(32:15):
you again. We lous our stove for tonight, but before
we go. Before we go, please consider donating to the
National Black Justice Coalition. Since two thousand and three, they
have been America's leading national civil rights organization, advocating for
(32:36):
federal policies that fights against racism and homophobia. So if
you can, please donate to the link below to help
them reach their vision of a world where all people
are fully empowered to participate safely, openly, and honestly in family,
faith community, regardless of their race, their class, their gender identity,
or their sexual orientation. It's a really great organization. Until tomorrow,
stay safe out there, and remember, if you can't solve
(32:58):
the real problems in your life, just get a bulldoze
on across somebody's bike. What's the Daily Show weeknights at
eleven tenth Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes
any time on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy
Central podcast
You're listening to Comedy Central coming to you from New
York City, the only city in America. It's the Daily
Show tonight. The high cost of gas, the high cost
of wedding, andrew a garment. It's the Daily Show with
(00:24):
driver Noel. What's come about? Everybody looking to the day
shot travel no Thank you so much for shooting it.
(00:45):
Thank you for coming out of home, Thank you for
coming and join and take a sea. Let's do it
you We're the rarely fun show for you Tonight. President
Biden is stepping on the gas. Louis Black is getting
ready for a wedding season, and call Risk has agreed
on gun reforms that are somehow a huge deal and
a huge disappointment at the same time. So let's do
(01:07):
this people, Let's jump straight into today's headlines art. Let's
kick things off with gasoline or a scientists call it
dinosaur pep. Over the past few months, global demand for
oil has kept rising faster than the supply, to the
(01:28):
point where the price of gas in the United States
is now six babillion dollars a gallant, So drivers are hurting.
The good news is that, as always, President Biden wants
to help the bad news is that, as always, it
doesn't look like he can. The President this afternoon called
on Congress the temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, which
is right now about eighteen Santa Gallen. It's a move
(01:50):
President Biden has resisted until today, given that it is
unlikely to pass Congress. Will officials say a gas tax
holiday is worth considering. There is a cost. Those funds
are used for repairing roads and infrastructure, important priorities across
the country. What the President wants is a three month
gas tax holiday on both regular gas and diesel going
(02:14):
into September. You also want states to pass their similar
versions of that gas tax holiday. The President also had
a word specifically here for the oil companies. Here's what
he said, Bring down the press you are charging at
the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for
the product. Do it now? Do it today? Why are
(02:35):
you talking about that? Is this a secret? Should the
rest of us be listening? Where does he do that thing?
It's so strange, like Joe Biden is the only president
whose vibe shifts in the middle of a sentence. Oil companies,
you better lower the prices, please use I'm begging you.
If your presidents. You just gotta say things otherwise it
(02:57):
makes you look weak. You know, you can't be like
Mr Garbage chev turn down this wall if you get
around to it. It's such an ugly wall, or at
least painted. Come on, you know. I feel like this
is the big difference between Trump and Biden. You know,
it's how they use their power. Because with Trumpet was
always like ship is he gonna use his power? And
(03:18):
with Biden it's like a ship is he gonna use
his power? Also, whoever decided to call it a gas
tax holiday? That person should be fired. It's not a holiday.
What does that mean? It's a gas tax holiday? No,
it's just be like, we're not charging gas a gas
tax holiday. That's the worst holiday of all time? Or
do you save eighteen cents off of gas and I
still have to go to work? Are you shipping me?
(03:39):
Even a day is better than that ship? And this
is what always confuses me about this country. Right everywhere
in the world, governments managed to protect their populations from
corporate greed, Right like South Africa will limit how high
bread prices can go. The EU will be like you
cannot pump chickens with the same hormones they use in
the Hulk in China, they're like Crypto has done and
(04:00):
no more dancing on TikTok, only homework. But whenever the
American government has to deal with corporations, they've got about
as much power as a tortoise that's stuck on its back.
You know, it's just like, come on, oil companies, come on,
pass on your savings. Drug companies don't over judge, but
life saving drugs, please clear. But still, this is good
(04:26):
news for Americans. Instead of the gas tax going to
maintaining roads and infrastructure, drivers will now save eighteen cents
per gallon, and then you can use those savings to
buy a new car after yours get swallowed up by
a pothole. But let's move on to a different problem
facing practically everyone in America. Gun violence. There have been
(04:48):
many mass shootings in America over the past couple of decades,
and after each one, people have always said, maybe this
time will be different, maybe Congress will do something about this,
And every time Congress was like no. Ever since the
mass shooting in Buffalo and you've aldi lost month, a
group of sentences from both parties have been working together
to see if they can find any common ground on
(05:10):
gun reform. And it turns out this time is different,
ever so slightly. This morning, after decades of partisan gridlock,
a major breakthrough in Congress, fourteen Republicans joining all fifty
Democrats to advance a new compromise on gun restrictions. This
is a breakthrough, and more importantly, it's a bipartisan breakthrough.
(05:33):
The deal includes enhanced background checks for people between eighteen
and twenty one, closing the so called boyfriend loophole, preventing
romantic partners convicted of domestic violence from buying guns, directing
more money for states to implement their own plans to
address gun violence, and billions for school security upgrades and
mental health services. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls
(05:56):
the deal a common sense package of popular steps that
will helped make these horrifying incidents less likely. Will fully
upholding the Second Amendment. Oh, I agree with, sending Mitch McConnell.
Thank god, the prescious Second Amendment has been preserved. Oh yes,
I mean, I'm all for protecting kids, but the Second Amendment?
Oh have you seen that little face? Have you seen it? Who?
(06:18):
Checking Amendment? Are you? Who? Checking Amendment? Are you you do?
You're durable? Sometimes I feel like Americans want to protect
the Constitution more than they want to protect the Americans
the Constitution is supposed to protect. It doesn't make any sense.
So I'm glad we could protect the Second Amendment. I'll
tell you know, if the Second Amendment was in that
(06:39):
classroom in your valley, the cops would have bust the
door down, with Mitch McConnell right behind them. Her ah,
And I will say, Look, I know for a lot
of people, it can be hard to know how to
feel about this deal because it doesn't include a lot
of things that people want. You know, it doesn't ban
assault rifles, it doesn't raise age limits. It doesn't even
(07:00):
do universal background checks, which is the most basic thing imaginable.
So for some of this kind of thing, you know,
it feels like trying to stop Godzilla by dropping a
few mouse traps around the city. But on the other hand,
on the other hand, after three decades of nothing happening,
this deal is something. Please remember that it is something.
(07:20):
It's not going to solve everything, but it's something, and
something is always better than nothing. That's the entire philosophy
behind the hand job. All right, let's move on. And
you've been out to New York City over the past
few years, especially pandemic, and through it you've probably noticed
(07:41):
a wild new phenomenon. And no, I'm not talking about
how the stuff dripping from air conditions doesn't taste as
good as is used to, which you know it really
bothers me. Do you sound like a flavor? It had
a tang when it was like falling your mouth. No,
the problem I'm talking about is the squads of dirt
bikes and a t vs flooding the streets inside walks
like Trump supporters trying to find Mike Pence. Well, now,
(08:05):
the Mayor of New York City has decided to crush
this problem literally today, having machinery crushed to illegal a
t v s, dirt bikes and motorcycles confiscated by the NYPD,
Mayor Eric Adams waved checkered flag and work began. He
said this effort was to ensure these vehicles cannot ever
(08:26):
terrorize the city again. The NYPD says that it has
ceased more than two thousand of these vehicle citywide, an
increase of more than eight percent from this time last year.
Hell yeah, baby crushed those blacks. That's what I want
from my city government. Yeah, I don't even care about
the undefunded schools anymore because this ship rocks. By the way,
(08:51):
why is he waving a checkered flag at the beginning
of a race? Does he not understand how a race works?
Kind of truck is like, I've I've finished already. Now look,
I will admit as a New Yorker humble bragg. Maybe
this isn't the biggest problem the city is facing right now.
(09:11):
You know, rents are driving people out of their homes,
Traffic is always bad, and the subways are always shutting
down because I think we have trains that are scared
of the dock or something. Yeah, yeah, no, I think
that's what it is in New York, you see, because
they find and then they go into a tunnel and
then they're just like, ah, you guys should walk. I
don't know what there is a scary In fact, instead
(09:34):
of crushing these bikes, maybe the city could have used
them to solve some of the city's problems, you know,
I mean, this could have been a solution to the
subway problem. Instead of those trains that always breaking down.
Just drop a bunch of dirt bikes into the tunnel.
You know, yeah, let people we need to work, or
give them to the police so they don't have to
ride horses anymore. What are you doing stopping criming the
eighteen fifties, there are cattle russells on Broadway or just higher.
(09:59):
The dirt bike used to ride around neighborhoods where the
rents have gotten unaffordable. Helped keep the prices down. The
studio apartment with no back room. You want it, you
want it. It costs six thousand dollars a month one dinging.
All right, give me fifty bucks. You can have it.
(10:20):
And finally, if you want of those people who really
likes to vape, first of all, congratulations on being basic.
A Second of all, you might want to stock up
because your supply is about to run out. One of
the largest makers of e cigarettes may soon be forced
to stop selling its products in this country. The Wall
Street Journal says the FDA could order Jewel e cigarettes
(10:43):
off the market as soon as today. The FDA is
criticized Jewel for gearing its products towards young people, and
already barred the sale of fruity and sweet eat cigarette cartridges,
Jewel and hoped to continue selling tobacco flavors. It can
appeal if the FDA does hand down that band as expected.
That's right, people, Jewel et cigarettes are about to be banned.
(11:06):
So your days of going around looking like you're blowing
R two D two are over. But this is a
big move by the FDA because you realize Jewel is
the iconic vaping brand. So by them doing this, it's
like going off the soda by banning coke, or going
off to coke by banning Don Junior. All right, that's
(11:28):
it for the headlines, but before we go, let's check
it on the traffic without very own Royal Junior. Everybody
what to see me again? We're going good? Yeah, I'm good.
I'm good now. I know we want to get to
the traffic man. But that that brings up a good point.
Am I am? I supposed to be excited about eight
(11:49):
teens that off the gas? I guess they want you
to be excited. I don't know. I don't feel like
that's a lot. I'm sure eighteen sent off. I'm sure
there's a lot of gas where you from. I'm sure
that's like a lot of gas because I'm from Africa.
You said it, not me like I feel like eighteens.
It's like it's a nice gesture, but it ain't really
(12:10):
doing nothing. Expart when your grandma still give you ten
dollars for your birthday and I'm like, I'm forty three,
What amnna do with these ten dollars? This ain't even
a sandwich, ain't even Oh you're looking at you want
to do the traffic? You know what to fix this traffic?
Because like perfect thing about the gas right? All right,
so gases up because everybody consuming gas? Right, people consume
(12:32):
gas because they stuck in traffic. They ain't really moving.
What gives you good gas mileage? Motion the car moving.
So the way you get to fix the traffic. All
green lights, every light, every intersection of America, green lights,
same time traffic moved. I think that would create another problem, though,
what's the problem. What because it's all the green lights,
(12:54):
than like the cause are probably gonna smash into each
other even better, even better car smash your car. Don't
run now you're walking saving gas? You understanding it's that hurt?
Mean all grew lights. Look at all these motorcycles. Why
we didn't just sell motorcycles to these people. What what
(13:14):
countries that even I don't know, a country with traffic,
I don't understand. Why Why would the city of New
York not just sell the bikes? Police love to put
stuff out and then just tear it up. Man, you
could have sold them bikes for parts. You could have
took them to another country or some ship. Man, why
would you get rid of the I bet you they
ain't even siph in the gas off the bikes before
they crashed the start. Man, that's a lot of money.
(13:36):
I'm from Alabama, man, I'm from Alabama. The police down
there they do something called the police auction. The police
take your ship and then once everything too three times
a year they just have a yard sale and they
just sell everybody's stuff. And that's how you make a
little bit of bread. You don't burn the stuff up, man,
Like would they be burning into the drugs. They'd be
burning up the drugs. Why would you burn that cocaine?
(13:57):
Oh that good cocaine. Maybe you can bag that up.
You can take that down to Knoxville. Holliday, big mix.
He got two plugs from the Salvadorian As. When you
get that and shift where if you cut it the
right way, you can get a couple of extra dollars
and stretch that you're gonna incriminate yourself that say, let's
jump to the traffic. That's bad to the traffic. You
(14:18):
know what the jewels people have been stuff the jewel
the jewels cigarette people. They may try too hard to
sell the children. You can't just go right at the children.
That's what happened to Joe Campbell. That's why they got
Joe Camel out of here. You remember Joe Cambell. You
remember the camel cigarettes They had to dude. I remember
the sixth grade. Everybody either wanted to be Michael Jordan
(14:39):
or Joe Cammel. That's who you wanted to be. It
was a camel. He had shades, he had a leather
jacket on, he had a white woman on his own.
I was like, that's the man. Also, also that the
thing with jewel man, it's the people who smoke the six.
This they fault y'all had all this time to normalize
the six. But every time you ever seen somebody pulling
e c out, they look weird. They we you know,
(15:00):
in the Kilton. Then they put it back down. Then
they look at the floor when they're hitting it. While
you looking at the floor, look up at me. That's
a that's addiction behavior. You don't look down. Smokers look
you in the eyes. Smoking. Also, when people smoke a cigarette,
they don't smoke in the center. They're like, you gotta
this is cool. You gotta smoke in the corner of
(15:21):
your mouth. You don't smoke nothing. This is a crack pipe.
Let's just crack pipe. This is cool. This is meth
and that's why people be tripping on them jewel cigarettes. Back.
You can't be you won't look cool. You're smoke around
the corner. I hear you that, man, I hear that.
I'm just man, it's a nice traffic, man. What do
(15:47):
you What do you want me to say about the traffic?
Let's people people like every wing because people, what do
you want me to say? People like want to know
what roads to drive on, not this one. Don't drop
on this one. You know what I think? Thank you little.
When we come back now it's black, we'll be talking
about weddings, So don't go away. Welcome back to the
(16:26):
day show. When a news story falls through the cracks,
Lewis Black catches it for a segment we called back
in Black. Wedding season is here, everyone, my favorite time
of year. The brides and radiant and grooms are terrified,
(16:51):
and I'm in the photo booth letting my artistic side out.
My nipple rings really pop in a wedding album. And
it's a great time for someone who loves love as
much as I do. Because this year there are more
weddings than ever. Two is going to be a record year.
They're talking about two point five million weddings set to
(17:13):
take place, the biggest number since numbers up by six
hundred thousand. One out of every five weddings last year
was rescheduled for this year, which means everything from dresses
to venues to hotel rooms are in high demand. Planning
to marry then get ready to rumble. You can kiss
(17:33):
the romantic venues goodbye because the only one left is
the octagon, and you're gonna have to choke someone out
for it. And I guess that's America for you. It's
easier to get a shotgun than it is to get
a shotgun wedding. But at least post pandemic marriages are
gonna be strong. After all, most of these couples have
(17:55):
been through lockdown together, they already know they can spend
hours in the same room watching TV without speaking to
each other until one of them falls asleep and the
other one can finally masturbate in peace, you know. Marriage.
Of course, even if you manage to find an aisle
(18:18):
to walk down this year, guess what it's gonna cost you,
and the cost of tie the knot astronomical. All of
the vendors really didn't have any sort of income for
almost two years, so they are really trying to make
up for that lost revenue that, coupled with supply chain
issues and inflation, have sent prices soaring. Couples will spend
(18:41):
an average of more than twenty four thousand dollars on
their wedding this year, up nearly two thousand dollars from
last year. But it's not just the bride and groom.
Guests should expect to spend more to as a record
travel season boost demand for flights, hotel rooms, and rental cars.
That's Matt Tressler from Louisville, Kentucky, and this is his
tenth wet so far this summer. Weekend after weekend he's
(19:02):
showing out for gifts, gas, hotels and more. I don't
want to say any exact number, but let's just say
it was like four digits. Have had to buy a
lot of suits for weddings and hate to brag. I'm
a professional wedding guests on the Wedding King. Wedding King
is Yiddish for schmuck funny funny. Four thousand dollars for
(19:24):
a wedding me hard. But that price you won't have
anything left for the divorce lawyer. And thanks to the
price of gas, even get getting to a wedding costs
and arm and a leg. Guess is so expensive you
can bring it as a wedding gift and make sure
you hold on to it, though your grandkids can sell
(19:46):
it to a warlord for water. So with all the
logistical and financial challenges, it's no wonder that some couples
are finding creative ways to save money. Weddings can cost fortune.
The national average close to thirty grand and in Kira
and Joel's home state of California, the average is even higher.
(20:08):
Dress is check. So how did Kiera pull it off?
She started with the dress, which costs just forty seven dollars.
I didn't want to spend a lot of money on
a dress because I had the mindset, I'm gonna wear
this one time for a few hours. Then she found
the perfect location right off the freeway. Keyword being free.
(20:30):
A wedding by the freeway genius. I found love on
the side of the road loads of times, and never
once did I think to invite a photographer, and I
definitely wouldn't have invited my grandmother. But even if you
beat the costs in the crowds, there's one more thing
(20:51):
you need to worry about, the COVID one nelliwa couple
didn't want to reschedule their already postponed wedding. Understandable, there
was option with the groom tested positive for COVID. It
happened just three days before, so the bride still attended
the wedding, but took this cardboard cutout of her groom instead.
The couple says it was their way of making the
(21:13):
best of a very disappointing situation after their numptials had
already been rescheduled several times throughout the course of the pandemic.
Don't worry, though, the groom didn't completely miss out on
all the fun and festivities it did show up on
screen in the ballroom as a surprise to his bride. Look,
if you find yourself dancing with a cutout, you're certifiably insane.
(21:37):
And what does it say about the groom? Then he
can be replaced by a cardboard cutout and nobody seems
the care and the bride is in for a rude
awakening because there's no way the husband is ever gonna
live up to that cutout. It's well dressed, it listens,
(21:57):
and it has a flat stomach. It's a total package. Now,
if you'll excuse me, Trevor, I've got a wedding to
get to. Some assholes getting married to a woman he
doesn't even like. Those idiots have decided to make it
a destination wedding. Oh wow, Louis who who's getting married?
I am? And I gotta pick up my bride at Kenko's.
(22:19):
Who is black? Everyone back? Welcome back to the Data Show.
(22:40):
My guest tonight is best selling author Angela Gobbess. She's
here to talk about her new book, Essential Labor, which
reflects on the state of caregiving in America and explores
mothering as a means of social change. So please welcome
Angela Gobbess to say, people, welcome to the show. Thank you,
(23:08):
Thank you Trevor for having Are you kidding me? Thank
you for writing one of the most fascinating books on
a topic that I I love delving into because I
feel like it is the roots of everything, and that
is mothering. I'm glad that you see that we share vibe. Right,
But let's let's start with with the you know, the
title of the book, essential Labor. You wrote this book,
(23:29):
you know, based on an article that got acclaim from everyone,
I mean mothers all over the country. Ready, some people
around the world, really, even people like Melinda Gates and
Elizabeth Warren chimed and said, yeah, this is this is
spot on. What do you think people have been missing
about mothering for so long? Sure? I mean I wrote
this book, you know. Part of it came out of
the grief and loss that I felt at the start
of the pandemic um As a writer, I had sort
(23:51):
of nebulous deadlines and I didn't get a regular paycheck
or health insurance. But my husband's job gave us that,
so I basically stopped writing. And because child Our Centers closed,
I was taking care of my kids and I knew
that that was the most important work I could be doing. Um,
But it also I felt like I wasn't getting any
recognition for it. We were hearing about essential workers, healthcare workers,
(24:14):
sanitation workers, who are yes, essential, but we were never
hearing about parents who were working twenty four seven, trying
to take care of their families, trying to keep communities safe. Um.
And that's really where like, this is what I like,
what I know you understand is that domestic work, mothering. Um,
we do it to ourselves every day, feeding ourselves, taking
a shower without care. Work and domestic labor, you know,
(24:37):
this is the work that makes all other work possible.
The idea that domestic labor is somehow less valuable than
quote unquote professional work. I just think it's a myth.
You don't, you don't what you what you tap into
in this book is so powerful because it even goes
to let's say somebody's like a rampant capitalist. They go like,
(24:57):
the country is to make money. We gotta get people
out there, we gotta and yet they don't want the
policies that support mothers in doing that. So you see mothers,
you know, you talk about in the book way they
have to choose, am I going to be a mom?
Or am I going to find somebody to be a
mom to my child? I can't afford them. This is
so many you know, we talked about this care crisis
that was exposed in the pandemic. Right when childcare centers
and schools closed down. We were lost. People didn't know
(25:21):
what to do. But many of us have always known that,
you know, until your child is aged six in America,
you're really on your own. And there are many people
who are choosing between should I put my child in
daycare or should I work? Because it's really about the
same amount of money, right But so studies have been done.
So ox Fan has a study that if women in
America were paid minimum wage for the amount of domestic
(25:43):
labor that they do unpaid right now, it would be
worth one point nine trillion dollars per year. So that's
talk about putting you know, a value on that like
that is part of our economy and that's a thing
that we just have not reckoned with in this country.
Our country, American capital them realize just as much on
the labor that happens in the home as any other
(26:04):
labor that happens in the office or on a job site.
And other countries have have done that in many ways.
You know, when you see countries like Sweden, countries like Switzerland,
et cetera, they've got different methods of doing it, but
they'll say this is so valuable to the country that
we will pay a mother, will make sure that the
government is supporting a mother, because you know, you talk
about this in the book, and it's really fascinating to
get into. Is like everything that we struggle with in society,
(26:26):
whether it's crime, you know, whether it's poverty, whether it's
mental issues, etcetera. You can link so many of those things. Absolutely, yes,
when you invest. So I believe that raising children, you know,
it's a choice that people make to have kids or
not have kids, and I think we should all Unfortunately
this is not guaranteed in our country. We should all
be allowed to make that choice for ourselves, right, But
(26:47):
whether or not you have children, you know, raising kids
is a social responsibility. And when we invest, like, no
one gets to adulthood without someone taking care of them,
and that's their parents. It's also beloved Auntie is it's
a preschool teacher, the teacher, right there's so many people
who are part of that. And when we invest in
children and families and mothers, it's investing in public health.
(27:08):
It's investing in the very future and health of our society.
It's interesting that you also wrote this not just as
a mom but you I enjoyed how many prisons you
look through, you know, like at the issue through you know,
you wrote about it as a mom um, you wrote
about it as a worker and as a writer, and
you also wrote about it through the lens of being
an immigrants or family of immigrants, but specifically Filipino, which
(27:30):
I which I really enjoyed because you talked about how
key giving and mothering seems almost like it's it's part
of the fabric of being Filipino. I'd love to know
where you think that came from or or why that's
so important to um. I'm so glad you asked. Thank you.
So I didn't set out to write about my Filipino
American family. I do think that Filippino X American history
(27:51):
is something that is underrepresented, you know, within the Asian
American community. Sometimes I'm like, what about us? What about right?
But so they're my mom is a nurse and Um,
I won't go into the whole long history of American
imperialism in the United States, but the reason why my
parents immigrated here is because my parents um spoke English
because of American education system that was created by American colonialism.
(28:13):
And when there was a health worker shortage, the United
States allowed highly skilled immigrants like my mother and father
to come. And when I was thinking about the history
of caregiving in this country, you know, you have to
really reckon with the reason why we devalue care work,
which is performed mostly by women of color. It's because
of slavery, right, this is why we accept women of
(28:35):
color working in the home for free or for low wages.
So I was trying to wrestle with like how do
I take this on? But there is a statistic that
came out during COVID that, um, we'll never leave my body,
and it is that Philippino x nurses are four percent
of the nursing workforce in the United States. They are
thirty of COVID related nursing doves. Wow, yeah, yeah, thank you.
(29:01):
And that to me, I was like, this could be
my mother, this could be my children's grandmother. And it's
because when Philippine X nurses came over. They tell me
this is a familiar trope with immigrants here in the
United States. They took jobs that white workers didn't want.
They took I see you in critical care jobs that
were more intimate with patients bodies. And since that means
(29:23):
they've been caring for COVID patients and so they're dying
in disproportionate numbers. And that's really where I was like,
wait a second, Like I don't there are so many
ways into this story of caregiving in America, right, But
this I realized I could tell my family story, and
it's all of the same forces that are happening. It's capitalism,
(29:44):
it's colonialism, it's exploitation, right, it's white supremacy. Um, these
are the things that we are living with now, and
I see it in my family, and I see it
reflected in this crisis that we're dealing with, which is
going to outlast the pandemic if we don't figure out
how to care for each other. How do we moved
towards a situation where women are not in a position
where as mothers or and you know, you talk about
(30:06):
in the book how mothering extends beyond just the cliche
idea of what a mother is. You know, we talk
about communities, we talk about the ants, the grandmother, the
old mothering in some way. Do you see any viable solution?
Do you see a world that we can get to
where we say, oh, this is where the government could help,
this is what we could do, this where companies could
help ex Yes, yes, well so I mean companies I
want at this point, I want the government to be
(30:29):
part of this, because we've privatized everything, right like I
don't think that employees and employers and corporations are going
to save us at this point. We privatize all human
rights in America, right like universal healthcare, right like education.
We've we've made all of those things like it's time
for government support. And I've gone through phases of being
really angry and really disillusioned. But right now, my friend
(30:49):
I Gen Poo, who's the director of the National Domestic
Workers Alliance, who's part of a coalition called Care Can't Wait,
and they formed during COVID to deal with this care crisis,
there is actually right now, senators are doing budget reconciliation
on a bill that would put money into child care,
home care, and elder care. And so in this moment,
if you're looking for something to do, if you've been
(31:10):
affected by care, and I know all of us have been,
you can call your senators right now and tell them
to fun care. And this is not an opportunity that
comes up all the time. So I feel hopeful, you know,
because there's an actionable item that we can do. I
also feel hopeful because in the pandemic, what I saw
when people formed pods, right when people started having these
play dates, that was people saying, I can't do this alone. Right.
(31:34):
We are not meant to take care of children, to
take care of our elders, to take care of the disabled,
the care care of the sick. We're not meant to
do that in isolation. We can't. And I saw so
many examples in the pandemic, like, we are surviving this
not because the government sent us eight tests. We're surviving
this because we took care of each other. And I
see that all around me, and I think if we
(31:54):
lean into that and continue, I don't want that to
go away as we like, as the pandemic moves more
into the your view mirror, want more and part of it.
More community, more looking after each other and more honoring mothering.
Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate the
essential labor. A fascinating book is available. Now We're gonna
take a quick veraightfoll be right back after this. Thank
(32:15):
you again. We lous our stove for tonight, but before
we go. Before we go, please consider donating to the
National Black Justice Coalition. Since two thousand and three, they
have been America's leading national civil rights organization, advocating for
(32:36):
federal policies that fights against racism and homophobia. So if
you can, please donate to the link below to help
them reach their vision of a world where all people
are fully empowered to participate safely, openly, and honestly in family,
faith community, regardless of their race, their class, their gender identity,
or their sexual orientation. It's a really great organization. Until tomorrow,
stay safe out there, and remember, if you can't solve
(32:58):
the real problems in your life, just get a bulldoze
on across somebody's bike. What's the Daily Show weeknights at
eleven tenth Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes
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