← Boiling Point
Boiling Point
Climate Change Is No Joke. Or Is It?
00:31:07
Comedian Esteban Gast talks with Sammy about using humor to alleviate climate anxiety, while making clean energy and other environmental solutions more interesting — and even fun. From punchlines to policy, they explore laughter as a powerful tool for change.
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- [00:01]
Esteban Gast
This is an LA Times Studios podcast.
- [00:07]
Sami Roth
If you don't think climate change is funny, you probably haven't met Esteban Gast. Gast lives in Los Angeles and he's the comedian in residence at Generation 180, a clean energy advocacy group. Basically, he tells jokes about climate change. I know it sounds crazy, but you have got to hear some of his stuff. Listen, check this out.
- [00:28]
Esteban Gast
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act. The next one is Inflation Reduction Act. And you're like, I love how priorities have shifted. I love that they were, like, trying to sell it. And they're like, should we save the earth? And people were like, ah, too partisan. And they're like, should eggs cost less? And they're like, pass it. And that's get in there.
- [00:50]
Sami Roth
The first time I heard Esteban was at a show last year in Santa Monica. I could not stop laughing. I was writing a story about climate comed, and my friends and family kept telling me they thought I was nuts because the climate crisis is depressing, right? Heat waves, fires, storms, air pollution. Why would anyone joke about that? Hopefully, now that you've heard a little bit from Esteban, it's starting to make sense. The basic idea is that we need humor to help us cope, to deal with our anxiety. Who doesn't need a good laugh when times get tough? And beyond that, comedy can be an important educational tool. There's research finding that people are more likely to engage complicated information and to actually remember it if they're introduced to it through humor, rather than, say, through a news article. My name is Sami Roth, and I'm the climate columnist for the Los Angeles Times. And look, as much as I enjoy my job, and as much as I know that it's important, I also know that if we're going to confront the climate crisis, journalism isn't enough. We need other kinds of storytelling, too. And that is why I'm so glad that Esteban is joining us on this week's podcast. He's on the vanguard of a growing movement of climate comedians. They use jokes to help people understand what's happening to the planet and what we can all do about it. And honestly, with everything going on in the world right now, I figured we could use some humor. Esteban Gast, thank you very much for being with us on the Boiling Point podcast.
- [02:24]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, thanks for having me.
- [02:25]
Sami Roth
I would just love it if maybe you could tell people a little bit about how you started telling jokes about climate change. Where the heck did that come from?
- [02:32]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, I think for a lot of my life, it was a very different part. I kind of have a strange career where I was like, a teacher for a little. And I ran a study abroad program. It was actually a study abroad program in this, like, eco community. So climate was infused there. And then on the side, I was doing standup comedy or I was writing scripts or whatever. I don't know actually what happened. I wish there was, like, an epiphany moment that would make a better story. As a storyteller, I'm like, admittedly, this is bad story, but I just slowly was like, wait a minute. These two parts of myself, this, like, part that really cares a lot about climate and is doing stuff in that world and is, like, spending weekends volunteering. You know, like, if Saturday morning I'm volunteering or plugged into something and Saturday night I'm at a comedy club and I'm totally disconnected from that morning, then that actually, one, is not good comedy, and two, that isn't a good way to make a difference in the world.
- [03:29]
Sami Roth
Right? Why are you not bringing your full self to your comedy? It'll be truer. You'll be funnier.
- [03:34]
Esteban Gast
Also, what's happened since then is people have been like, wow, you're telling really specific jokes. We actually want you on these shows or in these formats. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. This whole time I was not saying certain jokes, thinking I have to behave in a certain way, right? Like, I have to behave in this comedy club culture. And then I start being myself, and people are like, that's actually really good. Do you want to do more jokes?
- [03:57]
Sami Roth
The fact that you had that interest from pretty early on in your life in environmental issues and activism, did that come from anywhere in particular?
- [04:05]
Esteban Gast
I think my dad is the big one. My dad was and continues to be a really big environmentalist. He, like, reads textbooks for fun. You know what I mean? And he. He's the best. And he was. He was in early on the planet, you know, he was like, hey, we should take care of this thing. But he got a PhD in fluid dynamics, which is. He studied how water droplets come apart.
- [04:27]
Sami Roth
I didn't know that was a thing you could get a PhD in. That's awesome.
- [04:30]
Esteban Gast
Sometimes when we're out to dinner, someone will give him a glass of water, and he's like, work follows me everywhere. Get away from this.
- [04:36]
Sami Roth
That's like advanced dad humor. That's Ph.D. dad humor.
- [04:39]
Esteban Gast
That's PhD dad humor. Totally. Yeah. So I think my dad was someone who, like, we watched An Inconvenient Truth together. He was always thinking about the Climate lens. And my parents are Colombian, so my parents immigrated. I mean, that's also why, right. Like, Colombia is amazing. I think for my parents to immigrate from somewhere with such natural beauty, you're just connected to the natural world in a particular way. And I think also the migrant experience. I think both my parents, my mom and my dad were very activist minded. There was a lot of thinking about how we could do good in the world at the kitchen table. And my dad's particular lens through that was climate. So he was like, climate touches everything, right? So when I'm here passionately being like, oh, my gosh, this is the gift of an issue that touches everything. We've been handed a gift that everything we do intersects with this. I'm just saying that thing that my.
- [05:42]
Sami Roth
Dad told me, he must be so proud.
- [05:45]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, I think he is. Yeah.
- [05:47]
Sami Roth
Have you worked him into your routines?
- [05:49]
Esteban Gast
Oh, yeah. My mom, I know we're talking about my dad, but my mom, one of the first times she came and saw me do standup, it was I had so many mother jokes. Because my mom is also a brilliant woman, but just hilarious if you met her, like, she just is. And sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, the funniest woman you've ever met. And I was early in Stand up, so I was like, what do I write jokes about? And I was like, my mom is just so funny. So I literally did like 30 minutes of comedy. Okay. This was the first big show I ever did, which is like, a few years in. It's a big deal. 30 minutes is a lot. And it was probably 27 minutes of my mom, honestly, me lovingly poking fun at my mom. And this was my first time. My parents afterwards were like, what? And my mom was like, which is the funniest. Her genuine reaction was so funny. She goes, I. She's Colombian, so I'm gonna do an accent, I promise. It's culturally sensitive. My name's Esteban Jorge Gascoy Espinedo. So I can do this. My mom comes up and she goes, I, you have to give me all the money you get from comedy, because I am basically your comedy.
- [06:57]
Sami Roth
Well, one of the reasons that going to your show and hearing the other climate comedians who you were doing this work with resonated with me. It's like, as someone who writes about this, like, I need to laugh about this stuff. Like, oh, my God. I mean, you need to have an outlet. And I don't know if you felt that too, but I feel it. And I think a lot of people who, I mean one, people who work on it for a living and think about it all the time, but also people who just don't want to go anywhere near it because they're overwhelmed. Like, you need an outlet.
- [07:21]
Esteban Gast
Totally. I mean, since then. So that was maybe three or four years ago that I started really integrating, let's say, my full self. Right. So Climate Esteban activisti Esteban with entertainer Esteban every. It's merged beautifully like the Power Rangers and it was very exciting. And then. And then, since then, I still have this educator background and toolkit. So I like with the folks at Generation 180, this amazing nonprofit. Shout out.
- [07:46]
Sami Roth
You're the comedian in residence.
- [07:48]
Esteban Gast
The comedian in residence, which is a heck of a LinkedIn.
- [07:51]
Sami Roth
I'm sure that's a title, Comedian in residence. That is a term that I have not heard before and would not have thought existed.
- [07:56]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, yeah, it's good. It's good to create roles that didn't exist before.
- [08:02]
Sami Roth
So what does that mean right now?
- [08:03]
Esteban Gast
What it means is I run programs to help plug creatives into the climate movement. So there's a thing called Climate comedy cohort. That's Gen180. That's actually with American University, has a Center for Media and Social impact. So those are partners. We have professional comedians. They come in, they learn about the climate movement, they make a bunch of climate jokes and content. We've worked with Comedy Central on that. Right. So we're reaching unlikely audiences there. We've worked with Adam McKay's folks, Yellow Dog.
- [08:30]
Sami Roth
Adam McKay Director of Don't look up the Meteor as Metaphor for Climate Movie.
- [08:34]
Esteban Gast
Yeah.
- [08:34]
Sami Roth
So you're writers and comedians working together to train each other, basically.
- [08:37]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, exactly. And it's like the philosophy of change that I really believe in, which is.
- [08:41]
Sami Roth
Like peer to peer scientists and comedians. Excuse me, climate people and comedians.
- [08:46]
Esteban Gast
It's scientists come in to experts, but then comedians also building community. Because comedians need to trust that they can make climate jokes, that it can be funny, that it can connect with audiences. So a lot of the magic is comedians interacting with themselves and punching up almost like writer's room style, like taking a joke and making it stronger and stronger and stronger and then sharing that with the crowd, with the audience. So then. So that's Climate Comedy Cohort and then recently started a program called Climate Cultura, which is for Latin American creatives. So I think what I'm doing now, accidentally or intentionally, especially with the folks at Gen180 who really support this work and are finding also like they're finding unlikely ambassadors. That's one of the things that really drew me to them as an organization. So you would love this. You're a sports guy, You're a baseball guy.
- [09:31]
Sami Roth
I'm wearing my Dodgers sweatshirt right now.
- [09:33]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, it's too relevant. But they partnered with sports announcers to have some climate methods, messaging with them and like, thinking of who are these people who have influence, who are really good storytellers, who can communicate well. Right. So to me, comedians are under that list. I mean, honestly, all artists are under that list. And I love. I'm not involved at all. But generation 180 has done a bunch of stuff with sports announcers. And I'm like, oh, that theory of change aligns with the theory of change that I personally have. So comedian resonance right now just means run a bunch of creative programs and get people to make interesting art. Maybe some of it's silly, but largely just make art around the climate crisis.
- [10:12]
Sami Roth
I love the sports announcer thing in particular because I've been writing recently. There is so much relevance of climate change to sports in terms of wildfire, smoke and heat waves and melting snow affecting the actual playing of professional sports. And if announcers could talk about that stuff and not be didactic and give lectures to fans. Cause no one wants to hear that. I don't even wanna necessarily hear that. But if you could at least, like, acknowledge that that's happening and frankly, in the way that you do in your comedy. One of the things I enjoyed most about the show that I saw that you did in Santa Monica and some of the other clips that I've heard from you, it's like you're not giving people lectures, but you're making jokes about the inflation Reduction act and reminding people in comedy shows who might not normally be thinking about the IRA in their daily lives that this is a thing that exists and talk about how you do that. Cause it's super fun.
- [10:56]
Esteban Gast
Yeah. Thanks so much. I think comedy has always played a role in helping us understand the world around us. Right. So some of my favorite comedians and some of the most legendary comedians of all time have really grappled with enormous topics. If it's right, if it's like Dick Gregory or Chris Rock on racism, if it's, you know, George Carlin on capitalism or everything, he's talking about the American experience. Or if it's. If it's. Marc Maron had a beautiful special about his longtime partner passing away. And it's, like, about death and grief. So Kameny is always so. I often look to what really good comedians are doing and how they're breaking down other topics and complex issues and, you know, sometimes issues that don't immediately seem funny, right? Like the death of a loved one does not seem funny. And then you sit there and you're like, oh, my gosh. But the human experience is so silly and contradictory and frustrating that even in moments of grief, even in moments of sadness, even in moments of hurt, there's like a lot of humor there because that just. That simply is the human experience. And I think to bring that to climate is the exact same skills. So it. It is. I look at a climate joke, writing a climate joke the way I would any joke, where I'm like, okay, what is the experience that I'm going through? What are emotions that happen? What's kind of relatable? How do I get people to come with me on the ride? And that probably means starting more general and then getting more and more specific. But if I start and say, hey, guys, I've got some jokes about the inflation reduction, I know you're gonna.
- [12:30]
Sami Roth
People are gonna walk around.
- [12:31]
Esteban Gast
People are be like, what's happening? So I think trying to, like, frame a lot of these climate things, especially if we're talking about climate winds or climate hope, which I think I'm also very, very conscious about, of, like, I'm just so over the jokes that are like, we're all gonna die. And I had a joke, I think, at the show that you were at that I'm like, were you, like, immortal before ice caps? Like, what do you mean? Have you heard someone like, what are we going to do about climate? We're all going to die. And you're like, yeah, to be human is to be mortal. You know, like, were you immortal before the ice cap started melting? Like, what do you mean we're going to die?
- [13:08]
Sami Roth
I think that's how I ended the piece with that quote that you had. I think it was very well said.
- [13:12]
Esteban Gast
So there's also a bit of that, which I think is important in framing it, but I'm framing it and I'm following it in the way that you would. You would. Any good joke, right? So if I'm trying to tell you a risky joke about death, I also can't start and be like, you know, there's something nice about death. Like, I can't. You'd be like, oh, my gosh, this guy's a lunatic. But if I come in and I go, man, even like, you know, there's a lot of paperwork when someone you love past it and you're like doing paperwork, which sometimes is even worse than grappling with the loss of someone. Like, you know what I hate more than missing my friend who's passed. And you're like setting up these comparisons and these like pointing out all these little things that happen.
- [13:54]
Sami Roth
You've gone and done this type of routine all over the place. As I understand what have been the responses and I'm curious how they've varied as you've traveled all over the country.
- [14:04]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, two things. Number one is part of the climate comedy core and part of what I think it's important to build artist movements to talk about this is because what I have seen is people, different comedians with totally different approaches can reach so many more crowds. So I think like my thought now is of course I, Estevan, can travel and do comedy and reach a certain demographic and think about how to position it for that. But working with a comedian and empowering them to make jokes themselves is like, I'm like, oh, that impact is tenfold. So I think that's one of the things that I'm thinking which sort of answers your question, but it maybe answers a different question, but is like, oh.
- [14:50]
Sami Roth
Man, who is the right messenger for this?
- [14:53]
Esteban Gast
Who's the right messenger? And you know, and like, yeah, there's amazing comedians living in Nashville, Tennessee that are, you know, I joke that they're climate curious, they've heard about this thing, they want to learn more and they need a, they need an invitation into the climate movement. I think that's something I feel really passionate about as much as I consider myself, you know, I mean, it's always embarrassing when a comedian says artist, but as much as I consider myself an.
- [15:18]
Sami Roth
Artist, if it helps, I consider you an artist.
- [15:20]
Esteban Gast
That's fine.
- [15:21]
Sami Roth
I hope that affirms you.
- [15:22]
Esteban Gast
Thank you. Thank you. Part of. Yeah, as much as Sammy Roth considers me an artist, I think also with that, as I'm going through this, it's also this, I don't know what it would be called an educator or activist in this role of being, like, great, I can go to Lincoln, Nebraska and I have, and I love, by the way, love Lincoln, Nebraska. It was such a charming town. Omaha, also, all of Nebraska. This has just turned into me loving Nebraska.
- [15:46]
Sami Roth
Go on.
- [15:46]
Esteban Gast
But there I can do comedy and there I can sneak in climate messaging in a way that I feel comfortable, right. I bust some myths, I introduce some ideas, I go, great. I did a 45 minute set of that, 15 minutes, dabbled around this. I have some facts like BP, you know, created the personal carbon footprint that people, it blows their minds. And we talk about that. And I literally on stage a lot of times I'm like, google this. Google this. So I hope I've made a little.
- [16:15]
Sami Roth
Bit of a bp, the oil company, by the way, not this famous podcast boiling point that everyone is listening to, just for the record.
- [16:20]
Esteban Gast
But, yes, can you imagine? You just needed something to report on. You're like, I'm going to create my own scandal so that I've done that, and I love doing that. And I hope to do that more frankly. And if I'm super honest, it's like, I hope to do that in front of larger crowds and larger audiences. And what I've seen is just as important is tap into these local comedy scenes and local creative art scenes and like, genuinely invite them in to the climate movement. And genuine invitation is difficult because you have to acknowledge they're imperfect messengers. You have to acknowledge they probably don't have a lot of the education. They probably haven't read the books that you and I have. They might not even listen to this podcast, right? Like, they're at this different point.
- [17:01]
Sami Roth
And I think they definitely don't listen to this podcast. How dare you. Well, one of the reasons I asked that question is just, I mean, I've written one about film and television and representing climate in Hollywood. And one of the things that I've heard consistently from people who are trying to educate the entertainment industry about this is that they talk to writers, even in really liberal, progressive spheres. And a lot of the feedback is, well, you know, of course I care about climate. Of course I'd love to represent this more, but I don't feel well equipped for that, or I don't feel like it's my place, or I feel like I might get blowback for it. There are a lot of obstacles to getting these messages out there and to getting people feel comfortable with telling these messages, even when. When there's all sorts of evidence. Most people believe this stuff already. Most people are open to it. There's no real reason to think there's going to be economic consequences for doing it. And then even in my own industry, in journalism, most journalists get it. Most journalists have a pretty decent understanding of the science, but for one reason or another, it's like I have these conversations with other journalists all the time. It's like climate change doesn't show up in a lot of stories where I think it should show up. And it's either, you know, it's just. It's not the thing that's front of their mind. It's, you know, they're writing a story that they don't see as a climate story or they're writing a story where they don't feel necessarily well versed enough in the science to get into it, even though it's not necessarily that complicated. There's a lot of, you know, education and a lot of just collaboration that's needed to get people to the point. And so it's. What you're saying makes a lot of sense to me.
- [18:27]
Esteban Gast
I think that's even what your reflection there to me, to me, the problem to solve and it has to be community led and bottom up led. But it's like, okay, some of these people don't feel well versed. Okay, well then what gets someone well versed? I think it's gotta be this like, bottom up where you go, I'm figuring this out with you. Hey, here's a space to ask any dumb questions you want. Right. Like, I think we're very thoughtful with the programs that were running at Gen180 and elsewhere, right. I think a lot of folks are doing this well, but it's like so many comedians want to do this. I mean, and comedians have an immense influence, right. We're seeing someone sitting as the presiden who was like, largely normalized by comedians on podcasts. Right? So it's like we know that comedians can communicate messages and platform ideas in people in a remarkably successful way.
- [19:18]
Sami Roth
Yeah. Can we get you on Joe Rogan?
- [19:20]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, that's what, that's really hard.
- [19:24]
Sami Roth
That's like the joke, like, oh, just go on Joe Rogan and it'll save everything. But seriously, let's get you on Joe Rogan to.
- [19:28]
Esteban Gast
We're going to have Joe Rogan be part of the climate comedy. Go horror. We're going to be here and we're going to be like. And honestly, this is not even a bit, but like, if Joe felt safe enough to be like, I want to be like, do you have questions? We'll answer your questions, feel safe to ask. And none of it is judgy. And I think there's a very interesting thing of like, Joe Rogan's reacting the way he's reacting because of course he doesn't understand. That's very easy to call out. And also because I think there's a he has not found, which is ironic because he's like snowflake, snowflake. But he hasn't found a safe place to express and to understand. And I think that's.
- [20:02]
Sami Roth
Damn, that's Deep since you brought up Trump. And I want the record to show that you did and not me. But that's the perfect lead in for the question I want to ask. One of the reasons why I specifically was thinking I want to talk to Esteban right now is I was just, I was so curious because we talked, I think it was last May after I went to your show. And I was just thinking, gee, with everything that's been going on lately with Trump, and I mean everything with democracy, but especially with all the rollbacks of climate rules and clean energy funding, how have you been dealing with that? What's your response and reaction been like knowing that you do what you do?
- [20:38]
Esteban Gast
Yeah. A lot of yelling into pillows, which I think, I don't know if that's a comedy thing.
- [20:44]
Sami Roth
I mean, it sounds funny. Yeah, I mean, sorry, no offense, it.
- [20:47]
Esteban Gast
Sounds kind of funny, yelling and punching into pillows. No, I, I think, man, I mean, it's really, it's not ideal. Yeah, I'll say it, It's a bit of a bad boy of the comedy world. I'll say that this current administration is not ideal.
- [21:03]
Sami Roth
Hot take you got there.
- [21:04]
Esteban Gast
Yeah. And listen, if you gotta censor this, I understand. No, I think one, it shows that we need to rethink climate messaging. It makes the work that I feel like doing and the folks at Gen180 are doing and some of the partners we work with, like Hollywood Climate Summit or American University center for Media Social Impact, like the climate movement. Here's a good example. My dad's the greatest. My dad, he understands parts per million. He loves it. He goes and he gets water from the Chicago river and test like he's in. And I love that. And part of me is like, we also need messaging that isn't directly targeted to Dr. Louis Gast, a 71 year old PhD. And I know so many people are doing that and I don't mean to be crude, but I think the climate movement has missed out. Like, but it's not a coincidence that the person who's largely leading the dismantling of everything that we've known to be good is a former green entrepreneur. Right. Or a current green entrepreneur in Elon.
- [22:06]
Sami Roth
Musk you're talking about.
- [22:06]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, right. So it's like, okay, great. So climate is. Climate is the easiest layup you can talk about. You can speak partisan if you want. You can say energy independence. Why are we going overseas and getting a. We should be here. We can talk about jobs, we can talk about the economy. Right. So many jobs. We can talk about the economy. We can talk about keeping business here, you can talk about it again. On the other side of the spectrum, you can talk about beautiful working with the land and in unison. And your soul and the tree are one. Like climate is such a beautiful layup of communication because it truly touches everything. If you are a baker and you bake bread, there's climate, right? If you anything, right, it's like farmers are being affected. Farmers voted for someone who is actively impacting their crops.
- [22:51]
Sami Roth
You've got a lot of farmers in the Midwest right now who are freaking out about some of the funding stuff that Trump is doing and the USDA actions and the tariffs and the USAID stuff too.
- [23:01]
Esteban Gast
And so I look at that and I go, as someone who's trying to both tell climate stories and empower others to tell climate stories, especially unlikely people, I go, where the why haven't we had a farmer, like a bunch of farmers get together and talk about this and people are doing that, right? With regenerative agriculture and kiss the ground. But I just think that so much of the climate world, like climate messaging, just needs to be expanded. We need to genuinely invite people. And it is the few things that touches everything, every part of our day, the clothes we are wearing, the food we are eating. Like, if that is not a call for people to think differently, to maybe acknowledge that the way that we've done climate messaging and the ambassadors that we've had out there are wonderful, but they've reached a certain type of person. My dad went to see in theaters An Inconvenient Truth. That's good. That's very exciting. And we need other people that are not my incredible father to show up to something exciting, to a cultural event that is around climate.
- [24:08]
Sami Roth
It could be around to go back to your favorite joke, egg prices.
- [24:11]
Esteban Gast
It could be about egg prices. Why do you think egg prices are going up? Who's involved in that? What do chickens need? A hospitable planet, perhaps.
- [24:21]
Sami Roth
So I think perhaps, perhaps one might.
- [24:23]
Esteban Gast
I'm not a chicken expert. So I think, I look at Trump and I go, just because I have to, to not scream all night. But I go, this is an invitation for the climate world that I'm so grateful to be a part of, to really understand that we need to rethink from the ground up the climate. But the messaging and the approach, and I think the approach is bottom up. I think it is community led. I think it's farmers talking to farmers. I think it's comedians talking to comedians. It is allowing spaces. There's so many myths allowing spaces to ask dumb questions. I think it's embracing anyone who's trying and is imperfect and it'll be messy and it might make people uncomfortable, but we need that, right? Like there's comedians who make jokes in our program that I understand some of our nonprofit sponsors are like, that's a sex, pretty sexual joke. That's a, you know. And I'm like, yeah. And do you know what else? Like, people who like that joke and understand that joke are not being reached right now. What have you been?
- [25:25]
Sami Roth
I mean, tell me, I'm so curious. Cause I mean, have you been workshopping anything or have you figured out how you're gonna tell jokes about what's happening right now? What's your strategy?
- [25:32]
Esteban Gast
Yeah, I am. There's larger versions of the community building education programs I'm doing with Gen180 and then one of the really fun story telling hook's like chat showy silliness is with Yellow Dot, which is Adam McKay's who did don't look up nonprofit and then doing my, honestly, my own stuff. There's also that. There's also of like if people are nervous to write because I've largely been in the tradition, so I've like helped to rewrite movies in different capacities like on TV and things like that. And I have recognized that something I've done is largely just wait for gatekeepers. And I'm like, man, I look at Raleigh Williams who does Climate Town and he's a friend in a really big. It's an incredible YouTube channel and series. If you haven't seen it, you will love it, especially if you listen to this podcast. But I look at that and I'm like, what am I doing? I've spent all these years going to these studios, begging them for an opportunity to tell a climate story. And I need to start doing that. There's a level of. There's a level of urgency that makes you realize how silly gatekeepers are. And I think post this new administration, I'm feeling that myself.
- [26:42]
Sami Roth
Anything in particular on your mind, joke wise? New material you're thinking about these days?
- [26:47]
Esteban Gast
Yeah. You and I are both in la and as we know and everyone knows, recently there were the LA fires.
- [26:54]
Sami Roth
Couldn't miss those.
- [26:55]
Esteban Gast
That were, yeah, absolutely devastating. I mean, two of my best friends lost their homes in. So this was Tuesday the fires happened and Friday they were actually staying with us. These are folks who lost their homes, lost everything. And I had a comedy show on Friday and I was like, guys, I'm obviously Not gonna go. And they were like, no, you should actually go. And I go to the comedy show, it was sold out, and there was a line at the door to get in, and they were trying to let everyone in, right? The producers were like, oh, my gosh, this is unbelievable. They're trying to get everyone in. And it was so healing, so unbelievable. I, like, went up. Literally, I went up in my. There was not. This is not even a joke, but I went up and I went, this is weird. And people were just laughing and they were all about it. And I think this is such a good example. People are like, how do you make jokes about something so devastating? And it's. Comedy rules, right? It's like, don't. Like, we're punching up, we're thinking, we're being thoughtful. We're like, what is the joke here? No one. What do I want the feeling of the joke to be? So I'll tell you, one of the things that I sort of riffed in the MO that I am now doing that I think is, you'll see is, like, actually a joke about how LA is really amazing. But I was saying the joke, and I'm still sort of working on it, but it's like. It's like after the LA fires, everyone was making these statements. These brands were, like, making statements. And usually in, you know, the statements are like, we're devastated by the fires. But LA is filled with so many brilliant writers and creatives that like these unexpected places. Like, I'm like, wait, did the dispensary down the street just quote Joan Didion? Like, this is an unbelievable. I'm like, LA is the greatest city ever where just. It's so creative and it's so filled with life and poetry that you can't even. You can't even release like a. We are satin by the fires without me being like, this is gorgeous. And it is from Sweaty Pete's Crab Shack. And I'm so grateful for that. So that's. I'm. I'm thinking about how to, especially when I'm traveling, acknowledge I'm from la, talk about wildfires, and also be like, oh, yeah. At the end of the day, this is a joke that helps us process what happened and is uplifting the spirit of la. So that's a little bit of a thing I'm thinking about now and, like, how to expand that and how to talk about that.
- [29:12]
Sami Roth
Beautiful. Beautiful.
- [29:14]
Esteban Gast
Yeah.
- [29:15]
Sami Roth
Esteban, thank you. Thank you for being with us on the Boiling Point podcast. Keep at it, man.
- [29:21]
Esteban Gast
Thanks so much, Sammy. And just yeah, this is the other bp, which I'm glad I signed up for.
- [29:25]
Sami Roth
Yes. Not the one. Not the one with the carbon footprint thing.
- [29:28]
Esteban Gast
Thanks, Sammy. Darren woods, the CEO of Exxon, has unlimited margaritas and he wants more. He's never looked at a menu price in his life and he wants more. More what? I know people are shaming them and like, extinction, rebellion, like a bunch of really great groups are shame, but I think we need to do everything. I think people should shame them. But I also think we got a good cop, bad cop then, you know what I mean? Like, I think if I see Darren Woods, I just want to be like, hey, man, I want you to know you're enough. Like, I want you to know you. You don't have to prove anything to. And maybe that works. Maybe he's like, one long hug away from being like, what am I doing? I just think one hug.
- [30:18]
Sami Roth
Thank you for listening to Boiling Point. I'm your host, Sammy Roth. My producers are Mary Knoff and Jonathan Shiflett. Sound design and original music by Jonathan Shiflet. Elijah Wolfson is our editor. Denise Callahan is our studio manager. Ben Church is our production manager. Nick Norton is our engineer. Special thanks to LA Times Studio president, Anna Magzanian, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Times, Chris Argentieri, and executive editor of the Los Angeles Times, Terry Tang. Boiling Point is executive produced by Darius Dereck Shon and created by me, Sammy Roth SA.