Eclipse Week [VIDEO]

you are the most awkward person i know in certain situations sure sure i felt it i feel every time this is the thing about being awkward that people don't give enough credit for i know what's happening i also want to leave but i don't know what to do next because it's my fault you see but now now i feel bad for you but here's the thing i don't feel bad i just know it's happening i wish i could stop okay i'll give you an example if someone tied you to a chair you know that to get out of the chair you'd have to break the ropes yes but you don't know how to break the ropes right you don't have the strength right to break the ropes that is me in every conversation except you're the person who tied yourself to the chair yes yes you're the person tying yourself to the chair and then you sit there looking at the other person like oh man this is weird yeah i look at the other person like i shouldn't have done this hey what's going on everybody welcome to another episode of what now the podcast where we talk about all the conversations that are invading your brain yeah that's how i see them they're invading your brain. What Now? Now, the only thing I enjoy more than having conversations Is having them with some of my favorite people

And this week, I'm joined as usual By my good friend, Christiana All the way from Los Angeles Yes, she is a mom, she is a thinker And she is a person with a voice, once again And, what a treat I'm joined by the one and only, Johnson. Comedian and human being in the same space.

Touch my blood.

That's what we say in Africa.

Touch my blood.

Yeah, you like that?

That's way harder than shake my hand.

Yeah, touch my blood.

I love that.

That's what that is.

Yeah.

We started doing that when AIDS was spreading like really, it was like a big thing.

Oh, okay.

Too late, you touched it.

Yeah. Welcome to the podcast

this is

what now

with Trevor Noah

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Happy Podcast Day, man. Happy Podcast Day.
I've missed you, Christiana. It feels like it has been forever since I've seen you.
I've missed you, Josh, and I've missed you, Trevor. I'm glad I have a voice again yeah it feels good to be able to speak someone asked me if it was a if it was a gimmick or a gag i don't know what people think someone asked me this um they they were i was in an i was in an airport and someone came up to me and they were like i love the podcast so much and they're like i have a girl crush on christiana please tell her and they're like but i just didn't understand it was the voice is the voice thing real what was that about

then i was like what do you mean is it real what please explain sometimes i don't i don't think

people understand comedy yeah because please explain to me what you think the premise of

this joke would be that we would say christiana doesn't have a voice and then there's no payoff

yeah yeah then she's just back one day and then she's just back yeah christiana how's the

Thank you. say Christiana doesn't have a voice and then there's no payoff yeah yeah then she's just back one day and then she's just back yeah Christiana how's the family how's everything going um you know I'm having a bit of a they're good but you know the headline is the family's good I should always lead with that you're so African when you do that that no can I tell you that's the most African thing that that you'll do, which reminds me of everybody from home.

You'll ask them a question about life or anything.

They start telling you the truth and they catch themselves.

And then they'll be like, you know, so they'll be like, how's everything?

Like, ah, man, you know, things, you know what?

You know what?

I'm blessed.

Let me start by saying I'm blessed.

This is, yes, yes.

This is literally what you, it's the most African thing.

I know, I know, I know. It's such a deep Southern thing too, because just like when you're in the South, like I was just in Raleigh.
And when you talk to anybody, they'll start telling you about their day earnestly. And then they feel like they're wiretapped by God.
Because then they'll start telling you about their day and they'll be like, but God is good though. But let's not forget that God is good.
Okay. So I know I got hit by a car today, but ooh, God is good.
I does got hit by two cars. It does feel like that.
It really does feel like that. God is good.
He is good. He's always good.
He's all the time, all the time. And now that we're on a secure line, tell me your real story.
My real story is this. Okay, so I have an almost 10-month-old named Luna, wonderful little girl.
But she's doing things differently to Obi did. Like, Obi had teeth at three months.
Luna has no teeth. She refuses to crawl.
She sat up a bit later. And you know me, I'm like, I want her to be a doctor or a lawyer, so she should be walking walking in my books so we keep bringing it up with the pediatrician the pediatrician she's fine she's fine but take her somewhere just to check and of course we're going to take her and today we found out she is fine she's just lazy so she needs physical therapy to get over the laziness the ability is there but the desire is not which is a worry because she's supposed to be a doctor Wait, wait, wait, me like she's not lazy sounds like she's a genius yeah it sounds to me like she's not going to be a doctor or a lawyer she's going to be the president that's i mean either the president or she's going to own like create a tech company that has no value but sell it for like two billion dollars which is i i'm fine with that like that's a good outcome yeah if i was a parent and i they told me that my child yeah has figured out yeah that they don't need to crawl i mean they walked so that i don't have to crawl is essentially the world she's in she's a trail she's a trailblazer trevor i feel like you've just made up i feel like you just made it up But I'm gonna rock with it Do not deny the genius of your child Yeah You'll see in like 8 months Luna's gonna be on the podcast She's gonna be like Beyonce's children Yeah She'll just be like featuring on the podcast Winning us Grammys Today's episode of the podcast is gonna be fun There's bunch of things happening.
I will tell you a little bit about where I was because again, some people think I didn't tell them where I was going. Some people asked me if I was going to get a BBL.
That's why I disappeared and wouldn't say where I was going, uh, which was a strange one. The fact that people think I needed a BBL.
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.
Yeah. The worst thing about these kinds of rumors is that now people see it when they didn't see it so if they go like you went to go to bbl i'm like i can see then you're like that that's how i've always been then they're like no i would know so so do either of you know where uh bhutan is i mean if i was betting money i would say christ Again, Josh, this is not an insult to you.
I say this because I wasn't completely familiar with where Bhutan was. Christiana is somebody who's extremely learned and she went to university.
I don't know that you went to university. I didn't go to university.
So before you get offended at all, do you know anything about Bhutan? Sometimes you say before you get offended at all, but you've already said all the things. Yeah, he's I apologize I apologize Josh what do you know about Bhutan uh I know that it starts with a b Christiana what do you what do you know about Bhutan I don't know that much about Bhutan I don't do you know where it is a lot of people don't even know where it is Is it near the Indian Ocean? Or am I wrong? No So it's actually in the eastern Himalayas I'm just trying to do the thing Oh man Oh you just took me back to my childhood I have a cousin who tries to do that They try and answer the questions with you To act like they always knew man thank you for that Josh thank you so much for that no so I was in Bhutan that's where I went for a week a country that is is really interesting because they only got the internet and TV in 1999 place was pretty much closed off from the whole world.
And then now they don't have a GDP. They measure their success in what they call the GNH, gross national happiness.
And so you go to a country where they're like, oh yeah, money doesn't determine how well the country's doing. We measure it on people's general health, their connection with their family, their time, their free time.
And so I went there and I just spent a week essentially with monks, them just telling me about happiness the whole time. And was it like when you were talking to them, was it an inspiring experience or were you like, like, like, or were they, were they fun monks? Can I, oh, okay.
First of all, I'll say this. Every real monk I've met is fun.

Okay.

Fake monks.

Yeah, fake monks are the ones who are like,

there is nothing funny in the world.

And if you're like, I had a bad day,

they're like, there is no bad and there is no day.

Those guys, those monks are assholes.

The monks, like the real, real monks,

they're great. They have a good time.
Wow. Yeah, the one monk, like the real, real monks, they're great.

They have a good time.

Wow.

Yeah, the one monk was like, hey, you should follow me on Instagram.

I was like, you have Instagram?

He's like, yeah, everyone has Instagram.

I was like, oh, but you're a monk.

He's like, I don't get what this has to do with anything.

Are you going to follow me or not?

And then I thought he was joking.

And then the next day I saw him again and he's like, you didn't follow me.

Yeah.

Did you have to be like silent? Like what were you doing for the week apart from being like the CIA asset that you are I spent a lot of time meditating I I'm gonna ignore that comment because I've found inner peace and okay let me put it this way it was it was it was interesting to go to a place where they're trying to redefine the very idea of what success is, but from the country level. Do you know what I mean? So these people, for instance, I played a game of poker where they didn't play with money.
They played with pushups. That's hilarious.
It was actually, can I tell you, it was actually the most stressful game of poker I've ever played. That's so good.
That's. Like literally you bet and you go, I raise you two pushups.
And someone's like, I raise you two pushups, six pushups, eight pushups. And then at the end of each round, people are doing pushups.
There's no money exchanged. Same game, same enjoyment, but people are doing pushups.
And you, first of all, you'll be shocked at how quickly you start curtailing your gambling when you have to do push-ups. I was like, this could cure Vegas in like a week.
Yeah, yeah. If you said everyone in Vegas had to do squats or push-ups every time they lost.
This is the best. Because now your gambling addiction looks sexy.
Well, now you'll know who has a gambling addiction, right? Like you'll see somebody with just the chest and no arms and you'll be like, ooh, he's sick. He's sick.
We need to pray for him because he got no legs, but he got that thick chest. That's, mm, mm.
Man, you know what? I feel enlightened. And I feel some of that light.
Like, I know I feel like I feel like you're a hater. That's what you are.
I'm not a hater. I really I feel like you're a hater.
I'm a hater. I'm always a professional hater.
I'm always a hater. Yeah, but you're different.
Josh right now is just that you are being you. Josh has stepped out of himself to step in and hate on me.
I'm not hating at all. I'm glad that you told me about this, and I will think about it sometimes when I freak out about money.

You know what we're going to do?

We're going to take a little break.

When we come back, I will tell you what would have happened to you a few hundred years ago if you had this exact same attitude with me. We're going to continue this conversation right after this short break.
when was the last time either of you watched or saw an eclipse um today you saw the you went outside and you did you have did you have the glasses look i'll tell you this right now everybody was trashing trump for looking at the sun but i almost did it i really did because the glasses. And when the thing was starting, I couldn't see anything because the glasses were so good.
And then I started to see a little bit. And I was like, I do kind of want to just take them off real quick.
Just get a sneak peek. But did you take them off? I did not.
See, not fit to be president. Christiana, when was the last time you saw an eclipse? I've never seen an eclipse.
Huh. Yeah, I avoid them.
It feels too spiritual, too much of a shift. Yeah, I will say this.
It is both the most powerful and meaningless thing I've ever experienced. Because it was one of those moments where, you know, seeing everybody outside for the same.
I don't know. The last time I saw New York like that was during the pandemic.
And so in an emotional way, it was really wonderful to see everybody outside for something that wasn't morose, something that wasn't sad, something that. It was just people gathered together to look at the sky, turn dark for a moment.

Yeah.

And enjoy. wasn't morose, something that wasn't sad, something that, it was just people gathered together to look at the sky, turn dark for a moment.

Yeah.

And enjoy, like everyone, I mean like construction workers, high school kids, literally I was

riding a bicycle through New York, watching it the whole day and everyone was just standing

on the side of the road with, I don't know where they all got them all by the way.

That's, that I will say is like weird. I don't know.
Everyone in New York had eclipse glasses and I don't know where they all got them all by the way that's that i will say is like weird everyone in new york had eclipse glasses and i don't know where they got them from i don't know where i got mine it's very suspicious i think a lot of people are gonna have some long-term vision problems because nobody knows where they got their glasses but but i started reading up on everything that the eclipse has meant for humankind it's amazing Like you say, like wars. There was a war that was spoken about like back in the day.
I think it was the ancient Greeks. And they basically, they had a truce.
Because they were just like, yeah, man, even the moon and sun don't want us to fight. And then they just stopped fighting.
That's beautiful. Yeah, yeah.
That is so beautiful. And then to you earlier when you were trashing me with my poker push-ups,

if this happened back then, I could have killed you during an eclipse

and no one would have said anything, Josh.

Why wouldn't they have said anything?

Because it would have happened during an eclipse.

So that's the thing I learned.

The eclipse was the perfect time to end other people because during that period you could say you were ending it for the eclipse or because of the eclipse. So if you killed somebody during an eclipse back in the day, and then people are like, what did you do? And you're like, yo, the demon Beelzebub took over when the sun was gone.
And then you say to people, I would never, you know me. Come on, man, you know me you know me have i ever killed anyone yeah if you kill me over a comment about the poker push-ups you were waiting to kill me like the the eclipse had nothing to do with it yeah yeah yeah josh please if you haul off and choke me now oh you've been waiting no no maybe no no i don't know i just i just liked it i um i was sad that not everyone got to experience it everywhere in the world because it was just like a moment over the east coast yeah of the Texas you know sort of like the east of of you know they also didn't all look the same you see that? Like the one, the eclipse in Mexico was a little redder than ours.
That's racist, Josh. That's racist.
And I cannot believe, Josh. I cannot believe that you would take this moment.
You would use the eclipse, Josh, to further your ideas of superiority and supremacy. Josh just said, y'all ever notice how the Mexican eclipse looks a little red? Wow, Josh.
I said red or not. Wow.
I didn't say Josh Johnson. I didn't say darker.
Wow. Very problematic.
Josh Johnson. I'm just throwing it out there that everyone doesn't have the same eclipse experience.
Why? Because the eclipse in Mexico't have a job is that what you're saying josh i did not say that what are you saying josh i was just saying that i think it's beautiful that all over the world just because you're here this new york eclipse is not the same eclipse as another eclipse and another eclipse some of us josh we don't see colors in eclipse because it's blacked out. I didn't even see that it was black.
One of the worst stories, and also one of the best stories, I will preface, because it's interesting, was Christopher Columbus. He got to the Caribbean.
Him and his men landed on the shore The people at the time

Like we'll say Jamaicans for now

Like you know what I mean

Jamaicans were like

Yo what are you doing here

And he was like

Well we're coming here to do our thing

And they were like no

And they had a huge fight

And there was a bit of a war

And they were winning

And then Christopher Columbus

Remembered that the eclipse

Was about to show up in like a few days

And then he said to the Jamaicans

He was like

My God will punish all of you

Thank you. And then Christopher Columbus remembered that the eclipse was about to show up in like a few days.
And then he said to the Jamaicans, he's like, my God will punish all of you for what you have done if you don't repent. And the Jamaicans were like, what are you talking about? And then the eclipse happened and the Jamaicans were like, damn, God is on his side.
Yeah. And the rest is history.
I mean, I would do something similar just because if you go back to medieval times, the only people who could read were also people in the church. So then a lot of science also came from the church.
So there were people dabbling in both at the same time. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I would be like, ooh, God, man, look at that. He heard you owe me the 10.
Because when I taught God, listen, I told him how you owe me the 10, that you acted all big and bad bad you don't want to pay me back because you're bigger than me you're using an eclipse for ten dollars josh shillings okay probably my bad yeah yeah i didn't know this during an eclipse animals don't know what's happening right for the most part nocturnal creatures have woken up because they think it's nighttime birds shut up during this happened for real in new york by the way i was in a park birds were chirping chirping chirping and then silence doesn't that creep you guys out it is it is creepy i get so spooked out by that's why i stayed in my room i don't i don't want to be around it i just want to pretend it's not happening what do you what are you sp out by? You know, I was raised by, you know, Africans who believed that Christ rose from the dead in three days. So I just like...
Which he did. My sense of reality is not like everyone else.
I'm going to heaven. I don't know about y'all.
But like, I'm like, oh my God, I just, that kind of stuff creeps me out. My husband's going to be so embarrassed when he listens to this because he was like, you need to believe in science which i do i vaccinate my kids however eclipses creep me out like you being like the birds stop chirping they do yeah they do and animals come out of certain areas i'm like nature is far more powerful than i want it to be i hate nature that's the issue you know when you talk about it being um uh scary or any of these things.
In South Africa right now,

there's an ant,

I want to say epidemic.

If you leave anything anywhere,

you've never seen this many ants in your life.

Ever.

And when I went home recently,

I experienced this first ant.

It's like Gilligan's Island type ants.

Like they will lift you up and they will move you around.

I'm not even joking. You've never, ever, ever seen this many ants in your life, right? So everyone in South Africa has been going, why are there so many ants? What's happening? Where are the ants coming from? It seems like the devil.
Something's going crazy. You know what I mean? And then like around the world, there's been all these stories of like either animals acting strange or tides being different.
Then you had the earthquake, right? In Taiwan. And people were yeah there's earthquakes cut to new york had like a four point something earthquake and people didn't even know which way to go do you run up do you run down do you run yeah like in la because like if you're in california they tell you what to do when there's an earthquake because they're earthquake ready in New York.
People just, yeah, we built buildings high, all cocky.

Yeah. LA, because if you're in California, they tell you what to do when there's an earthquake because they're earthquake ready.
In New York, people just.

Yeah, we built buildings high, all cocky.

Yeah, but some people are saying that the world might be ending.

And I don't know.

I mean, I really hope not because things just started to go well for me.

I need at least four or five more years of Earth.

And let me see where I take this thing you one of those you one of those people if the if the world was ending and you knew for a fact

it was ending in a week would you do anything different in your life i would probably go to

england that would be it but only for a couple days and then i'd come back england is kind of

like oliver twisty right now so i wouldn't want to be there wait wait wait you're gonna go there

I love you. go to England.
That would be it. But only for a couple of days and then I'd come back.
England is kind of like Oliver Twistie right now so I wouldn't want to be there for too long. Wait, wait, wait.
You're going to go there for a few days? The world is ending in a week? Yeah, I'd go there for a few days and then keep living my life the way I've been living it. Wow.
Because I feel like I'm living the life I'm supposed to. Do you know what I mean? I'm raising my kids.
Yeah. I'm doing work.
Wait, wait, wait. You would still go go to work you would still go to work if they told you the world is ending in a week i like writing i actually like my job trevor no no no no that's that's not that's not what i'm i'm i'm with you i i think if if if i thought the world was ending in a week right i would go my girlfriend and i would go see my mom right i go hang out my mom i do a show in atlanta then i would take sally and my mom to botan and i would play poker for push-ups until i until my arms fell off really like i might have a i i i don't know if i envy you or if I feel sorry for both of you.
The world is ending in a week. There is no one you would cuss out.
There is no thing you would do. I cuss people out anyway, Trevor.
When you look like me and you just say how you feel, I'm cussing people out. Okay, that's different.
I'm YOLO about cussing people out. I'd also buy a sword.
Now this is what I'm talking about. Yeah.
What kind of sword? What type of sword? We are talking a full on saber. Wait, what are you doing with them? I'm just walking around with them, letting people know what's up.
Trevor, what would you do? Yeah. If there was a week left? Yeah.
Okay, there's a few things I would do. I would take crack.
I would take would take crack yeah that's wow take crack is what do you what do you mean that's like somebody just never done no that's the most cia thing you've ever said i would take crack i would take i would take crack this is i feel like you wait what do you do what do you do you smoke crack i can't believe you sound like the most wired up person right now. I would take crack.
You smoke crack? Yes. How's the difference is taking crack? Because you don't imagine if I was like, I'm about to partake in some alcohol.
It sounds. Josh, that's what you say every weekend when we go out.
What are you talking about? No, I've never said that. What are you talking about? Take crack.
You said I will unleash myself upon other people. If I took you somewhere right now, if I you where i grew up yeah right so we go to like the sonia quarters okay of alexandria louisiana right and if you say to the dealer i'd like to take crack we will be shot we will be shot so fast all right fine i will smoke crack thank you and smoke heroin.
No, you can't smoke heroin, but you gotta- You inject heroin. Yeah.
Trevor, I told you he's CIA. I knew this.
If I was CIA, I would know all these things. No.
I would know all of these things. You're too busy going to butan and- Okay, okay.
Look, either way. So I would do heroin.
I would do crack. I would take a shit on the sidewalk.
This is something I've always wanted to do. I just think there's some occasions where you're like going somewhere and then I hate the whole like, do you have a bathroom? Can I use your bathroom? And then they give you that giant key with the heavy thing on it and now you're at their mercy and then you have to buy something.
Do you want the code for the dog? I just think sometimes it would be nice, just like a dog, to just like find a spot, do your thing, look at people while doing it and just keep on moving. The world is ending in a week.
Remember all of this is happening. I would do that.
Yeah, that's true. Six, five, like a six, five dude, I'm gonna act like I want a high five, right? Because they love that because they think I can't, they think's like touching the rim.
So then they're going to do this,

right? And then right when they do this,

I'm going to punch them in the balls as hard as I can.

Yeah.

Yeah. And now it's my height.

Doubled over.

Oh, man. You know who is

6'5"? You could try that with

is The Rock.

You know, this is the thing. Save that thought.
thought okay because we're going to talk about him after this okay don't go anywhere because we got more what now after this so if you haven't followed the story and you've somehow managed to avoid it, so Dwayne The Rock Johnson made a special appearance at WrestleMania. He came back to compete.
He's 51 now, so it's pretty special. Came back to compete.
WrestleMania is really taxing. The last time he was there, he got badly injured.
Anyway, he goes back. It's triumphant.
It's an amazing return. But this thing gets overshadowed by the fact that the rock goes on fox news and says that he will not be endorsing joe biden right everyone goes crazy people obviously fox fans are like yeah that's it joe biden is is a screw up and you know screw him yeah and then people you know who are pro joe biden are like why would you do that to was The The Rock? You know what I mean? Okay, here's what's weird to me, a few things.
First of all, he says he's not endorsing Joe Biden. And he says he's no longer endorsing anyone.
So he's also not endorsing Donald Trump. So I don't understand why that's not a headline.
But for some people, it's an addition by subtraction. So they're like're like you endorsed joe biden and now you're not and now you're not so you're at least coming closer to me is how people okay see it i see that i see that yeah i it kind of worries it worries me a lot that people take their voting guidance from a wrestler turned actor turned turned business Businessman everything you know like guys once once donald trump once donald trump became president all bets were off sure like i'm sure i think yes i'm biased because the rock was on this podcast i am biased because i've spoken to him but i think he would be more considerate as a president than many presidents America's had.

I think that that would be incidental.

I think that if you how about this?

I don't know how to fly a plane.

So no matter the intent I have when I when I try to take off, I'm still going to kill everybody when we try to land.

So just because he's more considerate doesn't mean he's more polished, doesn't mean that he's more understanding of policy. You know? Guys, I hate the celebrification of politics.
I despise it so much. I agree with you.
I hate that people take so much guidance from, like, it drives me up the wall that people even care what he thinks about politics. Like, I really would like wrestling guidance from him, working out guidance from him, business advice from him, but I don't necessarily need his opinion on how I should vote in a school board election.
And the fact that so many people do care what The Rock thinks, very worrying. We're in a bad way, guys.
First of all, he is the people's champ. Let's start with that.
He's the champ of the people. But secondly, no, but here's where I'll give him credit he's never told anybody how to vote in fact he's done quite the opposite even in this interview he's essentially saying he's essentially saying he doesn't want to participate in politics anymore because he saw that all it did last time was basically just get him hate but i would say this is this is my thing with with that with i i have no problem with anything he said except for that because the thing about division that i think a lot of people don't understand and i'm not trying to take him specifically to task but i want to use take him to task okay i do yeah go for it he's not here what's he gonna do yeah come here he won't beat you up yeah i hope you got your saber ready you look you look The Rock.
The Rock is from Hawaii, right? Right. Okay.
So he's from Hawaii. And there are both people in terms of politicians and people in terms of corporations that want to take as much land as they can from the people of Hawaii and use it for other things and don't care what happens to the people.
I imagine he would stand against something like that, right? So when he stands against something like that, he's not causing division. Because that's what someone would say.
They'd be like, oh, we're just trying to bring jobs to Hawaii and you're over here causing division. Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah, I hear what you're saying.
And so I think him endorsing Biden, I think that like that didn't to me cause division he just said who he was voting for and to your point didn't tell anybody else who to vote for but now he's worried about causing division by just saying what it what he's doing and i and i do think that a little bit of that is worrying about the check first i don't think i don't know but i think i think i think what he's saying is he's causing division in his life. I don't think he was saying he caused division out there.
He's just causing division amongst his fans and his people and, you know? I don't think division is intrinsically a bad thing, right? It's just how we deal with division and how we deal with conflict. So I didn't...
That kind of rubbed me, that part where he's like, oh, it called division and calls, I just think those conflicts can be useful. My real issue comes back to, I do not believe in the theater of public ideas that we have.
I agree. That The Rock's opinion should hold that much weight.
It really worries me because there are like, for instance, if you are a mother that you send your kids to your local public school, if you're in an area that's deprived and you're dealing with bad roads and bad schools and, you know, bad housing, we don't care what those people think. And those people have opinions about who their elected official should be.
Right. And I think we listen to the wrong people in this country.
And it's not just unique to the US around the world. There's become this celebrity vacation of who I want to take my political opinions from an influencer on Instagram.
I don't care what that Instagram thinks about some sort of conflict. What the hell do you know? Why do you have to puppet? You know, I mean, I think we just demand this.
I feel actually bad for The Rock that we demand this of him to endorse somebody. I agree with that.
Because I don't think he knows any better than anyone and i and that's what kind of annoys me it doesn't i don't actually care who he votes for i i care that we demand somebody like that to actually say what they feel politically because i don't think they're any more sophisticated than your average person and maybe we should listen to experts that maybe be a good thing i i also i also think um and maybe maybe that this was taken or this was inspired a little bit by the eclipse i do feel like maybe just maybe we should consider the possibility that it is better for some things in society to remain impartial slash you know non-party affiliated slash i i think it might be nice for the world to just go the rock is just the rock whether you're a republican or a democrat yeah the rock is just the rock maybe it's nice to just you know share these things as people and and not have because to your point christiana if we don't want or think that these people should have an outsized influence in how people vote or don't vote then maybe there's some merits to them just being the thing that brings people together like imagine if during the eclipse at the peak of the eclipse all of a sudden the eclipse was like vote trump yeah first of all i'm voting trump i'm just gonna let you all know that it's happening yo the eclipse said it yeah yeah yeah and now i as trevor there's a part of me that'll be like what does the sun know about american politics yeah so i'm on the other side i'm actually on the i like I believe the inverse I don't think we need to depoliticize any celebrity I don't think you need to depoliticize yourself I think people need to accept that we're more than up it gets complicated that you can really like the rock it's hard as an actor it's hard but you can write him as an actor it's hard as a father and his work but you may not like his politics because it's just like that's what it is there are people who i know like politically i really agree with them but i think they're kind of bad people i don't like them i don't want to be a dinner party with them even though their politics on paper we agree completely but i'm like i actually don't think you're a decent human being and i think we need to be able to allow for that in a society where we're like okay the rock votes for so and so does it change how i feel about his work a bit but i have to accept this who he is and i think if we could live in that nuance it'd probably be a better world oh here's what okay here here's i i agree with the sentiment of what you're saying the reason i don't think we can do that is because politics fundamentally at some point

makes some people feel, whether it's real or not,

that their lives are being threatened, right?

So I think it's hard to say to people,

hey, ignore how The Rock or somebody else

is voting or has voted

when you believe that their politics

inherently threatens who you actually are.

Yes, yes.

So I'm not saying to so i'm not saying to i'm not i'm not saying to ignore it i'm not saying to ignore it yeah but i'm saying i'm saying you i'm saying you might have a you might have an ability that most human beings do not the ability to ignore or to be able to put aside how somebody has voted i i don't know how many people no i include it in the i don't put it aside i think that's i make it one of the things like the sum of the parts yeah it's part of the thing right i'm saying that's i'm saying that's special yeah yeah it's just no i don't i just think if i think if we're gonna be really human and accept the messiness of what a human being is yeah you're gonna know it's not always always going to be coherent. And I think we live in a time where people don't want to live with that incoherence or that paradox, and they want to pretend that people are just one thing.
So here's the thing. I agree.
That's why I say I agree with the sentiment completely. But growing up in South Africa was interesting and weird for me in that I got to see democracy for the first time in a country.
Not many people have lived through that experience, right? So in South Africa, in 1994, we had our first elections ever where everybody could vote. And I remember I was a child and it was the biggest thing ever.
Lines that, I mean, like it looked like the whole of South Africa was going to a Taylor Swift concert concert let's put it that way all right the biggest message was your vote is your secrets your vote is your secret and i remember i didn't understand it i was like why should your vote be a secret i mean like and it was almost agreed on all the black people were voting for the anc because this was the party that had liberated them etc but still people But still, people were like, your vote is your secret.

Your vote is your secret.

And I remember asking, it was a teacher or somebody else like,

why is your vote your secret?

And they were like, because if people know how you vote,

you may not be able to continue voting that way because they might want to kill you or threaten you.

And obviously in South Africa, we had a lot of political violence, right?

But the thing that stuck with me was just this idea

Thank you. they might want to kill you or threaten you and obviously in south africa we had a lot of political violence right but the thing that stuck with me was just this idea of how i don't i don't know it's a weird in in many ways i think of it like this politics is a lot like sex everyone has their own proclivities there may be things that you believe in politically that i don't agree with or that are strange to me.
But I think if we know all of these things about each other,

it's a lot harder for us to exist in a society where we take each other as whole human beings. It'll be very hard to look at Josh the same way when you know that he uses a saber during sex.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah, when you know I have that thing. It's like it just changes how you are with people.

And I don't know. I feel like one of the things that's hurt America is the fact that now people start conversations with their political affiliation.
Whereas before, I remember even in my lifetime, it used to be a thing where people didn't, if you said, how did you vote? They'd be like, oh, come on. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey, that's not how I. Yeah, it used to be more like sex.
Yeah, yeah. People would just.
So what position? Exactly. Oh.
Hey, hey, that's between me and my wife. Yeah.
You know, that's, I don't think that's appropriate. Yeah.
And I think there's something valuable in that. I think there's something valuable in us not knowing how every, only because, only because politics is inherently a polarizing thing.

And I think there's something valuable in living in a society where we go, I don't know how you vote.

Let's go and vote honestly in private.

And then let's see what the country and the people actually feel like.

And then we work from there.

Does that make sense?

No, it does.

It does make sense. And I think that when it comes to The Rock or any other celebrity, there's two main things at play.
One is that there's no way word for it, but it's basically we want every great athlete to be Muhammad Ali. Because Muhammad Ali took everything that he had as far as like clout, as far as fame and everything.
And he put it towards things that he believed in and he gave speeches and he happened to be a great orator and he happened to be well well read so it's like we kind of got everything all at once but then you turn to the next boxer next to him right so second best boxer in the world and he's like i punch that's really all i do right and that was that was okay at that time like muhammad ali was doing all these big things that were outside the arena of sport yeah and other other boxers were just sport right but i think that now and i mean i'm kind of coming down on on myself and just the whole country we don't love to like read or find these people so then it's kind of easier to package them in people we are already watching like you're already watching wrestlemania more than you're watching a debate about israel palestine with with two people who are experts and on the history and the politics so then if the rock says something about israel palestine you're more inclined to listen because already watching him. I hear what you're saying, but I think what we should never take for granted is the power of embodiments.
This is a man who has come from nothing, has worked really hard physically and mentally, and he's brought people together and he exists in different worlds. And he is also a biracial human being who's combined, you know, America, but then also this Samoan heritage.
And it's all these things. Do you know what I mean? So there's all these pieces that sort of come together.
And I think that embodiment makes people go, that is what we want our country to represent. Like one of the weirdest thoughts I've had is I've gone, I sometimes feel like America could do with a royal family as well.
Like America should actually get a royal family. Because I sometimes think what happens in America is America's looking for the embodiment of what America is.
And they're putting that on the president. But that job is really just supposed to be like an administrative role.
You're the regional manager and you manage a region called America. Yeah, yeah.
I think the royal family and this idea of embodiment is a good one because I think as much as embodiment, I think there is a certain type of American and a certain type of Brit who needs a public figure that makes them feel like the country is harmonious. Yes.
And the royal family is a great example because when I really, really think about the royal family and the fact that I speak with this accent, it's a result of trauma and pain. You came to West Africa and you plundered it.
You created Nigeria. You raped it and you put your face on our money.
And then the country is in such a bad state. My grandparents and people like my grandparents and parents had to move to a different country.
Right. And my, when my parents were born, they were born under colonial rule.
This was, they were born before Nigeria had become independent. So for some British people who can sing Royal Batania and you can sing God save the queen.
And now God save the king. when they see the royal family, they do see that embodiment.
They see that fantasy of harmony. But underneath it, underneath these symbols, wherever they are, whether it's the rock or the royal family or a president, there's always something darker there.
Even the rock, he may not show us his darkness, but there is an inherent conflict in him. But people want this fantasy of embodiment and harmony and i think the rock is actually the perfect example because him saying do you know i'm gonna shut up that does embody what a lot of america is doing right now where they're like i'm just gonna keep what i really think to myself rather than be able to live in the discomfort and have the messy conversations okay Okay, so let me ask you both that question then.
Do you think that the idea of cancel culture slash wokeness, I mean, let's just use these terms loosely and throw them around, because we can debate forever about, I mean, I have my thoughts, you have your thoughts, et cetera. But do you think there could be some merit to maybe having like a, I know this sounds weird, but maybe like an amnesty where we say like everyone can say what they want, like a purge.
Everyone can say what they want for one day, maybe let's say like every two months or every three months we hold nothing against you but you

can come out and say it and because then maybe there's like a release valve because it seems like people might vote a lot louder than they speak and that could be causing a bit of a problem because it surprises you when it happens okay i'll pitch you that that thing already exists and exists all the time and it goes by anonymity on the internet. I think that people are consistently voicing everything that they think behind an avatar.

like I don't think that there's this story that we tell ourselves

so we don't have to feel as bad later

that the internet got us

all riled up and made us do whatever

this person as far as cancellation

whatever it is

I think that by and large everyone already felt that way and then they just let it out so i i agree and i disagree i think the internet creates an environment where people are prone to let out a part of what they think but it is not them and it is how they fully think. I think there are a lot of people on the internet who say things just because it's what's happening and people are going crazy.
There is a part of you that is caught up in the moment that isn't a representation of all of you, whether it's a collective fear, whether it's a collective anger, whether it's a collective joy. Sometimes 100,000 people are storming and they're terrified and you're there and you're like, I'm also terrified, but you weren't really as afraid as maybe you would have been on your own.
Does that make sense? Yes. And I think what the internet has done is it's created an environment where people express a part of themselves that is welcomed by the group and the mob and then what happens is because of the internet and because of the platform and the way it looks we are only exposed to that in a collective yeah half the people who are like racist on the internet and i know this is a strong thing to say i think half of those people aren't even like real life racist like they just found a place where they can go out and say something that'll hurt someone and then they they sort of get to put it away i'm in between both of you actually yeah um i think there's something to josh saying that the internet brings stuff out of you i think trevor to your like thought experiment of that day where you can say whatever you want it's actually very hard in person to say something really degrading to a stranger.
Even if you're going to say a bad thing, you're not going to say the worst thing as you would online. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree with you.
And I think there is something to like that in-between phase of like radical honesty. But when you do it in person, I think you're more careful because then you're just seeing the person's physical reaction.
And like most people aren't sociopaths. If you see that you've said something that's hurt someone, you're going to react to it and it changes the whole interaction.
Whereas when you're on online and you're just being super rude and it's your lowest self, you don't actually have to see the person on the other side of the screen. So to merge your ideas, I think there should be a day where we can be radically transparent and honest about our politics but you have to do it across from the table with someone i like and sit in their reaction and from there that's where it gets interesting everybody should say how they really feel in punching distance i like this we should we should create this we create a safe environment where once let's start with once a year yeah pilot program yeah we bring everybody together so we bring those people to the rock face to face and we're like here he is here is duane speak to him tell him how you feel about him and his his politics and his endorsements mr rock mr rock i may have said some things in the past that uh yeah Yeah, we just put people face to face and then we see what happens.

Yeah, yeah.

Everyone, say what you're going to say to people's faces.

Online, let's just be nice.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

And if you see the rock and you want to tell him some shit, make sure that you're within punching distance.

Yeah, yeah.

Absolutely.

And his punching distance is

quite far, so I will probably

cheat and take an extra step back.

Well, it was fun chatting to you guys.

Yeah, great to see you, man. I want to go to

Bhutan now, Trevor. I'm jealous.

I want to go to the monastery and meet the monastery.

They don't allow women there. Alright, well, it's been fun

chatting to you all. Let's have a

fantastic time this week bury the lead baby no i'm joking i'm joking i just wanted i just wanted to throw a grenade into your world before i said goodbye i was just like what is the one thing i could say to you that would spoil this image yeah you know me too well you know me too well. Yeah.
You know me too well. What Now with Trevor Noah is produced by Spotify Studios in partnership with Day Zero Productions and Fullwell 73.
The show is executive produced by Trevor Noah, Ben Winston, Sanaz Yamin and Jody Avigan. Our senior producer is Jess Hackl.
Marina Henke is our producer.

Music, mixing, and mastering by Hannes Brown.

Thank you so much for listening.

Join me next Thursday for another episode of What Now?