TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month

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You're listening to Comedy Central.

Please welcome Bassem Youssef. Hello.
Hey. Oh my God.
Come and sit. Yay! Wow, you've got live audience.
Yes. You're live.
Now, you don't have an audience. Yeah, that's why I use puppets.
You use puppets because you don't have an audience. Yes.
Are there any shows in Egypt that have an audience? No. Do they do live studio audiences? No.
We are actually trying to do that next year. We're going to be the first Arab political show with live audience, which is huge because we don't actually have this kind of industry.
The television, the live audiences and things like that? Yes. How difficult is it to do a show like you're doing, a comedy show, when the stability of the country is still in question?

Because it's difficult for me, and we're pretty stable, but I still get the hate with the people that don't like me.

What happens with you?

Death threats.

Check.

Check.

We're not so different, you and I. Sometimes I get beaten.
No, no, they're just kidding. It's actually, it's been quite a ride.
And what we do

is, has actually, we broke ground in the television programming because now people say, wow, he

actually says

what we want to say.

And we're trying to be funny.

We fail most of the time,

but we try.

Check.

Check.

Yes.

By the way,

can I ask a question?

Can I ask a question?

Yes, it is.

Last week,

did you have

Catherine Zeta-Jones here?

Catherine Zeta-Jones

was in your seat, sir.

In this seat.

Your very seat.

Wow.

Nice. Wow.
Nice.

Yeah.

Is that an aspirin?

You know what? Take it back with you. Take it to

Cairo. We don't care.

Nice, right? Yes.

She's very sweet.

That's nice. You're going to

like TV. You're going to like it.

Here's the thing that is very unusual to me.

You are a very accomplished heart surgeon as well before you got into this.

Now, obviously, Jews and Muslims, there is tension amongst the cultures at times.

2,000 years.

But one thing we probably share is that going to your mother as a heart surgeon and saying,

yeah, I think I'm going to be a comedian would be a problem.

It was a problem until actually she showed the money.

And she saw my new big TV and living room.

So she was okay with that. So comedy, a little more lucrative than the heart surgery business.
A lot. I knew I was smart not to do that.
And you don't get that many, you don't get sued, like, every five seconds. I think that's probably smart, too.
How did this all begin? During the revolution, Tarsic, did you just decide, this is the time to try and express this thought? This is the time to do something I've wanted to try for a while? Well, the 18 days of the revolution was incredible because you would go to Tahrir. You see what's happening.
You come back. You open the TV and it's a totally different world.
It's amazing. And you know what? It's happening again now.
It's like all these rumors about like aliens coming aliens coming down and trying. They are the people who are driving the revolution.
And the free masons, yes. Is it really this type of conspiracy stuff? Because that's, we have a gentleman here.
Does Glenn Beck have a show in Egypt or no? It's his evil twin. Really? And there's a guy who's spreading sort of conspiracy stuff.
He's a little bit kind of cloned everywhere.

Oh, really?

Yes, even in sports programs.

Imagine Glenn Beck actually doing a sports show, and that's what you'll get.

That was a foul because some Blu-ray came from the eyes of Derby.

So basically it's Freemason and the Americans and Israel have gathered together

to hypnotize the Egyptian people to go to Tahrir Square to complain. Yes.
Okay. And Hamas.
Oh, really? And them too? And Iran. Ah.
All these people. Can you imagine Israel, Hamas, Iran, Israel, and America are actually all unified.
Working together? Yes, against Egypt. Wow.
How do they decide what to eat at the meeting? That would be kosher. Got to be kosher, I would think.
So, are the people resentful that the powers that be don't believe that they would have the wherewithal to stand up on their own? The problem is that people want to believe. They want to believe, but when you have the media kind of pounding on them with all these conspiracies, you will find people that will fall for that.
I mean, for example, you have, what's his name, Kramer, like Mad Money? Yes, yes, yes. And people still watch him.
I mean, the guy kind of, like, bankrupted the whole country. And still people watch his show.
It's the same. Well, it's very interesting that the medias in our country,

there's sort of an establishment media,

and then there's what's going on in the street,

and the twain don't really meet.

Yes.

And you try and occupy that space in the middle of that.

Yes, because it has been extremely funny

and hilarious to watch the media right now.

I mean, back in Egypt.

We're not very much different.

No.

I think you look better in a suit, but other than that, I think we're the same. It's an Armani.
Look at you. Very sharp.
I had to pay for it. He gets his for free.
Give it 14 years, my friend. It'll come.
It'll come.

Bassem, I can't tell you. Here's the thing.
I watched your program. I had it translated.
I don't know a tremendous amount about Egyptian politics because obviously as an American, we prefer not to know that much about countries we meddle in. But I do know a little something about the humor business.

Your show is sharp.

You're really good on it.

It's smart.

It's smart. It's well executed.
I just, I think the world of what you're doing down there. And I couldn't be more pleased that you're here.
Can you stick around? We'll throw a little bit more up on the web and have a nice talk. Yes.
Bassem Yusuf, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
So earlier today, I spoke with actor and comedian, Rami Youssef. His Hulu series, Rami, is the first Muslim American sitcom to receive an Emmy nomination.
It's 2020. They don't want a man like me anymore.
Trump it up too much. He's too much a man, you know? The people are afraid.
They want a man like you. A man who feels a little bit like a woman, but is still officially a man.
Maybe transsexual, you know? This is good, which is why I want you to join me and become a small little partner in this store. It's your future.
Rami Youssef, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. Good.
It's too much distance, but I feel like we should have been closer, but it's... What are we gonna do? I think you're actually lucky that we're not closer because I'm such a big fan of the show that I would have been one of those nauseating fans who would have been asking you too many questions.
I would have been all over you. Because, like, I remember when Rami first came out.
First came out. Few people were talking about here here, but I just stumbled across the show and I was like, I was running around preaching to people.
You gotta watch Rami, you gotta watch Rami, you gotta watch Rami. And now, I mean, it's widely accepted.
Yeah, Rami is must watch viewing. What has that journey been like for you from going, you know, creating a show about a Muslim millennial in New Jersey and the Muslim world as a comedy, to now being a show that people just go like, yeah, yeah, this is normal.
Because let's be honest, it wasn't normal like a few years ago when you decided to do this. No, and it still really shocks me.
Like there are definitely moments where people are talking about the show a lot, it's getting a lot of recognition are excited about it and i'm like guys this is a show about like an arab muslim dude that watches too much porn like i can't believe that this many people are looking at it the thing that's probably most overwhelming is the international love yeah because i think like here it's like awesome you know whatever we got publicists and all this but for me when my aunt calls me and she's like egypt's watching the show and i'm like have you seen it And she's like, awesome, you know, whatever. We got publicists and all this.
But for me, when my aunt calls me and she's like, Egypt's watching the show. And I'm like, have you seen it? And she's like, not yet.
And I'm like, thank God. But she's like, I hear the kids are watching it.
I'm like, good, just let them watch it. That's really special.
I think what I found special about the show, and this is probably what connects to so many people, is it's not just the story of an Arab Muslim kid growing up in New Jersey. It's also the story of a community that for so long has been seen through one lens.
Man, you take us into a world where we see human beings, we see the complexities of Islam, you know, we see the complexities of different generations and how they relate to the religion and then the cultures that come. Like, that's not an easy thing to do.
Was there ever a part of you that was afraid to either tell the story incorrectly to an outside audience or piss off the inside audience? Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the tightrope walk that we're constantly walking with this show because we haven't really had any chance at seeing ourselves on screen um in a story that doesn't involve explosives or national security to your question about was i nervous where i'm really nervous because i know that muslims are such a vast group of people there are many communities like people even say like what does the muslim community think about your show and i'm like right it's not a pop band like there are a lot of different muslim communities like it's not just this one this one thing and so um we you know kind of made the choice pretty early on that like we're not going to try and check all the boxes you know this isn't a census this isn't a totality of something that can't be encompassed, really. This is just the story of this family, and we're really gonna kind of humanize them by watching them deal with their problems in the way that everyone does.
What makes the show successful for me is that it follows the golden rule of telling a story, and that is showing the human beings who exist within the story. What I loved was how even in your story, you know, the Rami that you play, when he went to Egypt, he himself realized that he had stereotypes and connotations of his own family in Egypt in a way that he didn't even realize.
To take it to Egypt and then have, like, an Egyptian family who are fans of Donald Trump and all of America's going, Donald Trump's the worst president, and here you have Arabs somewhere in the world saying, this guy's the best guy, even though he wants to ban all Muslims. Why was that so important for you to do? I remember being in the back of a cab in Cairo in 2015, and this guy just being like, he's a strong man.
And I was like, whoa, all right, I think we're just used to dictators, and he just kind of matches the vibe but but he's not what we need we know he's not and I think most of us feel that on a certain you know with a certain clarity and and I think something that I really wanted to do in making a story about a family we hadn't seen before was I wanted to be clear that I'm not trying to make something that's some sort of like PR hit to make us look good and and make it seem like hey we deserve we deserve to be in this country give us a shot like look how cute we are on Rami on Hulu that's not that's not a real portrayal that's um that's like propaganda in and of itself you know for me it's how do I make something that is challenging my character that is putting him in situations where he's seeing his own biases, he's seeing his flaws, and that really gets highlighted when he goes to Cairo. Because I think the show is more about someone trying to fill the gap between who they want to be and who they actually are, than it is a show about Muslims.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the breakout stars of your shows, of the show. And one of those characters has to be Steve.
You know, we meet your best friend in the show who's in a wheelchair. And already, you know, from TV and movies we've watched, we think we have an idea of who this person should be.
But he's like a full-fledged character in that, like, there's times when he's an asshole. There's times when we like him, times when we don't like him, times when we feel sorry for him, times when we forget that he has a disability.
Tell me a little bit about how he came to be in the show and why you felt it was so important for him to get his own show. Well, in terms of him getting his own show, that was just straight up him bullying me into it.
He was like, you have the power to produce something now and this is gonna be the first thing thing you do. And so that there's not really, there's no option there for me.
But, you know,

I've known Steve since we were in third grade. You know, we grew up five minutes from each other.

We went to school together. We actually learned how to make things together in high school.

And I think what was really exciting for us in the show is so many times in sitcoms, you see an ethnic best friend. And in this show, we're predominantly with an Arab cast

Thank you. And I think what was really exciting for us in the show is so many times in sitcoms, you see an ethnic best friend.
And in this show, we're predominantly with an Arab cast that's speaking Arabic. And we're like, all right, I guess we're going to have to have the white best friend.
But it was really funny to kind of pitch him as the white best friend. And he also has muscular dystrophy.
But really what he is, is he's the white best friend. And also in a show where the lead character believes in in god it's really interesting to have someone who doesn't and his reasoning is very rooted in something where he's like well why would i believe that if this is how i am and then in making something for him what's really cool is again flipping this idea where okay now we have in my show i think he's disserviced i love my show and i'm also like we't do enough for him.
He's just the disabled best friend. I wanna make a show where, what would it look like where able-bodied people are the side characters.
And now we get to flip this again and we get to see a totally wholly new perspective. And so we're putting together, we're developing the show with Apple.
And so, yeah, it's a world that we're really excited to crack open. Well, I'll say I've thoroughly enjoyed your journey, man, from being a comedian that some people spoke about, like in word of mouth, to being a Golden Globe winner and now stepping into it once again.
Three-time Emmy nominee, Best Director, Best Acting, and then obviously with Mahershala Ali's makes it three for Rami. Congratulations on everything.
And thank you so much for joining us on the show. Thanks, man.
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That's StrengthenYourHouse.com. Welcome back to The Daily Show.

My guest tonight is a comedian. more.
That's strengthinyourhouse.com. Welcome back to The Daily Show.

My guest tonight is a comedian

whose Netflix stand-up special is called

The Vagabond.

My first name is Muhammad.

Oh, quit playing, baby. No, really.

What's your first name?

I'm like, that is my first name.

She's like, oh, you ain't gonna get your citizenship,

baby.

Mm-mm. Mm-mm.
Mm. I'm like, that is my first name.
She's like, oh, you ain't gonna get your citizenship, baby. Please hold.
I was like, what the f*** just happened to me? This lady puts me on hold, and the hold music was never gonna get it, never gonna get it. And then she picked up the phone real quick and goes, woo woo woo.
And hangs up and goes, oh, shit. Please welcome Mo Amar.
Welcome to the show.

Oh, thank you for having me.

You know, a lot of the time they say that the best comedy comes from the biggest tragedies. And in many ways, your life could be considered by some as being a rolling series of tragedies that you've turned into comedy and you've turned into success.

A little bit of your story would shock most people out there.

You are someone who

came to America as a refugee. Correct.

From Kuwait, correct?

I was born in Kuwait. I left Kuwait after the first

Gulf War. Right.
Because I had to call the prequel.

I went to a really

nice private British English school in Kuwait

and then we migrated to Houston,

Texas. That's a culture

shock. It's a culture shock.
And they

put me in ESL class,

which is English as a second language

class. And I was the only guy that spoke

English in the class.

I walk in, all the

kids are like, hola, ¿tú eres en nuevo aquí?

I had a

hint of a British accent. I'm like, sorry?

What language are you speaking?

All of a sudden, this other

dude just rolls up out of nowhere. He's like, you're weird, dude.
Why do you talk like that, eh? And that was my teacher. It was a very weird situation.
This is like, here's the thing. A lot of the time when, you know, when we have these conversations in America about like immigrant, refugee, et cetera, it's always like a sad story.
It's always like, you know, these people who need this place as refuge. But you really have an interesting story about how your mom was the driving force behind getting your family to the U.S.
and starting up a new life. Just from your perspective, how would you try to explain to somebody what it is like to be a refugee and how hard it is to come into the United States? It's really difficult to explain or put into words the excruciating process of getting your citizenship.
Right. It took me 20 years.
Wow. To get my citizenship.
I traveled all over the world doing stand-up comedy without a passport. Wait, how do you travel without a passport? They give you a United States travel document that is only good for like a year and then you have to, you know, most countries need more of a year validity on your passport to even enter the country.
Right. It's incredibly complicated.
In most cases, I'm not even allowed to go, but I just would go and see what would happen anyway. I would get questioned in a lot of different countries.
So let me understand this. You are a Palestinian Kuwaiti Muslim traveling the world with no passport, and you were like, yeah, I want to try to do this in more countries.
Yeah. Well, the thing is, I'm born in a Palestinian parent.
How many times did you get stopped? Like, how many times were you... Every time.
No, it was every time. To the point to when I became a citizen and I was reentering America, and he was like, okay, go ahead.
And I was like, no, are you sure? I think there's another... There's something else that needs to happen here.
I feel awkward. Can we just talk for a little while? I'm serious.
It did.

I was like,

what's going on?

I was like, no.

We need to chat a little bit. Japan was my favorite

interrogation I ever had. It was just an hour

of them trying to figure out what I did for a living.

The entire hour, for real,

consisted of, so what is your

occupation? I was like, oh, I'm a comedian.

He's like, comedian? I'm like, yeah, yeah. I do stand-up comedy.
Stand-up comedy? I'm like, yeah, I'm a... I do comedy.
Comedial? Yeah, I do... I'm a comedian.
Comedian. I'm like, am I being roasted right now? What's happening? Finally, his buddy walks in, his partner, he's like, how does that mean? How does that come to you? And he goes, oh, yeah, he's like a Bill Cosby.
And that's what got me off was Bill Cosby. I mean, not literally.
Not literally. So now, you have this really interesting journey.
Growing up in America, it takes 20 years to become a resident. A citizen.
A citizen, yeah, sorry. Citizen, right? And, and here, here's the thing that I, that I've always wondered from your, your perspective.
You know, do, do you ever find yourself in a space where, because you speak about things that are happening in the U.S., people are like, hey, you should just be grateful to be in the U.S. Don't talk about anything that might be going wrong in the U.S.
because the U.S. has welcomed you in.
Yeah. Nah.
I mean, look, as an Arab American, Muslim, Palestinian on top of it, you know, someone who's fled war. I was nine years old, so I didn't really know much.
It's not like, hey, Mom, are you sure about Houston? You just had to go. You know what I mean? And I'm a very proud Houstonian, and I grew up in Anglia, which is a really multicultural neighborhood, but the thing is, is that growing up that way, I was always told to not talk about politics.
Not say anything, because they're going to send us back. Wow.
That was the whole thing. Shh, don't say anything, they're going to send you back.
You know? Make sure you don't talk about politics. I was like, you know, all this stuff that's been festering inside for so many years, that's why when I started stand-up comedy, it was the perfect outlet for me to allow me to express everything that was happening to me.

And also, you know, releasing the special and seeing the reaction from so many different people that can relate to the same story that have refugees,

that are refugees that went through a similar process that are, you know, dealing with the immigration system right now.

They talk about extreme vetting.

I mean, my God, it took us 20 years.

How much more extreme can it be?

Well, you want it to take forever.

Yeah, that's the point.

And so it's very, very frustrating.

But at this point in time, I'm an American citizen.

So in your face, bitch, I say whatever I want.

You become really confident once you get that passport. Once I have the passport, like, what you gonna do now? They can take it away from you.
Can they? Oh, shit. That was one of the things that, like, you know, people were talking about with Trump.
They said, like, oh, you never know what he's gonna do. You never know.
You know, Trump was floating ideas like, are citizenship's real? Have people lied about things, et cetera, et cetera. And a lot of people who are refugees or maybe came to the U.S.
as immigrants had this connection with Trump where they were worried. You had a different connection with Trump, which is one of the reasons you came into prominence.
Really insane story where you found yourself on a plane seated next to Eric Trump. That's, yeah.
You know, being a frequent flyer helps sometimes. I didn't know this was gonna happen.
Like, I was upgrading to first class and I ended up sitting next to Eric Trump. I didn't even know I was gonna get upgraded because I put my name on the list way too late.
You know, comedians are, you know, the best procrastinators in the business. And, uh, and I didn't know I was going to get upgraded much less sit next to Eric.
But I do know one thing, the lady that upgraded me is probably a Clinton supporter. You know, let's be real.
She was probably sitting there like, Oh, Eric Trump is on my flight. Okay.
I don't know why she has a mustache, but okay. Oh, there's an empty seat next to Eric.

Let me take a look at this upgrade list,

see who's standing by patiently here.

Oh, Muhammad Mustafa, Emma.

Okay.

Oh, dude.

Can I tell you, man, I've seen your stand up on the road.

You were amazing opening for Dave Chappelle.

The special is truly phenomenal. I tell everyone to go out and watch it.
Thanks so much for coming on the road. Your amazing opening for Dave Chappelle.
The special is truly phenomenal.

I tell everyone to go out and watch it.

Thanks so much for coming on the show.

I hope to see you again.

The Begabond is currently available on Netflix.

Please go and watch it.

Mo Amr, everybody.

We'll be right back.

My guest tonight is a Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist

whose new album is called Jungle Rules.

Please welcome French Montana. Welcome to the show.
How you doing tonight? We're doing good, man. We're doing real good.
You're doing real good, but not as good as you are doing. Congratulations.
You're single, Unforgettable. Currently number five on the Billboard charts.
It's going up. Thank you.
Congratulations on that. We just got that news today.
You have a story that's more interesting than most, not just because of what you do and how successful you've become, but because of where you came from. You were born and raised in Morocco, right? You moved to the U.S.
when you were 13 years old. Yes.
And then got into hip-hop, like, how? Like, is it just a universal language? No, honestly, honestly, I tell everybody this, you know? I feel like music is the only language that people speak in the whole world, you know? Not even knowing English before I came here. Just loving music, loving the rush I get when I hear it.
It's totally different from making it if I just knew English and knew, like, you know? I hear what you're saying. What were you listening to when you were a kid before you could speak English? I was listening to Shep Hesney, and I was listening to Moroccan music.
Right. Was there any American hip-hop you were listening to? Because I know, like, my cousin, for instance...
Yeah, I was, of course. Like, my cousin was a huge Tupac fan, but he couldn't speak English.
So then my cousin would walk around in one of the places in South Africa, a place called Zanin, right? And he was, like, he was a gangster in his mind. mind.
Yeah. And so we'd be like pushing a wheelbarrow going to the river.
This is no joke. So we'd be pushing a wheelbarrow to the river and the whole way he'd be walking and be like, I know my enemies and trees and the fenomenies and the gulogy and the body.
And I, and then I would sit and I would be like, wow, your English got really good, Norman. And he'd be like, eh, mirine, but mirine.
And it's the weirdest thing. Do you, like, was there like an American artist that you listened to even though you didn't understand? Tupac had a gift of speaking to Africans.
He did, right? I swear, he spoke to everybody that was like, that don't speak English. Tupac had a gift of speaking to Africans.
I don't think anyone has ever said that in the history of language. Let's talk about what you've been doing with this album.
You know, we saw you performing at the BET Awards, and you had on stage with you a troupe, a dance troupe. Yeah, triplet, um, triplet, um...
Right. Yellow kids, right.
From Uganda. Yeah.
Now, you went out to Uganda, but I still struggle to understand the full story.

How on earth do you end up on stage performing with Ugandan kids in the United States?

It goes back to African music.

And I was like, you know, I usually just go and like, listen, keep up to date.

Right.

I just saw this video of these kids, you know, and when I seen it, I just fell in love with it.

I never seen nobody dance like that. You know, so when I'm watching, I'm like, why are these kids dancing like this? Then I found out they don't have no TVs.
That's amazing. So all they moves was original.
Like, they created they moves, and they all lived together. There's 20 of them.
They all lost their parents. So let me tell you something.
I don't know why I did it, but I did it. And you went on to fall in love with Uganda.
Yeah. You didn't just go there.
No, it was the best decision I ever made in my career. Yeah, because I know many people will go to Africa and be like, oh, I loved it so much, and then it's done.
But you have now stayed in touch with Uganda, with the people. You're involved in a project now with Mama Hope, I think it's called, right? Shout out to Mama Hope.
Yeah, what is Mama Hope about? Non-private organization. Shout out to Global Citizen.
These are people that help people around the world, you know, to make a better place for children and mothers, you know? I feel like every mother and every child should have, you know, the right care, you know? And ever since I've been involved with it, man, it feels really great. So when I got there, I saw a bunch of beautiful kids just standing outside smiling in that clinic.
You know, so when I came out, I said, I gotta come back here and just do something, you know? But honestly, me building that with, and shout out to the, I can't take all the credit. Shout out to The Weeknd, he helped.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because this is honestly...
This is honestly one of my favorite stories because you said, I'm going to help build up this medical facility, get more people to be treated. I think it went up from treating...
Having the capacity to treat 50 to now going to 250 and above. It's like 300,000.
Up to 300,000 people. Like 300,000 mothers, yeah.
And what I found amazing was you were like, I'm gonna donate the money. And then The Weeknd was like, oh, I'm also gonna drop 100 grand on this.
And I was like, is this gonna be like the new, like, thing in hip-hop? Where it's like, guys are gonna be bragging. Instead of bottles in the club, I was exactly gonna say that.
I got a hospital in Africa. A hospital in Africa.
I got a... You could make it a thing.
You could make it a thing. Yeah, I hope so.
I hope so. Yeah, definitely.
Definitely shot it for the weekend. And ever since then, you know, we almost...
It went from two rooms, now it's almost 50 rooms. Wow.
Wow. Thank you all for that.
Yo, man. Thank you, bro.
Thank you so much for what you're doing. Congratulations on the music.
We wish you the best.

Mama Hope, check it out.

Jungle Rules is available now.

And for more information about the unforgettable movement, go to MamaHope.org.

French Montana, everybody.

We'll be right back.

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We were getting where we couldn't pay the bill. PG&E asked customers about their biggest concerns so we could address them one by one.
That's terrifying. That's fair.
Joe, Regional Vice President, PG&E. We have to run the business in a way that keeps people safe, but starts driving costs down.
I would love to see that. We're on our way.
I hope so. PG&E electricity rates are now lower than they were last year.
Hear what other customers have to say and what PG&E is doing about it at pge.com slash open dash lines. It's home renovation season.
New windows, new doors, maybe even new floors can make a home look nice. But this season, how about a project that can help protect your home and keep it nice when the next big earthquake strikes? Strengthening your home with a seismic retrofit is a wise investment in your house, and we have contractors that can help.
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That's StrengthenYourHouse.com. My guest tonight, a scholar of religions, an author.
His latest book is the bestseller, Zealot, The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Please welcome back to the program Reza Aslan.
Thank you. Reza.
All right. All right.
Reza, I just want to be clear. You're a Muslim.
Why would you write a book on the founder of Christianity? This is my secret Muslim plan to destroy Christianity. I was just reading that.
Do you remember, I don't know if you remember this, you went on Fox and the lady was asking you those questions

and I was just watching that like, oh my God!

Fred's is gonna strangle this person!

I did okay.

You did wonderful.

You did, it was incredible.

And the book is so good.

Thank you.

Yeah, the perfect Christmas gift for your Jewish friends.

Yes. There's nothing we like better around this time of year.
Nice picture of him looking judgmentally at us. Yeah, right, right.
Yeah, nice menorah. Yeah.
Hey, enjoy your potato latkes. How are you doing otherwise? These are very exciting times for for iran absolutely i mean this nuclear deal has really changed the the the atmosphere in iran so much excitement over it frankly a little too much excitement over it because it's not really that big of a deal in so far as uh sanctions relief or helping the economy right but whereas here in the united States, nobody talks about this deal as possibly laying the groundwork for some kind of future normalization.
That's all they talk about in Iran. In fact, it's created these two camps, like a reconciliation camp and an isolationist camp.
And right now, the reconciliation camp has all the momentum. The isolationists, particularly in the military, are still there.
They're a little bit muted. They're waiting for this thing to collapse so that they can attack the Rouhani administration.
And listen, frankly, the Congress might give them that opportunity. How much power does Rouhani, you know, we saw the eight years of Ahmadinejad.
We saw the Green Revolution where Mousavi appeared to have defeated Ahmadinejad electorally.

It seemed like

there was shenanigans.

That's a Yiddish word for

a manipulated election.

There were tremendous

protests in the streets, tremendous violence.

This movement is sort of

driven underground. Rouhani is

considered in that sort of Mousavi camp,

yes? More of a reformist.

Yeah, he's a bit of a moderate. He's got some reformist

Thank you. once this movement is sort of driven underground.
Rouhani is considered in that sort of Mousavi camp, yes? More of a reformist. Yeah, he's a bit of a moderate.
He's got some reformist tendencies. But does he have any real power, or does it all still rest with the supreme leader? And if Khamenei says that he's in the isolationist camp, are they in the isolationist camp? Yes.
I mean, the simple answer is that all the power and the only voice that really matters is the supreme leader's voice. But it's much more complex than that.
There's a very robust civic infrastructure in Iran. And the president has the opportunity to actually make some fundamental changes.
What Rouhani has going for him is that so far, Khamenei, the supreme leader, is supporting this. I think that's why the reconciliation camp has this great momentum on its side and why the isolationists are keeping, for the most part, quiet.
Because if you disagree with this deal, then you're disagreeing with the Supreme Leader. But really, the issue, again, and I hate to just bring this up, rests with the U.S.
Congress. I thought you were going to go to Jews again.
I thought that's where we were going here, and that I was going to have to, again, once again, say, we're actually quite pleasant when you get to know us. No, what I was going to say was, this is the problem, is that, you know, everybody in the U.S.
keeps talking about how, well, can we trust Iran to hold up its end of the bargain? That's not the problem. Well, because in this country we have an isolationist camp, and we have a camp.
I mean, it's similar. You're playing to a very particular, much more rigid base here that won't allow...
You know, you saw the kerfuffle that occurred when Obama just shook Raul Castro's hand, let alone trying to forge some kind of way forward with Iran. Look, far be it from me to suggest that Congress is full of petty children presiding over a cesspool of wasted space.
So you do watch our show. Yeah.
You do watch. But yes, you can't help but feel that they are actively trying to scuttle this deal.
I mean, the negotiation is pretty clear. In exchange for Iran freezing and rolling back its nuclear program, which they've done, we will release a little bit of their frozen assets and also promise not to engage in any new sanctions.
This bill that Congress is trying to pass to create new sanctions is a violation of the agreement. In fact, the foreign minister of Iran, a pretty Western friendly, you know, moderate guy has said if this thing passes, that's the end of the deal.
It's a deal breaker. Right.
And it just you can't help but feel that this Congress is full of people who are less interested in sort of the good of the country than in their own political good. They want to go back to Missoula, Montana, and, you know, tell the 3,000 people who voted them into office

that they were tough on Iran

and a friend to Israel.

And it might, you know, it's a good,

it'll get them reelected for two more years

of a fairly cushy job.

I mean, you get paid to do nothing.

Yes.

You know, but it's a danger to the country.

No, and I think, but when you look at it,

there are certain absolute boogeymen that are out there, the United Nations, Iran. And not for no reason.
There are certain things that Iran is doing. They are bad actors in certain fields of play and all that.
But if we don't engage these countries and try and build more productive relationships, I think we're beginning to learn that pure sanctions-driven consequences or invading them and trying to hold the territory until a government arises that likes us is not maybe the answer. No, and in fact, what cracks me up is that the entire purpose of these sanctions was to get Iran to the negotiating table.
Well, guess what? It worked. They're at the negotiating table.
So what are we doing now? Sanctioning them as a punishment for coming to the negotiating table? And in any case, these sanctions work because they were international sanctions. Correct.
They work because we got the Europeans and Russia and even China to go along with them. If this sanctions law passes in Congress, then it is as clear a message to our allies that this is all a joke for us, that we're not really serious about this, and the entire sanctions regime will fall apart.
And guess what? Iran will continue to enrich uranium to its heart's content. And they will erode it anyway.
Yeah, absolutely. Unbelievable.
Stick around for a little bit. Yeah, absolutely.
We want to talk about a couple other things. Zealot is on the bookshelves now.
Reza Aslan, ladies and gentlemen. Explore more shows from The Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you We were getting where we couldn't pay the bill.
PG&E asked customers about their biggest concerns so we could address them one by one. That's terrifying.
That's fair. Joe, Regional Vice President, PG&E.
We have to run the business in a way that keeps people safe, but it starts driving costs down. I would love to see that.
We're on our way. I hope so.
PG&E electricity rates are now lower than they were last year. Hear what other customers have to say and what PG&E is doing about it at pge.com slash open dash lines.
It's home renovation season. New windows, new doors, maybe even new floors can make a home look nice.
But this season, how about a project that can help protect your home

and keep it nice when the next big earthquake strikes?

Strengthening your home with a seismic retrofit is a wise investment in your house,

and we have contractors that can help.

Earthquakes happen in California, so get prepared and worry less.

Visit StrengthenYourHouse.com to learn more.

That's StrengthenYourHouse.com to learn more. That's StrengthenYourHouse.com.
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