Meghan Markle, Marco Rubio and Ben Meiselas

Summary

The Daily Beast Podcast: Episode on Meghan Markle, Marco Rubio, and Ben Meiselas

Release Date: March 6, 2025
Hosts: Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee
Guest(s): Ben Meiselas, Ben Falcone

---

Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, co-hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee delve into a blend of politics, pop culture, and current events that are shaping the national discourse. From scrutinizing Meghan Markle's latest Netflix venture to dissecting the nuances of political performances, the hosts ensure a comprehensive exploration of the week's most compelling stories.

---

Political Rundown: Trump’s Presidential Address and Alyssa Slotnick’s Response

The episode kicks off with an in-depth analysis of Donald Trump’s latest presidential address. Joanna shares her surprising appreciation for Trump's speech, stating at [03:35]:

Joanna Coles [03:35]: "I actually found Trump's speech magnificent television. I found it too long."

However, despite her initial admiration, Joanna expresses unease with certain elements of the speech, particularly its length and some of the rhetorical choices. She elaborates on her mixed feelings:

Joanna Coles [04:22]: "I found bits of it rousing and a bit at the end about the pioneers. I mean, I am so. So..."

Samantha concurs, providing her perspective on the consistency of Trump's messaging:

Samantha Bee [05:15]: "I found the speech sort of, it just didn't. Nothing was surprising to me. It was very consistent with everything he said."

The hosts then shift focus to Alyssa Slotnick’s response to the presidential address. Samantha praises Slotnick's grounded and intelligent reaction, highlighting the contrast between her composed demeanor and the chaotic nature of the political environment.

Joanna Coles [05:44]: "I found her response grounded, intelligent, reassuring, normal."

This segment underscores the differing reactions within the political spectrum and sets the stage for their discussion on the broader implications of such speeches.

---

Pop Culture Spotlight: Meghan Markle’s Netflix Show

Transitioning to pop culture, Joanna and Samantha critique Meghan Markle’s new Netflix series. Samantha expresses her skepticism about the show's format and content:

Samantha Bee [08:21]: "I watched three episodes of Meghan Markle's new show."

Joanna is equally critical, pointing out the show’s reliance on aesthetic elements over substantive content:

Joanna Coles [08:31]: "This is not a television show. This is an Instagram feed."

The hosts debate the effectiveness of celebrity-driven content in television, comparing Markle’s endeavors unfavorably to more established figures like Martha Stewart.

Joanna Coles [10:37]: "She never got above number six on the call sheet. But she was great at number six on the call sheet, right?"

Their conversation highlights the challenges celebrities face when transitioning to content creation beyond their established personas.

---

Innovative Naming: Elon Musk’s Children

A lighthearted yet intriguing segment involves Joanna delivering an official reading of Elon Musk’s children’s names. She humorously critiques the unconventional choices:

Joanna Coles [16:02]: "We're going in science fiction land. These are names coming out of Gormengast."

Samantha adds her amusement at the uniqueness of the names, emphasizing the blend of creativity and eccentricity that characterizes Musk’s approach to naming.

Samantha Bee [16:35]: "Don't know the rest."

This discussion serves as a commentary on the intersection of personal branding and public perception in the realm of high-profile figures.

---

Interview with Ben Meiselas: Building Midas Touch Network

The podcast features an insightful interview with Ben Meiselas, co-founder of the Midas Touch Network. Ben shares his journey from civil rights law to establishing a media network aimed at progressive messaging.

Ben Meiselas [33:25]: "I represented families in Bakersfield, whether they were Democratic or Republican."

Ben discusses the motivations behind creating an independent media platform, emphasizing the need to deconstruct sensationalism in politics and restore trust through fact-based reporting.

Ben Meiselas [34:51]: "My goal is actually deconstructing the chaos and the craziness. To try to give people the facts so that they can go out and really know how they're being played."

The conversation delves into the shortcomings of legacy media, with Ben critiquing established outlets for losing touch with their audiences and failing to build genuine trust.

Ben Meiselas [39:07]: "They forgot that they have viewers and viewers they took for granted that they, that their viewers would always be there."

Ben elaborates on the organic growth of Midas Touch, highlighting the collaborative efforts of his brothers and a dedicated team that includes prominent lawyers and digital editors.

Ben Meiselas [33:28]: "I helped build his media businesses with him, which gave me a background in how to build something if you wanted to."

This interview underscores the significance of independent media in contemporary discourse and the importance of maintaining authenticity and trust.

---

Interview with Ben Falcone: Balancing Comedy and Family

In the latter part of the episode, the hosts welcome comedian and writer Ben Falcone. Ben discusses his new children's book, "What's Scarier Than Thunder?", and shares insights into balancing a prolific career with family life.

Ben Falcone [53:16]: "I've started, like, doing puzzles and stuff. I feel like I'm gonna get really good at crafts if the news cycle continues this way."

He reflects on his coping mechanisms for anxiety, emphasizing humor as a tool for navigating stressful times.

Ben Falcone [54:07]: "I'm like, the guy is like, what if I stand here and I'm not helpful at all? But I say, like, three bad jokes."

Ben also touches upon his collaborative work with his wife, Melissa McCarthy, highlighting the synergy between their professional roles and personal lives.

Ben Falcone [57:24]: "I'm like, she can go very, very micro, which she's aware of. Like, so, like, sometimes when we're filming, I'll have to be like, I know there's a plant there that you don't exactly love."

Their discussion provides a candid look into the dynamics of working alongside a spouse in the entertainment industry, balancing creative responsibilities with personal relationships.

---

Conclusion

Joanna and Samantha wrap up the episode by reflecting on the multifaceted discussions they've navigated, from high-stakes political analysis to the lighter aspects of parenting and creative collaboration. They encourage listeners to engage with the podcast, share feedback, and stay connected through various channels.

---

Notable Quotes

• Joanna Coles [03:35]: "I actually found Trump's speech magnificent television. I found it too long."
• Samantha Bee [05:15]: "I found the speech sort of, it just didn't. Nothing was surprising to me. It was very consistent with everything he said."
• Ben Meiselas [34:51]: "My goal is actually deconstructing the chaos and the craziness. To try to give people the facts so that they can go out and really know how they're being played."
• Ben Falcone [53:16]: "I've started, like, doing puzzles and stuff. I feel like I'm gonna get really good at crafts if the news cycle continues this way."
• Ben Falcone [54:07]: "I'm like, the guy is like, what if I stand here and I'm not helpful at all? But I say, like, three bad jokes."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of The Daily Beast Podcast skillfully intertwines critical political commentary with vibrant pop culture discussions, all while featuring insightful interviews with influential figures like Ben Meiselas and Ben Falcone. Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee maintain a dynamic and engaging dialogue, making complex topics accessible and entertaining for their audience. Whether dissecting presidential rhetoric or exploring the challenges of creative partnerships, the podcast delivers a well-rounded and thought-provoking experience for listeners.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content segments have been excluded to focus exclusively on the substantive discussions within the episode.

Transcript

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[Joanna Coles]

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Incredible. Someone give that cat a contract.

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[Joanna Coles]

Welcome to the Daily Beast podcast. I'm Joanna Coles. I'm the chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast.

[Samantha Bee]

And I am Samantha Bee. I'm the chief content officer of Lauren Boebert's spray tan. So intense. Did you see her?

[Joanna Coles]

So many spray tans. What about Melania Spray tan.

[Samantha Bee]

Everybody is just espresso. It is like just Rachel Dolezal all over again. All over the room. I could not believe it. And you know what? I wanted to say Thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers to that one woman from the GOP who also wore hot pink and did not get the memo about the resistance.

[Joanna Coles]

Who is it was Laura I wrote down. It's Laura Lee from Florida.

[Samantha Bee]

Fantastic. Well, I loved it.

[Joanna Coles]

It was very hot. Florida pink. So for people who haven't listened to the podcast before, first of all, why not? But it's important to know that the reason we do this is every week we dissect the people and the stories of the week that we're obsessed by. At the Daily Beast.

[Samantha Bee]

We have a lot of obsessions this week.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, I just. I mean, we're gonna start off with the biggest TV event in the country. No, not the Oscars. And not the presidential address, which we will be discussing with Ben Meiselas from Midas Touch Network, which just knocked Joe Rogan off the top of the podcast charts. Congratulations, Ben. I'm talking about Meghan Markle's new Netflix show with love. So much to discuss. And since I last saw you, of course, Elon's had another baby.

[Samantha Bee]

He has. Oh, I can't remember what the baby's name is, and I would never.

[Joanna Coles]

I can remember. I can remember because I've got a list of all his children's names, which I would like to do as a. As a formal reading.

[Samantha Bee]

That's nice.

[Joanna Coles]

Can I do a formal reading? What are we doing first, Meghan? First formal reading of Elon's kids.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, I feel that we should talk, but we should do first impressions from last night, which we are taping this on a Wednesday morning. So first impressions from the presidential address last night. What do you think?

[Joanna Coles]

I would rather focus on Alyssa Slotnick's response. I was not hopeful, and I just thought, wow. I actually found Trump's speech magnificent television. I found it too long. And we'll go into this with Ben Meiselas. But I did find bits of it rousing and a bit at the end about the pioneers. I mean, I am so. So. Listen, I'm. You know, I don't even want to say it out loud. I am a naturalized citizen, whatever they call it. I think actually they call it a person of exceptional alien intelligence. But I found all that stuff rousing the pioneers, Shenandoah, the problem, you know? And I'm also appalled by the fact that I find it rousing. But what I did like was a listless slot. Next, Michigan.

[Samantha Bee]

Slotkin.

[Joanna Coles]

Slotkin. Sorry, what did I say?

[Samantha Bee]

Slotnik.

[Joanna Coles]

Slotnik. Sorry. What am I. I've had three cups of coffee this morning, out of control. I'm taking prednisone. It's just a disaster.

[Samantha Bee]

Boy.

[Joanna Coles]

I found her response grounded, intelligent, reassuring, normal. I'm like, come on, Democrats, you can do it. I didn't like the paddles. It made me feel like they were trying to auction off something. I was like, no, no, that paddle thing's not working for you. I didn't like the guy who walks out. It's like either all walk out sort of shouting. We can't hear what you're shouting. It's like, sit down already and just watch what's happening.

[Samantha Bee]

I liked her, too. I like that Trump seems very fearful of the women of Michigan, as I also learned from reading Michael Wal's terrific book about that. He is terrified of Gretchen Whitmer, and I certainly approve that message.

[Joanna Coles]

Can I make a small point here, too?

[Samantha Bee]

Yes.

[Joanna Coles]

We've talked a lot about Jeff Bezos bending the knee and him stripping the Washington Post of its sort of op editor. But of course, the other thing that Jeff Bezos likes even more than he likes democracy is money. And Amazon is, interestingly, the biggest purveyor of all the anti Trump books.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Joanna Coles]

Isn't that interesting? I like that. He must be really dancing on a knife edge there.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, he definitely worships the God of money and money alone, so that kind of tracks for me.

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Samantha Bee]

I was, I found the speech sort of, it just didn't. Nothing was surprising to me. It was very consistent with everything he said. Just a bunch of culture war bullshit with some kind of warmed over insult comedy. A bunch of feckless dolts clapping their faces off. Half of them too dumb to pound sand. Half of them don't even know where babies come from. But they're like, meanwhile, they're like, yeah, Lesotho. Who's ever heard of that country?

[Joanna Coles]

Can I just point out, Usher Vance is a mini clapper. She barely claps. She's got like a weird little tiny clap. Tiny clap, Little baby, tiny clapper, tiny dancer. It's weird. It's weird. She's like, she looked to me like she'd lost a lot of weight, too.

[Samantha Bee]

Speaking of JD Vance, I will say that anyone who, any one of us should invite teenagers into our room when we are watching these presidential addresses because they cut to the chase so quickly. My son, who's 16, came into the room and in a microsecond identified that JD Vance absolutely loathes Donald Trump. It took him. He's a body language expert. 16 year olds are body language experts. He was able to tell. He was able to read so many signifiers of body language in one second flat.

[Joanna Coles]

We had a wonderful photo in the Beast this morning of just the entire Cabinet mid clap. And it's, I mean, it was astonishing. I mean, you've got the Joint Chiefs of Staff, you've got the Chief Justices, you've got the Cabinet, and they're all mid clap. It's just what I found surprising was just the energy in the House and the extraordinary flatness of the Democrats and just this sense of I mean, they panned to some of them, and some of them looked like they were asleep. There was no coherent response other than wearing pink for the ladies.

[Samantha Bee]

And yet I'm not giving into. You know, I kind of woke up this morning, and I thought, you know what? I'm not giving into these provocations. Doge is a mess. The stock market is spasming. Veterans are losing their jobs. The agricultural sector is absolutely freaking out. He's gonna crater on tariffs because a new car is gonna cost, like, $8,000 more overnight. So my general impression is, all right, you did this. It's time to grow up, pull your pants up, because you're the government. Time to govern, and you're not doing a good job already. And we're about 40 days in, so afterwards, I needed a palette cleanser. So guess what I watched.

[Joanna Coles]

I know what you watch. Did you self soothe with Meghan Markle?

[Samantha Bee]

Myself soothed with three episodes of Meghan Markle's new show. I know you have strong impressions. I know you have strong thoughts.

[Joanna Coles]

I do have strong thoughts, and I don't want to join the chorus of negativity around this, but this is. I would just say one thing. This is not a television show. This is an Instagram feed. And unfortunately, you can't spread it over 41 minutes, and you cannot have the first episode with your makeup artist slash friend. You just. He's not interesting enough. I'm sure he's a very good makeup artist. He is not a television star, and neither is she. She's an actress. And if Meghan had good advisors around her, they would say, meghan, we love you. Go back to doing what you do, which is reading a script, being part of an ensemble cast. She never, as Tina Brown so cruelly says in her book the Palace Papers, she never got above number six on the call sheet. But she was great at number six on the call sheet, right? And don't torture your poor friend, Mindy Kaling. Can you imagine the call that Mindy Kaling must have had? Because she must have some Netflix or something, and they're like, hey, Mindy, we need you to do us a favor. Can you go over and have tea with Megan, pretend to eat her cake, pretend to love her frittata that she puts flowers on and weird seasonings, and ask some questions about it because we need someone. We need you to do us a. You know, Joanna, we need you to do us a favor.

[Samantha Bee]

You blew the barn doors off. I don't really have too much to add to that.

[Joanna Coles]

That is that was a lot, wasn't it?

[Samantha Bee]

Ditto. It doesn't. It's not really. It's not really a show. And they're not really making anything. I think, like, authentically, she seems to like all of those snacks and things that she's doing, but I don't think.

[Joanna Coles]

She'S eating those snacks.

[Samantha Bee]

Nobody's eating them. I mean, like, literally no one is eating them. No one barely takes a bite of the food. It's not really. I mean, a piece of bread with cream cheese on it is not really a sandwich, per se, that I would need instructions on. So I'm not sure who it's for, for exactly.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, it's for the Instagram crowd. Right. It's for people who like pretty things. I mean, when you compare it to the Martha Stewart documentary, which was masterful.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes.

[Joanna Coles]

Cutler's documentary. So good. And you see Martha getting up at 4 in the morning. I mean, Martha is someone who doesn't sleep. She lives and breathes this stuff. She changed the American home. I don't know what this is.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, I don't know what it is, and I don't know who it's for. And I do agree with you. I think she's actually getting some. Sometimes when you have. Sometimes when you have a big profile and you have teams around you who keep telling you to grab at every opportunity that comes your way, but sometimes you actually have to have the presence of mind to go, I don't think that this is a show. Like, I don't think that I have the personality to carry this. Like, it actually takes a lot to build a show around a personality, and there's just not enough in it. And I am actually kind of personally surprised that she doesn't go down a more fashion path, actually. She looks great in clothes, really wears well. She has wonderful taste. I mean, it's very, you know, it's very beigey and people are making fun of it and whatever, but she does really wear clothes well and cares deeply about that world. And so I'm actually kind of shocked that she. They wouldn't kind of take her down that path. It seems more logical to me. I kind of felt. I felt a sadness because it's such a big pylon. And I think that this woman authentically, you know, at some point in one of the episodes, she says, I love birdsong. And I'm like, I do too. I understand what you're saying. Like, I also keep bees. I like.

[Joanna Coles]

I love bees.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, I know.

[Joanna Coles]

You cat bees.

[Samantha Bee]

I do. I actually have More habits. Samantha Bee keeps bees very on brand. And I kind of bees bees. Yeah. And my honey is delicious. It's, like, very rewarding.

[Joanna Coles]

Hello. Look, can we have an eating next week?

[Samantha Bee]

We should do.

[Joanna Coles]

Of course I eat honey. I'll bring you honey.

[Samantha Bee]

I'll bring everyone a jar.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, I want you to bring me a piece of bread. I want you to do what Megan does. Piece of bread. I don't eat that cream cheese.

[Samantha Bee]

Nobody eats that cheese.

[Joanna Coles]

Nobody.

[Samantha Bee]

I don't want a piece of. I don't want a plain piece of baguette with a little streak of goat cheese on it. And then a flower. When people are putting flowers on food, that means they're not eating the food because, you know, they're technically edible. But who's. Like, this nasturtium is delicious. Like, there's other more delicious ways to add to food.

[Joanna Coles]

I will say, though, she did shame me, because I am not a very good hostess. And I was thinking when she talked about preparing. One of her favorite things is to prepare the guest bedroom for a guest. And when I have guests, they often come out and they say, do you have any soap? Do you have any. Is there any toilet roll? And I'm so bad at remembering to put that I always put towels out for people. But I do forget everything else. So I felt shamed by the fact that I don't make homemade Epsom soaps.

[Samantha Bee]

Can I take these Amazon boxes off the bed to sleep on it, or do I have to sleep on top of the empty boxes?

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, that's very much. You know, if you come to my house, poor Melora Hardin, who comes off on. She's always trotting out saying, joanna, do you have any soap? She puts on my fake. She puts on a fake English accent for me. But so I did learn from that that I need to prepare a little wooden tray with some homemade Epsom salts.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes.

[Joanna Coles]

And also tea bags for the bath, which I thought was a good tip.

[Samantha Bee]

That is a good tip. I'll take that tip on. When you take all of the flowers that you didn't eat on top of your crostinis, you can then put them in a little sachet and put them in the tub, and then you don't get flower petals all over your tub. I don't live this way.

[Joanna Coles]

I do have.

[Samantha Bee]

But I wish I did.

[Joanna Coles]

I do occasionally sprinkle petals into my bath, and then I'm at the end of the bath. Damn. Why did I do that? Because then you have to clear it up, and it's A nightmare. And you actually have to sieve them out. That's what she should. If she was really doing it, she would have a sieve for people.

[Samantha Bee]

I'm such a pragmatic. I'm such a pragmatic Canadian. I'm just like, shower, swab the deck. Get that washcloth on a rubbing stick and get it over with.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay. I would like to point out that I am wearing my pinstripe jacket in honor of our first lady.

[Samantha Bee]

Our first lady is rocked. That gray suit. And you know what occurred to me? Because if I may, my audible show how to Survive Menopause is released on March 6th, and I want to recommend that Melania listen to it because I feel like she's in my age category and we don't talk enough about how she must be perimenopausal now.

[Joanna Coles]

Interesting.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, I think she's probably menopausal, isn't she? Because perimenopausal you go into earlier.

[Samantha Bee]

Joanna.

[Joanna Coles]

I think she's going through something. What's. I mean, Nelle Scovell wrote a very good piece in the Beast this week, which I have urged everybody to read about her morphing into. Morphing into a man. Actually, she's just wearing.

[Samantha Bee]

She's wearing a lot of business suits and a lot of neckties, just like me working at, like, Joe's Crab shack in the 1990s. We all wore.

[Joanna Coles]

Did you wear a necktie?

[Samantha Bee]

And our neckties and our name tags.

[Joanna Coles]

And can I point out, you did call it last week when you said she would be back with more Be. Be More Best.

[Samantha Bee]

I'm so excited to be being more Best. I'm thrilled. I feel like it makes us more relevant than ever.

[Joanna Coles]

All right, it's time for an official reading of Elon's kids names. I'm glad he's had two babies in the last two weeks. Very exciting for all of them. All right, so actually what I noticed was just a progression of insanity when it comes to their names. So we kick off with Nevada. Then we have Griffin Musk.

[Samantha Bee]

Great.

[Joanna Coles]

Vivian Jenner.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes.

[Joanna Coles]

And Wilson. Yeah. And then we have Kai Saxon. And Damien.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay.

[Joanna Coles]

Then we have the unpronounceable X. I don't know how to pronounce the rest of it.

[Samantha Bee]

Don't know the rest.

[Joanna Coles]

With Grimes. Then we've got Azure and Strider. Okay, I quite like Strider. And then we've got Exa Dark. Siderel Musk. We've got Techno Mechanica. Then we've got Arcadia, which is a nice name. And Then we've got a child that as far as we is no name.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay?

[Joanna Coles]

And then we've got the most recent, Selden Lycurgus.

[Samantha Bee]

I don't think we're going in a good direction. We're going in. We're in science in science fiction land. These are names coming out of Gormengast. And I don't think it's as good things about where his head is at. I don't know.

[Joanna Coles]

Does he throw his gum at his baby mama?

[Samantha Bee]

Listen, I did not watch the Academy Awards, but I did watch that clip of Adrien Brody tossing his gum at Georgina Chapman. And that was the one moment that I probably had the strongest feelings about this week. Because I just think people are really. You can swallow your gum. Like, grow up, please. I'm actually admonishing Adrien Brody right now. Grow up. Be a man. Swallow your gum. I swallow my gum all the time. If you swallow gum, swallow your gum. Of course I do, because I'm a grown up woman and I know that my stomach acid is gonna take care of it. If you swallow 10 pieces of gum, it doesn't turn into a rubber ball in your stomach. You don't have to throw it at your girlfriend and make her run around in that tight dress to catch your chewed up saliva encrusted gum.

[Joanna Coles]

Where did it come from that you're not allowed to swallow chewing gum?

[Samantha Bee]

It's ridiculous. You also don't grow a watermelon in your tummy if you eat watermelon seeds, which I do because I love watermelon. And I don't need to spit seeds everywhere. They get digested like cherry pits, which I also eat.

[Joanna Coles]

You eat cherry pits. This is what is going on in that stomach of yours.

[Samantha Bee]

What is going on? Seeds and gums, okay?

[Joanna Coles]

That's the show. You need to be a guest on Megan's show. You need to eat everything. You need to eat all her flowers. All her flowers and the Epsom salts that she puts, like, honey in.

[Samantha Bee]

I'm so sorry, but a donut with flowers on it is just not a place. It's not. It's not where I want to go with a donut. So I appreciate all the beauty. I appreciate the bees. I appreciate the bird song. I felt sad after watching three episodes, but never. Don't you goddamn dare put a flower on a donut. That is the wrong. That is incorrect. We are having a donut. May we please have a donut? And secondly, and this is unpopular, a baked donut is actually not a donut. It's actually just a round cake with a hole in it. Okay, round bread is not a bagel and a round cake is not a donut. And that is the most important sentence you will hear me say in the rest of my life.

[Joanna Coles]

We've got lots more to get to, so let's take a break and when we come back, we'll be joined by our beast of the week podcast extraordinaire, Ben Meiselas.

[Samantha Bee]

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[Ben Falcone]

My new puppy swallowed a bone.

[Samantha Bee]

Still a good boy though.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

And boy, was I glad that I.

[Ben Falcone]

Had LA this pay back quickly and efficiently.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Everyone was so nice.

[Ben Falcone]

Get this pet insurance.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

And get a'[e-mail].

[Joanna Coles]

Pet we're back and we're thrilled to be joined by this week's beast of the week, Ben Meiselis. Ben is the co founder of Midas Touch, one of the most influential pro democracy media networks that has amassed millions of followers and helped shape progressive messaging with fact driven rapid response content. Beyond media. Ben is a powerhouse attorney in an impressive side quest. He represented Colin Kaepernick in his historic case against the NFL and later became his business partner. Not a bad idea. He teaches sports law at USC and he's led major class action lawsuits against corporate giants. Want the news cut, dried and seasoned and not sprinkled with flowers. Ben Myallis is your guy. Ben, thanks for joining us and congratulations on elbowing Joe Rogan out of the top spot of the most listened to podcasts.

[Samantha Bee]

Ben, thank you so much for joining us today. We are so excited to talk to you.

[Joanna Coles]

Very excited.

[Samantha Bee]

I think we have to go right into it. We all watched the congressional address. First impressions, last impressions, all impressions in between. Did you love it?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

I definitely didn't love it. It was embarrassing. It was shameful. He just made up things. He wanted to be applauded for things that he didn't do and then was saying why aren't you clapping for me? I mean the whole thing was just, it was just strange, not normal. And then to see sitting there, you know, one of the major political parties, the Republican Party like clapping for this stuff as he's talking about taking over Greenland and we're gonna conquer it one way or another and talking about taking over Panama and, and saying how the tariffs are gonna, are gonna hurt people. But you know what, it's gonna be okay for a little bit. Right everybody I'm just listening to this and I'm like this is not normal. This is not normal crap.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. And mocking other countries and everybody just going along with it and laughing at like cutting off aid to other to nations who desperately need it. I actually was found it really pretty discuss like very in character, very expected. Do you normally watch these spectacles? Like how do you normally watch this type of congressional address? I never really love them, you know.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

I unfortunately for what I do have to watch them all. And so I probably have watched every single or close to every single Trump speech. You know and I go going back, you know to I mean at least in recent memory, the Waco, Texas speech where he kicked off his campaign and the very first thing that they. That they did when he kicked off his campaign was they replaced the American anthem with the January 6th anthem. And they said, please rise for the January 6th insurrectionists, the unfairly treated hostages. And then they proceeded, instead of the national anthem, to play a song that was creepy and eerie, and it was recorded in the prison by some of the worst of the worst January 6th insurrectionists on the 30th anniversary of the Waco siege, on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. And then the speech. I think Ted Nugent was then one of the first speakers. Ted Nugent called Zelensky like a raging homosexual. And then. And then everybody started clapping for that. And I'm watching this, and I. And I'm saying to myself, you know, this is a heinous and despicable spectacle. And then I was looking at the news coverage for it, and the news coverage treated this thing as though it was, you know, Al Gore, George W. Bush, as though it was, you know, Bob Dole, Bill Clinton. And I'm like, did you just hear what the hell I just heard? And then I would. It was important that I saw it in its full context, because then I would report about it. And that was ultimately some of the connections that I started building this network in earnest then, though. And it goes right to your question, because I'd watch this, it would shock my conscience, and then I would just say it in plain terms, what I saw. And there was just not a lot of other people who were saying it, but the people felt it, people sensed it. So then there was this connection with the audience where I was, like, looking at the camera, you know? And again, I don't really have a journalist background. I'm not, like, a political person. I just looked at the camera, and I would just say, like, did we just watch that? Like, do y'all see that? And that's kind of, you know, part of the origin story of our growth. But to answer your question, yes, I watch them all, and I can tell you, you know, he says this here, he says this there. I can tell you where he's going with his policies based on, like, studying these speeches.

[Joanna Coles]

You have a myopic understanding and history of Donald Trump's performances, which I find fascinating, which you drop into your podcast. I want to come back to how you built your network in a moment. But just to finish on, you see, I had a different reaction. I thought it was. He took something which is traditionally boring and turned it into a political version of the Price Is Right. You know, we had DJ just Got cancer treatment. We had all these people up there who had incredible personal stories which you can't take away from them. He's obviously politicizing them. But I actually thought it was masterful. I thought it was too long. I think he's going into his Castro phase. I'm nervous that next year it'll be seven hours, which was Castro's average speech. But I thought it was masterful television. And I think, Ben, to your point about Waco earlier, the thing that Donald Trump understands is his audience. And you understand your audience, and you've built your audience.

[Samantha Bee]

He does understand his audience, but I have to say that I found it very consistent with everything he's ever said. So there were no big surprises to me, and I actually found it very stale and boring and provocative. But I didn't feel like I was taking the bait, because I've heard all this stuff so many times before. I mean, it shocks your conscience, and the way that you speak about it so plainly and so directly is like it's the secret sauce, and it is actually missing from the discourse. And I do think that that is why people are really drawn to you. It's why I'm drawn to you.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

You know, I think that you have either it being approached at an elitist level that's talking down to audiences, not to audiences, or you have people who are yelling in their presentation and fighting.

[Samantha Bee]

Right.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

And I. My approach is a bit kind of Mr. Rogers neighborhood. You know, I sit here in my living room, I experience it with the audience, and then I just share with the audience what my experience is. And, Joanna, to your point, though, I like boring interactions in politics. I like excitement in tv. I don't like waking up knowing, is the Dow Jones gonna crash? Even if it's masterful TV for Donald Trump to threaten allies and NATO and. And bring an ally that's a war hero into the Oval Office. One can argue, Joanna, what masterful television. And you couldn't script it better in a. In a action movie, you know, or a horror movie, whichever movie you want to do what happened last week, for example, with Zelensky. But, like, ultimately, the broader project that I have is I want to desensationalize and deconstruct where I think politics has gone, because I want to go back to watching entertainment as entertainment.

[Samantha Bee]

Right?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

And I want my politics to be serious business where it's life or death for. For. For people, and where I try to bring my audience back into it is to say, you know, yeah, sure, I mean, I get it. Like, that. That may be something funny if we were watching the movie Idiocracy meets Billy Madison. But. But. But this is. This is your Medicaid and this is your Social Security.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes. I mean, it's just provocation after provocation after provocation. And then the context behind all of it is that the stock market is in total turmoil, tariffs. Everybody is. I'm from Canada originally, and people are just. People are reeling from this already. It's total chaos. It's so. It feels ridiculous to have to watch half of our government stand up and cheer for the most heinous things you've ever heard. For the most. It's ridiculous. It's just. It's.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, the House. The entire Republican Party looked utterly whipped under him, didn't they? So, Ben, I take your origin story from listening to Donald Trump and Waco. How have you created such an extraordinary network that you've managed to knock Joe Rogan off the top of the podcast charts? Congratulations on that. You started showing up in my feed. Ron Filipowski, your editor in chief of Midas Touch, is fantastic. I think he's an incredible correspondent for you. And you've got your brothers, Jordi and Brett. Tell us about the Meiselas family. I mean, what was your mum putting in your breakfast? What are Sam and I doing wrong here? Come on. Why haven't we bred podcast winners?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Well, because we never wanted to. We never viewed what we were doing as, how can we be Joe Rogan? And we actually never viewed what we were doing as, hey, we wanted to create this massive podcast. I mean, it was really organic and being built brick by brick. We just wanted to speak out about how we felt about these crazy times. And then it connected with an audience and a community of people who call themselves the Midas Mighty. And it's a group of literally millions of people now. But at the time, it started with five people who would watch, and then 10 people, and then 50 people. And it's just people who want normalcy returned to politics, and they been the backbone of this movement. But when. When. When we set out, we all had different talents. Brett is a digital editor. He worked at a lot of TV shows growing up and would do their digital stuff. When he was, you know, in his 20s, I was a civil rights lawyer. I represented families in Bakersfield, whether they were Democratic or Republican. Bakersfield is a red dot in a blue state in California, and I would represent a lot of families there. In cases against the government and the police, I'd help lead rallies there. And so my background was in civil rights law, which connected me to Colin Kaepernick. And I was his lawyer. And then I pivoted to.

[Joanna Coles]

You were his lawyer with the. Against the NFL, Correct?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Correct. And then I did his deal with Nike and I helped build his media businesses with him, which gave me a background in how to build something if you wanted to. And then my younger brother Jordy is a marketing executive. And so we put those talents together in terms of being able to build this, and it just kind of grew organically. I don't even view what I do in terms of fitting a neat political category, although people put me into buckets right away. But I never viewed what I'm trying to do as like, I think the Rogans of the world. I think what they did is very problematic because I think they weaponize their comedy. I think they weaponize, you know, which I don't even find that funny, to be honest. They weaponize their comedy, their, you know, sports entertainment. And they pretended it was about that, but that was really subterfuge for a political agenda, to my view, launder the oligarchy at the very last minute. And so they hid their political leanings. I pretty much make it clear where I stand on issues in a very fact based way. But my goal is actually deconstructing the chaos and the craziness. To try to give people the facts so that they can go out and really know how they're being played, how they're being taken advantage of and what the tactics are. I think that's what hits.

[Joanna Coles]

You also have the ability to just speak in one long continuous sentence for hours. It's very impressive. Like you and Joe Rogan both talk. Like Sam and I have conversations with each other. But the thing I can't do, and I would love to be able to do, is the thing you can do, which is just. Just talk, talk. It's fascinating to me. And that's what Rogan does. It's this new style of communicating, I guess. But I wanted to make sure that we talked to you also about Alyssa Slotnick's response. Did you manage to see it?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

I thought it was a great response. And I didn't know what to. I knew her as a member of Congress. I followed her Senate campaign in Michigan a little bit. Saw her speak at a few Kamala events, but I wasn't sure what to expect. But, you know, I thought she did a. I thought she did a good job bringing it back to what the issues are, which is if you're probably sitting there and I think, I think Joanna, she raised your point exactly, which is you might have found that a little bit entertaining. But right now you're struggling and the markets were crashing, you know, when she was, you know, that day. And the prices are not going down. And remember what he promised. So I thought you hit it out of the park.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, I thought you did too. I thought you did a great job of communicating that like the show is the show, but you're the government now, boys. Time to actually do things. Can I ask how your operation actually. Can I just ask how you do the work? What does that actually look like on the. So are you taking notes? Do you have a team? How big is your team? Do you mind me asking?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Just kind of my notes, I think these were all the notes I took yesterday. I'm holding it up. It's just one page of a notebook, which is probably my entire day of notes, maybe two days. So I don't do it with notes at all. I'm following the news from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, which is a lot of the day. We've got a number of producers who a lot of them started off as interns in college and then they became the producers and they've kind of grown with the company. They help editing the videos and putting the podcasts on network. I'm the main contributor of the Midas Touch channel, but we have a number of other great contributors who are on the main Midas Touch YouTube channel, like Francis Maxwell. We've got some great lawyers like Karen Friedman Agnifolo, who some people may know. She's the defense lawyer that everyone sees on, you know, I mean, she was the number two at the Manhattan DA's office, but she's Luigi Mangione's lawyer now.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah. What has she talked to you about what his defense is going to be?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Yeah, we don't really talk about that. And she has, you know, her own attorney client privilege to protect there. You know, I'm proud of her whenever I see her at those appearances. But she was the number two at the Manhattan DA's office. I mean, she's one of the top lawyers out there in the country. We have people like David Aronberg and Harry Littman, people who you've seen on cable who are very well respected lawyers, Michael Popak and others. And so they're the hosts. And then we have have the Main Midas Touch YouTube channel. We have a number of other YouTube channels like our Gen Z Channel from Adam Mockler and Adam Mockler was in the Capitol building during the State of the Union or the joint session interviewing all the members of Congress. He had his like WI Fi backpack. We have a number of channels like that, so host correspondence broadcasting throughout the day. And then we have an editorial team that's led by Ron Filipkowski with researchers and people who do the clips who like, I'm sure people know from social media, Acen Acyn.

[Joanna Coles]

He's amazing.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

All of the main, it's the main, the things that ultimately drive the, you know, the political cycles and usually cable news and other news networks. Take Asin's clips. He's so good at it. And so that's helpful for my process also when I do videos.

[Joanna Coles]

He's got a very, very good eye. What do you think legacy media has done wrong that all independent media companies such as Midas have formed in the ashes of their fire?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

I just think that they forgot that they have viewers and viewers they took for granted that they, that their viewers would always be there and they thought they could sell their viewers on kind of anything. And because they control the pipes, their viewers had nowhere else to go. And I think that they neglected that. Their viewers are smart, their viewers are pissed, their viewers are people and have. And they need to build that trust. You know, you think about the origins of the fourth estate were this connection that was made between the reporter who would speak to the audience who was one of the most trusted people in their, you know, in, in their homes. And I think that trust had been eroded over time and they lost the trust of their audience and they lost their trust of the audience by sometimes both sidesing issues that shouldn't really have a both sides to them and just saying, hey, on the one hand this was said, on the other hand this is said. And then people were like, you know, what are you talking about? Like, you're talking about like, you know, to the example I gave earlier, you're acting like this speech in Waco, Texas is a normal event, but it's not. Don't, don't treat it normal. And just stuff like that would start to wear on people. And so you would have the right wing people, they had a home, they would go to Fox, Fox would tell them what they wanted to hear. And then you'd go to kind of corporate legacy media and they would kind of give you a. Both sides.

[Samantha Bee]

Sure. Well, they also were so had a real and I think legitimate worry about losing access, losing access to those rooms. Whereas if you kind of come in and you have no access anyway, you can build an authentic brand because you're never gonna be, you know, for the most part, you weren't allowed into the rooms anyway, so it didn't really matter. Can be independent and it's very valuable.

[Joanna Coles]

Right. And then turned out that everybody overestimated access, at least during the White House under Joe Biden, because. Because the White House correspondents were so bad at flagging what was actually going on.

[Samantha Bee]

Do you have a sense of your demographics? Who is listening, who is watching, who.

[Joanna Coles]

Is listening and what's your revenue base, Ben?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

So I would say the audience is different in different platforms, which shouldn't be shocking. Right. My TikTok audience is younger Gen Z and between the TikTok audience we have from the Midas Touch network and I'm sure you've seen Aaron Parnas on TikTok as well. Aaron's affiliated with the Midas Touch network too. So young audience there. I would say our podcast audience is a mixture of younger and older. Our YouTube audience are the exact people who are cutting the cable from cable news. Like when you ask people now where they get their news from, Dell put Midas Touch in the category of I used to watch. I'm not specifically singling them out, but I used to watch cnn. I now watch mtn and they'll view it in that perspective. We deconstruct the 24 hour cycle into meaningful 12 to 15 minute pieces about the issues that matter most to our audience. They consume that as they used to consume cable.

[Samantha Bee]

Can I ask a question? I mean, I mean, what is your level of risk tolerance? Because I feel like we've got Kash Patel as the head of our federal law enforcement and Pam Bondi, or Attorney General, I guess. Do you fear retaliation or how do you process that? Do you consider that as you're doing your work?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Yeah, but not to be morbid, my perspective on this stuff is literally that it shocks me that people are so scared of. I understand that, why people would be fearful of things and I don't mean to minimize it, but like my whole view on everything is that like you, you only. As far as I know, I'm only gonna live once. And I just don't understand why I would want to constantly live a life of being like humiliated on a daily basis.

[Samantha Bee]

Like some of these, like Marco Rubio.

[Joanna Coles]

Rubio. Mini Marco. He's the first to go, isn't he?

[Boost Mobile Representative]

He, Yeah. I mean, it just. Just to see him singled out at the State of the Union like that and kind of mocked by Trump and, you know, he looks Like a defeated man. Like, you see him, not just the slouching with Zelensky, but you look at his, like his face and look, this was a guy, his parents were Cuban refugees. He was the rising star in the Republican party. You know, he had this incredible future ahead of him. He was someone who stood up to Russia because of the parents experience with the Cubans. And now he's there supporting an administration. You know, I mean, I, I'd rather not say I'd rather be dead, but maybe I, I, I don't know, I, I don't know how you go, I don't know how you go about living a life like that. So when I hear about the retaliation and all these things, I mean, sure, all of that is a possibility. But before I started doing this, you know, I, I lived. You know, when you're doing civil rights work on the front lines in Bakersfield, where you have people like Sheriff Youngblood and the cases that I was handling involved Bakersfield police officers who were dealing drugs into the community with confidential informants off the books, you know, and we were finding out which officers were selling the drugs off the books, who were then federally prosecuted, and then they were back into the public. And like, I just think to myself of every day, go through the reps, chop wood every day, knock out the videos, knock out the videos, do the work, keep on building. And then I just think long term, generationally, of what am I trying to build here? And what I'm trying to build is something one day that is in that convert. I think it already is, you know, in a quick time. But like to build something that has this generational pull, you know, this thing that people go, oh, there was Fox and now there's Midas Touch where we can, where it's the opposite of Fox. Like I, I want to deconstruct that where, where like I talk about where everyone's like, oh, you know, we need, we need like, you know, super masculine, you know, you know, whatever. I, my response to that is, look, first off, super masculine people don't say super masculine. Let's start with that premise that that's just not, that that's weird. Second, people who consider themselves alpha or whatever the hell, like, you don't bully people, you don't punch down. I never knew, growing up in high school, I played sports in high school. It was never, to me the quote unquote, cool thing to do would be to find the weakest kid and to mock them. Like, to me, that's messed up. It was always the Opposite. It was always you. You lent a hand. You stood up against the bully.

[Samantha Bee]

Protect. You're the protector.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

You were the protector. Yes. And so, you know, to me, this whole conversation about all of that is, is, is so wrong, is so incorrect. Correct. And I want to, I want to shift that framework and just say, hey, that we can talk about empathy, we can care about people, we don't have to sacrifice those values in pursuit of wins. Most Americans will stand with you. And to your point about, you know, what's getting lost, people are just so caught in these weird right wing frameworks sometimes about all of these culture war issues, you know, that they're forgetting about their own lives and standing up for their own lives and just talking about things that are really impacting people. Their jobs, their Social Security, their healthcare, their education. Like, what are they going to be doing tomorrow? So that's my focus.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, you are on a growth trajectory and thank you so much for taking some time out of your schedule to talk to us because I think you're just doing great work.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, I'm so, you know, we're in awe. We're in shock and awe. And we know you've got to go off and teach sports rights, sports legal rights now. Right? I, I literally don't understand how you have the time. Sam and I stagger to make one podcast a week.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

I teach an undergrad class at, at USC Law in the spring and then a law class in the fall. And I teach it on sports law based on my background, when I would represent a lot of athletes in these cases. But also sports, as we know, is also one of the kind of touch points that has been used quite frequently as ways to, you know, I think push people to believe that it's a conversation about sports. But then there is this, you know, big reveal at the end that it actually is pushing people into, you know, I think some of these right wing echo chambers. And so I think it is an area worth, you know, when I represented Colin, he was one of the first people that Trump said, you know, private individuals who, who Trump targeted get that SOB off the field. And he was setting an example, using sports with incredible black quarterback to say, I'm going to take your job and then I'm going to show others that I can do it. So it was, there is an intersection there as well, and I think that led to all of this.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, you've pulled off something extraordinary. Ben, thank you very much for joining us and I hope you'll come back and join us again.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Just let me know when.

[Samantha Bee]

Thank you so much.

[Joanna Coles]

We're going to take another quick break before we get to the download on how not to be scared with comedian and writer Ben Falcone.

[Samantha Bee]

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[Boost Mobile Representative]

Folks, we're back in the bottom of the six. Lorenzo's on the mound. His slider's been. Wait, is that a cat on the field?

[Joanna Coles]

That tabby's really moving.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

He's past second base and coach Bakerfield's making a grab and oh, he missed.

[Joanna Coles]

Incredible. Someone give that cat a contract.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

But folks, even this incredible cat can't sign up for Lemonade Pet Insurance. But you can cover your pet [e-mail] incredible.

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[Samantha Bee]

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[Joanna Coles]

Wisp.

[Samantha Bee]

That's hello, whisp.com. the waiting room can wait.

[Joanna Coles]

Welcome back. We're joined now by Ben Falcone, our second Ben of the episode. He's a director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and co collaborator with his other half, the actress Melissa McCarthy. He's the mastermind behind Tammy the Boss, Life of the Party, Super Intelligence, and Thunder Force. You might also recognize him as air marshal John in Bridesmaids. And now he's adding children's book author to his extensive resume. And his new book is what's Scarier Than Thunder? Which comes out next week.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, my gosh. We're so. I'm thrilled to be talking to you, Ben.

[Joanna Coles]

Let me just start by just saying, how on earth do you find time? You do everything.

[Samantha Bee]

How do you balance it all?

[Ben Falcone]

How do I balance it all? Well, you know, it would be pretty tricky if I didn't, because McCarthy. I call Melissa, my wife, Melissa McCarthy. I call her McCarthy sometimes.

[Samantha Bee]

She's.

[Ben Falcone]

She's one of the more busy people I've ever met, and she can do it. So if I have, you know, half of what she's supposed to do, I. I would just feel weird if I couldn't keep up.

[Samantha Bee]

Tell me where you are in this world right now. How are you dealing with the news? How are. What does your life look like right now?

[Ben Falcone]

So I think I might be one of the people that's a little bit probably to the bad. I'm a little checked out just because. A little.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Yeah.

[Ben Falcone]

It's just also, you know, in whatever side of the political spectrum anybody's on, I get that people can be frustrated. It just seems that what. Whatever is coming out is just. There's so much of it. It's. It seems just.

[Samantha Bee]

It's.

[Ben Falcone]

You know what it is? It's just too much information for me.

[Samantha Bee]

And it's just a little too much.

[Ben Falcone]

Too many angry people. So I, you know, I literally. I've started, like, doing puzzles and stuff. I feel like I'm gonna. I'm gonna get really good at crafts if the news cycle continues this way.

[Samantha Bee]

Did you. Is that. I mean, was that part of the reason that you wrote this book?

[Ben Falcone]

Well, I think the impetus would be that I'm. I've always been. I could tend towards feeling anxious, you know, and I live with a very married To a very brave woman. And I'm sort of her coward counterpart. And so, like. So the question then becomes, like, how do you. How do you bridge the. The gap between, you know, feelings. Feeling something that can make you feel a little down or anxious or nervous? And the way that I do it is I joke. Joke through it. So that's became. And I don't know, like, I'm sure probably therapists and stuff would be like, but you need to face it. And I'm like, sure, I will tomorrow, but today I'm gonna make jokes, I swear.

[Joanna Coles]

So do you. Do you live in a house of hilarity, Ben? Are you just all making jokes all the time?

[Ben Falcone]

Yeah, it's a pretty funny house. You know, I would say that our. Our kids are. Melissa and I have two girls. They're. Jesus. Birthdays. Happens. There's 17 and 15.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, it's a lot of hormones. A lot of hormones.

[Ben Falcone]

They're so great, and they're so. They're so funny, you know, so they're actually probably funnier than me and Melissa, which is. I mean, we're not. Not funny. So. Yeah, so they're. But they're really funny.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

So.

[Ben Falcone]

Yeah, it's. I laugh every day pretty hard, and some days when things get a little serious, I'm probably the one who jokes too much. Instead of just. Just, you know, addressing what we need to do. I'm like. The guy is like, what if I stand here and I'm not helpful at all? But I say, like, three bad jokes.

[Samantha Bee]

Sometimes in our household, we have to say like, I just need everybody in the room right now to know that this isn't something that I can currently joke about. So that just to kind of like to put a finger in the dam of all the jokes that are going to come my way. Sometimes I'm like. I actually am very. I just want to let you all know I'm actually very vulnerable today. So you're not allowed to make fun of mommy. And everybody goes, okay, you have 12 hours. You have 12 hours of vulnerability. Yeah, no, they respect it. They respect it because I carve it out. So, like, it almost never happens, but when it happens, it's a really hard line, and everybody kind of quietly slinks away because they know they can't even be in the same room and not be making fun of me. Me. Did your children make fun of you? Are they.

[Ben Falcone]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, God. Right?

[Ben Falcone]

Oh, yeah.

[Samantha Bee]

Humiliating.

[Joanna Coles]

But isn't that what children are for?

[Samantha Bee]

Thanksgiving children?

[Ben Falcone]

Totally. Thank God. It is true that they. They really keep you on your toes. Like, I. I am, among other things, sort of a hypochondriac. So no matter what, what happens, like, any time they would, like, fall or, you know, the girls or. And any. Anything. Anything touches their head and they be, dad, I do not have a concussion. I promise. I don't like. And so they'll get on me about that kind of stuff, which I sort of love.

[Samantha Bee]

I love that.

[Joanna Coles]

I remember before I had children, someone saying to me, the thing that you don't understand about having children is, you know, because I was panicked that, oh, my God, my. Gonna give up my life. I won't be able to think about myself anymore. And they said, the great thing about having children is you stop thinking about yourself all the time. And if it is such a relief, it is such a relief. They're just the great leveler. They take you down and they exhaust you. They break you in the bank. They cost a fortune, and you still love them. It's the most mystical, weird thing. And you go through the pain of having them. Not you, Ben, but physically the woman, I'm assuming, Melissa did. And then you forget all about it and you have another one. It's a miracle.

[Ben Falcone]

Absolutely.

[Samantha Bee]

You, Melissa, you work together so much. You're prolific together. You're incredible writing and acting and like, performing partners. How do you. Because, like, I work with my spouse too. And. And people are always like, it's so magical that you're able to work with your spouse. And I'm like, no, because we have, like, a very clear delineation of, like, he does one thing really well, and I do another thing really well. How do you guys divide it up? Like, what does that. What does your working relationship look like?

[Ben Falcone]

Well, I would say we're probably messier, I think, than you're. It sounds like you have a divided, like, I'm over here and you're over here.

[Samantha Bee]

Well, we. It divides up naturally. Like, it's not like we. We don't sit down and make rules about it. It just happens that he's really good at one thing and I'm better at another thing, and it sort of flows together. Is that kind of like, what it's like?

[Ben Falcone]

Yes, I would say we do have something like that.

[Boost Mobile Representative]

Like.

[Ben Falcone]

Like the simple way that I usually describe it is I'm like the boring structure person. And I'm like, oh, we could. You know, everything can kind of fit together like this. And then she goes ahead and puts all the funny things in that are supposed to be there. So she does the really hard part, and I kind of, like, put it. You know, I'm more like a big. She can go very, very micro, which she's aware of. Like, so, like, sometimes when we're filming, I'll have to be like, I know there's a plant there that you don't exactly love, but we can just move the camera rather than, like, repot it, or. You know what I mean? Like, she'll be like, but I think it should. And she. She'd be the first to tell you as well. But yeah, so I'm a little more like, usually big, big picture. And she can get into the details and usually an amazingly helpful way.

[Samantha Bee]

That's so. That seems like a very healthy, like, that's like a very healthy swirled brownie, if I may.

[Ben Falcone]

Yes.

[Samantha Bee]

Like a healthy world tahini brownie. I'm very. It's. I'm hungry. What is. Did you find?

[Joanna Coles]

She's been watching Meghan Markle's show. Ben is what's Happening. And now she can't get out of her own way.

[Samantha Bee]

I'm learning. Do you. What was there when you. I guess. How did the idea come to you for the book? Like, was there an unexpected. Were you just like, oh, I'm gonna write a book about, like, I want to find a way. I want to find a way to say this. And then you found your way to the idea of a book or like, what. What was an unexpected challenge putting it all together?

[Ben Falcone]

So I. I met the editor, this really incredible woman named Jen Klonsky. And so I've never actually had this dynamic working. Like, basically, she was more or less my boss, but she was also my editor, which is an amazing thing if it's a great person, because then you're just like, well, we don't have to clear this with anybody besides, you know, you. Right. So I will say that. So I had this idea sort of being a coward of, like, how do I. How do I translate something that could make others, you know, who are possibly feeling anxious about something like, say, a thunderstorm, but it really could be applicable to anything. Right. And how do I, you know, just take a silly take on it? And so she said, I think I love that idea just as a thing. And I said, I think it could be really silly. And it sort of. We talked about it in more detail, and she's like, yeah, I think you should do it. This is when we first met. And then she said, yeah, the. The only thing I'd say is probably I just wouldn't Rhyme rhyming is really hard. And I'm like, you bet. And then, of course, I get saying, and all I can think of are rhymes. So then, you know, a month later, I pitch her an entirely rhyming book, and I'm like, I'm so sorry. I know what you said. I'm not being difficult. It's just literally. I don't know if it's a weird, small, contrarian part of me emerged and said, I can do it, or I think the silliness of it all just started to go into rhymes. And we were in New York and, like, got in an Uber somewhere, and literally, I wrote a bunch of the book in the back of an Uber.

[Samantha Bee]

And the illustrations are great.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, Kevin Cornell's done beautiful illustrations.

[Samantha Bee]

Unbelievable. So adorable. Okay, what are some things? Okay, so the premise of the book, if people haven't read it yet, and they should, because it's great. Claire gets scared during a storm, and her parents make up imaginative tales to distract her from the thunder.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, and I wouldn't say I would read it as an adult. I would read it with a child in the room, if you have one. Of course, it's a children's book.

[Samantha Bee]

You and I don't need to read it to each other.

[Joanna Coles]

Although that would be kind of fun. I would be very happy to read it to you. But we did come up with a list of things that we thought were scarier than fun.

[Ben Falcone]

Oh, my gosh. I love this.

[Joanna Coles]

This might be an adult book for you to write after you've written the children's version. What we need now is an adult version of this.

[Samantha Bee]

We do.

[Ben Falcone]

I love this. Do you have the list?

[Samantha Bee]

We do RFK Jr. S workout logs. And his jeans. His jeans. RFK Jr's workout jeans. They're sweaty. He's shirtless.

[Joanna Coles]

They walk on their own.

[Samantha Bee]

He's so tanned.

[Joanna Coles]

They stand up on their own.

[Samantha Bee]

He's so tanned. He's literally. Literally crispy, desperate.

[Joanna Coles]

Definitely scarier than thunder. Also, Diddy's baby oil collection.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, it's terrifying.

[Joanna Coles]

Much more frightening than thunder.

[Samantha Bee]

Much more frightening. And Lauren Boebert's spray tan drip, which I don't know. Did you watch the President? No. You're like, I did not watch the presidential address last night. But you should have seen Lauren Boebert. She was absolutely resplendent.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, they were all. They were all glowing.

[Samantha Bee]

Everybody was glowing. And Joanna's blazer, blazer hoodie combos, which are really electrifying. She's not wearing one today.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm not Wearing one today. Ben, you wouldn't know this, but regular viewers of the podcast attack me on YouTube for wearing a hoodie and blazer combo, which I find rather charming. But other people say it makes me look home.

[Samantha Bee]

What is distracting you from this world in a visual sense?

[Ben Falcone]

Like, I can just go back last night, watched an episode of Chopped with like, cooking shows and stuff, like, because sometimes the. The reason I want to do more comedies and kind of keep them out there is because there are so few on. So thank you for having a funny podcast, but, you know, there's so few places where you can put your mind and you go away from the troubles because even a lot of people are making fun of the troubles. And that is great, but sometimes I just want to, like, escape for a while.

[Samantha Bee]

Pure comedy.

[Joanna Coles]

I went to the most amazing comic relief gala on Monday night to. It was a fundraiser for la, for the fires for la, which we mustn't forget. I had never seen Jon Stewart live. I know he's colleague from the Daily Show. I was spellbound by how good he was. And he had an absolutely hilarious section about aging, which I'm very sympathetic to. Cause I've got issues my hip at the moment. And he said that he came up with a brilliant riff on how he now masturbates with his reading glasses on. And I just thought it was the funniest thing. It was so funny. And he just went off on this incredible riff about how he, you know, he was being given an. An MRI for his shoulder and he had all these issues, but the real issue was that he just couldn't see it. He needed his reading glasses to either look at the porn on his phone or to actually find it. And I just thought, what a great. What a great metaphor.

[Samantha Bee]

And let's talk more about your children's.

[Ben Falcone]

Book now that we've absolutely.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, well, Ben, thank you for joining us. I feel like he was slightly underwhelmed by our list of things that scare us more than thunder.

[Samantha Bee]

You know what? It's okay.

[Ben Falcone]

Well, I wanted to. I didn't want to interrupt, but I actually. Because I haven't been keeping up. I just wanted to double back into one of the things on your list, if I may.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes.

[Ben Falcone]

Does. Does Robert Kennedy. Does he. He does work out in jeans.

[Samantha Bee]

He works out. Oh, God. Ben, I know you don't want to see this stuff. I know. I know you want to be protective of your soul, but if you Google Image search him working out in his jeans, there's ample opportunities to see him in Various scenarios with hiking boots, belted jeans, and no top. Very sorry.

[Joanna Coles]

I know you've trekked out of the news, so you may not know. He's had head of Health and Human Services, too. No, I didn't, but he'll be okay. So get your vaccines now. Right. Just get your boosters now.

[Samantha Bee]

Fill your pockets with vaccines.

[Ben Falcone]

Well, and I did read that there was something about you don't. Maybe if you don't want to do a vaccine, you could take cod liver oil. And I was like, back to my puzzles.

[Joanna Coles]

Back.

[Samantha Bee]

This is wise. Thank you so, so much. It was such a pleasure to talk to you.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah. I just want to ask you, have you ever, ever been mistaken for the air marshal on a plane?

[Samantha Bee]

Good question.

[Ben Falcone]

I have.

[Joanna Coles]

You have?

[Ben Falcone]

Or. And people will be kind of like, you know, they'll kind of be like, I know who you are. And then I have to do it, like, because once you've been outed, you have to. I'm gonna keep us all safe. That's right.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, that's not scary. That's good.

[Samantha Bee]

You're gonna keep us all safe, make people feel comfortable.

[Joanna Coles]

That's a good note to end on. Ben, thank you for coming on.

[Ben Falcone]

Thank you so much.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, that was a nicer. That was a more optimistic note to end on.

[Samantha Bee]

It was. Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

I feel like we've been through a lot.

[Samantha Bee]

We have been through.

[Joanna Coles]

Been through a lot in this episode.

[Samantha Bee]

I love to end on a high, pleasant note.

[Joanna Coles]

Are you going to finish watching Megan's series?

[Samantha Bee]

No. Well, I'm finished with. The series is not finished.

[Joanna Coles]

The series is not finished yet. Well, if you've been listening, thank you to our podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, comment and share it with everyone you know. And you don't know everyone you know.

[Samantha Bee]

And keep sending those emails to beast pothedaily. Beast.com Drop us a comment on YouTube about Joanna's outfits.

[Joanna Coles]

Yes, please.

[Samantha Bee]

I saw that you were responding to people who were commenting on our episode with Michael Wolf.

[Joanna Coles]

I've decided to comment on our comments now because I enjoy engaging and also you get such good ideas that there was some really smart comments from people. A lot of people have started reading the Michael Wolf book and we're really enjoying it.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, it's very good.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, it's very good. And a lot of people like our podcast.

[Samantha Bee]

Really?

[Joanna Coles]

I know.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, refreshing.

[Joanna Coles]

I know someone was like, be careful when you go down the comment route. But actually, I really enjoyed it. And you get into discussions with people.

[Samantha Bee]

Fantastic.

[Joanna Coles]

Not least about my outfits. I'm trying very hard and as I said, this is my Melania. Homage to Melania.

[Samantha Bee]

Very nice. I just put on a gray sweater and that was not creative of me at all. Melania would never wear this and I'm sweating my balls off because I am perimenopausal.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, I think she is too. If you're not a subscriber to the Daily Beast, it's easy to sign up. Just go to thedailybeast.com and as my.

[Samantha Bee]

Muse once said, and I'm so grateful that she's saying it again, be best.

[Joanna Coles]

Sam yes. How many times do I have to tell you and Melania? It'd be beast.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh my God. Do you think we can get her to say it? You should try.

[Joanna Coles]

I will try. As you said, I'm shameless.

[Samantha Bee]

If anyone can get her to say beast, it is you. Get on it.

[Joanna Coles]

The Daily Beast podcast is produced by Sarah Demonkoff, Sphere, Baron Reinstein, Jesse Cannon and Seamus Calder, and for the last time, with additional writing by Sasha Seinfeld, who is leaving to join the Free Press. We will miss you Sasha and good luck. It's edited by Deanna Chapman and engineer by Johnny Simon.

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[Samantha Bee]

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[Samantha Bee]

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