The Daily Show: Ears Edition

People walking all over Brooklyn holding this book. It's talking about the great rewiring. Talk to me, what is the great rewiring?

So, um, something happened to young people born after 1995. Uh, all of a sudden in the early 2010s, their mental health collapsed, rates of anxiety and depression skyrocketed, self-harm is up like 150% for younger teen girls, suicide is up 50%. Something happened in the early 2010s.

And so that's what the book is about. Something changed between 2010 and 2015, and I'm trying to explain what it is.

It's interesting how you're talking a lot about not only these phones come in and they change the way kids think and the way society thinks, but you talk about raising a child an anti-fragile child. And you make some bold claims in this book. One of which is right here. You claim that this merry-go-round playground spinner is the greatest piece of playground equipment ever invented. Defend yourself. How is it...

The Anxious Generation is available now.

I see people walking all over Brooklyn holding this book. It's talking about the great rewiring. Talk to me. What is the great rewiring?

The book is about something changed between 2010 and 2015 and I'm trying to explain what it is.

You claim that this merry-go-round playground spinner is the greatest piece of playground equipment ever invented. Defend yourself.

It's just a metaphor. If you're up, you're down. You know, it's just what life is all about.

I propose in the book for there's a lot of suggestions but four norms that will break these collective action traps. First, no smartphone before high school. Just clear this out of the lives of elementary and middle school kids. Send them out, give them a flip phone, a dumb phone, a phone watch. You can say you can text them, but don't give them the entire internet, including strangers all over the world who are trying to get at them sexually. Like this is just craziness, so no smartphone till high school. The second is no social media till 16. You know the things that are sent around on social media, the things they're exposed to. Like I just recently learned about the video a cat in a blender which was popular a while ago. I don't know exactly. It is exactly what it sounds like. So you know, and this is just this is just part of childhood is hardcore porn, animal cruelty, beheading videos, so you know, let's just at least wait till they're 16 before they see that stuff. The third norm is phone-free schools. This is the most powerful one that we can do instantly. So if you're watching this and you have kids that go to a school that lets the kids keep the phone in the pocket, send well buy a copy of my book for the principal. Note to go, you know, I have videos. Send them a video of my talks on phone-free schools. Every school needs to go phone-free by September. The phones are, they don't just make the kids anxious and lonely, they make them less intelligent. Test scores have been dropping around the world since 2012. Once the kids bring a phone in school, they're doing this, they're not listening to the teacher. So get rid of phones in schools. And then the fourth norm is far more independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world. We have to, so it's not this is not just about let's take away, take away. It's let's give them a real childhood, the kind of childhood that's older people kind that we look back on. So if we, so if we love our children, the best thing we can give them is a real human childhood. And if we do it together, we can get this done in the next year or two.

I don't know if you guys have read The Anxious Generation. It's an incredible book. You should read it.

I don't know if you guys have read The Anxious Generation. It's an incredible book. You should read it.

I'd focused on the effects of social media on teen mental health. And so one thing I've discovered is that I grossly understated the damage that's being done.

the damage from this phone-based childhood is far beyond what I said in The Anxious Generation.

If any of you know the graphic novel Persepolis, which she wrote about her childhood, she basically said this, look, the people of Iran want a democracy. The minute you take off the veil, you know, their dictatorship will go.

So the regime is not going to allow that. But she said, she put it this way, it's only to keep men's eyes off women.

So if they're so horny, she said, and they're so unable to control themselves, well, maybe they should take a cold shower or look somewhere else.

if any of you know the graphic novel Persepolis, which she wrote about her childhood. She basically said this, look, the people of Iran want a democracy. The minute you take off the veil, you know, their dictatorship will go.

If any of you know the graphic novel Persepolis, which she wrote about her childhood, she basically said this, look, the people of Iran want a democracy. The minute you take off the veil, you know, their dictatorship will go. So the regime is not going to allow that.

It's only to keep men's eyes off women. So if they're so horny, she said, and they're so unable to control themselves, well, maybe they should take a cold shower or look somewhere else. And that's the bottom line.

If any of you know the graphic novel Persepolis, which she wrote about her childhood, she basically said this, look, the people of Iran want a democracy. The minute you take off the veil, their dictatorship will go. So the regime is not going to allow that.

She basically said this look the people of Iran want a democracy the minute you take off the veil you know their dictatorship will go so the regime is not going to allow that.

This came about because I wanted to figure out what is in the Constitution, what does it actually say?

I'm gonna try to figure out what that was by getting in the mindset of our founding father.

The preamble, 52 of the greatest words ever written about the general welfare and blessings of liberty. But then there are, it is a flawed document. There are actual misspellings in the Constitution.

I wrote this book, a lot of it with a quill pen.

I had my musket, I carried it around New York. I wrote with a quill pen. Look.

I wanted to figure out what is in the Constitution? What does it actually say?

I thought it was a timely question because as you know, our current Supreme Court thinks we should follow the original meaning from 1789.

The preamble, 52 of the greatest words ever written about the general welfare and blessings of liberty.

It is a flawed document. There are actual misspellings in the Constitution.

The word Pennsylvania is spelled two different ways, P-E-N-N and P-E-N.

The Year of Living Constitutionally, one man's humble quest to follow the Constitution's original meaning. He's welcome to the program, AJ Jacobs.

Well, first of all, thank you and good morrow, of course. Is that a constitutional greeting?

And this came about because I wanted to figure out what is in the Constitution? What does it actually say?

And I thought it was a timely question because as you know, our current Supreme Court thinks we should follow the original meaning from 1789.

I recommend it. What a terrible thing.

The Year of Living Constitutionally is available now. Adrian Jacobs, we'll be right back.

The latest book is called The Year of Living Constitutionally. One man's humble quest to follow the constitution's original meaning.

And this came about because I wanted to figure out what is in the constitution. What does it actually say? And I thought it was a timely question because as you know, our current Supreme Court thinks we should follow the original meaning from 1789.

I wrote this book, a lot of it with a quill pen.

Yeah, because I was trying to live the Constitution.

Thank you very much for The Year of Living Constitutionally is available now.

One Tennessee district banning Maus, a Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust

One Tennessee district banning mouse, a Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust.

And by the time the discussion was all over, the panel was down to four.

The Holocaust isn't about race. It's not about race because it's about man's inhumanity to man.

it shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids. Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff? It's not wise or healthy.

it's leaving me with my jaw open. Like what? I also understand that Tennessee is obviously demented. There's something going on very, very haywire there.

Disinformation is the deliberate use of lies to manipulate people and advance an agenda.

Misinformation is kind of its unwitting cousin. We hear something we think it's true, but it's a lie, and we amplify the claim exponentially.

These are deliberate efforts to stoke division in society.

One of them is this idea of declinism, society is going downhill, everything's awful, cities in ruins, American carnage.

And in fact, if you look at the data, crime rates are down, the economy is up, all of the indicators are actually on the upswing.

disinformation is the deliberate use of lies to manipulate people and advance an agenda.

Society is going downhill. Everything's awful. Cities in ruins, American carnage.

if we can talk about the society as being down, then it allows us to say, well, these extreme times call for extreme measures.

We care about being loyal to the team. ...loyalty to the team becomes more important than truth.

we're the party that's going to make you safe because we're preying on your fear.

Disinformation is the deliberate use of lies to manipulate people and advance an agenda.

Misinformation is kind of its unwitting cousin. We hear something. We think it's true, but it's a lie and we amplify the claim exponentially.

One of them is this idea of declinism. Society is going downhill. Everything's awful. Cities in ruins. American carnage.

These are some of the same tactics that Hitler talked about in Mein Kampf and used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

One thing that really resonated to me is tribe over truth.

Michelle Obama won one, I think about two years ago, and that was for her memoir Becoming

people are banning Michelle Obama's books in Texas right now.

One parent even asked the district to remove a biography of Michelle Obama, arguing the book promotes reverse racism

I can't believe these people want to ban a Michelle Obama biography

It's hard to say this crisply Jordan, but it's both the most serious and least serious case of my career.

It's not something that is rooted in constitutional history. It's not something that's rooted in tradition it's something that was almost entirely plucked from a chunk of a Rehnquist opinion in Bush v. Gore that only got three votes.

It's hard to say this crisply, Jordan, but it's both the most serious and least serious case of my career.

It's something that was almost entirely plucked from a chunk of a Rehnquist opinion in Bush v. Gore that only got three votes.

So this is like a Rehnquist fever dream that we're in the midst of right now.

If a red state, and let's remember 30 of the 50 states have red state legislatures. If they decide they want to make up new rules about ballot initiatives, they want to do new vote suppression, they want to close polling place, whatever they want to do. They are saying nobody can take this to a state Supreme Court, not even a federal court, a state Supreme Court and complain because basically nobody is the boss of me.

I don't think it's crazy. And I think in fact, one of the things this doctrine is setting up is the stepping stone toward that, right?

One of the stories that I tell in this book We've Got to Try is about a black doctor in El Paso, Lawrence Nixon, who never missed an election until the Democratic controlled legislature in 1923 outlaws voting by black Texans.

And he says, I know you can't but I've got to try.

For the next 20 years, he fights this battle, a very lonely one, takes it to the Supreme Court, wins two signal victories there.

And by 1944 he's helped to integrate elections once again in Texas and has laid the path for LBJ to work on and ultimately sign the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965.

So if that guy could do it against those odds, then who are we now in Texas who have inherited his sacrifice and his service and his struggle?

We've Got to Try how the fight for voting rights makes everything possible.

It's really about where Texas is and what Texans are willing to do about it.

one of the stories that I tell in this book We've Got to Try is about a black doctor in El Paso Lawrence Nixon who never missed an election until the Democratic controlled legislature in 1923 outlaws voting by black Texans

You've run before. You came super close. You didn't take it. What do you think will be different this time and why?

It's really about where Texas is and what Texans are willing to do about it.

One of the stories that I tell in this book We've Got to Try is about a black doctor in El Paso, Lawrence Nixon, who never missed an election until the Democratic-controlled legislature in 1923 outlaws voting by black Texans.

And he says, I know you can't, but I've got to try. For the next 20 years he fights this battle, a very lonely one, takes it to the Supreme Court, wins two signal victories there. And by 1944 he's helped to integrate elections once again in Texas and has laid the path for LBJ to work on and ultimately sign the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965.

It's not dark, but it's thrilling. I mean, it's, it's a, it's a really different side to the music industry than I think what a lot of people would have expected.

Yes, it's fiction, but at the same time, it touches on some of the themes that people have encountered in music.

And the character in the book also, I mean, we were both kind of million to one shots. And the character in the book is a million to one shot.

She was running to something. She loved the music, but she was running from something.

I knew that I could write great songs like all the bad people in town, like Snakes in the Grass, about the bad managers and things, the guys that we because I've experienced a lot of that myself.

Like I said, I knew all about the business and I've never written a novel before. I've written books, written children's books, so I know what it's like to kind of write. But I had often thought I'd like to write a novel when I was older.

And the character in the book also, I mean, we were both kind of million to one shots and the character in the book is a million to one shot. She's very talented, Annie Lee Keys. But that doesn't mean you're going to make it.

But also her story, everybody has a story when they come to town. Everybody's got a pastor childhood and how they grew up. And everybody's story is different. Everybody's life is a soap opera. And so it's really about her, her story. She was running to something. She loved the music, but she was running from something.

So I knew that I could write great songs like all the bad people in town, like snakes in the grass about the bad managers and things, the guys that we because I've experienced a lot of that myself.

But I really think people are enjoying this book or going to enjoy it, because I think like you said earlier, they love to see the inside and the stories of these people. You know, some of the stories behind the scenes, what Nashville is kind of like kind of gives them an insight into the business in them, not just the entertainment entertainment side.

It's not dark but it's thrilling. I mean it's a really different side to the music industry than I think what a lot of people would have expected.

I knew all about the business and I've never written a novel before. I've written books, written children's books and so I know what it's like to kind of write. But I had often thought I'd like to write a novel when I was older and so when James presented me with this I thought, yes, why would James Fersen even be searching me out? And I thought, why? He don't need me, look at what all he's done.

She's very talented, Annie Leakey's. But that doesn't mean you're gonna make it. But also her story, everybody has a story when they come to town. Everybody's got a pastor childhood and how they grew up. And everybody's story is different. Everybody's life is a soap opera.

She was running to something, she loved the music and she was running from something.

It was kind of like a TV show where every week we would have another episode or another two or three chapters to mess around with. And I really enjoyed it because it just seemed to work so well together.

My guest tonight is the former head of the secretive Pentagon unit that studied UFOs. He's written the best-selling book, Imminent, Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs.

So in the book, you say that, and by the way, I mean, I read the book and it's, it's a very, it's a page turner. Um, it like, um, in it, you say like the best case scenario right now is that aliens are national security threat.

It's a page turner. It's very well written. It's easy to follow.

He's written the best-selling book Imminent Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs.

it's a page turner it's it's very well written it's easy to follow

in it you say like the best case scenario right now is that aliens are national security threat

Imminent is available Imminent is available now

Will's a politics reporter for the Daily Beast he's got a book coming out in February called Trust the Plan The rise of QAnon and the conspiracy that unhinged America

Will's a politics reporter for the Daily Beast he's got a book coming out in February called Trust the Plan The rise of QAnon and the conspiracy that unhinged America

Will's a politics reporter for The Daily Beast. He's got a book coming out in February called Trust the Plan, The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy that Unhinged America.

And that's what I'm currently writing a book about.

It's called Is This America?

And it is about race, but it is also about what I think of at this moment as the last best chance for us to really create

And that's what I'm currently writing a book about.

It's called Is This America?

And that's what I'm currently writing a book about. It's called Is This America? And it is about race, but it is also about what I think of at this moment as the last best chance for us to really create a healthy democracy in this country.

I wrote this book because I wanted, personally, I was sick and tired of my twins having to see purple people or blue people on TV. I wanted them to be able to see people that look like them

And I think when young black and brown kids read it, they'll get a sense of pride. When white kids read it, they'll get a sense of empathy.

And then I started reading through it and then I was like, wow, it's a kid's book. But I mean, there's parts of the book where, you know, black people are sitting at like the lunch counter and they're just getting shouted at and there's signs that say no knee grows, et cetera. And I was like, wow, this is one hell of a children's book.

Well that image that you're talking about is one of my two favorite images. It's actually a real image from February 1st, 1960 at the Woolworth's lunch counter where students from North Carolina and the State University kicked off the sit-in movement. And I wanted to have that history and those lessons in the book.

It's absolutely not critical race theory, but it's getting caught up in all of this other anti-intellectual BS is the best way that I can phrase it because what's wrong with kids learning about who they are? What's wrong with kids learning about where other kids came from and being proud of that?

Now this is my second book. It's my second opportunity to be on the New York Times best sellers list.

I wanted them to be able to see people that look like them, like the movie in Kanto for example. And in this book they're able to see them and their people and have a sense of pride.

And I started reading through it and then I was like, wow, it's a kid's book, but I mean there's parts of the book where, you know, black people are sitting at like the lunch counter and they're just getting shouted at in the signs that say no Negroes, etc. And I was like, wow, this is one hell of a children's book.

It's actually a real image from February 1st, 1960 at the World War's Lunch Counter where students from North Carolina Antestate University kicked off the sit-in movement. And I wanted to have that history and those lessons in the book.

What's wrong with kids learning about who they are? What's wrong with kids learning about where other kids came from and being proud of that?

I wrote this book because I wanted, personally, I was sick and tired of my twins having to see purple people or blue people on TV.

And in this book, they're able to see them and their people and have a sense of pride. And I think when young black and brown kids read it, they'll get a sense of pride. When white kids read it, they'll get a sense of empathy.

It's actually a real image from February 1st, 1960 at the Woolworth's lunch counter where students from North Carolina A&T state universities kicked off the sit-in movement.

But yeah, I mean, people are, they're banning Michelle Obama's books in Texas right now. I mean, you know, people are talking about this book, a picture book being critical race theory.

It's absolutely not critical race theory, but is getting caught up in all of this, this utter anti-intellectual BS is the best way that I can phrase it because what's wrong with kids learning about who they are?

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has Indian problems of its own JD Vance has been getting attacked by white supremacists because his wife is Indian and if you're thinking wow If someone insulted my wife I go ape shit on them. Then you are not JD Vance

Look I love my wife so much. I love her because she's who she is Obviously, she's not a white person and we've been acute attacked by some white supremacists over that but I just I love you

Sure, she's such a good mom. Yeah. Wow way to casually defend your wife against white supremacist JD I mean, I'm not a romance expert, but I don't think everyone wants to hear she's not white, but I love her

That's not a message you're gonna see on those Valentine's Day candies I mean Look, I mean, I hope those won his wedding vows like look you're obviously not white, but I do Enough about Indians

This guy would be so good against Vance at the VP debates he'd be like, oh you wrote a memoir about your hillbilly family That's cool. I jacked off in space Checkmate Plus he's got an identical twin brother who's also an astronaut like how cool is that?

He's a Yale graduate, a venture capitalist, and he became famous for writing the book turned horrible movie Hillbilly Elegy, right?

where he explained that white people become racist because they're poor

it's like part memoir, but really it's I feel like this is a how-to guide for anybody who wants to just work and grind through life.

It's about my career as a comedy. It's about show biz. It's about hanging in there. It's about a lot of dead ends

I wrote the book for a number of reasons. One, you know pop culture moves so fast these days and a lot of the things I did are smaller cultish things. I'm still very proud of them.

When you read this book I mean the title says little comedy comedy comedy drama yeah I don't know your story a lot of people don't know your story they just see a person on TV they go like this person's amazing

it feels like throughout your life like Saul Goodman you've been just trying to get that grip on on this world in this career are you happy with where your life has gotten to is this like a celebration of that now?

It's about show biz. It's about hanging in there. It's about a lot of dead ends, which I only included about, I'm gonna say a third of the dead ends because it's very hard to write about shows and things that no one's ever gonna see or can see.

I wrote the book for a number of reasons. One, you know pop culture moves so fast these days. And a lot of the things I did are smaller cultish things. I'm still very proud of them. Mr. Show, I was part of Get A Life, helping with Tenacious D and Tim and Eric.

But these things are all gonna get covered over by lots of more gloppy comedy and stuff.

Very much so, yeah. And by the way, I mean, look, I've had unbelievable success in the last few years with Better Call Saul and this film, action film Nobody, played really well around the world. And of course that informs it, but I'm very happy with where I'm at.

I'm very happy with all the variety of things that I did and have gotten to do.

I guess tonight's NYU professor, entrepreneur and bestselling author whose book is called The Algebra of Wealth, a simple formula for financial security. Please welcome Scott Galloway.

So it's retrospective on all the mistakes. I mean, what is the how? What is the what is the actual formula? How do you make money? Yes, I wanted to insert me into the story.

The Algebra of Wealth, a simple formula for financial security. Please welcome Scott Galloway.

The Algebra of Wealth. What is The Algebra of Wealth? So, it's a retrospective on all the mistakes I made. No, no, I mean what is the, how, what is the, how do you make money? What is the actual formula?

The first is focus. Try and find your talent, not your passion. Anyone who tells you to pursue your passion is already rich.

Control the things you can control. You can control your spending.

If you just save three to six percent of your salary, you're going to end up wealthy by the time you're my age.

Spend less than you make, develop a savings muscle and then really lean into your strengths and try and become great at something and pick a non vanity industry that has greater than the 90 plus percent employment rate.

Suicides are choice. You choose to do to make these decisions that you're making and I think that one of the things that people don't appreciate is that if you you can choose not to do them as well and that a lot of the things that are plaguing this country are within our own power to fix.

There's nothing wrong with a little populism, right? There's nothing wrong with little nationalism. It's like a pinch of salt brings out the flavor in the meal. Too much ruins the meal and way too much is literally poisonous, right?

It's not good enough that dogs succeed. Cats must also fail, right? And that's sort of where we are as a culture right now where it's not you know and this drives me crazy about my own side these days where I talked to young conservative activist college students and I say look by all means fight political correctness if that's what you want to do.

It's much a cautionary tale to my allies on the right is that a lot of people are just giving up on persuasion and instead it's just hammering tongs cats must fail it's all about power the arguments and defense of Donald Trump in the in 2016 were all about winning and strength winning and strength are not they're absolutely amoral concepts winning for what strength for what unity for what right it has to be the ideas that underlie it and we're in a moment where a lot of people just don't care about ideas anymore

Suicides are choices. You choose to do to make these decisions that you're making and I think that one of the things that people don't appreciate is that if you you can choose not to do them as well and that a lot of the things that are plaguing this country are within our own power to fix.

It's not good enough that dogs succeed. Cats must also fail

winning and strength are not they're absolutely amoral concepts winning for what strength for what unity for what right it has to be the ideas that underlie it and we're in a moment where a lot of people just don't care about ideas anymore

the pursuit of happiness is is it's not a guarantee right you have the right to pursue it and one of the great things about freedom the miracle liberal democratic capitalism whatever you want to call it is it gives more people the opportunity to pursue it

don't throw the baby out with the bothel

You've written books on almost every assassination as you have a whole line of the killing, the killing, the killing, the children's series you write about killing presidents is the time we're in.

Update and he's the author of the forthcoming book, Confronting the President. Please welcome back to the program, Bill O'Reilly, sir.

Confronting the president comes out September 10th, available for preorder.

And he's the author of the forthcoming book, Confronting the Presidents. Please welcome back to the program, Bill O'Reilly.

You've written books on almost every assassination as you have a whole line of the killing, the killing, the killing, the children's series you write about killing presidents is the time we're in.

You've written a lot of very interesting books. The book you wrote before this, The Coddling of the American Mind, you co-wrote, sort of looked at safetyism, it looked at the college life, the college landscape, and now what we see on college campuses, these protests are breaking out. I wonder, as somebody who looked closely at that and the ways in which students move through it, what you see now on these campuses.

We all agree, on campus, students have a right to protest, constitutionally protected. But two things I see going on. One is the protest. This is what Greg Lukianoff, my co-author, first noticed in 2014. The shouting down of speakers, the activism on campus that was really illiberal and it was intimidating and it was stopping people from speaking. It was based on arguments about fragility, about my mental health or her mental health. Like, we can't let this person on campus because it will be dangerous, it will be harmful, speech is violence.

It's like, I read this book, uh, I want to do this right, how do I helicopter parent my child correctly? Like, what are some tactical things I can take away from this?

The book you wrote before this, The Coddling of the American Mind, you co-wrote, sort of looked at safetyism, it looked at the college, the college landscape, and and now what we see on college campuses these protests are breaking out. I wonder as somebody who look closely at that and the ways in which students kind of move through it what you see now on these campuses?