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December 27, 2024 22 mins

Jon Stewart shares stories of high-security interviews with the former Pakistani President, book recommendations, advice to young people, messages of hope, and whether TV is dying.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everyone, Daisy light it here. The Daily Show is
on break for the holidays, but in the meantime we
put together some special highlights for you. We'll be back
in the new year on January seventh with all new episodes.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
What do you think about young people getting all of
their information and entertainment from social media? I see no
problem with it. Why would you? It seems great? Is
that true? I mean, I don't know, because obviously TV

(00:37):
is dying. Don't what? No, don't sir? Well, let me
ask you a question in your mind, seeing as I
work in television, will I die first? Because if that's
the case, I don't mind. But but don't don't You
still watch TV? But you just watch it on your

(01:00):
on TikTok on your phone, right, But you understand that
that's still TV. It's just you're watching it in a
different uh delivery service. It's like heroin is heroin, whether
you snort it or shoot it, it's it's still an
opiate for the masses, as is television. You're just getting

(01:21):
it in smaller bites, but it's it's still It's like
it's still TV. We make it unless you have to
look on your face like this poor boy. If he
only knew the business he was in. Well, I hope
we don't die quickly, but and stay, and you're here
and we're making TV for you tonight. Welcome to the

(01:47):
Daily Show. I'm your host, John Stewart, captain of this
dying medium. Would you even say that to me? Gentlemen,
tell me tonight? He said, Oh, I'm so happy to
be here. You know your television is dying. I said,
I am aware, and in fact I'm contributing to it.

(02:08):
You're welcome. All of the.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Interviews that you've had in these many years, there's the
one that stands out.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
As the most profound. Oh, most profound interview. Well, so,
I've interviewed people like literal dictators, like people that have
killed people like Preve. I don't know if you remember
Proves musharaff was the leader of Pakistan and this was
a post nine to eleven so and al Qaeda had
been threatening him with an assassination. Now, I've had great

(02:39):
like Malala Yousaus and Bishop Desmond too, to Jimmy Carter,
like people of pure goodness like you just they they
vibrate on a different plane of kindness and goodness than
most people and you can feel it on them. Uh,
and then you have dictators slightly different vibe. So Pervez

(03:01):
Musharp it was only memorable because so he was at
the time the president of Pakistan and he was under
assassination threat. He'd just written a book and it was
his autobiography, I think, and so he came here to
the show to promote it. And that day we had

(03:21):
snipers on the roof, we had a K forty seven's
in the hallway, guys marching, we had bomb dogs, we
had I mean, it was a level of security that
I had never seen before, and I realized, like, this
man is risking his life to tell his story on

(03:44):
this show. I should have read the book.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
That's what I remember thinking is I thought, oh shit,
I feel terrible. Now here's this guy's He could die and.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
I'm just going to be like, so is Pakistan hot?
Like I didn't know shit. But so the crazy part
was even with all that security layer right in the
studio they put a kevlar front on the desk, like
this was no bullshit. This was Many of you are younger,

(04:23):
so you don't remember after nine to eleven, like we
all lost our minds. Safety wise. So they put a
kevlar front on the Daily show desk and I'm in
there and I'm looking at it, and I say, because
there are secret service agents from both countries, America and
Pakistan in the room. And I go, what's so? Tell
me about this, what's going on? And they said, well,

(04:44):
if somebody manages to get through any kind of security
issues and try to assassinate President Musharaf, we will jump
and push him down below the kevlar to protect him
from the bullets. And I said, you know, funny thing is,
I'm also, uh, you know, because you know, I understand

(05:10):
he'll be there and then I'll be sitting there. What
should I do without missing to be in New York City?
Cop talk behind, he goes, should fucking duck.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
Watching TV?

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Oh dear god, Now you're these are one of those
that are always rough. Because I was, like I was
six years old. You would come on my paw and
I I'm.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Just curious, you know, knowing what you know now, you
know if you went back to you know, the early nineties, Yeah,
anything you would have advised us or done differently, like
different guests, like somebody.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
That didn't cab or on the MTV program. You watched
that show because here was like I think the guest,
the first guest on the MTV show, the premiere episode.
Now this is so I should explain to younger people
in the artists. MTV was a cultural course in like

(06:23):
the seventies and no in the eighties. I guess it
started right with video killed the radio so or the Buggles,
and then from there it was really cool. And then
I don't know what they happened to it, but my
first guest was Howard Stern was the first guest, and
he came on and he said, you suck. The set
looks ridiculous. You'll be canceled in six weeks. And I

(06:44):
just sat there like, don't say that. But you know,
it was such a different kind of show. I think
the two guests on that first show were It was
Howard Stern, a boy that ate cheese into the shape
of states, who was referred to in all the production

(07:10):
documents as cheese Boy. The crazy part is cheese Boy
is probably like fifty Now cheese Boy is an ophthalmologist.
But we had so much fun. But it was such
a different ethos, and then we went to I was

(07:30):
hired to replace our Sineo, which makes total sense, and
so you can imagine how that went, and then that
got canceled. I remember the last two weeks of that
show were just chaos, like it's good that they took
us off there because someone was gonna die. Like Marilyn
Manson was on the show. He lit a fire during

(07:52):
his performance, an actor smashed a mug and cut his
hand wide open. And the final one was there was
an act called The Birdman of Vegas, and the Birdman
of Vegas had a condor act. I don't know if
you've ever been around condors, they're gigantic. These they were
probably like, there's my size, Not that I'm gigantic, but

(08:16):
in the bird world, i'd be badass, Like like if
I walk up on a pigeon, the pigeon'll be like,
I don't wantny problems. But the bird, there's like six
weeks so he's doing the bit, and the bit is
his assistant is there and the condor will fly from
his arm to the other and it's a giant bird

(08:37):
with a wingspan of twelve feet and it flies over.
But the bird apparently wasn't going to do that that day. Instead,
what it did, is it flew into the audience, and
so a giant condor just started pecking the shit like

(08:59):
and then the audio and starts chanting.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Sue them, sue them, and like and I'm just like
I and we're really canceled. We were already canceled. I
was just like, I will let the birds kill everyone.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
I don't give it. But that was that was the
experience there. So if you say, like, would you have
done anything differently, I'd be like, I guess I would
have made sure the condors were leashed. How happy am
I to be back tonight? You know, I don't know

(09:37):
if any of you have ever had to slog it
out one day a week like this. It is, you know,
I don't know what you guys do. And I listen,
this is not the disrespect your work ethic or any
of the things that you are. But you know, it
was around three o'clock today, three o'clock in the afternoon,

(09:57):
and I remember turning and looking at somebody and saying,
I just don't know how much longer I can do this,
you know, because it was almost four. I mean, I thought, no,
it's been I have to say it's it's been lovely.
You know, I have been in hibernation for a few

(10:18):
years with my family and I would never give that
back like it was. It's been wonderful, and COVID played
very much into my social leanings in terms of reclusiveness.
So once a week is about right for me with
people and for people with me. The best piece of advice, Wow,

(10:45):
that is such an end of life question. That really
is that nobody ever comes to, like a twenty two
year old like best advice, and they're like, well, beer
on liquor, never been sicker, all right, the best advice.
I'm trying to think of good advice. I don't really

(11:07):
I don't seek counsel in that way. Do you like
a mentor? I didn't have a mentor. This was back
in like late seventies, early eighties, so there were no mentors.
I was raised feral, So I don't have a ton
of a ton of advice. Oh here's one, this is
a good one. So I used to host a show
on MTV. It was a talk show, and then it

(11:28):
got bought by Paramount to replace our Sineo. So I
was the natural replacement for our Sineo. Because I think
a lot of people are like, Hey, the hip African
American guy, let's stick a maybe small jew in his
place and see what happens. And so the show was
on for like nine months and it got canceled and

(11:51):
we were all very sad. And when your name is
on it and they tell you to get out of
the building, like, it's very hurtful. David Letterman came on
the final show, and on the final show he said
to me, don't confuse cancelation with failure. And I thought
that was really interesting. And then in the commercial break
he said, although this is also a failure. He just

(12:16):
he just didn't want me to confuse it. The sale
world where young people right now, No, you're good, you
got so many we're gonna we're gonna ruin this so much.
You have no idea what we've got plan. You are

(12:39):
walking into thunderdome. Uh no, you're gonna Honestly, like we
do this all the time every generation, like even the
greatest generation, Like I mean they dropped atomic bombs on people,
Like don't don't let the perspective. We always think that
the world is at its worst in the moment that
we're in it. But like you have to remain optimistic

(13:02):
because the images that they present to us are to
heighten your fear. That's how they make their Oh you're
gonna love the show tonight. I found I'm gonna love
the show. But so what do you what are you thinking?
I think a lot of young people are a little
bit not happy with the choice of tens another.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
I guess I feel like, as we our voice.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Does it's matter? Oh? It so matters. Yeah, in fact,
your voice is Can I tell you something about advertisers.
Do you know that advertisers they look at different demographics,
but the largest demographic that they look at is eighteen
to twenty four. That's the one that means everything to them.

(13:49):
Use that power, the power of the person. I'm sixty one,
I'm not even listed anymore. Like they're literally companies would
be like, what about people over fifty five? And they're like,
I think they might be dead? Like, don't discount the
power that you guys have. You have a tremendous amount,

(14:10):
I would think on Instagram, I would tell them on Instagram, well,
I don't know, this is the fight man. No generation
ever feels empowered or seen or any of those things.
But what I would suggest is trust your discomfort because
you clearly feel it. But discomfort is a wonderful motivator.

(14:33):
It's sort of the difference between stress and anxiety. Like
action is the antidote to anxiety, and if you feel anxiety,
it will lessen as you take action, small actions like
a little bit every day. You know, I have young
people that live in my house and I usually see
them after three when they've woken up, and generally they

(14:59):
just want me to make them a bagel. So it's different.
But honestly, like that, discomfort will spur you on, I'm
sure of it and your generation, and then you'll be
in a position to save us. But you won't want
to college campuses. You had a question about college campuses. Okay,

(15:23):
so the cafeteria. If you want to go by the quad,
you're gonna look for the quad. Usually the food is
near the quad.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
I just wanted to.

Speaker 4 (15:34):
Navigation glad special election in college campuses and Indian conversations.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Listen, the beautiful thing about college is that it's built
for that. It's built for you to push the limits
of who you think you are and who you think
you want to be. And it's a wonderful experience. Uh.
The thing that I would say to you is have
the courage in the internal barometer that you've developed over

(16:03):
the years for yourself about right and wrong, and don't
necessarily just allow the conditions that you find yourself in
to shape that you. You're here for a reason and
you're that way for a reason, and be strong in
that and learn be open to people, but be convicted.
It's you know, it's a good I think it's a

(16:24):
wonderful experience for kids, and I don't worry. But you know,
gen Z, there's so shut down. You know. It's every
generation is like that generation sucks. We were awesome, And
I'm like, eh, I know my generation, like we were
doing whippets in eleventh grade, like.

Speaker 4 (16:46):
You think everyone should have on their shelf.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Wow, that's a great question. And I really thought you
were going to end it with what's a book? Because
you get that a lot from the kids. Now, sir,
I have a question, what's a book? And I was
gonna it's like a movie you flip, I would say,
So this may sound antiquated, was I feel like I

(17:12):
was raised on Kurt Vonnegut and so any Kurt Vonnegut.
I had the whole from player Piano, to Breakfast Champions,
to Slaughterhouse Five, to you know, Mother and all of them.
And he was my favorite author by far, and I
felt like he educated me in in the genre of

(17:38):
optimistic cynical humanism, like the thing that you're talking about,
how do you maintain? So he's a guy who was
an author, who came of age. He fought in World
War Two, he saw Dresden. That's what Slaughterhouse five was about.
It was about his experiences seeing the worst that people
could do. And people always mistook his cynicism as or

(17:58):
his I guess I should say his dryness as cynicism,
but it was really idealism. He believed so much in
people that he couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed that
we were blowing it in the way that we were
blowing it. But I would say, line your your desk
with Kurt Bonnegut and and you cannot go wrong. And
I was lucky enough to get to interview him when

(18:21):
he was you know, hadn't passed away yet, no, but
he came on and when he passed away, his son
sent me. He was also a really wonderful caricaturist, sent
me a doodle of his that he had inscribed to

(18:41):
me before he passed. So it's one of my most
cherished But I would say, Kurt Bonnagut, you can't go wrong,
and like Playboy, you're wondering, you.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Know, how do you maintain a sense of hope in
levity when times.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
That's right? Mother? How do you see laughing? Right? How
old are you? I'm nineteen, nineteen years old, and the
world's already beat the shit out of here, and that
it's always the young dudes that are like, I have
a quick question, I'm nineteen years old when hope is gone,

(19:33):
when the darkness slowly creeps down. Uh, I'm sixty one,
so I'm already an injury time like so I'm I'm
I'm good. I'm actually weirdly always optimistic. We go. I
think maybe that is the horizon of history. I came

(19:56):
up at a time in the sixties where we had
all these great leaders and we killed all of them,
every single one, and then we went to Vietnam and
law and then Watergate, like shit was just unraveling. So
I do think it gives you a sense of oh,
it's always a mess, like and and what that makes

(20:19):
you realize is Oh so it's just it's just that's
the game. We buckled down, you gotta lunch pail it,
and you carried through like you're nineteen, Like you'll someday
when you're sixty one and people be saying like, how
do you maintain optimism and be like, you have no
fucking idea what it was like when I was kid,
Like you will be that guy to be able to say, like,
you think it bad now and obviously, look it is.

(20:45):
These are tenuous times and maybe even we'll talk a
little bit about that on the program. And I'm a
terrible times the good thing, no, but because part of
the issue is like you just want someone to talk
to you like you're a human, like you're an adult,
not like they're like it's a work, not like it's

(21:07):
they're they're spinning you or any of those. That's my
biggest complaint with all of this. Nobody expects perfection. Everybody
knows that the obstacles and and all the things that
are going to be thrown in front of us are
going to be arduous. That's life, Like, it's life is hard,
you know, but you just want someone to not bullshit
you when what you know you see and hear is

(21:28):
what you've seen? Like, that's all that that you can
really do? But how do you maintain So you're nineteen?
So are your friends optimistic or pessimistic? Or do they
not talk about it? Or are they just on discord
being racist? What is going on? God?

Speaker 3 (21:45):
I mean, I think a lot of people are pessimistic.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
I mean, how do I maintain optimism?

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yes? I try to laugh.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
I watched the.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Daily Show you so here's the only thing I would say.
I'm glad you do that, But really we write it
for eight year olds. Nineteen is a little above our
pay grade, But is it? I do? I do remember nineteen?
Like that age, there is a certain existential anxiety that
creeps in because the world does listen. It feels out

(22:16):
of control. You probably know more about it now than
we did when I think. One of the things that's
probably harder for kids now is you are the amount
of information that you absorb is probably But I would
imagine hopefully your brains will evolve to you know, because
when I was a kid, like TV happened and everybody's
like that will run. Don't sit in front of the
TV and eat and just watch TV and now, you'd

(22:39):
be so happy if your children would do that. Right,
you just be like, don't send pictures of your dick
to people like
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