Overtime – Episode #682: Jesse Eisenberg, Stephen A. Smith, Rep. Ro Khanna

Summary

Real Time with Bill Maher: Detailed Summary of Episode #682 Featuring Jesse Eisenberg, Stephen A. Smith, and Rep. Ro Khanna

Release Date: January 28, 2025
Guests: Jesse Eisenberg, Stephen A. Smith, Rep. Ro Khanna

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Introduction and Opening Remarks

Bill Maher opens the episode with a humorous anecdote about his father's enthusiasm for B2B marketing and calculating return on ad spend (ROAS), setting a lighthearted tone for the discussion. Stephen A. Smith chimes in with a joke about LinkedIn credits, further establishing a playful atmosphere.

Notable Quote:
Bill Maher (00:00): "My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career Day and said he was a big Roas man."

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Elon Musk's Penny Elimination Proposal

The panel delves into Elon Musk's initiative to eliminate the penny to reduce federal spending. This sparks a debate on the practicality and implications of such a move.

Bill Maher criticizes the continued production of pennies, highlighting the cost inefficiency.

Notable Quote:
Bill Maher (01:25): "It's so stupid that we still make pennies. And of course, of course costs way more to make a penny."

Ro Khanna expresses support for the proposal, linking it to broader budgetary cuts and advocating for bipartisan collaboration.

Notable Quote:
Ro Khanna (01:32): "I'm for it. I've said, look, if he has cuts on pennies, nickels, the bloated defense budget with five prime contractors, fine, let's work with him to do that."

Stephen A. Smith emphasizes the importance of evaluating Musk's ideas on their merit rather than dismissing them due to political differences.

Notable Quote:
Stephen A. Smith (02:02): "Let's find out what he's talking about and let's see if it works. If it's beneficial for us, we can decide whether it works or not."

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Jesse Eisenberg on His Latest Film: A Real Pain

Bill Maher shifts the conversation to Jesse Eisenberg's recently released, Oscar-nominated film, A Real Pain.

Jesse Eisenberg discusses the creative process behind the film, initially set in Mongolia and later changed to Poland. He reflects on the challenges and artistic decisions involved in relocating the setting.

Notable Quote:
Jesse Eisenberg (02:37): "This is the artistic process. This is how things work, you know?"

Stephen A. Smith questions the relevance of the film's original setting, suggesting the story would resonate more if set in the U.S.

Notable Quote:
Stephen A. Smith (03:41): "Why the hell does that have to be in Mongolia instead of right here?"

Ro Khanna defends the use of artistic freedom in storytelling, drawing parallels to other creative decisions.

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Debate on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policies

A significant portion of the episode focuses on DEI initiatives, their effectiveness, and the controversies surrounding them.

Bill Maher raises concerns about the Trump administration's push for government employees to report colleagues engaged in DEI efforts, labeling it as an overreach and reminiscent of a surveillance state.

Notable Quote:
Bill Maher (04:06): "Is it appropriate that the Trump administration is asking government employees to turn in their coworkers if they are engaged in DEI efforts? I'll start with a no."

Ro Khanna agrees, describing the move as "scary" and likening it to increasing governmental surveillance.

Notable Quote:
Ro Khanna (04:42): "It's scary. I mean, it's like the surveillance state."

Stephen A. Smith critiques the backlash against DEI, arguing that it undermines the original purpose of addressing systemic inequities.

Notable Quote:
Stephen A. Smith (05:38): "The complaint that I have over this whole DEI issue is that everybody thinks about diversity, equity, and inclusion... it's not merit-based."

Bill Maher and Ro Khanna discuss the historical necessity of DEI policies, with Khanna emphasizing their role in addressing entrenched inequalities in industries like tech.

Notable Quote:
Ro Khanna (05:52): "Look at how many African Americans, Latino Americans are in tech, which is producing all the wealth."

Stephen A. Smith highlights the limitations of DEI programs, noting their disproportionate benefit to white women rather than the intended marginalized groups.

Notable Quote:
Stephen A. Smith (09:16): "Whether it's affirmative action or DEI, the bigger beneficiaries of both programs were white women."

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Trump's Meme Coin and Financial Schemes

The conversation shifts to Donald Trump's introduction of a Meme Coin, raising questions about its legitimacy and financial implications.

Bill Maher expresses skepticism, referring to it as a potential scam and struggling to understand its mechanics.

Notable Quote:
Bill Maher (10:23): "Is Trump's Meme Coin a scam? I read about this thing. I mean, oh, my God."

Stephen A. Smith critiques the sudden surge in Trump's wealth attributed to the Meme Coin, suggesting it as a legal loophole for funneling money.

Notable Quote:
Stephen A. Smith (10:33): "What that says to me is that, oh, it's an easier legal way to funnel money to him when he needs it."

Ro Khanna compares the Meme Coin to a Swiss bank account, emphasizing the anonymity and untraceable nature of such financial instruments.

Notable Quote:
Ro Khanna (11:38): "If you put in a billion dollars of the Trump coin, you can have it in your crypto wallet."

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Streaming Services and Live Sports

Bill Maher and Stephen A. Smith discuss the evolving landscape of streaming services, particularly focusing on Netflix's strategy to incorporate live sports to attract and retain subscribers.

Stephen A. Smith points out that acquiring live sports rights allows streaming platforms to charge higher prices due to the guaranteed viewership from sports enthusiasts.

Notable Quote:
Stephen A. Smith (13:00): "If you have rights with that and you can carry live events, then you can charge exorbitant prices because you know people are going to flock to it because they want to see the games."

Jesse Eisenberg touches on the technical challenges and constant changes within media companies that drive pricing strategies.

Notable Quote:
Jesse Eisenberg (13:37): "These kinds of things are always in flux, and they have more data than we can possibly imagine any media company ever having."

Bill Maher laments the impact of streaming on traditional sports viewing experiences, highlighting issues like navigating between multiple live games.

Notable Quote:
Bill Maher (14:19): "If you want to switch between two games, if I'm watching a game on old channels like Fox and CBS, I can do it with one button previous, right?"

Stephen A. Smith counters by praising the interactive capabilities of modern streaming platforms, suggesting they represent the future of live sports consumption.

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Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, Bill Maher thanks the panelists and hints at future discussions. The closing segments briefly promote upcoming content from HBO and related podcasts.

Notable Quote:
Bill Maher (15:55): "All right, let's leave it there. I think you were a great panel, guys."

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Conclusion

Episode #682 of Real Time with Bill Maher offers a multifaceted discussion on contemporary issues ranging from economic policies and DEI initiatives to the influence of digital currencies and the transformation of the streaming industry. With insightful contributions from guests Jesse Eisenberg, Stephen A. Smith, and Rep. Ro Khanna, the episode navigates the complexities of modern societal challenges, providing listeners with a comprehensive analysis enriched by notable quotes and dynamic interactions.

Transcript

[Bill Maher]

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career Day and said he was a big Roas man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friends still laugh at me to this day.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn.

[Bill Maher]

You'Ll be able to reach people who do.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign.

[Bill Maher]

Go to LinkedIn.com results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com results. Twitter terms and conditions apply.

[Stephen A. Smith]

LinkedIn the place to be, to be. Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late night series Real Time with Bill Maher.

[Bill Maher]

All right. He wrote, directed and co starred in the Oscar nominated movie A Real Pain. Jesse Eisenberg. It's fantastic. Go see it. He hosts ESPN's first Taken in Stephen A. Smith show on YouTube. Stephen A. Smith. And he's a Democratic congressman from Silicon Valley. Ro Khanna. Okay. All right. Here are the questions from the people. What does the panel think of Doge? That's Elon Musk's reforming government operation, pushing to eliminate the penny in order to cut federal spending. Well, this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Like I was advocating for this over 10 years ago, put it in editorials. It's funny because it's so stupid that we still make pennies. And of course, of course costs way more to make a penny.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

A nickel costs 14 cents. So I'm not going to hate it now that they are doing it.

[Ro Khanna]

I'm for it. I'm for, I've said, look, if he has cuts on pennies, nickels, the bloated defense budget with five prime contractors, fine, let's work with him to do that. Some people have said, oh, why are you saying that when it's Elon Musk? I said, look, I'll oppose him where he has a bad idea and work with him where he has a good idea.

[Bill Maher]

So you do want to work with.

[Ro Khanna]

Them on things like this? Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. I just think that if we have to work on bigger things in the penny, if you're, I don't think this alone is going to.

[Stephen A. Smith]

If you're universally recognized by a lot of people as weird but a genius. Right. My attitude is, well, let's find out what he's talking about and let's see if it works. If it's beneficial for us, we can deduce that based on the information we receive and decide whether it works or not, as opposed to just automatically dismissing anything he comes up with because he's on the side that we don't like.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Well, maybe the penny is the gateway issue for bipartisanship.

[Ro Khanna]

Maybe you joke, but now you're gonna play him? Jesse, if you think you could play.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Elon Musk, I'll play anything.

[Bill Maher]

You can do it. But yes. I mean, that's how you build trust, little by little by little. Okay, Jesse, how did the story for a Real Pain evolve from being set in Mongolia and then went to Poland? What does that mean?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Oh, yeah, no, my script. I mean, you saw the movie. It takes place in Poland. It was originally set, like, in Mongolia. It was based on a short story I wrote.

[Bill Maher]

There was Jews in Mongolia.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

No, they were doing something else there.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, what?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

They were going to visit their friend who had started this, like, yurt farm in a mountain. But anyway, that's not important.

[Bill Maher]

So, wait, you were gonna play the wrong character and you had the wrong country?

[Ro Khanna]

Yeah.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

This is the artistic process.

[Bill Maher]

You know what I mean?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

This is how things work, you know?

[Bill Maher]

But can you imagine what would the story have been in Mongolia?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

I wrote it. It was a short story. I wrote it for Tablet magazine. It was a story about these two guys who kind of one guy envied the other's political purity. And when they got to Mongolia, the guy who they both idolized had kind of sold out to this other company. And so it's about the disillusionment of your childhood ideal.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's not important. I just have a simple question. Why the hell does that have to be in Mongolia instead of right here? It sounds like it's stuff that goes on right here in the days.

[Bill Maher]

Right?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Because it was awesome to think about shooting a movie in Mongolia.

[Bill Maher]

Stephen.

[Ro Khanna]

How come when an actor says, that's just the artistic process, everyone applaud? If I said something like that on how I do a bill, you know, I'd get booed.

[Bill Maher]

You're right. You're so wrong. Everything. You know, Casablanca was originally called San Diego. That's not true. That's not true. Is it appropriate that the Trump administration is asking government employees to turn in their co workers if they are engaged in DEI efforts? I'll start with a no turn in. I'm not loving again. I said I wouldn't pre. Hate Hating. Hating. Difference between prejudice and Judas. I'm hating.

[Ro Khanna]

Inappropriate. It's scary. I mean, it's like the surveillance state.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Turn on.

[Ro Khanna]

As a libertarian, you should be.

[Bill Maher]

What do you want me to do? I just said I hate. I hate. I hate this guy want me to.

[Ro Khanna]

Cut off a finger.

[Bill Maher]

With the Democrats, it's never fucking enough with these people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The complaint that I have, the complaint that I have over this whole DEI issue is that everybody thinks about diversity, equity and inclusion. And it automatically connotates in a lot of people's eyes, particularly on the right, that somebody that's in that position must have gotten there because of a level of incompetence and what have you. It's not merit based. My attitude is similar to the Rooney Rule with the National Football League, similar with affirmative action. What the hell was the policy necessary for to begin with? Because we had a power structure in the United States of America that was unfair, that was unequitable or inequitable, they didn't give a damn. And somebody had to compel them to do the right thing conscientiously. And nobody is talking about that in regards to dei.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I think they are, but also things change.

[Ro Khanna]

You're talking about the past, but they haven't changed enough. Look at tech. Look at how many African Americans, Latino Americans are in tech, which is producing all the wealth.

[Bill Maher]

But is it because they're barred? I heard the same story. You would understand this better than anybody because you're a sports genius. Baseball. I've heard there's only 7% players in baseball who are African American.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Bill Maher]

Well, this would be a problem if they were barred from baseball as they were before 1947. There's only 7% because they want to play another sport or no sport at all or do something else. They're not barred. It's not a problem.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's not a problem. But what they're trying to do on the right, and I've been getting on them about this, is that again, when you're talking about dei, anytime you bring that up, oh, you're a DEI hire. You didn't really deserve it. You didn't really earn it. You just got it because of that policy. And I'm like, but you just gonna bring that up but ignore why the policy was there to begin with? That means there was a whole bunch of white people before there was dei.

[Bill Maher]

There was.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That were getting jobs that you didn't. They didn't deserve.

[Bill Maher]

I know, but there were like. There was, I think the University of Michigan, one of the schools like that had something like 200 DEI officers at a college. The most liberal place.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah, that's excessive. No excuse.

[Bill Maher]

There's. Okay. And who's ever gonna give up that job and go, well, this situation is better now. I guess I better fire me, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Just said, I'm just saying, you Want to do away with it, do away with it. Just don't act like, don't forget what brought it about. That's all I'm saying.

[Ro Khanna]

It's where people look for talent. If you look at these tech companies, they go to Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, you think they're going to the HBCUs and looking for talent there. If they're not pushed to go outside their networks, they're going to hire the same people from the same schools and replicate the same wealth gap. We've got a 10 to 1 wealth gap in America and instead of talking about that, we're beating up on dei.

[Bill Maher]

But we had this. In your industry or the way you represent women were like, they started two programs, big programs like 20 years ago to get more women in engineering positions. And I think in 20 years it went up 1%. I don't think it's because they were barred from doing it. I just think people choose to go into different avenues of.

[Ro Khanna]

There's the studies show that African American young men and women are more interested in tech than even white kids, but they don't have the same pathways. They don't. We are denying reality if we think they're being. I'm saying if you graduate from Stanford, I taught at Stanford. You get funded before you have an idea. You literally just email a venture capitalist, you get funded. If you're at Morehouse or you're at Spelman or you're at Claflin University, you think you could just email someone at Kleiner Perkins and get your company funded?

[Bill Maher]

No, I think companies that want to make money hire the best people to make it for them.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't disagree with you. I just think that we have to keep a watchful eye on things. Of course. For example, with the eradication of a lot of these DEI programs. Right. Let's say, for example, hypothetically, there's 20 jobs that are available and DEI has been shoved aside. Now when you fulfill those 20, when you fill up those 20 jobs and all of them are white, you got a problem. Because what you're saying is they're the ones that are qualified and nobody else is. And that's a system that used to exist in this country that you see a lot of people clamoring to return to. And we can't ignore that.

[Bill Maher]

Jobs would not go to white people. They go to Asian people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay. Okay.

[Bill Maher]

I mean.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay. Just not blacks.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I really, I mean this.

[Ro Khanna]

Ancient Americans wouldn't even be in this country if it weren't for the civil rights movement and the African American.

[Bill Maher]

But we're talking.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, if you're going to bring that up, bring up the fact that whether it's affirmative action or dei, the bigger beneficiary, the biggest beneficiaries of both program were white women.

[Bill Maher]

I know that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's not forget that.

[Bill Maher]

But can we live in the year we're living in?

[Ro Khanna]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Cuz I think it's 2025. I mean, this is one of the most liberal parts of the country that you represent. Yes. So you're saying in one of the most liberal parts. Maybe you're right. I don't know. I'm just questioning it. That there is this prejudice against.

[Ro Khanna]

I don't think it's formal. I don't think people there at Apple or Google are saying, oh, let's not hire black people. I think it's easy when you're building a company to just hire the people you know, the schools you know. And it takes extra effort to reach out beyond your networks. We all have that.

[Unknown]

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[Bill Maher]

Is Trump's Meme Coin a scam? I read about this thing. I mean, oh, my God. I mean, what, what me, I have.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

I put my money in a mattress.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's so simple. He wakes up one day, this is a man. Like, remember he wanted to buy an NFL team in 2014. That was the last time I spoke to him. He wanted to buy an NFL team. The Buffalo Bills, right. The price tag for them was 1.4 billion. He had 1.1 billion, according to my NFL sources. You know, they say, is he a billionaire? Is he not? Whatever, whatever. Here we are years later, and they're talking about. Because of this Meme Coin. In about a week, it's made up 89% of his total wealth. What that says to me is that, oh, it's an easier legal way to funnel money to him when he needs it. And that's what it really comes down to.

[Ro Khanna]

It's like literally having a Swiss bank account. Because what you can do, they track the transactions. The biggest transactions are from overseas. And none of us can see who it is. But if you put in a billion dollars of the Trump coin, you can have it in your crypto wallet. You could just show it to them, hey, look, I got a billion dollars and no one else knows it. And you could curry favor with them.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, the term for this that people use on the street is shitcoins, okay? Because it didn't exist Friday afternoon. I don't even understand what it is. But I don't understand onlyfans. I don't understand.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, unfortunately, there are far too many people who do understand what onlyfans.

[Bill Maher]

But, I mean, what I'm saying is you can argue about race and gender. The great divide in America is people who grew up in the virtual world and people who didn't, right? That's, I think, gonna be the great divide. People who don't live in the world I live in. I don't understand this. It's a picture of Trump. Or you're just imagining it. I don't know.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Don't forget Melania.

[Bill Maher]

Don't forget Melania. She's got one, too. Melania.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, sir.

[Bill Maher]

And it. And somehow it made him $58 billion in a week.

[Ro Khanna]

There's no complicated tech to it. It's like if you opened a Swiss bank account and said, deposit the money there, and you don't know who's depositing the money. Look, if someone buys.

[Bill Maher]

That's a bank, it's still your money. Well, this is not.

[Ro Khanna]

Yeah, but you can.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's speak on behalf of the streets. Could you tell us how to do it? $58 billion in a week. Could you let us in on the scheme? We'd like to know. We'd like to know.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, they said Putin was worth $40 billion from stealing over. Like, he's been president since 2000. This guy did it in a week. I'm sure he was like, top that big. Okay. Netflix announced it's raising prices again, despite adding 19 million new subscribers over the. Do you think movies like this moves like this from them and other subscription services will backfire? When do you think you're in show business?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

My movie's on Hulu. I don't know.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is it really?

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Yeah, it really is. You know, but I mean, not because I'm, you know. You know, these kind of things are always in flux, and they have more data than we can possibly imagine any media company ever having data. And, you know, so they're going to be changing probably their prices minute by minute.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I know the answer. What happens is that Netflix is Venturing in to live sports. Yes, that's the new king. You got live sports. You got sports that great Tyson fight. You got league rights and whatever. You got league rights, particularly with the NFL, which is a cash cow. To a lesser degree, the NBA and what have you. If you have rights with that and you can carry live events, then you can charge exorbitant prices because you know people are going to flock to it because they want to see the games.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And that's really what it comes down to. So it might end up backfiring, but that's down the road. That doesn't negate what's going to transpire now, which is fattening down.

[Bill Maher]

But streaming has ruined football.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I wouldn't say that.

[Bill Maher]

I would.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why?

[Bill Maher]

Well, first of all, when you watch it, you can't. If you watch it, not when it's live, you can't zip through it like you can with the commercials on a regular game, they won't let you do that. You have to guess where the play resumes. Am I wrong? You know what I'm talking about.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I was alluding to the quality of the broadcast. When they did the Tyson fight, that was bad. That was bad. Cuz it crashed for a little while. But when they did the NFL game, everybody flocked to it. I mean you had.

[Bill Maher]

Because it's on there, you have to.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But. But I'm saying it was a good broadcast. It was a really good.

[Bill Maher]

But also, if I want to switch between two games, if I'm watching game on old channels like Fox and cbs, I can do it with one button previous, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, I can do this.

[Bill Maher]

I have to like sign in.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, let me.

[Jesse Eisenberg]

Like, this is a button issue, not a political issue.

[Bill Maher]

It was a button.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You gotta sign in, you gotta get the account. But I will tell you this on YouTube, for example, I mean, I love the fact that I can see four games on one screen and I can double click and get it on the one game and then I can go back and double click and see the four games again. And I'm watching the action. I like that. And a lot of people like that. I think that is the future.

[Ro Khanna]

All I'll say is if they can charge a lot of money, they can pay the writers and the actors and the screenwriters. Enough. That's what that whole strike is about.

[Bill Maher]

All right, let's leave it there. I think you were a great panel, guys. A little romance never hurt anybody. We'll see you next week. Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Catch all new episodes of Real Time.

[Bill Maher]

With Bill Maher every Friday night at.

[Stephen A. Smith]

10 or watch them any on HBO on Demand. For more information, log on to hbo.com.

[Bill Maher]

I'm Evan Ross Katz, the host of the White Lotus Official Podcast from hbo. Over eight episodes, you'll hear from season one and two cast members, and we'll together unpack some of our favorite storylines. I started writing in August, and we were shooting in October. I didn't even know who was gonna die. I was literally just writing by the seat of my pants. Listen on Max or wherever you get your podcasts.