All Episodes

January 1, 2025 13 mins

Revisit more of the best field pieces from 2024, including Michael Kosta's report on the real "invaders" of a Texas border town, Grace Kuhlenschmidt's lesson on political abstinence, and Ronny Chieng's game of Magic the Gathering: GOP edition.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's me Michael Costa. The Daily Show is on
break for the holidays, but in the meantime we put
together some special highlights just for you. We'll be back
in the new year on January seventh with all new episodes.
Eagle Past, Texas has become the epicenter of the national

(00:21):
immigration debate, as over the last year, an unprecedented number
of migrants crossed here to apply for asylum, and for
many observers, this complex issue can only be summed up
in one word, invasion.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
We are being invaded.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
We are being invaded. We're being invaded.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
We're being invaded, just like it's a military invasion.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
But how are the locals coping with this? Relentless onslaught.

Speaker 5 (00:44):
They've come and taken over the towel. It's our land,
and there's just people coming.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
In causing uh, you know, havoc and craziness.

Speaker 6 (00:53):
There's chaos.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Shouldn't you be welcoming?

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Don't you have any empathy for the journey they've taken together.

Speaker 6 (00:59):
They're not welcome the hell out of our place.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
You can't move around seeing them.

Speaker 7 (01:03):
You can't get a meal in a restaurant, can't get
a hotel room unless you're willing to pay four hundred dollars.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Wait, wait, who are you talking about right now?

Speaker 1 (01:08):
The State Guard from Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho.

Speaker 8 (01:14):
Oh, what you'd need to be afraid of is some
of these convoys of people.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
They're talking about Central American caravans.

Speaker 8 (01:21):
Oh, no, we're talking about the people that are invading
the country here, not the Mexicos.

Speaker 6 (01:25):
The invasion here is from Governor Abbot and the Trumpers
and the Maga people.

Speaker 9 (01:33):
Yes, Eagle Pass has been overrun since Governor Greg Abbott
declared a crisis at the border and sent in the
Texas National Guard, attracting a flood of Republican governors, congressional
delegations in even billionaire weirdos.

Speaker 10 (01:47):
This is our tax payer dollars being put to use
by coming out to Eagle Pass. And what's happened is
it's jacked up the hotel prices.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Our room is three hundred and seventy dollars and they
don't even have any handlations understood, understood. What is your
message to the people that want to come down here
and don't come?

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay, but be more clear, please don't come.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
It's not just cool guys. And scarves that are being
victimized in this conflict, but also local small business owners
who resemble Sam Elliott. Right now, the only people that
are going into the water are individuals from the press
that want to see how ugly it is out there.
The governor of Texas is here disrupting your job, and

(02:32):
you wanted to port them get.

Speaker 7 (02:34):
Him out, because I mean, I'm expected to follow federal law,
local law, state law.

Speaker 10 (02:38):
I would expect the same thing from our leader of
our state.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Sam Elliot and his Mustache's concerns were justified because when
America sends its people to Eagle Pass, they're not always
sending their best. Some I assume drove countless hours to
sit outside a fence.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
But why this is my land.

Speaker 8 (02:57):
I'm from Texas.

Speaker 5 (02:58):
I'm the latter.

Speaker 8 (02:59):
Support those people who are fighting for me, Ma La
my land. Do we have guts enough to defend ourselves?

Speaker 4 (03:09):
Do we?

Speaker 11 (03:09):
Now?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Are?

Speaker 8 (03:10):
You're shuking your head?

Speaker 5 (03:11):
You don't really, I'm not practical.

Speaker 8 (03:13):
You're wearing a suit. You've been successful in the New
York media. You know what, you sold your soul to
the devil.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
If I sold my soul to the devil to be
successful in news media.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
I would be more successful.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
I wouldn't be sitting here at an Eagle Past, Texas.
You think I want to stay at a Marriotte town
plaza with no body lotion.

Speaker 8 (03:30):
That sounds like something the devil would site.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yes, Dan's fashion fatigue hurt and his outlook was very confrontational.
So I decided to talk to the chairwoman of the
county Republican Party for a more measured view.

Speaker 12 (03:43):
So we've had this invasion and it's really turned this
town upside down.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
You mean from Governor Abbott, from the thirteen out of
state Republican governor's news media such as myself.

Speaker 5 (03:58):
No, I'm talking about the illegal.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Wetbax and I'm sorry, was what did you call them?

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Wetbas wetbax man, I haven't heard that word in a
long time. Okay, Now that you'd gotten that out of
her system, I was ready for a more nuanced conversation.

Speaker 5 (04:12):
We just want them to come legally through the front door.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Calling them wet bax to me is not a we
welcome you here.

Speaker 5 (04:19):
I want them to come legally.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
That's what I want.

Speaker 7 (04:23):
So they aren't wet backs, so they don't have to
swim the river they wouldn't be Wetbax if they didn't.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Obviously, there's some disagreement about whether we should let people
from other countries seek refuge here and whether we should
refer to them with vintage racist slurs, But as militarizing
the border actually worked to keep anyone out. I asked
Magali or Beanup whose pecan farm borders the Rio Grande.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
I asked them to several times, please don't put the
wire up. We don't want it. It's a liability. Yeah,
and they just came in and they put it up.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Anyhow do you think the fencing and the buoys and
the razor wire do you feel.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Like that's working?

Speaker 5 (04:59):
No, No, not at all. The governor's just pushing them
out to New Mexico, Arizona, to California. But guess what,
they're still coming in.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
So if they haven't solved the migrant crisis, could there
be another purpose for the thousands of state guards, miles
of barbed wire, and throngs of sunburned politicians.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
And eagle pass I would have to say it has
to do with the fact that it's an election.

Speaker 7 (05:20):
Here, a narrative is being told that creates chaos.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Scarce people. It's what's going to win them the election.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Do you think this issue at the border has a
lot to do with Donald Trump's reelection?

Speaker 11 (05:31):
Yeah, you do.

Speaker 8 (05:33):
Trump is concerned about the welfare of the people made
this country. He's not worried about trying to look good
so that he can get a.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Leg Guy with a golden toilet and a spray tan
isn't worried about looking good.

Speaker 5 (05:52):
It's a political stunt.

Speaker 6 (05:54):
The Republican been there of course, who don't give a bam.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
I might have been Spanish, but I forgot ten days
as a new politician.

Speaker 6 (06:01):
Well, it's kind of a heavier word than idiots, not
as heavy, not as heavy as powers, but heavier than idiots.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
Stupid, somewhere between motherfucker and idiot.

Speaker 6 (06:14):
I would say so as.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
I'd come to understand. The border is a complex issue
that affects people's real lives. It's so much more than
a photohip. But before I left town, there was one
more thing for.

Speaker 11 (06:26):
Me to do. Every election leaves a third of the
country feeling like complete shit. But there's a large group
of people who have immunized themselves against political disappointment. Their
strategy is surprisingly effective.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
I am choosing not to vote during this election.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Oh, I'm not voting for anyone.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
I just don't want to play the politic game.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
I literally took the word political and I've blocked it
on all social media, so I don't even have yes,
I don't have them.

Speaker 11 (06:55):
On your apps.

Speaker 5 (06:56):
Yes, blocked the word political.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yes.

Speaker 11 (06:58):
And these non voters practice political abstinence for a range
of reasons.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Is there a reason you're not voting?

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Not really, So politicians like.

Speaker 9 (07:08):
I just became really disgusted with the whole political process.

Speaker 10 (07:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
We waste way too much time and money and energy
trying to get somebody in the White House when what
we should be doing is focusing on a community.

Speaker 5 (07:22):
Did you think about voting for your local election?

Speaker 7 (07:25):
Uh?

Speaker 5 (07:26):
Okay, I don't think either of them are good leaders.
One of them is definitely going to bring.

Speaker 4 (07:34):
Up more violence.

Speaker 11 (07:36):
So one candidate leading to more violence. It didn't get
you to vote?

Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, I know. I don't know why. I just don't know.

Speaker 11 (07:43):
I didn't. Most people resented choosing between two candidates they
didn't like, but this non voter had the opposite problem.

Speaker 6 (07:51):
I think either way, we have two great candidates, like
one is an accomplished attorney and then one is an
accomplished business person.

Speaker 5 (07:57):
But I feel like we need both skills.

Speaker 11 (07:59):
So we had an attorney business person, then you would
maybe vote for them.

Speaker 5 (08:03):
Yes, that makes sense. Have you voted in past selection?

Speaker 2 (08:06):
I have voted in pass Life.

Speaker 11 (08:07):
Okay, Gotchen, you're choosing not to vote in this selection
just because why?

Speaker 2 (08:11):
I have literally detoxed myself from a lot of toxicity,
which includes live television, news and that kind of thing recently.
When you think about the word toxicity, it's about digestion,
and digestion comes from what we eat and consume, which
also is what we see, what we hear.

Speaker 11 (08:26):
So I'm honestly genuinely inspired, and I too want to
learn how to get toxicity out.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
I mean, don't get this on here.

Speaker 11 (08:32):
I'm having diarrhea for like, so not voting could actually
cure my diarrhea.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
People have a lot of names for JD.

Speaker 4 (08:45):
Vans, weirdo, oddball, so if I'd freak seven days a week.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
But does he deserve this reputation thanks everything to.

Speaker 12 (08:54):
Some sportical stuff, some rules.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
Whatever makes sense. Nothing about the way he did that
makes any sense. And recently Vance's wife out at him
on National TV. For something even weirder.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
He has all sorts of dorky interests.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
I want him to.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Explain what the dorky habits he had.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
She said, he's going to kill me for saying this.
But it's Magic the Gathering, which was a card game.
It's similar to like Pokemon.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
That's right before JD. Vance was a powerful political shape shifter.
He played Magic the Gathering, a collectible cod game that's
been around since the nineties. So we magically gathered a
bunch of cod carrying dogs to see how they thought
Vance's allegiance would affect their community.

Speaker 13 (09:36):
So what is Magic the Gathering and how would you
explain it to someone who doesn't give a fuck about
any of this year.

Speaker 12 (09:44):
It's a turn based card game. You get resources called mana,
you get those by playing lands or other sources, and
then you generally like will play creatures, and then that's
what you used to attack your opponent, and you try
to cumulate evans over time.

Speaker 13 (09:56):
Right, and at what point do you grow up and
stop playing the shit?

Speaker 4 (10:00):
How do these supernerds feel about one of their own
trying to move out of his mom's basement and into
the White House.

Speaker 13 (10:06):
Are you worried that Jdvan's playing Magic will make you
guys seem weird.

Speaker 7 (10:12):
No, no, no, he's a magic player, so either step up.
In my book, you need a certain level of intelligence
to play magic, yep.

Speaker 12 (10:19):
Because you're making a whole bunch of tactical decisions based
on what's going on.

Speaker 13 (10:21):
Why, like being able to decide like I don't ever
want to have a woman touch me.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
I would rather play with some dudes in a smelly room.

Speaker 7 (10:30):
It doesn't always smell invest in here.

Speaker 4 (10:32):
That's also I mean that his favorite strategy was something sinister.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
I think I still don't understand this game.

Speaker 13 (10:39):
Jdvan said that when he played Magic the Gathering, his
favorite deck was yog Mouff's Boggain.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
What does this mean?

Speaker 12 (10:49):
It's a commo deck where you get to trade your
life away for power.

Speaker 7 (10:52):
He's doing what he needs to win, and if he's
been a dirty Yagma player, so is Yagma's disqualifying the
way like a fellow shouldn't be president.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
I probably wouldn't trust someone if they're willing to sacrifice
so much just to get ahead.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Like how JD.

Speaker 13 (11:10):
Vans spend years talking about Trump and then totally flit
and it's now running with him.

Speaker 12 (11:14):
Yeah, people who played it one pretty much too much
for it to be fun anymore. You could draw twenty
cards if you want, which gives you a ton of advantage.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
You can't be touched for a whole turn. I wouldn't
worry about that.

Speaker 13 (11:24):
Pretty sure that effect is in play independent of cards.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
But was Vance's nerd credit enough to work a little
magic in the voting book?

Speaker 3 (11:32):
Who here is voting for Trump? Vance?

Speaker 13 (11:35):
Who here is voting for Harris Waltz? Oh, and undecided voters?

Speaker 3 (11:47):
What are you gonna do? A get a voting move
and roll a twenty sided die?

Speaker 6 (11:51):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Bens baby?

Speaker 13 (11:53):
What's harder to explain to your family being an undecided
voter or being an adult man who plays magic together?

Speaker 3 (12:01):
Big undecided voter?

Speaker 7 (12:03):
Actually, my parents are Haitian like born and raised, so
they're like, what do you mean?

Speaker 3 (12:08):
We don't eat cats?

Speaker 13 (12:09):
But like, did you tell parents that Jdvans also played
magic the Gathering?

Speaker 10 (12:13):
No?

Speaker 7 (12:14):
But I don't think that's gonna assuay them.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
Will have these wizards and warlocks really undecided? I needed
to explain politics in a way they could understand using
a custom election twenty twenty four magic deck. I gave
these the wheto munchers some truth to snack on.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
I summon JD.

Speaker 13 (12:33):
Vans to boy and wonder when JD Van's boy wander
and just the battlefield, all Haitian creatures are returned to
their owner's lands.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
That's free from So you thinking a little more decided now?
I think so one down, three to go.

Speaker 4 (12:51):
However, these players were teaching me a valuable lesson that
were all losers, but especially them.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Want a creature like that gets exiled, you could choose,
if it's your commander, to put it back in the
command zone or leave it there.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
How do I lose? Quickly? Choose wrong?

Speaker 7 (13:06):
Yeah, yeah, I choose wrong.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Tack a number one, two, three, or four? Okay? Alright, ready,
well I went to three. I picked three. I'll pick two,
all right, So RFK Junior and Elon must die. Great,
I will pass the term play swamp. I'll go find
an island. Can you go?

Speaker 7 (13:23):
You're not even having a little bit of fun.

Speaker 3 (13:25):
I am having absolutely no fun.

Speaker 4 (13:27):
Time to do it all favor and January sixth, The
shit

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Game over Nerds
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Super Bowl LIX Podcasts

Super Bowl LIX Podcasts

Don't miss out on the NFL Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts' exclusive week of episodes recorded in New Orleans!

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

Today’s Latest News In 4 Minutes. Updated Hourly.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.