John Oliver and Sam Bee's Lessons from Jon Stewart

Summary

The Daily Beast Podcast: John Oliver and Sam Bee's Lessons from Jon Stewart

Release Date: October 17, 2024

In this engaging episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, co-hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee delve into a vibrant conversation that intertwines personal anecdotes, professional insights, and a compelling investigative story. Featuring special guest Michael Isikoff, the episode primarily focuses on understanding the influence of Jon Stewart on modern political satire and delves deep into Chris LaCivita's controversial role in Donald Trump's campaign.

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1. Personal Updates and Lighthearted Banter

The episode kicks off with Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee sharing personal updates, setting a relaxed and humorous tone for the discussion.

Samantha Bee shares her excitement about the premiere of her new show, How to Survive Menopause, expressing a mix of anticipation and anxiety:

"I'm suspicious of my own calmness going into it, so we'll see how it goes." ([04:24])

John Oliver recounts his recent experience participating in CNN's new news comedy show, highlighting the stark difference from his usual comedic environments:

"I had an absolute blast. It lives on Max if you don't catch it live." ([07:50])

The hosts engage in playful exchanges about their upcoming projects and shared experiences, fostering a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect.

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2. Obsessions and Current Interests

Joanna and Samantha transition into discussing their current obsessions, offering listeners a glimpse into their personal interests outside the professional sphere.

Samantha Bee introduces her fascination with Point Nemo, the oceanic point of inaccessibility, emphasizing its remote location and isolation:

"It is the place in the ocean that is farthest from land... sometimes the closest human beings are the astronauts in the International Space Station." ([10:00])

John Oliver counters with his own obsession, reflecting on British cultural references and their impact on his comedic style:

"I'm always obsessed by many things. I was slightly obsessed by Kanye saying that he wanted to sleep with his mother-in-law." ([12:05])

These segments not only highlight the hosts' diverse interests but also set the stage for deeper discussions on media and culture.

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3. Honoring Jon Stewart's Legacy

A significant portion of the episode pays tribute to Jon Stewart, exploring his influence on both John Oliver and Samantha Bee's careers.

Samantha Bee reflects on her time at The Daily Show:

"It was like going to college. Just really intense. Day after day, month after month." ([17:51])

John Oliver adds his admiration for Stewart's mentorship and work ethic:

"John, as a person has a spectacular work ethic. He kind of works harder than anybody." ([18:49])

The discussion underscores how Jon Stewart's leadership and comedic brilliance shaped the trajectories of many prominent figures in political satire.

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4. Interview with Michael Isikoff: The Chris LaCivita Revelation

The episode features an in-depth interview with investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, who unveils a groundbreaking story about Chris LaCivita, Donald Trump's co-campaign manager.

Michael Isikoff details LaCivita's earnings, highlighting the financial intricacies of political campaigns:

"La Civita has been raking in some really astronomical sums working for the Trump campaign... something like, you know, well in excess of 22, probably closer to 26 or $27 million." ([55:27])

Samantha Bee probes into the typical payment structures for campaign managers, seeking clarity:

"How do campaign managers actually get paid? Is this typical?" ([56:32])

Isikoff explains the conflict of interest inherent in LaCivita's compensation model, where he receives a percentage of media expenditures:

"He gets a percentage of the media spend so that he's incentivized to actually spend on media because he gets paid that way." ([57:59])

The conversation delves into the ethical implications of such financial arrangements and raises questions about transparency within political campaigns.

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5. Implications for the Upcoming Election

As the episode nears its conclusion, the hosts and Isikoff discuss the potential ramifications of LaCivita's actions on the forthcoming election.

Michael Isikoff speculates on how LaCivita's lucrative contracts might influence campaign strategies and voter perception:

"If Trump wins, LaCivita gets another $150k bonus, which is built into that contract." ([64:47])

John Oliver muses humorously about attending a Trump fundraiser to witness the fallout:

"I'll just do a serving shift. I could work it." ([62:38])

The segment emphasizes the high stakes of political maneuvering and the intricate dance between campaign finances and electoral success.

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6. Concluding Thoughts and Final Remarks

Wrapping up the episode, Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee reflect on the discussions, reinforcing the podcast's blend of humor, personal stories, and serious investigative journalism.

Samantha Bee humorously ties back to earlier anecdotes, maintaining the episode's lighthearted essence:

"Tag us on your favorite social media platforms and tell us what you think. And we'll be back next Thursday with another episode of the Daily Beast podcast." ([67:06])

The hosts' seamless transition between personal anecdotes and substantive discussions exemplifies the podcast's dynamic and engaging format.

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Notable Quotes

• Samantha Bee on Point Nemo:

  "It is the place in the ocean that is farthest from land... sometimes the closest human beings are the astronauts in the International Space Station." ([10:00])

• John Oliver on Jon Stewart's influence:

  "John, as a person has a spectacular work ethic. He kind of works harder than anybody." ([18:49])

• Michael Isikoff on Chris LaCivita's earnings:

  "La Civita has been raking in some really astronomical sums working for the Trump campaign... something like, you know, well in excess of 22, probably closer to 26 or $27 million." ([55:27])

• Michael Isikoff on campaign finance transparency:

  "He gets a percentage of the media spend so that he's incentivized to actually spend on media because he gets paid that way." ([57:59])

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Conclusion

This episode of The Daily Beast Podcast offers a rich tapestry of conversation, blending personal stories with incisive political analysis. The tribute to Jon Stewart sets a reflective tone, while the investigative insights from Michael Isikoff provide listeners with a deeper understanding of the complexities within political campaign finances. Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee's dynamic hosting, coupled with John Oliver's sharp wit, make for a compelling listen that both entertains and informs.

Transcript

[Samantha Bee]

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[Joanna Coles]

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[Samantha Bee]

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[Joanna Coles]

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[Samantha Bee]

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[Joanna Coles]

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[Samantha Bee]

Where'd you get those shoes?

[John Oliver]

Easy.

[Samantha Bee]

They're from dsw. Because DSW has the exact right shoes for whatever you're into right now. You know, like the sneakers that make office hours feel like happy hour, the.

[John Oliver]

Boots that turn grocery aisles into runways, and all the styles that show off.

[Samantha Bee]

The many sides of you from daydreamer to multitasker and everything in between. Because you do it all in really great shoes. Find a shoe for every you at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[John Oliver]

Have you ever had a customer service experience where everything just works? It feels like we've reached a point where every customer experience should feel that seamless. And you're in luck, because Five9 is changing the entire way customer experiences work. They use AI to create smarter, more informed interactions so you can get your problems handled in a way that's more human. 59 creates intelligent customer experiences so everything feels personalized. That's just one small part of what their tech can do. It's already changing the game for companies from Under Armour to Alaska Airlines. And you can learn more about Next level intelligence [e-mail] beast welcome to the Daily Beast podcast. I'm Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast.

[Samantha Bee]

And I am Samantha Bee, Chief content Officer of Jill Stein's political endorsement, which I now believe include David Duke. So congrats to the team on that.

[John Oliver]

Winning team. Oh, winning team. Every Thursday, we're inviting you to the best dinner party, where we'll plunder the Daily Beast newsroom and talk about the people and the stories of the week. And we invite interesting guests, too, like this week's guest. We're talking to the Beast of the week, John Oliver. You know John from HBO's Last Week Tonight and the Daily Show. And you'll HEAR How John 10 years ago taught me how to swear really effectively. And how he and Sam spent much of their time on the Daily show trying not to get arrested. And in the download, we're going to talk all about Chris Lacevita, the Trump age, who has already earned 22 million while trying to get his boss elected. And joining us for that conversation is investigative reporter and endless award winner Michael Isakoff, who broke the story for the Beast.

[Samantha Bee]

And we're going to talk about what we are obsessed with. For me, it is my escape plan to point Nemo. And for Joanna, it is Kanye's interesting choice in who he one day hopes to sleep with. But first, we have to catch up with each other.

[John Oliver]

Yes. Tell me everything.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, boy. Okay, so my show, how to Survive Menopause premieres this week at the Minetta Lane Theater. I think it's mostly sold out, which is great.

[John Oliver]

It's totally sold out because I tried to bring two extra people. You did, and there were no tickets left. So congrats on that.

[Samantha Bee]

Thank you so much. That's good news for me. I wonder why I'm so calm. I shouldn't be. I should be. I'm suspicious of my own calmness going into it, so we'll see how it goes. But I'm excited to say all this stuff out loud.

[John Oliver]

So, what, it's two and a half hours of you talking about menopause?

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, just like two and a half. I mean, two and a half to seven hours.

[John Oliver]

Just a little bit. The vulva, the better.

[Samantha Bee]

Pure vulva. Did you know that I went to see the pure vulva?

[John Oliver]

Pure vulva. I'm okay. Keep going.

[Samantha Bee]

I was going to change the subject because I could see in your eyes that you wanted me to, and so.

[Michael Isikoff]

No.

[John Oliver]

No, I don't. I want you to keep going. I want you to keep going.

[Samantha Bee]

No, I'm so Excited to do this. I'm so excited to do this show. I'm excited to do it into your eyes. I hope you're sitting in the front row.

[John Oliver]

I'm gonna sit center front. Eyes on you.

[Samantha Bee]

Eyes.

[John Oliver]

Eyeballs. Eyes on you. Yeah. And I heard that you had a sign that you were doing the right thing.

[Samantha Bee]

I did. I actually went for a stroll. And this is so actually wild. I went for a stroll this weekend. About like a four and a half mile hike, let's say, in the woods near my place, out in the countryside, walking along, just thinking, universe, give me a sign that I'm right, you know, that I'm on the correct path in life. And can you. You cannot believe what I found. I looked down and there was an anatomically correct, and I'm not even joking, an eggplant sized, anatomically correct vagina sex toy that someone had been using, I guess in their. In their car and threw it out the window for me to find. And I said, you know what?

[John Oliver]

They threw it out of the window.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes. But the point for me is that the Lord works in mysterious ways. I know.

[John Oliver]

So he was saying, I want to show about plastic vagina.

[Samantha Bee]

He was saying, keep talking about vulvas mama. Get it done. It was still.

[John Oliver]

I. I just can't even imagine what it looks like.

[Samantha Bee]

So my husband asked me, he was like, what, did you pick it up?

[John Oliver]

And I was like, that's such a male question. That's such. Did you pick it up?

[Samantha Bee]

Did you pick it up?

[John Oliver]

You would think that.

[Samantha Bee]

What did you do with that?

[John Oliver]

Because a man would pick up a used sex toy.

[Samantha Bee]

It has an aperture. It was covered in filth.

[John Oliver]

He might want to use it again. He might pick it up for spare.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, God. It could not be boiled to safety. There's nothing you could do with it. Anyway, it's good news because then I felt like, okay, okay, thank you, universe. Yeah, thank you.

[John Oliver]

You're on the right. You're on the right path.

[Samantha Bee]

On the right path.

[John Oliver]

Okay. Well, that's. That's impressive.

[Samantha Bee]

Thank you. What have you been up to?

[John Oliver]

Well, since I saw you, which was when I have no memory of it, I was shot out of a cannon, sort of, which was going on, which I know you're going on too. Have I got news for you.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes, I'm going on as well. Oh, that is so fun. Did you enjoy it?

[John Oliver]

I loved it. I actually. So they tape it. So it's CNN's new news comedy show. It's based on a British comedy show which I loved when I lived in Britain. It's now in its 68th season there. I think it's one of the longest running shows with the original two team captains. And they tape it for two hours. It's Roy Wood Jr. As the host.

[Samantha Bee]

Who was brilliant, wonderful.

[John Oliver]

Well. And you would know him from the jail show.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, he's great.

[John Oliver]

I couldn't believe how funny he was. And then I was on Michael Ian Black's team.

[Samantha Bee]

Great.

[John Oliver]

And John Hodgman was the other guest on Amber Ruffin.

[Samantha Bee]

I love everybody whose names you just said.

[John Oliver]

Yeah. It was like I was the odd woman out, obviously, because I'm the straight person with a load of really professional comedians. But by the end of the two hours, my face was aching and my stomach was aching from having laughed so much. Not at what I said, at what they said.

[Samantha Bee]

And I hope that there's a gift bag because I'm doing it on November 15th.

[John Oliver]

No gift bag.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, my God. Oh, hut. Maybe they'll have that in, like, in full effect by the time I get there.

[John Oliver]

There were some dried snacks.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, yeah.

[John Oliver]

There's like one of those nature's harvest bars. And there was some sort of gummy things, and I thought, oh, they need. You know, the thing that there used to be fabulous green rooms with fresh fruit and charcuterie and little cheese board. All of that has gone now.

[Samantha Bee]

All of that.

[John Oliver]

All of that.

[Samantha Bee]

COVID Ruined everything.

[John Oliver]

Ruined everything. Nobody can afford it, but I had an absolute blast. And what's funny is you can see it on Max. It lives on Max if you don't catch it live.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay, well, I'm going to watch you, and then you can watch me and we will talk about each other's.

[John Oliver]

I wonder whose team you'll be on. I bet you'll be on Michael Ian's team because he does the. Because they like woman, man.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, I see. I see. Okay, well, I could happily. I will happily be on either team, and I expect to have a very good, good time. And I will bring snacks if that is what required.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, snacks. Take your own snacks. Yeah. They also give you Red Bull because it's. Oh, quite a. You know, it's two. Doing two hours when you're on and there's a studio audience is a long time. And halfway through, I drank a Red Bull and my jokes got so much better.

[Samantha Bee]

A Red Bull is a real flex to give to a guest.

[John Oliver]

Yep. Okay, Sam, let's get into what we're obsessed with. The stories and the people of the week.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay, well, I am obsessed with Point Nemo. Which I had never heard about before this very week, but I read an article about it in the Atlantic by Colin Murphy.

[John Oliver]

I want to confess, I've never heard of it, and I don't know where it is.

[Samantha Bee]

It is the oceanic point of inaccessibility. All right? Which means that it is the place in the ocean that is farthest from land.

[John Oliver]

Right.

[Samantha Bee]

It is in the South Pacific Ocean, and it is so remote that sometimes the closest human beings are the astronauts in the International Space Station.

[John Oliver]

Okay, that's insane.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, I could not get enough of this article. I highly recommend it. Depending on what happens in the election, you may be able to find me there. On November 6, I'll be living on a raft of microplastics.

[John Oliver]

You have to. If the worst comes, the worse. I know what you're saying. You have to stay. You can't leave the country that you've become a citizen of. Sorry.

[Samantha Bee]

I'll be sailing away. Oh, no. So much happened in the country. I also have to tell you about my neighbor in the country who I think booby trapped his Trump Vance sign.

[John Oliver]

Why do you. Because. Do you keep stealing it?

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, no. Well, okay, so in 2020, he put up signs and everyone would rip them down. So you would walk past my little, you know, my little country road, and his Trump sign would be ripped in half or torn down. And then you would see him out there, like, just like balefully tapping a nail into it to try to keep. To preserve it. And now this year, it is perched in a mound of fresh dirt. Like, it's almost like there's a body buried underneath with some leaves scattered over top. And then this. Just like these little thin sticks holding up this very gently, gingerly placed Trump Vance sign.

[John Oliver]

And we're afraid to touch it in case it's electrocuted.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, I think there's probably a camera on it or maybe. Yeah, maybe some electrical wiring. We were thinking maybe a bear trap.

[John Oliver]

Oh, right. So you should stay away.

[Samantha Bee]

Some type of snare.

[John Oliver]

You've just got to stop stealing his sign.

[Samantha Bee]

I've just got to stop ripping them. But, oh, I'm so tempted. So tempted.

[John Oliver]

Well, the other thing is you could do it and you could film yourself doing it so that if anything happens to you, at least there will be an electronic record.

[Samantha Bee]

That's good. I'll be satisfied with that. Okay, tell me what you're obsessed with.

[John Oliver]

Well, or you should make sure that he has free tickets to the menopause show.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, obviously, he'll be in the front row with You.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, I will sit next to him and say, let's. Let's hear all about Sam's.

[Samantha Bee]

Let's hold hands.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, I think that's. That's a good thing for neighbors to know about. All right. So the only thing I'm obsessed by this week. Well, I'm always obsessed by many things. I was slightly obsessed by Kanye saying that he wanted to sleep with his mother in law. Oh, Bianca's mother. Only because it triggered a very tabloid memory of living in Britain when there was a government minister called Alan Clark who lived in a huge castle and who'd made his family. Had made their money by inventing paisley. You know, that paisley fabric with those kind of swirly things that we all have dressing gowns. Yes. English people are basically born in paisley, and we have to wear it until the age of 10.

[Samantha Bee]

They look like a bacteria that you would see under a microscope.

[John Oliver]

Exactly. Like in a pet treat.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes, yes.

[John Oliver]

Anyway, he not only slept with his girlfriend and her daughter, but also her sister. They were all South Africans. And when his girlfriend, his wife, said famously in Britain, it became a sort of catchphrase. Well, if you bed people below stairs, they will go to the press. So that was his wife's response.

[Samantha Bee]

People below stairs.

[John Oliver]

But the husband of the woman he'd been sleeping with and the father of the two daughters got on a plane from South Africa, came to London, and said he was planning to horsewhip Alan Clark.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay.

[John Oliver]

Whereupon Alan Clark disappeared into one of the many rooms in his castle, and it just became this insane story that I thought was not unlikely to happen to Kanye because he just seems to attract chaos at this point.

[Samantha Bee]

Is he still rattling around in that giant castle?

[John Oliver]

No, he died.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay.

[John Oliver]

He died.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, he still might be in the castle, though.

[John Oliver]

He might be. Well, he might still be in the castle. You're right.

[Samantha Bee]

He could be. Well, you'll have to ask John Oliver about that.

[John Oliver]

Oh, yes, we could. Or he might. It might turn out to be under the grave of your neighbor, under the Trump sign.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, there he is.

[John Oliver]

You see how we tie it all together? We do absurd, absurd strings of content.

[Samantha Bee]

He's giving back. He's feeding the earth.

[John Oliver]

So it's now time to introduce our Beast of the Week. None other than John Oliver, the brilliant comedian, writer, and political commentator has redefined Sunday nights. Born in my homeland, Jon rose to prominence on the Daily show with Sam and Jon Stewart before launching his own show last week, Tonight, where he blends biting satire with real investigative reporting. He's won multiple Emmys. We're not going to mention that because I don't want it to go to his head. But his show is essential viewing and I laugh every time I talk to John, so take it away, Sam.

[Samantha Bee]

We are in the room together and this interview has already gone off the rails. Joanna can't handle her technology. Everybody's swearing. Let us begin.

[John Oliver]

And I just want to say that John Oliver taught me to use the word fuck with enormous, enormous efficacy, I would say.

[Michael Isikoff]

Oh, sure, that's right. I think you deep down knew how to use the word fuck. Yes, I think I've encouraged you. It was always new the way you've been brought up. It's in there. The skills were in there. You were born with them.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay, how do you two. You two know each other? Do you only know each other because there's a club of British expats that you have to join, like it's a requirement or do you know each other? Know each other? Tell me everything.

[John Oliver]

All British people know each other.

[Michael Isikoff]

There's not many of us. So you kind of. Especially if there's British people overseas. Historically less of us than there used to be. Centuries ago, you know, we really traveled to a fault.

[Samantha Bee]

You just all congregate at Tea and Sympathy together.

[John Oliver]

Yes. And slightly less power than we used to have.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. For now, don't rule us out. Don't rule out the greatest comeback of all time.

[John Oliver]

It would be the greatest comeback of all time. So, John, here's my question. I want to take you back to England and I want your memories of growing up in Britain. Can you remember any. Anything about it?

[Michael Isikoff]

So what it was. My kids have just started watching Junior Bake off on Netflix. It's the British. The British kids on. I find it incredibly difficult to watch because they're so stressed, those kids, and they're so negative about their baking. My kids can't understand why you would behave this way. My eldest son is eight. This morning, before he left his school, I got an impression. I got an impression. I went, okay, what's this going to be? Is this going to be a Star wars thing? He went, who's this? He went, oh, my cake's not working. Oh, no, I can't do it. I need more time. My icing's gone wrong. It's bad. Went, oh, no. So that a roundabout way to say that I think I'm witnessing some of my childhood right now in the Junior Bake off. And it's British kids with absolutely no self confidence.

[Samantha Bee]

You know what I Share that as a Canadian, but without the cute accent. And I'm jealous. It sounds so much better when you say it.

[John Oliver]

So you two came out of the school of Jon Stewart. It's astonishing how many people came out of that school. Colbert, Jason Jones, Rob Cordray, Larry Wilmore. You guys both got your own shows. What was so special about Jon Stewart and that time? How did he produce all that?

[Michael Isikoff]

Sam, what would you say?

[Samantha Bee]

Choler? I don't know. I just think it was like a great. It was a great training ground. I mean, my God, it was. It was like going to college. Just really intense. Day after day, month after month, college. And you went to all these, like, just like cripplingly terrible interviews. We'd get on a plane and go to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and spend three days interviewing someone who hates you. Yeah.

[Michael Isikoff]

You learned by your mistakes. And you. In an environment where it moves so fast. Right. You couldn't kind of linger in your failures much. You just had to get on with it. And I think that was probably a really good way to get your learning curve up fast. And so if you're willing to really throw yourself at it. And it really could be difficult at times, there was almost no way not to be better, like a year later than you'd been the year before.

[Samantha Bee]

I think it forged our POVs in.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, that's true.

[Samantha Bee]

In the fire. And also, as I look back, I think, oh, you know what? John, actually, as a person has a spectacular work ethic. He kind of works. He works harder than anybody. And seeing that kind of just seeing him lead by example was a really great kind of high level of mentorship as well. And also just like, really special. We're just really special.

[Michael Isikoff]

That's right.

[John Oliver]

And that character. You're really special.

[Michael Isikoff]

Absolutely amazing. To leave Steve Carell off that list, Joanna, as well. Absolutely spectacular. Not just not to lead with him, but to leave him out all together is just absolutely mind blowing.

[Samantha Bee]

All together. A lot of people were left off that list. And if they heard this, they would be really pissed off. And they're definitely gonna text us later.

[John Oliver]

Okay, well, I think we should let them know they've been left off because that's the English way. Right? The English way is just to ignore things.

[Michael Isikoff]

Exactly. Is just such precise passive aggression.

[John Oliver]

All right, so, John, you grew up in a country. We share this in common. Where we were just so depressed as children because you have no confidence and you realize, do you think it was actually a bigger thing, that Britain itself was just losing influence? And so everybody just Sort of gave.

[Michael Isikoff]

Up the time that we were growing up. We weren't losing influence. It had gone.

[John Oliver]

Okay. It had gone.

[Michael Isikoff]

I think more about it now, actually, in terms of the timeline of when we were growing up, because also growing up in a country really from the Second World War, you know, that's. My parents had experienced that as children. So it was. It was a pretty grim time before Europe opened up. Yeah, it was. It wasn't. It was. It was definitely a Britain of Mike Lee films. Right. Not.

[John Oliver]

Not actually Richard Curtis films, because.

[Michael Isikoff]

Not Richard Curtis films. I don't know. I think Richard Curtis might have lived. Richard Curtis films. I've only lived that life through watching them.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah.

[John Oliver]

But we lived in Mike Lee films and Barry Hines films. Actually, Kez, There were. Sam, there was this movie called Kez, which was about a little boy that just. His only friend was a kestrel.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, God, yes.

[Michael Isikoff]

I remember there's a poem in that room. Pig Sal, Drunken Bastard. Pig Sal, Drunken bastard. Because I think it was thrilling to read when you read cares. I also read that book that you could read swear words. That was so great, so grim.

[John Oliver]

So I don't think people under. Because people go, oh, I don't know how you could have left England to live in America.

[Samantha Bee]

It's.

[John Oliver]

I love London. Who, like, you have no idea what it was like growing up in the north. It was depressing. There were brownouts and blackouts from miners strikes. Yeah, it was. And you're right, Europe hadn't opened up. And at least, big deal, everybody in Yorkshire viewed Europe as the enemy. They viewed French as having been weak because the Germans had overrun them during the Second World War.

[Samantha Bee]

And they.

[John Oliver]

True, not untrue. And they viewed Germany as the enemy still.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah. And also, Sam, if you're wondering, did that one bird who was his friend live a long, happy life in that story?

[Samantha Bee]

Impossible. No. Well, I guess this is canceling out my next question. How much do you love the Royal Family and how many tea sets with their faces do you use every. Oh, my gosh, this is so sad.

[Michael Isikoff]

You get how. You get how. I mean, you get how offensive that question is, right? Sam, I've seen you deliver versions of that question to, like, thousands of people's faces.

[Samantha Bee]

The kestrel is dead and everything is mud.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah. What was the. What was the question? How many. Am I a fan of the Royal Family? Not in any shape or form. No. No. That feels like a vestigial tale that should have fallen off long ago.

[Samantha Bee]

My God.

[John Oliver]

Have you watched either of the shows about Prince Andrew and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. No, there's one on Amazon and there's one on Netflix.

[Michael Isikoff]

No, I watched the third one, the Newsnight interview. Right.

[John Oliver]

Oh, yeah, they're both based on that.

[Michael Isikoff]

Oh, okay. Yeah. No, I haven't. It thought to me, I watched the Newsnight interview and thought, yeah, I think we all know where we are here.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, it was just incredible. Well, Michael Sheen does a very good job of an impetuous, childish Prince Andrew. Like, what happens to the royal family?

[Michael Isikoff]

I absolutely no idea. I think it'll probably be, you know, in times gone by, what happened to royal families, with the French in particular, could be pretty spectacular. You know, there was a. There was a severance of the royal family physically as well as emotionally, but I think they'll just become more and more ornamental, more than they already are. I think it's pretty clear they serve no practical function. This is. It's a tourism magnet, I think, to this. You can see that whenever there's royal weddings now and they interview people, you see GMA interviewing people down the line lining the street. There's a lot of American accents there. It does feel like it's the rest of the world turning up to say, we want to go and see this thing. You do. And British people are generally just drunk in the streets having street parties, which sure are wedding adjacent, but it's also an excuse to day drink.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, at least everything's going really smoothly here. Now that we've all emigrated from our native lands. Any regrets about becoming an American citizen?

[Michael Isikoff]

Joanne, are you a citizen now?

[John Oliver]

I am a citizen. I want to say, sort of 10, 15 years ago. @ the time I was editing Marie Claire and they had this full American day for me. And I came back from the ceremony, which was very moving. And who should be in the office? Everybody had bunting American flags in the office, but the most American person they could find, who was Jessica Simpson at the time? Jessica Simpson was there in what, Star spangled. Stop it. With cartons of barbecue. And we all had amazing amounts of barbecue. Jessica Simpson just said, welcome to being an American. And we ate.

[Michael Isikoff]

Oh, my gosh.

[Samantha Bee]

I can't believe this.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, that was my. That was. It was just. Welcome to America.

[Samantha Bee]

That's the ultimate welcome.

[John Oliver]

It was spectacular.

[Samantha Bee]

That's the goddamn dream.

[John Oliver]

Yep, it was a dream. It was a dream.

[Michael Isikoff]

Every immigrant having gone through the hell of the US Immigration process should get Jessica Simpson in a star spangled body suit serving them barbecue.

[John Oliver]

It was amazing. So when did you become an American?

[Michael Isikoff]

I became an American at the end of 2019. But I remember my version of that was when I first got my green card. I was so stressed I was having to re up my visa every year. Jill Katz and Pam De Pace at the Daily show office brought it into me with like a single flag in a. A piece of apple pie. Oh, and I nearly cried. I think the problem. I think they would thought, oh, this is a joke. And I don't think they understood how stressed I'd been about this. So it wasn't. I wasn't able to make a joke out of the thing. I couldn't believe I was holding this thing, which meant that I wasn't having to pack up everything once a year, go back to London, go to the US Embassy, beg to be let back in with no guarantee that was going to happen.

[Samantha Bee]

That would have been a stressful time to be receiving a green card and to be naturalized too, with it. Were you naturalized during the Trump administration?

[Michael Isikoff]

Yes. So. Right. It was at the end of 2019, just before COVID hit. So the problem was I couldn't get to you. I didn't believe it. Right. I was kept waiting for this weight of relief to come off my shoulders, but I couldn't use my passport. And it didn't feel like until I knew I could walk through U.S. customs with a passport, I didn't really believe it had happened. Happened. So actually I hadn't. I didn't get to leave the country. I voted before I left the country. When I voted and it said, your vote has been counted, that was the moment for me. I thought, holy shit, it's real. But that was a year later.

[Samantha Bee]

Wow.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, it's strangely stressful. I remember sitting, waiting for three weeks in London and I called the visa office every day and I was like, is it there? Is it there? And they're like, no, not yet. It's so stressful. Yeah, it's weirdly. Weirdly stressful.

[Michael Isikoff]

It gets worse as. As the longer it goes on. Right. Because I think we probably all know this, like, when you start building a life in a country that you don't. You're not legally guaranteed to live in, the more you build that life, the more precarious it feels because, you know it could get taken away from you at any second.

[John Oliver]

Well, and also when your children are a different nationality to. I mean, I was conscious I had American children because they were born here, but we were not the same nationality. That I found that very stressful. Especially after 9, 11, actually. So we've all taken citizenship. What do you think of America now.

[Michael Isikoff]

You mean how it's doing out of 10?

[John Oliver]

Yes.

[Michael Isikoff]

I'm going to hold off on scoring it for three and a half weeks. I don't think it's possible to know how America's doing right now. I think we're about to find out.

[Samantha Bee]

I think you should extend that and take it all the way to inauguration because I'm just not sure that you're going to have a resolution to that question.

[Michael Isikoff]

Oh, man, that's a really strong point. That's right. You kind of got to get past. Is it January somewhere around January 5th?

[John Oliver]

January 20th. Oh, January 6th. Yes. Yes. Okay. So how do you feel Carmela is doing?

[Michael Isikoff]

It's very, very hard to say. I don't really have any idea. It's. The polls are incredibly close.

[Samantha Bee]

Do you read them? Do you get up in the morning? Do you do scroll the way I do? No, you don't.

[Michael Isikoff]

There's not much point. It's clearly there. Most of the big swing states were within the margin of error, so there's not much you can read into them other than this is going to be incredibly close to the extent that it kind of always is. It's just. It feels hard to get your head around how it can be close this time given what happened last time.

[Samantha Bee]

Can I ask, how are you planning the next week's shows? Like, how much are you giving attention to what's happening now? How much are you creating? I mean, you're always kind, you know, you are always having evergreen segments kind of like percolating. How much are you pivoting to it in the weeks leading up to it?

[Michael Isikoff]

Last week we were trying to take a long look at the attempts at election subversion because it felt like it was worth trying to get all of that into one place. The extent to which all the claims of non citizens voting are absolute horseshit if felt useful to show how nonsense it is as well as just tell people it's nonsense to really kind of try to forensically work through exactly how much that is built on a total lie. So there's a couple more things like that we're working on in run up to the election where it feels like trying to meet the biggest lies at face value and pull them apart. So that's kind of what we're planning in the run up to the election. What we'll do afterwards I think will depend on how that goes.

[Samantha Bee]

Right. I remember when I was doing my own Child that we were like, we should have a cake because we kind of aired midweek and so we were had to be like a little bit responsive and we were like, let's get a cake made. And one half of the cake will be like a celebratory half. And then we'll have the opposite side, which would be the upside down world of the cake with like a demon hanging off of it, like melting the cake from within. You just think case, you kind of have to plan for everything.

[Michael Isikoff]

It's tricky because you're on Wednesdays. Right. So you would think that you would know enough by then. I'm not sure, like you were pushing it back then. I'm not sure that will be the case now. I don't think we're not going to know unless there's an absolute landslide on Tuesday night. It might well be, especially if Georgia goes into litigation that will be struggling to know on Sunday or on Saturday when we tape who's actually won.

[Samantha Bee]

You're gonna have to get your own goblin cake.

[Michael Isikoff]

I want it delivered by a terrified looking Jessica Simpson.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh God, yes. That star spangled bikini has been through some shit.

[John Oliver]

So do we think that we may not know for some, for some days or even possibly some weeks because it does feel like the Republicans are getting in all sorts of structures to contest the election. If the Democrats win.

[Michael Isikoff]

It's not even just the. I think the counting alone, like Pennsylvania is going to take longer just because they're not allowing, as they haven't before, like any opening of the ballots to be smoothed out. So it will get pushed back. Georgia really could take a long time if they, if they're allowed to do any of the things that the new law passed last month. Month has. Has suggested that they're going to be allowed to do in terms of having hand recounts of precincts and demanding the exact same total from three people. It's. It. Everything could well get pushed back. I, I would be really surprised if we know Tuesday night.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. And everybody's been really deeply practicing getting further radicalized since January 6th. Everybody's doing a really good job of just like studying up for what comes.

[John Oliver]

After and actually what's going on now. And this armed militia in hurricane territory is pretty worrying. I don't know if you've been following this.

[Samantha Bee]

No, those words don't sound good at all.

[John Oliver]

So the disinformation around the hurricanes meant that there was various FEMA workers yesterday. Right. Were confronted by an armed militia and had to be had. Were basically called, you know, called back from FEMA to stop going out there. So it does feel like the beginning of this may have Already started.

[Michael Isikoff]

Oh, for sure. I think it's definitely already started. Yeah, we'll see. I think it's going to be a tense time, but yeah, I think long, long gone, I think are the days probably for the foreseeable future where you planned election night parties with results. I say you, I mean like party, like the political party. The idea there'll be a cascade of balloons. And in 2008, remember, Sam, we were on air. It was that early, right? Am I. I'm not wrong about that, right? It was like 11:20 or something.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, yeah, we were on the air. That's right. And it was so emotional and it felt that that was a balloon drop. Balloon drops are over. The balloon drops now are just filled with sand and the balloons hurt you and that's right.

[Michael Isikoff]

They just land with a sequence of.

[Samantha Bee]

They wallop you, they just bruise you like a bag of oranges.

[John Oliver]

I've got so many questions to ask you, but I want to know what your media diet is.

[Michael Isikoff]

I've got two little kids, so Junior Bake Off. Bluey still. We're still watching Bluey and I mean, and for me, Liverpool. I'd watch Liverpool football games.

[John Oliver]

Where do you get your news from? How much time do you spend? So you said you didn't doom scrolls, Sam. Doom scrolls all the time. But where do you get your information from? What do you trust as an information source?

[Michael Isikoff]

Course, it's a little different from us than the daily grind of shows. Right. Because we're not necessarily in that daily news diet ecosystem. So the beauty of the machine that we have here is that with these longer stories, what we're really relying on is our researchers talking to experts. So to the extent possible, we're trying to get information from the source there, from the people who've written studies or have monitored to stories for their entire lives. Not necessarily from. Oh, this outlet is generally good because they'll all disappoint you.

[Samantha Bee]

I want to recommend an article that I read the other day in the Atlantic about a place called Point Nemo, which is the furthest point on the Earth's surface away from land. And that's where I'm going to go if the election. It's in the South Pacific.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, I was going to get. Oh, South Pacific. Okay.

[Samantha Bee]

Just get yourself a houseboat. The waves are 70ft on a good day.

[John Oliver]

The worst weather in the world, apart from actually where we grew up. It's worse in Britain, it's worse in the north. It's Point Nemo and the north of Britain. Both have terrible weather patterns, 70 foot.

[Michael Isikoff]

Waves at least that's dramatic. In Britain you have like a low cloud that's just kind of pressing down not on your body but on your soul. And it's a cold that again isn't interesting cold. It's just a damp, wet cold.

[John Oliver]

You know, you will notice that I haven't mentioned that you got 30 Emmy awards because I don't want you getting big headed on this, on this show. If you had stayed in the uk, what would you be doing now?

[Michael Isikoff]

I mean, I didn't come to America like the Beatles. Right. I didn't come having achieved success in the UK and then sacrificing it for success in America. I failed my way to the us. I was. I did not have a glittering career in the uk. So I think what the honest truth is, what I've done, I think is what I was doing the whole time, which is just doing an Edinburgh show every year. That was the thing I loved the most.

[John Oliver]

Edinburgh Fringe Show.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, Edinburgh Fringe do. Yeah, exactly. Do the Edinburgh Festival once a year, write a new hour. That was kind of the one regular backdrop to my life before I came here. I would do that every year. See all the comedians I knew up in August. Every is the best place in the world for in August. It's the greatest. So I'd be doing that and then I don't know. I worked for a little bit for Radio 4, had some shows canceled, so I don't know, maybe I'd be working for them. I've no idea.

[John Oliver]

So interesting. And I love the story that you tell of your first night on the daily show when J.K. rowling was there.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, it was so confusing, the whole. Did Sam, were you on the first night? Was that a move that he would make?

[Samantha Bee]

I can't remember. I think so. We would usually do a kind of a group thing to introduce someone, but my memory is so shot I can't.

[Michael Isikoff]

Remember a. I think I realized after watching the Pattern after the fact that a very kind thing he did was made sure that on your first day in the office, you were on that night to kind of stop it becoming too big a thing in your head. So I just got in from Britain. I was jet lagged. It was very, very hot that summer and it was all a blur. And so I remember them saying, you're going to be on tonight. That seemed like a bad idea. I think it was a hugely good idea in hindsight because I was too tired to feel as nervous as I should have done. And then weirdly J.K. rowling was in the audience that night. She was just. Because I think he was interviewing her at Radio City for a new book. And so she was just sitting. Not as a guest. She was just sitting in the audience. And I didn't know until I was walking back off. Then you look at her and think, hold on, this can't be.

[Samantha Bee]

Really?

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah.

[Samantha Bee]

What is America all about?

[Michael Isikoff]

Yes, I know. It was a very, very strange experience.

[John Oliver]

And weren't you wearing little round glasses at the time?

[Michael Isikoff]

I was. I don't. I don't like the tone of your voice there.

[Samantha Bee]

You know, one of the things that nobody knows about when we worked at the Daily show was that we had to supply our own wardrobe. Okay. Yes.

[John Oliver]

Oh, is that true? Okay, that explains a lot.

[Samantha Bee]

There was a. It was very low, but we were just not, you know, that changed. I kind of evolved over time. But the outfits that I wore when I started were. First of all, I came from camp. You know, this is interviews. Not about me, but I came from Canada. They were like, by the way, when you come here, you're going to need to buy a suit. I bought a brown suit. Let's just talk about how ugly.

[Michael Isikoff]

I think my suit was brown, too.

[John Oliver]

I think both of you were wearing brown suits.

[Michael Isikoff]

I think it might have been brown.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. Because when we go into our home country and we go, excuse me, suit salesman, I need a suit. They go, you know what? You need brown. Nothing looks better on camera than tan.

[Michael Isikoff]

That's right. It doesn't fit anything, but it's not out of place anywhere. It's equally out of place everywhere. I think I had a frog suit.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. Jim Margolis used to make fun of me because he was like, if you go too near a light, your suit is going to melt. Can you get a better one?

[Michael Isikoff]

It was a real point of friction from when it changed and when we finally started. I think we started getting suits from Banana Republic years later. And previous correspondents were absolutely furious at that point. They couldn't believe it. Yeah. And it was a problem because doing field pieces, you're constantly, like, climbing trees, grabbing onto the bottom of trucks, but you rip through suits and it's a not insignificant investment. You go brown. Brown is always.

[Samantha Bee]

Brown is always the key. I remember Mud.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah.

[Samantha Bee]

Jason going through to a pig farm and his feet were saturated with just pig feces. His whole hit to throw out his shoes and suit, just saturated. And you were like, that's like 400 more dollars.

[Michael Isikoff]

It was very, very helpful when Banana Republic gave us disposable thank God.

[John Oliver]

But the only reason I mention your small round glass is this. Didn't J.K. rowling say that you reminded her of Harry?

[Michael Isikoff]

That was. That was the one thing she said to me. And what was depressing was I had spent basically the years since her book was released doing stand up, having, Oi, oi. Harry Potter shouted at me before I got to the mic, J.K. rowling herself. And then J.K. rowling basically heckled me in real time, saying, yeah, you look like Harry went, okay, that doesn't help. And I think I changed my glasses pretty soon after that.

[John Oliver]

Well, you've had a whole makeover. I mean, your hair has changed since the beginning.

[Michael Isikoff]

Well, this is. Wow. You can take Joanna out of Marie Claire.

[Samantha Bee]

Jessica Simpson came over and gave you an American makeover. This is what happens.

[John Oliver]

Yep, she did. I mean, I've watched your hair progress over the years.

[Samantha Bee]

This isn't like a regular interview, is it?

[Michael Isikoff]

John Oliver, she has been every major chapter point of my hair story.

[John Oliver]

I think your hair looks great, but I also love the story. Anyway, I also love the story of how you met your wife, who I have such a wonderful recent story of your wife, because she is an ambulance. She works in the ambulance world. And I was in the ER with a friend, and I'm sitting there and this goddess. Because John's wife is surprisingly gorgeous. And when I say, surprisingly, she's mine, John, I can say that, but she's absolutely gorgeous. And I'm sitting there and I've got to organize an ambulance from this ER to the hospital uptown. And this apparition in the most beautiful ambulance uniform, which is all navy with these fabulous heavy boots, comes up and she goes, don't worry, I'm going to get you the best ambulance. And I realize it's Kate, and I'm like, even in the ER in New York, you're hustling for. Who do I know? How can I get the best ambulance? And I found myself saying, is it the best ambulance? Has it got the best equipment? She was like, don't worry, I got you. But describe how you met her, because I love this story.

[Michael Isikoff]

I do remember coming back from that shift saying, I saw Joanna and she said, like her friend, there was something going on. And she said that my book, my boots looked fabulous. I remember looking down at her boots and thinking, and I think the word fabulous might mean something different than I.

[John Oliver]

Think it means they're wonderful. Heavy, big, leather, strong boots.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, I met her with Sam, actually. I was. We were working at the 08 convention. The two conventions. We were in St. Paul, Minnesota, and so we were running around on a layer of the convention center that we were not allowed to be on. This goes back to the immigration thing. I was very, very worried about getting. I couldn't get a rest. Right. I can get thrown out of place, but I can't get arrested on a visa. That's a disaster. So whenever they started calling security, we have to make sure. I would want to make sure that's not the police. Right. Because those are two different encounters. As one point, as we're kind of running away. I can't remember who I was with. I think it was Stuart Miller. Smils, we called him. I think we. Kate was in the army. She just got back from Iraq. She was with a veterans group and she hit this and she didn't know who. What the Daily show was, but she saw people running and hid us. You know, she's the. It's the medic mo. Right. You see someone running, you want to help them.

[Samantha Bee]

That's the cutest way to meet. That is so cute.

[Michael Isikoff]

I think. I don't remember what her boots were that day, Joanna. But I'm guessing they were fabulous.

[John Oliver]

I think they were fabulous. And she signed up to go to. Oh, she signed up to join the army after 9 11, right?

[Michael Isikoff]

Of 9 11. Yeah, yeah. She signed up 9 12, I think. Or close. Yeah.

[John Oliver]

Yeah. And I remember her descriptions of going to the Iraq war and having to rescue people who'd been basically burned. And she has extraordinary stories of being a medic in Iraq.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, she was in Fallujah, Taji, Baghdad. She was all over the place. Yeah. I still hear every now and then new stories will come out. But yeah, she. They all. They had a. A hell of a time there. In every possible meaning of the word hell.

[Samantha Bee]

This was great. Oh, my God. It's so nice to see your face.

[Michael Isikoff]

You too, mate.

[Samantha Bee]

It is really nice you're doing your Vegas residency at the Beacon. This is awesome.

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, that's right.

[John Oliver]

Tell us about that.

[Michael Isikoff]

Plus my. Plus my hair journey is just where it's just another. I can shoot it up.

[John Oliver]

I like that. I like it. I think you should do spiky up top. Spiky up top. And so you've got a residency at the Beacon?

[Michael Isikoff]

Yeah, I do with Seth every month. Seth Meyers. Yeah. We.

[John Oliver]

Okay. So, Sam, you and I should go.

[Samantha Bee]

We should.

[Michael Isikoff]

You should totally come. Yeah. We started last summer during the strike when we were both running around desperately trying to do stand up.

[Samantha Bee]

I'm just Going to sit in the front row and I'm going to mount the words Harry Potter. And I hope, yeah, you feel the love.

[Michael Isikoff]

You can put right angles on your glasses. They still present us round.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, my God, this was so fun.

[John Oliver]

It was so fun. John, thank you very much.

[Michael Isikoff]

Did you hit record at the start of this, Joanna, or is this.

[Samantha Bee]

No, no, now it starts. Now we hit record.

[John Oliver]

Yeah. Now that was just warming you up. It was warming you up, John. Give my love to Kate. Very good to see you and the boys.

[Michael Isikoff]

Thanks, mate.

[Samantha Bee]

That was so fun. That was so enjoyable.

[John Oliver]

So enjoyable. I love hearing your stories about working on the Daily Show.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, my God, it is so fun to see us face. He worked so hard. I can't recall the last time we saw each other socially. It was a really long time ago, so this was a joy.

[John Oliver]

Well, he's quite hermity, I think. He is.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. He's. I mean, he has a really, you know, time consuming job and he does a lot of. I mean, we did see him at the George Clooney event.

[John Oliver]

Yes, we did. He was the. In fact, we should have mentioned that to him. He was the host at the George Clooney event and John Stewart was there too. So the two of them and then, then you. The three representatives from the Daily Show.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[John Oliver]

And also he's got two little kids and I feel at that stage in your life, there's work and there's family and there's nothing else.

[Samantha Bee]

There's nothing else. There's not, there's, there's no. Yeah, there's not much to give to your social life. It kind of ceases to exist for a number of years and that is okay.

[John Oliver]

He's so funny. I just, I don't know if you feel this with Canadians and I know you're married to obviously a Canadian, Jason Jones, who was on, on the Daily show too. But there's such a comfort with being with people where you just get the cultural references. I've lived here 27 years and I still have a level of comfort with British people that I don't quite have with Americans.

[Samantha Bee]

That makes total sense. Yes. No, I mean, the minute I locate and we find each other, we will find each other at a huge party. You'll always find the Canadian in the room for me. And then we immediately know. Exactly. We speak our, you know, we speak the same language, like instantly. It's amazing.

[John Oliver]

I have an anecdote about a Canadian which might be. It might just be a good time to surface it, which is that I'm at a party and I see a friend barreling towards me with a man who I recognize, youngish man that I recognize. And I think it's her son because she's asked me to talk to her son who's in his sort of mid-20s, about journalism. And I've totally failed to do this. So I'm sort of frantically overcompensating when they barrel towards me and I grab his hand and I say, oh, my goodness, your mum loves you. She speaks so highly of you. It's so good to see you again, you know, excited to talk to you about journalism. And he puts his hand out and he goes, justin, Justin Trudeau. And I was like, that's why I recognize you.

[Samantha Bee]

You're the Prime Minister of a whole.

[John Oliver]

But it was out of context. I wasn't expecting to see the Prime Minister of Canada at that particular party.

[Samantha Bee]

Your mom is so proud of you. She speaks so highly of you. You're a good boy. You're a good boy. You're a good son.

[John Oliver]

Good son. That was. That's my best Canadian anecdote.

[Samantha Bee]

That is amazing. Of course, the Canadian most memorable to you at a party is the literal Prime Minister. Because our prime ministers go to parties, parties that are just like regular parties. They're a little bit. It's a little low key.

[John Oliver]

You're the most famous Canadian.

[Samantha Bee]

Sometimes you'll be in Ottawa in Canada, and you could just like see a Prime minister jog by. That's what Canada's like.

[John Oliver]

We're never gonna see Donald Trump joking.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, he's too busy dancing on a stage to music.

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[Samantha Bee]

Your family wants new phones. So how do we know? They told us.

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[Samantha Bee]

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[John Oliver]

In today's world, customer experience, or CX for short, is being completely revolutionized and one company is leading the charge. 59 what they're doing is really interesting. They're integrating AI into customer experiences through phone calls, text, email, chat. It's all getting smarter and more streamlined, which is a win for brands and consumers. Massive companies like PayPal and Walgreens are already using Five9 to enable top tier customer experiences where typically you might not expect it because brands have seen how powerful great customer experiences can be. It leads to higher profits, better customer retention, all types of business outcomes. Which is why more brands should be looking to elevate how they engage with customers. So if you want to know how you can elevate your cx game, check out59.com beast I thought John was a very good host of the Clooney Girl.

[Samantha Bee]

The Clooney event.

[John Oliver]

The Clooney event where George Clooney came over to you and said he knew you had a podcast.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, he said podcast.

[John Oliver]

How did he know that you had a podcast?

[Samantha Bee]

Because you are shameless.

[John Oliver]

Joanna calls totally shameless. John also hosted the Comic Relief gala last year, which was very good. And this year, I am chairing the Comic Relief gala, which actually is a little terrifying because I've got to round up people to buy tickets for it. But this year, we're doing a show. It's not a classic gala. It's actually a comedy show. And if you're interested in coming, you're very welcome. All the money goes to help children in poverty at Comic Relief. And if you go to comic relief.org you can find details about it to buy Tickets. It's on December 9th, and we've structured it like a Mar A Lago fundraiser. There are expensive seats where you get a round table, a little candlelight. But you can also join us for a little less than the full table. You can join us for, I think the cheapest ticket is. Well, I can't remember. Go to comic relief.org can you sit.

[Samantha Bee]

Under the ticket table?

[John Oliver]

You can lower the cost ticket. You can lie on the floor.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay.

[John Oliver]

And you can be stood on, actually by other people. Sam let's go to the Download to unpack the biggest Beast stories of the week. And certainly the scoop of the week at the Beast is an incredible story written by investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, who's won hundreds of awards, about Trump's co campaign manager, Chris Lacevita, and how much money he's made. $22 million over the last two years working for the Trump campaign. And that's not all. Let me tell you, if that was a normal salary for a political campaign manager, I think we'd both be doing that job, too. Forget podcasting, Michael. Just tell us a little bit more about this story.

[F]

Yeah, you know, it's fascinating and a little timely because we've all read about the Kamala Harris fundraising juggernaut that has brought in over $1 billion, which is considerably more than the Trump campaign has raised on its own. And for which reason the Trump people are having this giant fundraiser tonight, Wednesday night in Mar a Lago, to try to bridge the gap. But while that's been, you know, these fundraising troubles for Trump have been, you know, playing out. We've learned that the top guy in the Trump campaign or one of the two top people in the Trump campaign, Chris Lacivita, has been raking in some really astronomical sums of money working for the Trump campaign. We came up with the figure by looking at campaign finance records, talking to sources, and really digging into the contracts that La Civita has with the Trump campaign. What we found is number One he had previously, right before joining the Trump campaign, he had worked for two Trump Super PACs, Make America Great Again and Save America. Save America was the one that was paying all of Donald Trump's legal fees. And he was, as the strategic consultant, had collected his small firm, which doesn't have a website and works out of his house, took in about $19 million. Then, since joining the campaign, he has signed contracts that give him not just an annual, a monthly retainer. Retainers, actually, he's had a couple of retainers that at times went up to $75,000 a month. Then on top of that, media commissions. And this is where the real money in campaigns comes from, making those media buys. Lacvita has been getting 3% of the first $100 million of media buys. So you can do the arithmetic on that. And he's got sort of millions more coming. He's also been doing direct mail. He's also been doing, you know, digital media ads. And so when you put it all together, it looks like he's going to collect over the last two years, something like, you know, well in excess of 22, probably closer to 26 or $27 million, which is not bad for attaching yourself to Donald Trump.

[Samantha Bee]

Can I ask a very basic question, which is really, how do campaign managers actually get paid? I did not really understand this before I read your article. Is this typical?

[F]

You know, look, it is, as we wrote in the piece, not unheard of for political consultants in presidential campaigns and work for super PACs to rake in just astronomical amounts of money. I mean, it is. And much of this is hidden. You can't really. You know, there are campaign finance reports that all the campaigns have to file on a regular basis. That report not just their contributions, which is what most of us look at at first, but also your expenditures. And those expenditures are often hard to find. They are done through LLCs. You're not really sure who's getting the money. In this case, we were able to piece together that Advancing Strategies, which is the firm of La Civita, has been getting his name, doesn't show up on the campaign finance reports. But if you look under his consulting firm, that's where you see the big bucks, you know, pouring in at some really high, high levels that we haven't seen before. So this happens a lot. Whether it happens to the extent that La Civita is milking the Trump campaign, that is a good question that right now we don't have the answer to.

[John Oliver]

Let me just understand this. His pay is structured because he gets a percentage of the media spend so that he's incentivized to actually spend on media because he gets paid that way.

[F]

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's an inherent conflict of interest that takes place in quite a few political campaigns. I mean, this has happened before. Jim Margolis was a Democratic consultant who worked for the Obama campaigns and he was a strategic, consistent consultant. Plus he was getting media commissions. He wasn't running the campaign the way La Sevita is. Lac Vita is co campaign manager with Susie Wiles, who has her own deal through her own consulting company. But Lac Vita then is able to make those strategic decisions that inevitably benefit his company. And this is one of the issues that was being raised by Corey Lewandowski, quite a combative and polarizing figure. But he was brought back by Trump and then takes it upon himself to do this sort of informal audit of the campaign and was raising the question, is all this money that was spent by the campaign on direct mail during the primary when Trump had leads of 40 points in the polls, was all that necessary and would have taken place if the money hadn't been going to Chris lacivita's company?

[Samantha Bee]

Would you think that Susie Wiles knew about his deal and how sweet it was, or do you think that she read your story and put her fist through some plate glass windows?

[F]

Yeah, it was very interesting because Susie Weil's name doesn't show up on campaign finance reports either, except in one, there's like a travel reimbursement for her. And when I pressed the campaign about this, they said she wasn't being paid. And I asked did she have another entity that she was getting paid through? And she, they told me no and she wasn't getting paid. So then of course we discover that in fact she was and she's got her own consulting company, Right Coast Strategies. It's which she founded some years ago in Florida. And she's collected, I think, the figure. It was something like 685,000, which is not bad, but not anything at the Chris Lack. Yeah, when I pressed how much both Trump and Susie Wiles knew about how much LaCvita was raking in. These were not questions that the campaign wanted to indulge.

[John Oliver]

I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Susie Wiles found out because they're co managers of the campaign manager campaign managers.

[Samantha Bee]

Just her door softly closes and you hear her screaming into her scream pillow.

[F]

Well, she might want to renegotiate her contract because I should point out that lacavita has renegotiated his contract twice. So he's had three separate contracts with the campaign. That second contract is when he boosted the levels he was getting for media commissions and digital advertising. Susie may want to renegotiate herself, although there isn't a lot of time left.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, can I ask, I mean, Donald Trump is so notorious for disliking it when people make money off of him. Do you have a sense of how he is reacting to this story?

[F]

I don't since the story has come out. But I did press them on how much Trump knew about the contracts, the details in lacvita's contract at the time that they were signed, and got back this really opaque answer saying conversations that senior staff have with the candidate are considered confidential and we don't discuss such matters. So kind of a dodge.

[John Oliver]

So, Michael, there's a big fundraiser at Mar a Lago tonight. We're recording this on the Wednesday. We know that Carmela doesn't need to do any more fundraising. Her campaign have said we don't need any more money right now. What is the Mar A Lago fundraiser going to comprise of? What are we missing? And should Sam and I pool our resources and buy the cheapest ticket we can, just for fun?

[F]

Well, I would love to see Samantha at the fundraiser. And I'll bet you could get a photo with Trump.

[Samantha Bee]

I'll just do a serving shift. I could work it. I'll do whatever it takes.

[F]

You know, I think we gotta move quickly here.

[Samantha Bee]

I have to go get on.

[F]

It's only in a few hours. You gotta get down there.

[John Oliver]

But what do you get? The most expensive ticket is $924,600, I think. What does that mean? You're eating?

[F]

Well, you guys can afford that, right?

[John Oliver]

Sure. We need a job on a campaign. But does that mean that. Do you get better food on the big round table with candlelight?

[F]

You get a candlelight dinner and then you're able to sit in a prize roundtable with Donald Trump. And I don't know what you'd hear in a private roundtable than is any different than, you know, what we hear him saying at these rallies and interviews where he just like riffs on and on about whatever pops into his head. But I suspect they're probably pretty similar.

[Samantha Bee]

I think the food would be worse at the private roundtable because you would have to eat what he eats. So you're really just having to burger. Just a hamburger and some ketchup.

[John Oliver]

Although my theory on that is that actually he doesn't eat burgers. That that's all pr and that actually, he's quite fastidious about his diet because he obviously has a chef. He lives at Mar a Lago. He wants to be a billionaire, and billionaires don't eat burgers for the most part. And so you're being.

[Samantha Bee]

No, you're being too generous, really.

[John Oliver]

I mean, I don't think Melania is eating McDonald's.

[Samantha Bee]

No, no.

[John Oliver]

I know she doesn't live there anymore, but when she was there, I feel like she would have had influence over the chef.

[F]

Don't. Don't you think they need a food taster there as well these days?

[John Oliver]

I had lunch the other day with a Russian writer, and when I got up to go to the bathroom, I came back and told Joanna, a tip for you, never leave your food unattended. I didn't want to finish it. Oh, didn't want to finish the chicken.

[Samantha Bee]

It was chilling.

[John Oliver]

Michael, what will be the repercussions? Because it's only three weeks to the election now, so even if Trump were upset to hear that his co campaign manager had paid, or had gotten paid in excess of 22 million, nearer to 30, probably by the time the whole thing's over, it's very late to fire him.

[F]

You can't fire him at this stage. We're in the final weeks of the campaign and the race is a coin flip and who knows how it plays out? Look, if Trump wins, By the way, Lacvita does get another 150k bonus, which is built into that contract.

[John Oliver]

150K feels like nothing, though. That feels like it's weirdly structured. Not much in sense it's an ice.

[F]

Cream cone or a little gravy. But I think all will be forgiven and forgotten and, you know, Trump's president again and it's fine now if he loses, I think that's when you'd hear about this, because there'll be all sorts of, you know, postmortems about, you know, where did the campaign go wrong and what did it do, you know, what strategic decisions were wrong. And they'll be, you know, looking for scapegoats. And Trump's got one. Chris Lacivita, the guy who was, you know, the grifter who was milking him for all this money.

[Samantha Bee]

Wow. I wonder how all those stories about all those big donors just getting muscled and armbarred. I wonder how they are reacting to your story, or if they're just like, oh, Chris is worth it. He's the best in the business.

[F]

It would be great to know if it comes up tonight at the fundraiser.

[John Oliver]

It's a great story, Michael. Thank you very much. I'm sorry we're not all at Mar a Lago tonight, but we'll send them all good wishes and hope that they don't leave their food unattended. Sure enough, Michael, thank you. Looking forward to your next piece.

[F]

All right, thanks a lot.

[John Oliver]

If you've been listening to the first few episodes of this podcast, you probably heard us talk about Five9, the revolutionary customer experience platform that is redefining how customers interact with brands. Everyone wants to be treated well and have a great customer experience. And in today's world, that is a huge competitive advantage. But most companies see it as just checking a box. They're missing out on incredible brand building and revenue generating opportunities that are everywhere across businesses. All of those consumer touch points that you don't think of, those are moments your brand can use to create an advantage. Five9's intelligent AI driven platform lets you make all those moments better and totally seamless. So if you want to build a powerful brand that people love, check out59.com beast. Thank you for listening. Please, like subscribe and share this episode with a friend or a colleague that you want to argue with. Yes.

[Samantha Bee]

And if you're doing that, why not share it with your neighbor who has booby trapped their Trump sign?

[John Oliver]

Tag us on your favorite social media platforms and tell us what you think. And we'll be back next Thursday with another episode of the Daily Beast podcast.

[Samantha Bee]

And as my muse once said, the best be beast. Yes, of course. Yes, yes.

[John Oliver]

The Daily Beast podcast is produced by Sarah Demonkoft, Svia Beren Reinstein, Jesse Cannon, and Seamus Calder, with editing by Deanna Chapman. Fascinating story.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, it's a great story. I bet there are so many people who are so cheesed off by the story. It gives me a wonderful feeling in my tummy.

[John Oliver]

Well, not least, Susie Wiles.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, yeah, she cannot like this.

[John Oliver]

And Chrystala Savita is the guy that came up with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, which ended up being so bad for John Kerry 20 years ago now.

[Samantha Bee]

So toxic. It was terrible.

[John Oliver]

Well, three weeks until we find out whether or not Chris La Civita was worth his money.

[Samantha Bee]

Three weeks till I sail off for Point Ne Nemo. Potentially you're Point Nemo.

[John Oliver]

I'm staying to fight, fight, fight.

[Samantha Bee]

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