Sam Bee Hits Back at Lorne; Jan Teases Office Return

Summary

The Daily Beast Podcast: Episode Summary Title: Sam Bee Hits Back at Lorne; Jan Teases Office Return
Release Date: February 13, 2025

In this engaging and dynamic episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, co-hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee delve into a variety of pressing topics, blending sharp political commentary with insightful pop culture discussions. The episode features notable conversations with veteran journalist David Gardner and a heartfelt segment with actress Melora Hardin. Here's a detailed breakdown of the key discussions and highlights from the episode.

---

1. Responding to Lorne Michaels' Remarks

Timestamp: [01:50] - [03:37]

The episode opens with Joanna Coles addressing remarks made by renowned producer Lorne Michaels regarding Samantha Bee. In his biography, Michaels refers to Bee as "one sided and strident," implying that she is someone he does not wish to emulate. Joanna confronts this characterization head-on.

Joanna Coles [02:35]: "Yeah, I concede the point. He's right. I am one sided and I am strident and proudly so."

This candid exchange highlights Bee's unapologetic stance on maintaining her strong and assertive presence in political discourse, reinforcing her commitment to speaking truthfully and passionately on issues that matter.

---

2. Trump's Super Bowl Appearance and Public Image

Timestamp: [24:16] - [31:22]

Joanna and Samantha discuss former President Donald Trump's unprecedented appearance at the Super Bowl, marking the first time a sitting president attended the event. They analyze his strategic presence and the mixed reactions it garnered.

David Gardner [27:17]: "He was an easy hit for him. He could have just waved, clapped at the end, and gone home. It would have been a great publicity coup."

The hosts explore how Trump's subtle maneuvers during public events, such as his interaction with Elon Musk during a press conference, reflect his mastery of media tactics and his ability to remain a focal point in political conversations.

Joanna Coles [05:28]: "And you're like, what do I do with this child that's happening right here?"

This segment underscores the complexity of Trump's interactions in the public sphere, portraying him as both a media-savvy leader and a figure of contention.

---

3. Trump's Takeover of the Kennedy Center

Timestamp: [06:02] - [38:20]

One of the episode's most intense discussions centers on Trump's controversial decision to dismantle the leadership of the Kennedy Center, a storied performing arts institution. Joanna shares her concerns about the implications of this move.

Joanna Coles [06:19]: "There are just an awful lot of people right now who are like, it can't get much worse than this, right? It can get so much worse."

David Gardner elaborates on the broader impact of political interference in cultural institutions, suggesting that such actions signal deeper systemic issues within governance and the arts community.

Joanna Coles [37:47]: "It's very imaginative and it's very weird. And that part is the scariest thing to me. Not that it's the actual issue that's scary. It's the imagination behind it that is actually. It's chilling."

The conversation delves into the potential long-term effects of politicizing cultural landmarks, reflecting fears about the erosion of artistic integrity and institutional autonomy.

---

4. Launching "The Swamp" Gossip Column

Timestamp: [22:02] - [34:12]

David Gardner introduces "The Swamp," a new gossip column likened to "page six for politics." The hosts discuss the purpose and content of this segment, which aims to provide readers with insider insights into the political and entertainment industries.

David Gardner [25:09]: "We're trying to give a good idea of these recurring characters. Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel. These are characters with very important roles in the running of our country."

Joanna and David highlight the column's focus on blending political intrigue with celebrity culture, offering a unique lens through which listeners can engage with current events and behind-the-scenes happenings.

---

5. Beast of the Week: Melora Hardin's Wildfire Experience

Timestamp: [42:18] - [63:07]

In an emotionally charged segment, Joanna, Samantha, and David welcome actress Melora Hardin to share her harrowing experience with the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. Melora recounts the devastation faced by her community, the personal toll of displacement, and the ongoing struggles with recovery.

Melora Hardin: "I just have friends, 25 friends who've lost everything, their homes and everything in it. And I'm grappling with survivor's guilt, the practicalities of displacement, and the emotional toll of living in a state where climate-fueled catastrophes are becoming the norm."

Samantha reflects on the surreal nature of experiencing such disasters, emphasizing the resilience of the human spirit amidst chaos.

Samantha Bee: "It's both so strange, but it's also so wonderful, you know, one of those things where you're like, just human kindness, you know?"

The hosts and Melora discuss the broader implications of climate change, the inadequacies in disaster response systems, and the importance of community support during times of crisis. This segment serves as a poignant reminder of the real-world impacts of environmental disasters and the urgent need for systemic change.

---

6. Lighthearted Banter and Pop Culture Insights

Timestamp: [39:35] - [64:43]

Throughout the episode, Joanna and Samantha engage in their signature witty banter, touching on various pop culture topics. They discuss the upcoming reunion of The Office, Joanna praises John Krasinski as Sexiest Man Alive, and Samantha shares her thoughts on award shows and celebrity achievements.

Samantha Bee: "I didn't even know that. I mean, how do they even make those? What is sexy?"

Their conversations provide a balanced mix of humor and reflective commentary, showcasing their ability to navigate both serious and lighthearted subjects with ease.

---

7. Closing Thoughts and Community Engagement

Timestamp: [63:38] - [65:25]

As the episode concludes, the hosts encourage listeners to engage with the podcast by subscribing, leaving comments, and sharing their thoughts. They also highlight upcoming projects and performances, ensuring that the audience remains connected and informed about future content.

Joanna Coles: "If you want to let us know, send us an email at [e-mail]. We also accept compliments, but we really do actually read them all, even though it hurts our feelings."

---

Key Takeaways:

• Bold Reactions: Samantha Bee stands firm against criticism, embracing her strong persona to drive meaningful conversations.
• Political Maneuvering: The discussion sheds light on Trump's strategic moves within both political and cultural institutions, raising concerns about their long-term effects.
• Resilience Amidst Disaster: Melora Hardin's experience with wildfires underscores the importance of community support and the pressing need for effective disaster response mechanisms.
• Blend of Serious and Lighthearted Topics: The podcast adeptly balances intense political discourse with humor and pop culture insights, maintaining an engaging and relatable tone.

This episode of The Daily Beast Podcast offers a compelling mix of political analysis, personal stories, and entertaining banter, making it a must-listen for those seeking insightful and thought-provoking discussions.

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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[David Gardner]

Foreign to the Daily Beast Podcast. I am still Joanna Coles. And I am still the Chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast.

[Joanna Coles]

And I'm Samantha Bee, the Chief Content Officer of being one sided and strident. Yes, enjoy me.

[David Gardner]

That's why you're here. Let's discuss Lorne Michaels remarks about you.

[Joanna Coles]

Yes, well, I don't know. Contextually, it's in a book about him. It's a biography written about him. And I get referenced in the book, as I learned on the daily base, as being someone that he does not want to emulate in any way. Like, don't be like Samantha Bee. Meaning one sided and strident. I mean, literally imagine calling anyone strident when you have built a career out of elevating the loudest guy in the room. But it's fine. You know what? Oh, Sambi claps back no, no, no, it's fine. I actually, I thought it was fantastic.

[David Gardner]

That he referenced you.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, I concede the point. He's right. I am one sided and I am strident and proudly so.

[David Gardner]

You're strident in those shoes.

[Joanna Coles]

Thank you so much. Just Stratt striding down the street.

[David Gardner]

I will confess one thing. I've never as I moved here, obviously as a British person, now I'm an American. But I have never figured out SNL individually. I've liked the odd sketch. I've never fully understood it.

[Joanna Coles]

Huh, that's funny. I mean, it's just in my consciousness, it was something that I watched when I was a kid. It was like such a delicious treat to sneak down to the basement and watch SNL as a young kid. It felt like an illicit pleasure. So it's just always in my consciousness and I love it. And I love the performers and I love the writers, I love the writing. I don't watch it every week, but I certainly have admired it through the years. It's never like so exciting when you're referenced in a negative way in someone else's biography that's gonna do really well. But I always love to be on people's minds.

[David Gardner]

I think I've only met Lorne Michaels once when actually it was the night of the 2016 election and I was supposed to be co hosting a party for what we assumed was gonna be Hillary's victory. And then it very by 9 o'clock was very clear it wasn't going to be Hilary victory. And her colleague said, why don't you come with me to the NBC control center, the control room in the news, because her husband worked there. And we sat and watched the entire rest of the election falling out. And there were two other guys in the room, Lorne Michaels and Steven Spielberg.

[Joanna Coles]

Wow.

[David Gardner]

And they were sitting there and I guess Spielberg may have been doing research for the Post, that movie he was making about the Washington Post. But I remember him saying there's nowhere he would rather be than in a newsroom on a day like today.

[Joanna Coles]

What were the vibes? Shock.

[David Gardner]

Just surprise, I think. Just shock and surprise. Cause really people weren't expecting it in New York, right?

[Joanna Coles]

No, not at all.

[David Gardner]

You know, New Yorkers in particular felt like they had a bucket full of Donald Trump and they couldn't believe that he was going to be president. And yet here he is, eight years.

[Joanna Coles]

On, eight years on, here we are and he's at the super bowl and saluting the national anthem. I don't know.

[David Gardner]

And he's watching his talent. He's watching his. He looks so proud of Elon Musk, didn't he, at the press conference When Elon was standing there and Donald Trump was just sitting quietly, amazingly quietly behind his desk. Yes. Looking like a proud stage mother.

[Joanna Coles]

I got such a different impression, actually. I mean, maybe, I think you could be right. Maybe I need to watch it again. But I felt that he was in agony watching a little child do stuff and like pick his nose and smear snot everywhere. And I.

[David Gardner]

You mean x the 4 year old.

[Joanna Coles]

Ex who is adorable. I'm not taking anything away. He's a child. He's adorable. Great. Be a child. But Donald Trump was not like comfortable around little children. He was kind of. They were both behind the desk together. I felt that. I felt that I was seeing the kind of like half smile grimace of a person who's like, do we have to say, am I supposed to say something to him? Like, am I supposed to pat him on the top of the head? Like, what do I do to this with this child that's happening right here?

[David Gardner]

Do you think he thinks of Elon as the son he wished he'd had?

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, my goodness. Well, that's very deep. I don't.

[David Gardner]

I just thought he looked like he was sitting there and he looked sort of like, my work is done. I've got the richest man in the world right next to me.

[Joanna Coles]

Maybe. I don't know. I think he just admires rich people who do crazy things. Okay. The story that really dipped me in this week was the Kennedy center. And let me tell you why. Because it was such a weird thing to do to dismantle the leadership of this performing arts center, which is so storied, and install himself and his friends to run the board. It was such a wild, weird left hook of a move. And it just, it was instructive to me. It really reminded me of how much I truly believe that he just has weird dreams and wakes up in the morning and enacts his dreams. Do you know what I mean? I had a dream the other night that my cat was walking around a resort in Maine and I was with my cat and my cat had little American Girl doll shoes on.

[David Gardner]

Okay, you are making this up. You are totally making this up.

[Joanna Coles]

And he was pointing out all the repairs that needed to be done at the res. And I feel like if I hold.

[David Gardner]

This up, this is what happens in your dreams. You dreams. You dream of Susan Collins, your cat in Maine, where Susan Collins is a senator.

[Joanna Coles]

Technically, I was dreaming of my other cat, Jerry, and he was wearing American Girl doll shoes and pointing out all these repairs that needed to be done. But I think that Donald Trump has wild dreams and wakes up and makes decisions based on those things, or someone makes a passing reference. Melania is like, I wish I was more involved in the Kennedy Center. And he's like, baby, I'll give it to you. These are so bizarre and they're so not thought through and they don't make any sense. And I think that we lack the imagination to predict what is coming next. And that is not going to serve us well. There are just an awful lot of people right now who are like, it can't get much worse than this, right? It can get so much worse. And you have no idea the ways in which it can get worse, because he literally, like, dream imagines them and then makes them so. So it's not. I don't care. Leadership of the Kennedy center, whatever. Yes, I did perform there, and it was incredible. And I loved all the former leadership. They were great. But that's not really the point that I'm trying to make. The point that I'm trying to make is that our imaginations, our logical, normal people imaginations, are no match for this. And so we just have to plan better for every terrible outcome. Like, I don't know what to say. It put me in such a panic. It put me in such a state, and I don't have any solve for this. I don't have any. I think, yeah, I don't have any. I don't have any solutions here. I just think that it can. It will be beyond our. It will be beyond our ability to predict what comes next. So actually, when people tell me to calm down and they're like, you should, like, just, like, live with it, I'm like, you don't know. You don't know. You can't protect. It's gonna get so goddamn weird out there. We are on week three. Are you kidding me? Like, birthright citizenship was like an amused bouche. Literally. Wait for it. When he changes all the libel laws and the slander laws, like, wait for it. It is all coming at a speed that we cannot. We will not be able. We are bleeding out. And it is just happening. And the Kennedy center is emblematic of the kind of chaos that we are about to live in. Sorry, I'm in such a bad mood today because I'm traveling tonight, getting on a plane, and I'm going to give a speech at Planned Parenthood. And I gotta tell you, that alone, I mean, I'm very excited to give the speech, and I'm always very excited to be in the presence of people who are doing the Lord's work, in my opinion. But it is daunting. It is daunting. Thank you. I just. That was a long. That was a monologue I had just.

[David Gardner]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm perspiring.

[David Gardner]

No, that was. That was very impressive. That was worthy itself of a Kennedy center honor.

[Joanna Coles]

I think all cats should wear shoes. That is my next executive order.

[David Gardner]

That your dreams are just as addled as Donald Trump's dreams. If you're dreaming that. That your cat had American Girl shoes on and was pointing out floors in.

[Joanna Coles]

The resort, he was like, you gotta paint that.

[David Gardner]

It's very, very concerning. But we are going to be talking to David Gardiner, so we're going to be talking to him so we can ask him about the Kennedy Centre, because I know he has an item about it. He feels very strongly about it. I will say. Well, I'm very curious to see what he says. And as we sit here, I think Tulsi Gabbard is waiting to be confirmed or not confirmed. And obviously, we'll see what happens.

[Joanna Coles]

Ye.

[David Gardner]

That's been a strange journey. I remember meeting Tulsi when I was at Marie Claire and we had her in the magazine, and she seemed very normal, straightforward Democrat congresswoman, which is what she was. And then she had that very dramatic stripe. Susan Tontagian stripe in her hair.

[Joanna Coles]

Yes, yes, yes.

[David Gardner]

Which she's leaned into as a style note, I notice.

[Joanna Coles]

Looks great.

[David Gardner]

It does look good. And I'm excited to see her poring over intelligence files.

[Joanna Coles]

Are you excited about that? Well, I can't say that I'm. I share your enthusiasm.

[David Gardner]

Okay. I was being slightly dry, but who knows? So in the download where we dive into Beast stories, we're talking to David Gardner, our chief national correspondent at the Beast, and he's a bestselling author. He's got an extraordinary career spanning war zones, presidential campaigns, and, of course, celebrity scandals, and possibly both. David has launched the swamp for us, which we're saying is like page six for politics. And as we like to say, Trump doesn't need to drain the swamp because it's all leaking to the Daily Beast. And he's got an intoxicating cocktail of juicy drama from the Kennedy center, which you're so moved by, to fancy lunch. I went to for Jane Hartley, former ambassador to the Court of St James in London. And before that, she was in Paris, where I think she thought she was gonna have a very stable, easy time, probably sampling wine and looking at fashion shows. And, of course, arrived for the killings of Charlie Hebdo, the Magazine, and then promptly followed by the Bataclan terrorist murders. So you think, what an extraordinary journey she had in what you would assume was the most stable and glorious of all postings. So that was a very interesting lunch. She's now back. But that was me. Fancy ladies. Oh, that's hosted by Tina Brown. Very fancy. Hillary Clinton was there.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, my God. A luncheon. What did you all. What was. What was on the table?

[David Gardner]

What was on the table? Very nice. Flowers.

[Joanna Coles]

Something else.

[David Gardner]

It was a very fun, lively conversation of very smart, accomplished women. Arianna Huffington was there. Valerie Jarrett was there. The former chief of staff to obviously President Obama.

[Joanna Coles]

They didn't give you a plus one right here.

[David Gardner]

Next time. Next time. I will insist on a plus one next time.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay.

[David Gardner]

We'll also be discussing David's recent article, the Eagles won the super bowl, but actually Donald Trump was mvp, which I know is gonna upset you and trigger you again.

[Joanna Coles]

Do you watch the Super Bowl? Are you a person who watches the Super Bowl?

[David Gardner]

I watched the halftime show, which I thought was truly dystopic. Actually wasn't as good as Beyonce was. I went to the New Orleans super bowl, where they. Where the power went out. Probably blown by the whole Beyonce set because there was so much energy and there was fireworks, and it was just incredible. So I do quite like. And I like the fact that the whole of America is watching it.

[Joanna Coles]

Did you watch this one?

[David Gardner]

I watched the halftime show. Cause I'd been traveling, and then I watched half of the second half, and then I was like, it's fairly clear what's gonna happen.

[Joanna Coles]

Just as a Canadian, I can't be. I can't understand why for so long, it was sold to us as an opportunity to watch fun commercials. I really object to that. I'm like, wait, I'm supposed to think that commercials are. Are an entertainment? I don't. I don't see them that way.

[David Gardner]

And we will also have. Lastly, our beast of the week is Melora Hardin. She's best known as the unpredictable Jan Levinson on the Office, the fierce Tammy Cashman on Transparent, and the powerhouse editor Jacqueline Carlisle on the bold type. She's built a career playing women who command a room. But right now, she finds herself navigating a very different kind of challenge. After being evacuated due to the California wildfires, she still can't return home. And like so many, her street is now patrolled by the National Guard. And she's witnessing firsthand the brutal aftermath of the disaster. She's got 25 friends who've lost everything their homes and everything in it. And she's grappling with survivor's guilt, the practicalities of displacement, and the emotional toll of living in a state where climate fueled catastrophes are really becoming the norm. I thought it was worth just highlighting that we obviously hit a nerve last week when we talked about the Blake Lively and Baldoni case with Leah Weyer from People magazine because we got tons of comments.

[Joanna Coles]

Yes, many negative comments.

[David Gardner]

Many never take. Although I will say I am quite good at spotting bot comments. And I thought a lot of these were from real people who feel clearly very passionate about Justin.

[Joanna Coles]

Yes, people are very passionate. Sam Bee getting a lot of personal feedback this week from a lot of different sources.

[David Gardner]

Listen, people, take what you say seriously.

[Joanna Coles]

I think what I'm learning is Sam Bees, stay in your lane. I don't think that I should have an opinion about anything that goes on in Hollywood because I clearly don't know anything. And I'm just waiting. And we'll all learn the truth one day.

[David Gardner]

Well, will we? Will we? But I particularly liked this one. I don't know why I keep clicking on your videos. Actually, I do. It's because of the promised guest. But your banter is so not funny. It's unwatchable. It's tiresome and endless. Including Sam's insane vocal fry. Omg, can't you just talk normally?

[Joanna Coles]

What does that mean? I don't have vocal cords.

[David Gardner]

You really don't have vocal.

[Joanna Coles]

Here's what I do have. What I from listening to. And by the way, this is because, not to plug my own thing, but I actually have an audible. I have an audible original coming out.

[David Gardner]

Which is the menopause.

[Joanna Coles]

How to survive Menopause. And I listened to a. I listened to a cut of it the other day and I did hate the sound of my own voice. I will say that. But for different reasons. Not for vocal reason, Fry reasons, which I don't believe I have.

[David Gardner]

You don't have vocal fry? Vocal fry is a very specific thing. Where it's very millennial, very specific.

[Joanna Coles]

Gen X. I take this criticism seriously and I criticize my own self because I think that my voice makes me sound like. I think that I'm a character in the Great Gatsby. And I'm trying really hard for that, even though I grew up in Canada.

[David Gardner]

But what kind of a character in the Great Gatsby?

[Joanna Coles]

A horrible person. Like, a horrible.

[David Gardner]

Like the horrible person driving the horrible.

[Joanna Coles]

Like, I'm trying really hard. Like, I'm just trying really hard to sound fancy.

[David Gardner]

Interesting. Yeah, I Would not have said that about your voice. But I thought it was very interesting that this person who really hates us and thinks we're incredibly unfunny would nevertheless continue to listen and leave us notes.

[Joanna Coles]

That's great. So small correction. I don't have vocal fry, but I do have a terrible voice, and I can't deny that.

[David Gardner]

Okay, so score one for the commenter, sir.

[Joanna Coles]

Or more. Ma'am, you're semi right.

[David Gardner]

Yeah. We got someone saying that judging Justin Baldoni on his looks. Cause he's a man is really low.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay, sure.

[David Gardner]

Should we.

[Joanna Coles]

I guess.

[David Gardner]

I guess my issue was that he was the director and the camera lingered on his face so much longer than it lingered on Blake's.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm just not gonna have any more opinions about this issue because it doesn't feel safe. And I guess it's not. I don't know. I don't know. I guess we'll all. Again, we'll all find out.

[David Gardner]

Well, let's hope we find out. Lord, let's hope we find out. Because seriously, we got a lot of. A lot of comments on it. So people feel very passionately about it.

[Joanna Coles]

Surprisingly passionately. I wish people felt as passionately about, like, the actual world we live in as opposed to someone.

[David Gardner]

Partly escapism. Right?

[Joanna Coles]

It is escapism, but.

[David Gardner]

And it did make $390 million.

[Joanna Coles]

What?

[David Gardner]

Yeah, it did. Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

Great.

[David Gardner]

So it was a huge hit on Netflix. So I know nothing. Cause I thought it didn't make sense. The full. I also know whoever has had a best friend who knocks on the door with a Birkin bag crooked in the center of her elbow and says, oh, I need a job. And then I'm gonna be your best friend.

[Joanna Coles]

You know what? I'll say this. I goddamn love Jenny Slate. I think she's so funny.

[David Gardner]

Is she the actress who plays that character? Well, then she should have complained and insisted they wrote a better script for her.

[Joanna Coles]

She's a fantastic person and hilarious, and I love her. And that's all I'm gonna say.

[David Gardner]

I think we just need better roles for women.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, that's a fact.

[David Gardner]

We have so much more to get to. Let's first, though, take a quick break and make some money for this pod. And when we come back, we'll be joined in the download by David Gardner.

[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]

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[Joanna Coles]

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[Samantha Bee]

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[Joanna Coles]

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[David Gardner]

We'Re joined now by veteran journalist and chief national correspondent at the Daily Beast, David Gardner to download on our new gossip column the Swamp.

[Joanna Coles]

The Swamp.

[David Gardner]

The Swamp, which we think of as page six for politics and Trump's super bowl win. Cause who won the Super Bowl? Donald Trump.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for joining us. I have to admit I've been off my phone for the last 20 minutes, so I assume the whole world looks different. Can you, can you get us up to speed? What is going on in D.C. right now? What's going on in our national swamp?

[D]

The funny thing is you're not joking I mean, the last 20 minutes, I mean, literally, I think the world did change a little bit. Tulsi Gabbard was just confirmed and she was the least likely of all of Trump's lieutenants to get in. Now she's so likely that J.D. vance didn't even bother coming back from Europe. He knew his vote wasn't needed if it got to be tight. So this is. She's going to be National Intelligence Directors, Head of the spies, head of the intelligence network.

[David Gardner]

If she's head of the intelligence network, I would like her to tell Usha Vamps that when she gets off a plane in the pouring rain, it's more intelligent to wear something on your shoulders. She came down the steps of Air Force Two with naked shoulders. Sorry, David, I took you off track there, as I am wont to do. Please continue.

[Joanna Coles]

I sensed fatigue in your voice as you were describing the vote in favor of Tulsi Camper.

[David Gardner]

Well, I hope he's not fatigued. He's only been. Indeed.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, my God.

[D]

So, I mean, so much has changed, though. I literally, I spoke to someone yesterday who'd been in D.C. and he was in the Clinton administration and he was. He's been very closely involved with politics in the city ever since and he has literally seen nothing like this. It is so different from the normal. Things are changing every day, every moment. It's like a whirlwind, really.

[David Gardner]

Well, it feels a bit like the President's changing too, because we're recording this on a Wednesday. Last night there was an amazing press conference in the Oval Office where a four year old.

[Joanna Coles]

Yes.

[David Gardner]

Stole the limelight. By the way, can you imagine if it was a woman standing there with her 4 year old? If Kristi Noem bought, or Ice Barbie, as we call her at the Daily Beast, brought her child to the White House, people would go nuts. But somehow with Elon bringing his four year old child called X, as Donald Trump helpfully told the audience that he's a fantastic Dan.

[Joanna Coles]

He's just a remarkable dad. And we were all treated to watching. I mean, and he's an adorable child. I'm not taking anything away from the child, but he was literally picking his nose through the entire press conference. Do you think it was a resolute.

[David Gardner]

Test, wiping it on Donald Trump's eye trousers?

[Joanna Coles]

I hope he was. I certainly hope so, David.

[David Gardner]

We keep distracting you. So it's crazy times in D.C. which is why we decided to launch the Swamp, correct?

[D]

Yes, indeed. Trying to give a good idea of these recurring characters. Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi, Gabbard, Kash Patel. These are characters. I mean, they have very important roles in the running of our country, obviously, but they have rich backgrounds and interesting subjects for us to take a kind of deeper dive into.

[Joanna Coles]

Can I ask a question? How forthcoming are people with their, with their storytelling? Do you have people contacting you all day and all night because they have something they want to say? Like, is there a, like a tidal wave of people who are interested in speaking to you that in an unexpected way, or are you having trouble finding people who will speak?

[D]

No, we're not having trouble. But what I'm told is how it tends to work is that in the early days of an administration, people kind of take a little while just to see how the lie of the land is. And then, and then they start, you know, have. They have their own little kind of beefs and problems and issues. Certainly people are talking amongst themselves and they're beginning to talk to us.

[David Gardner]

What we do have is a very good prompt, which I don't know if the camera can pick it up here, but it says, got secrets on your enemies or more likely your friends that need oozed out.

[Joanna Coles]

Wow. I can't keep up. I actually can't keep up. I actually can't keep up. Do you think, did you reflect on Trump's presence at the Super Bowl? He was the first sitting president to ever attend a Super Bowl.

[D]

Obama talked to his staff about, he had parties, but, but they talked about going, so can we not go. Some of his kind of close confidence. And apparently the feeling was that it was a bit showy to turn up at the super bowl and there's obviously security situations, but it seems to be more the sort of showing off by turning up to a kind of, perhaps a fun event that did not trouble Donald Trump for one moment. I mean, it was, it was a, a great publicity coup. Simple. We just had to turn up. He even went home at half time. He didn't hang around. But in terms of actual faces seeing him there, I mean, it's a vast TV audience. One of the biggest audiences of the year, if not the biggest.

[David Gardner]

Well, I think one in three, right? Watch the Super Bowl.

[D]

And he was there on the plane home. He was kind of, he was on true social, talking about kickoffs. I mean, he was talking to a base and it was just such an easy hit. And the fact that, that Joe Biden had four years when this was kind of his dynamic too. The working class, blue collar, not so much. The people at the Superdome for instance, but the people sitting at home on their sofas, that would have been such an easy hit for him. He wouldn't have had to talk, wouldn't have had to debate. He could have just waved a bit, clapped at the end and gone home. It would have been great. Instead, he was sort of tucked up back at the White House and kind of disappearing. And I think that was noticed. And even David Axelrod, you know, a Democrat loyalist, was saying perhaps it wouldn't have been a bad idea for him to turn up.

[Joanna Coles]

Why is he so keen to disregard security risks he does seem to take? For someone who has, you know, survived an assassination attempt, he seems very brazenly, very just open hearted about kind of going into large crowds and embracing.

[David Gardner]

Did you just say Donald Trump was open hearted?

[Joanna Coles]

Just about one thing, and that's getting publicity. That's. And that's it. Putting on a show. But, I mean, he does, you know, he's golfing, he's doing all the things that I'm sure his security detail is like, please don't do this.

[David Gardner]

I'm just astonished that once again, Donald Trump manages to find an extraordinary opportunity to reach people on television that's been hiding in plain sight that no other president has thought to do. And what a low lift for him. Flies in and out, huge adoring crowd, half of them boo. He doesn't care. And all we've done is talk about how he's the MVP of the game. I mean, David, your column was brilliant on it.

[D]

Well, as you say, hiding in plain sight is such an easy hit. And that's kind of his. I guess that's his talent. I mean, he knows tv. That's the way he works. He works through that dynamic. He has a gift for publicity. That is undoubtedly true.

[David Gardner]

What did we think about Lawrence O'Donnell saying that he was utterly humiliated by Elon Musk in the press conference and that this was just humiliating that Donald Trump sat there, Elon stood. The body language of him standing above the child. It was literally all about Elon. And then you could sort of see Donald looking at him and appraising him as he was doing it.

[Joanna Coles]

I felt like you could see him looking at the child and thinking, what do I do? Am I supposed to talk to it and do I have to relate to it in some way? Okay, I'll give him a little smile.

[D]

He was at the kids table, wasn't he? He was effectively, you know, banished to the kids table while the grownups talked.

[Joanna Coles]

He did look physically small, but it doesn't seem to move anybody. I mean, I don't. I don't know what to say at this point. I'm kind of like he's just allowing Elon Musk to stand behind the desk and say whatever he wants to with no proof, no nothing, no details. A child is just running around. I'm like, I agree that he looks small and I agree that he looks weak, and I agree that he is actually pretty weak. And I don't think it matters. Anyway, that's my.

[David Gardner]

I thought Elon's comment that the bureaucracy is the fourth arm of government and it's unelected and it sort of digs in and does what it wants actually rang true for me. I think that's what happens whenever new administrations come in. And the real internal strife actually often happens between the government and the administration and the bureaucracy. I mean, I sort of get what he means about the deep state. And I've seen friends, you know, certainly in the uk, take over, think they were going to be able to roll out policies which essentially people had voted for, and then spend their entire time in tussles with the Civil Service. Who will not change.

[Joanna Coles]

Sure. I mean, I don't think that there's anybody within the Civil Service who doesn't think that changes can be made and processes can be tightened and things can be better. Just not really sure that Elon Musk and his band of Mary engineers is the team to do it responsibly and with care. And I'm actually not sure that that money is going to be returned to the American people in the way that they seem to say that it is.

[David Gardner]

Well, it would be nice to have more transparency on the actual money. What they found that's really is bloated, as they claim, clearly. But I do understand the resistance and the frustration with that resistance. When you come in somewhere and you want to make changes and people aren't on board.

[Joanna Coles]

Sure. But I think they're going about it in such an astonishingly bad way that there's no way that you can get. I mean, there's no way that any reasonable person could get behind this process. I don't think.

[David Gardner]

David, are all the bars and restaurants full of people talking? Does it feel to be lots of energy in D.C. i think there's nothing.

[D]

It's the subject on everybody's lips, really. And most of them complaining because they don't know what's going on. I think they feel unsafe and I think there's a distinct sense of chaos, which this kind of daily bombardment of Change has created. I mean, it's not, it's unusual for DC because it's a four year cycle, isn't it? There's like one party has a giant egg time when they kind of put it upside down at the beginning of the term and wait for it to kind of seep out the other end. And by their time, time, it's more difficult this time because a lot of those people, the bureaucrats we're talking about, no longer have jobs. I mean, they've literally lost their jobs. I think what is kind of lost in all this is that we talk blindly about people being cut here, there and everywhere. And Elon Musk has a habit of doing this. But these are people with families, with livelihoods, with homes, with mortgages, with bills, and they are suddenly kind of out in the cold and with no real preparation. It's kind of have affected the whole balance of Washington, right?

[Joanna Coles]

And people located overseas who have children in schools, who have jobs, who have careers, who suddenly all of their funding is cut off. You know, medical trials, all the funding is cut off. You have to gather all the patients together and go, oh, by the way, give me back, give me back this uterine ring. The experiment is over. Everybody go home. Like, people's lives are being directly impacted by this, like, cowboy bullshit. And it is making my head explode.

[David Gardner]

Well, you can go to thedailybeast.com, you can sign up for the Swamp, which we advise you to do. And David, just give people a teaser of what the top stories are on the Swamp this week.

[D]

Well, we were absolutely fascinated by the goings on at the Kennedy Center. This is a kind of a classic performing arts center. It's kind of run independently, kind of from the ruling power at the time. It's, it's a wonderful center, but it's been thrown into again, disarray by President Trump suddenly imposing himself as chairman, really moving half of the board of trustees who have been there a long time, who are very much ingrained in life in Washington. He's kicked them aside and put in a former ambassador to Germany who basically upset all the Germans when he was there, as the kind of performer in chief. He's going to run this place. So, I mean, the wonder is now that perhaps the ballet and the national theater may be replaced by military marching bands. It certainly affected the kind of what we call the deep society of Washington. The permanently, the people who've been here a long time, the people with the power, with the money, the people. You don't really see this is a knife has been dug quite deep here. And so we were intrigued to see how that's affected people. And. And essentially the idea is that these people, these same deep society elite, effectively ignored Trump last time. They will ignore him this time. They want nothing to do with him. And it bugs him. I mean, it's like a rash he can't scratch. So the feeling is that he's gone into the heartland, into the Kennedy center, and kind of planted his flag and said, you know, I'm here. You're going to have to deal with me now. So that's an intriguing idea. We've also got Hunter Biden, fresh from his pardon, off to Hollywood looking for work. He's got a documentary he wants to sell, a podcast. He wants to sell competition podcast. Oh, so there you go. Watch out, watch out.

[Joanna Coles]

I think we should bring him into the family.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay.

[David Gardner]

We should invite Hunter on as a guest with or without his laptop. I will say I went to the Kennedy Center Honors one year. Reba McIntyre was one of the honorees. So was Cherry. So it's not like it's a super elite. You know, it's not. They're only giving prizes to opera. The cast of Hamilton got an award. I mean, Steve Mnuchin was in the audience, so it wasn't actually. And he was then Trump's treasury secretary. So it wasn't like it was this super elite white tie. You've got to be a billionaire to get through the door. I mean, Kelly Clarkson was.

[Joanna Coles]

It's a performing arts center. Yeah, for sure. But that, for me, that is the story that actually, as I said earlier in the podcast, that is the story that dipped me in in the last couple of days, just because I think, as you're saying, you know, patrons of the arts kind of people who are at that level of things, they feel like their wealth enables them in some way to ignore what Trump is doing. They're sort of like, exist in a different world where they can go about their. They go about their lives, they get their tax benefit, they hate his guts, they support other causes, they continue to support their causes, they support the arts. And then when the arts get interfered with, that is really. That is a super deep cut. That's very personal. And also it's very. As I said earlier, it's very imaginative and it's very weird. And that part is the scariest thing to me. Not that it's. It's not the actual issue that's scary. It's the imagination behind it that is actually. It's chilling. To me.

[David Gardner]

Well, the idea of, David, when you say marching bands, suddenly feels chilling, that we go from Kelly Clarkson and Cher and Hamilton to the marching bands and sort of. That. That does feel a bit North Korean, I will say. When I. I read his note on Truth Social saying, I'm going to replace them with the greatest chairman of all time, Donald J. Trump. You're like, oh, this. This doesn't feel great.

[Joanna Coles]

Mm. Yes. I don't know who's in charge now. Who is the German. Who was the former German ambassador?

[D]

Rick Grenell.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, it's Rick Grinnell. Yeah. Oh, God.

[D]

Who has absolutely no. Absolutely no background in show business of any kind.

[David Gardner]

So.

[D]

Perfect man.

[Joanna Coles]

Perfect man. He's got great taste.

[David Gardner]

So, Billy Ray Cyrus, who do we think will be honorees this year? Billy Ray Cyrus. Carrie Underwood, certainly. Who did do a good job at the inauguration. Bless her. When the music went down.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, I mean, I feel like, anyway, we'll have a WWE Raw in the. In the concert hall. It'll be great.

[D]

The funny thing is, apparently Melania was talking previously about wanting to get more involved in the Kennedy center, and then suddenly her husband is dumped himself as chairman. So I think that's a. Yeah, that's a pass.

[David Gardner]

So maybe this is his way, basically, of just spending more time with his wife.

[Joanna Coles]

God.

[David Gardner]

David, thank you very much. In the 20 minutes we've been talking, the world has turned. You better get back and start reporting on it.

[D]

I should say Tulsi Gabbard is now the National Intelligence Director. It's changed that much. There you go.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, wow. Let's all sit back while we systematically dismantle the national security.

[David Gardner]

Sounds good, David, thank you very much.

[D]

I appreciate it. Thank you.

[David Gardner]

Okay, we're going to take a quick break before we talk to our beast of the week, Melora Hardin.

[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]

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[Joanna Coles]

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[Samantha Bee]

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[David Gardner]

We're back and we are thrilled to be joined by this week's Beast of the Week, Melora Hardin. A seasoned actress, singer, director, producer, artist, Melora gained widespread recognition for her roles in hit shows like the Office, Monk, Transparent, and of course my personal favorite, the Bold Type. But her experience with the fires in LA over the last month has really had her taking on new challenges. Melora, welcome. I've been watching you cope with just extraordinary real life drama.

[Samantha Bee]

It has been indeed unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's surreal. I mean that's the only word I can really use to describe it. It's just very odd to it's very odd. My wonderful life coach is like, you just have to get comfortable with weird because that's how I feel. I said it just all feels so weird. He said, yeah, you have to be comfortable with weird, because when you're in my position, which is that our house was miraculously safe, the fire started right behind our house in the hills behind our house, and somehow just hopped over this little sort of group of, you know, 20 houses, but on the left and the right, and then the further you go west, it just becomes just a sea of red, which is just a sea of, you know, homes that have burnt to the ground. I probably have friends, 25 friends who've lost their homes in the Palisades and out there. And, you know, to be. To be one that obviously is so grateful, to be one of the lucky ones that still has their home is, you know, wonderful. And then, you know, but dealing with this sort of grief around your whole neighborhood and, you know, my children's school that we went to between the two girls for 13 years, you know, burnt to the ground.

[David Gardner]

You can't get back into your house, right?

[Samantha Bee]

Still not in my house house, no. Because there's. There's smoke damage and, you know, they have to clean up and then just the air toxicity of all the things they have to clean up and how that's going to stir things up. And thank God we've had some rains, but, like, as of tomorrow, we're supposed to have a huge storm. So some houses are really in, you know, mudslide, you know, danger. So that could be a whole other thing. Just dealing with all of that in the insurance company and the amount of phone calls and the amount of meetings you have to have about who's going to come in and, you know, take care of the smoke damage and, you know, and then yet you're still talking to your friends who are just like. They're just talking to FEMA about getting their passports and getting their Social Security cards and getting their birth certificates. And, you know, it's. It's just. It really is weird, right?

[David Gardner]

Weird and overwhelming. And you've got National Guards patrolling the streets.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, we had National Guards there as of the third day after. After two days after the fire because of looters. You know, you have these people that want to take advantage of people's tragedy. I mean, the upside is that I've met neighbors, people whose homes have remained. I met neighbors that I never knew I had, some of whom own guns, which was like, you know, this is the time you want to meet a neighbor who has a gun. Because really the looters were a real thing. And you're like, in your house going, what do I do? And, you know, and now you're, you know, My husband was paroling all night long the night after the fire because of. Just checking for embers. Because he said, you know, the fact that our house survived, I would never forgive myself if the next night, you know, an ember floated into a bush and caught a bush which caught the house on fire. And we came back the next day and it was gone. So he was determined to stay at least for a few days. And then the National Guard came in and they were amazing. The sheriffs were amazing. The response was incredible as far as how fast they would come. But they're just. It's very disappointing, just in general, to be in a state where we pay the highest taxes of almost any other state in the Union. And this is what happened. It's unthinkable that we were let down this way because I think as a taxpayer, that's what you pay for almost more than anything. You pay for a fire service to come when there's a fire. And you pay for a police service to come when the bad guys are doing something bad. That's what you pay for almost more than anything else. You pay for that. And it's remarkable to think that just where the failures happened in our system, and I'm not gonna go into that. Cause I don't. But it's just. It is very disappointing and very upset setting and. And I hope that, you know, some way, somehow people do get found out and they figure out where all those mistakes happened and people get.

[Joanna Coles]

How are people putting, like, one foot in front of the other? Like, how do you even. I don't actually. I feel like over here, we're not even really comprehending the scale of things.

[Samantha Bee]

No, you're not feeling. True. Yeah, it's true.

[Joanna Coles]

True.

[Samantha Bee]

It's really interesting because even when I was in the mandatory evacuation zone and then we left, that was just. What was so bizarre was just two blocks down. Life was just happening normally. And, you know, that's a wonderful thing about human nature that we are so, in a way, forgetful. I remember, you know, I had two home births and I remember, like, having my first child and then, like, getting pregnant with the second one. It was like, you just don't remember. You don't remember how much that. How intense that was. And I think that's one of the great things about us as human. Human beings. That's why we continue to procreate. It's why we continue to build things. And, you know, they all fall to ground, and then we build them again and they fall to the ground and we Build them again. I mean, that is a great thing about us. So it was both. I felt both, sort of. That is so strange, but it's also so wonderful, you know, like one of.

[Joanna Coles]

Those things where you're like, well, I would love if the world could stop for like, a half day and just try to think about it, because, you know, you don't want it. You're like, you know, I have a lot of friends. And, like, some people were affected, others were not. A bunch of my friends were like, well, I went to Trader Joe's. Like, life was normal, like, terrible, terrify, everybody's scared. But also, I don't like to think of ourselves as just being like, part of an anthill. Right.

[David Gardner]

Was it like 9 11? I lived uptown during 9 11, and uptown felt completely untouched. Downtown was absolutely devastated, and people had ash and toxicity and everything to deal with. And then, of course, they've completely rebuilt it. And if you didn't know, because there wasn't a memorial there, you would have no sense that two enormous towers once stood, you know, on the west of downtown.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. And survivor's guilt is real, right? That is actually a real thing. That is also very surreal, you know.

[David Gardner]

So how have you been? I think the term is self soothing over this whole period because you look a trivial note, but you do look fantastic.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, that's fine.

[David Gardner]

And we spent a lot of time getting ready this morning. Sam, you have no idea how many times I changed my outfit. And I've still only turned up, in a way.

[Samantha Bee]

Staying with Joanna right now. Yes.

[David Gardner]

Yes, you're staying with me.

[Samantha Bee]

Joanna is one of my best friends. We should at least be transparent.

[David Gardner]

We should be transparent. We should be transparent. But how do you. How have you. Sort of. Because your girls haven't been there. They're both living in New York. But you have a cat and a dog, and you've been moving from place to place.

[Samantha Bee]

Yes. Yeah. Well, that's been strange, right? Because my cat is an indoor outdoor cat. So he's just like, what the hell is going on? Why am I in the house all the time? And how come you keep taking the dog out? Because we just let the dog kind of roam in and out. We leave the doors open. They kind of go in and out. So we stayed in a friend's apartment. They had an apartment. Little apartment in Beverly Hills that. That her husband used sometimes to come and come do business. We stayed there for a couple weeks, but it just was. It was very dark. It really is a place he comes to, just put his head down, go to sleep and then go to work and come back and put his head down. So it was not a place that we could live with the dog and the cat for very long, but very grateful that they gave it to us. And by the time we came there, boy did we need a shower. You know, no water, no electricity. We just got our electricity back a week and a half ago.

[David Gardner]

And you said your Christmas decorations are still up because they told you cannot move them.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, the people that do the remediation, they just basically said we're gonna wipe everything down. Everything needs to be wiped down. You know, that's weird too, to sort of go and see the house and see Christmas is still there.

[Joanna Coles]

Do you feel like you can stay in that neighborhood? Like, do you? I mean, I guess it's hard to really have a long term plan.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, it's hard. And, and of course we've gone back and forth and back, you know what I mean? Like at the beginning it was like, oh, you know, like we're gonna get out. Like we have no reason to be here. We moved here to be close to our kids school and have that community and now that community is, you know, completely busted up and destroyed and devastated. And you know, our kids are now, you know, grown and in college and out of college and so forth. But now we're kind of having a love affair. Now we're kind of, we go to the house and we're like, oh, you know, just. Thank you, like for.

[Joanna Coles]

Look at you.

[Samantha Bee]

Been here since 1922, you know, and just you're so beautiful. So I think we're going to put, we're going to invest in putting the sprinklers on the roof.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay.

[Samantha Bee]

Which a friend of ours did who lives even deeper, like higher up in the hill and his house survived and everything around it.

[David Gardner]

How do you feel? Because I've seen the pictures. How do you feel about. Is it just going to be like living in a building site?

[Samantha Bee]

Strangely, if you go out of our front door or you go and walk on the street and stand on the corner and you look out, it doesn't look like anything happened. Now you turn the corner and go five houses down and that house is burned to the ground. And you turn, you know, almost every corner about five to ten houses down. Burned to the ground, but then more houses. So I'm, I'm, I'm probably, I mean I again, I probably am one of the luckiest, you know, in this, in this situation. But you know, you say, how are you going to deal with It. I have no idea how we're going to deal with it. It changes every day.

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Samantha Bee]

And if I show you on my. On my cell phone, I can show you. I took pictures of. They sort of did. Red houses that had burned to the ground. And the black houses are the ones still standing. And as you zoom, if you kind of go like this, you see this kind of little diamond shape of all the black houses, mine being one, and you kind of zoom out and then more red, and then you zoom out and then you zoom out and then it's just like. It's just little black area and a sea of red. Just a sea of red. And I had the courage to come in from. From the east or from the west, I guess, the other day. Oh, that was just. That was heartbreaking.

[Joanna Coles]

Right, right. It was heartbreaking.

[David Gardner]

So it seems a bit trivial to ask you what you think about your old mate from the office, John Krasinski, being voted sexiest man Alive.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, was he?

[David Gardner]

Yeah. What do you think about that?

[Samantha Bee]

I didn't even know that.

[Joanna Coles]

Really keyed into that.

[Samantha Bee]

Sexiest man Alive.

[Joanna Coles]

Really?

[David Gardner]

Yeah.

[Samantha Bee]

I mean, how do they even make those? I mean, what is sexy?

[David Gardner]

Good question. What is sexy? What is sexy?

[Samantha Bee]

Sexy is different for every person.

[Joanna Coles]

I don't know. I mean, it feels like you're the expert. You worked with them for all those years.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, you know what? I think John's lovely. I. I think he's lovely and he's. Sure. I don't know. I mean, sure he's sexy. I don't know. I never thought of him as sexy.

[David Gardner]

That was a left turn of a question.

[Samantha Bee]

I never thought of him that way. But that's not. That doesn't mean he's not. I mean, I'm sure Emily Blessed thinks he's pretty damn sexy.

[David Gardner]

Well, I hope so. Is he sexier than.

[Samantha Bee]

They're such a. They're such an adorable couple. I.

[Joanna Coles]

They are.

[Samantha Bee]

I. You know what? There's so much. There's so much around pop culture that, like, I am completely tapped out of right now.

[Joanna Coles]

You still have your Christmas decorations?

[Samantha Bee]

I still have my Christmas decorations.

[Joanna Coles]

Do you feel like, what do you think that you would like. I mean, listen, I don't even know. Like, it's been so difficult to talk about here because I just. I can't even. It's like I can't even. Yeah, I don't see the images.

[Samantha Bee]

That's very sweet of you.

[Joanna Coles]

Wish that people understood, kind of writ large about the whole thing. Like, what do you wish that we were appreciating more because I think it's. It feels a little. It's like we're so separate. We're separated from those big, like, efforts. And I feel it. Like, I enjoyed watching. Watching the Grammys, actually, and I enjoyed the way that it. The way that they went forward with it. I thought it was so respectful, and I thought it was so respectful to people who are trying to keep their jobs and keep working. Like, you do have to keep working. But what do you wish that we all appreciated about the whole thing?

[Samantha Bee]

I don't think people can appreciate it. You can't. You don't know it until you've gone through it.

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Samantha Bee]

You don't know what it is to be a parent until you're a parent.

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Samantha Bee]

You know, I just. It's just. It's just what it is. So I would just say, you know, compassion is great. And, you know, all these GoFundMe accounts, you know, for people that really need it, are great. And I will say that also. I mean, yes, I am an eternal optimist, but I will also say that it has brought out really incredible things in human beings. I mean, the money that they raised with LA Strong, I think the little. The concert that they did in Anaheim, they raised so much money. I mean, that was just so moving. When I drive down the street in those really, really bad parts of Altadena, you know, there's people there still handing out clothes and giving donations. And, you know, so I feel like just. I think, just being aware, being empathetic, being sensitive and give. And if you have something to give, then give it, you know? And if you don't have something to give, then just be compassionate.

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Samantha Bee]

You know, I'll be like a little.

[Joanna Coles]

Little like Mr. Rogers. Looking for the helpers. Always looking for the helpers.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, just human kindness, you know?

[David Gardner]

Yeah. Well, so I have two more questions for you.

[Samantha Bee]

Okay. You want to talk about John Krasinski some more?

[David Gardner]

No, I don't, actually. They're not John Krasinski. I do think he's quite sexy.

[Samantha Bee]

I love John. I love John. You know what?

[David Gardner]

He's sort of poignantly sexy.

[Samantha Bee]

Fabulous. He's like, fabulous in every way. So why not be sexiest man alive? Sure, I'll go for that.

[Joanna Coles]

Sure.

[Samantha Bee]

That works.

[David Gardner]

Good. All right. Two thumbs up from Jan Evanson. One of the things I love about your house is that you have outside your house, you have a sign from the office which says, michael Scott's girlfriend's parking space, which is so Funny. But I was going to ask if you had any favorites for the Oscars.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, I have to tell you, that was the fire. I can't tell you how many firemen. And like, the Edison and, you know, the electric or what. Whatever. What are they called? California Edison.

[David Gardner]

Yeah. Utilities.

[Samantha Bee]

All the utilities. The people had to come and check everything. Check the backyard and make sure that everything. There were no power lines and no. You know, and every single one of them was like, by the way, love your sign. Love you on the show. Like, it was so sweet.

[David Gardner]

Yeah.

[Samantha Bee]

You know, it just made their day. It really did. It was really sweet.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah.

[David Gardner]

So I know that you've been dealing with other things, but I also know that you're a close observer of what's going on in Hollywood. What are your thoughts for the Oscars for Best Actress?

[Samantha Bee]

Demi Moore. That's my thought. I just love her, of course. You know, I have a particular attachment to someone who has the kind of career she's had. I mean, she's a real. I love that when she won the Golden Globe, she said, you know, someone had given her, had sort of made her feel so bad and told her she was a popcorn actress. And I thought, great. Like, great, but amazing to me that someone would throw that at her like a put down.

[David Gardner]

Right. Like an insult.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. What's wrong with being a popcorn actress? I mean, we're entertainers, so someone wants to sit there and eat popcorn and enjoy your movie. But think about what she's done. I mean, think of the incredible movies she's been in. She was the first woman to ever be so brave, to be on the COVID of Vanity Fair when she was pregnant. That was before anyone did. Now everyone does that. She was the first person to do that.

[David Gardner]

That was a wonderful cover. That was an amazing cover.

[Samantha Bee]

Right. And everyone was shocked and like, oh, you know, and she looked incredible. And she. She's. And so, of course, like, substance couldn't be a more perfect role for her with all of her. Just her. We in the pop culture have a relationship with her body because she has put her body forward as a pregnant woman, as a, you know, like G.I. joe, as a young woman, as G.I. jane shaving her hair off. You know, the very feminine thing of having all that hair that she had and then getting rid of it. And, you know, she's just been really brave physically. And as an icon, like a pop icon, she has been brave and I think, also feminist in her, you know, and having the younger, the younger, the younger husband and boyfriend for so long. And having this really, really amazing close relationship with Bruce Willis, like, kind of helping him, I think, even overcome his addiction, you know, being. And having a committed relationship. And now very good friends, like, best friends, you know, and then. And now again. Right. She's dating a young man again in this way that's like very.

[David Gardner]

Just.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah. Very modern and very kind of just. It's just. Yeah, it makes sense to me. You know, it makes sense to me. And she's just perfect casting for substance and absolutely the best acting she's ever done. I mean, she was so connected to every moment of that movie, which I happen to love, and just thought it was just such an amazing, you know, particularly the. The last sort of section. A very masculine expression of a feminist idea. You know, with all that, the.

[David Gardner]

The.

[Samantha Bee]

The excessive amounts of. Of blood and, you know, the way that was done and just the whole.

[David Gardner]

Spraying of her body.

[Samantha Bee]

The morphing of herself. Yeah, the spraying. It was just so, like, I was just, wow, you know, talk about ballsy. I just really thought that was extraordinary and really a very interesting expression of a very feminist idea.

[David Gardner]

Melora, last time you were in New York, you were here because you were playing opposite Robert Downey Jr. In a movie much heralded production of. I always get this wrong, McNeil. I always want to say Maclean. I don't know why I want to say McLean, but in fact, of course, it was McNeil by Aya Dakhtar. And your next role is in Santa Barbara?

[Samantha Bee]

Yes, I'm gonna do. Well, it's. It's a premiere of a little new little play called Parents in Chains. And it's sort of Parents in Chains.

[David Gardner]

Yeah, I'm already.

[Samantha Bee]

Yeah, it's sort of a la Love Letters and the Vagina Monologues. It's. It's a. It's sort of a thing that, you know, where they can slip, you know, celebrities in and out, and. And you can. It's basically a text chain that happens so you're kind of reading. You don't have to. And, you know, they. They said, would you come do our premiere week and March. I think it's March 12 through 6 performances. After that, evening performances and Santa Barbara, California, and their beautiful theater there. And I. I said, yes, you know, I'd love to just get my head out of the fires and go do what I know how to do. And it's really. It's really funny. It's funny. It's. It's poignant. It's. It's. It's gonna be a really fun night. Of theater, I think fun week of theater for me, so.

[David Gardner]

Well, you deserve a break from the horror of what's been happening. Thank you for sparing some time to come in and talk to us.

[Samantha Bee]

Oh, I loved it. You guys are really fun to chat with and. Well, it's nice that you guys want to talk about it. And, you know, I'm sure there'll be more to talk about with people who've lost their homes, too, in. In a couple of years. You know, it'll be interesting to see how people do rebuild and. And, you know, we will, and we will, but. But, yeah, it's. It's a. It's a challenging time for. For many, many people.

[David Gardner]

And what about the rumors that the Office is getting back together?

[Samantha Bee]

I. That's what I've heard. I. I mean, Greg Daniels, who created the Office, American version of the Office. Yeah, I think there is gonna be some kind of an Office ish type new show, but it won't have any of the old characters, I don't think.

[David Gardner]

Oh, it won't have any of the old characters. So we're not gonna see a reprisal of jam?

[Samantha Bee]

No. I mean, maybe I'll pop in. Like, maybe I would pop in. Maybe something like that. But. Yeah, but I think it's all new people.

[David Gardner]

The dinner party episode, one of the best episodes ever of television. So funny.

[Samantha Bee]

It is. It's okay. I love it.

[David Gardner]

Whatever. Whatever it was. I. I come across people all the time with you, and they just want you to reprise it for them. Baron Ben in front of them.

[Samantha Bee]

I know, it is funny. Well, people have seen it so many times, and I, you know, I'm always like, oh, you know the lines better than I. That was a long time ago. I've been doing a lot of other things, like the bull type.

[David Gardner]

Well, thank you for coming.

[Samantha Bee]

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Joanna Coles]

I thought that was very interesting. I'm glad that we had Melora on, just to contextualize things a little bit.

[David Gardner]

Well, it's just so extraordinary to not be able to get back into your house.

[Joanna Coles]

I know, I know. I like hearing personal stories. It just kind of just took ground, you know, just grounding.

[David Gardner]

Well. And her house, it's a beautiful house. It's got so many artifacts. She's very artistic. And it's. Every room is crammed with artifacts. You think of it just sitting there under a mound of ash. But as she says, you know, she's one of the lucky ones. Anyway, if you have been. Thank you for listening and watching on YouTube and if you enjoyed this episode, or even. Actually, even more interesting, if you didn't enjoy the episode, let us know. Like, subscribe, comment, share it with everyone you know and everyone you don't.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, if you didn't like the episode, you don't have to let us know necessarily. Okay, you don't have to let us know. But if you want to let us know, send us an email at beastpod, the dailybeast.com we also accept compliments, but we really do actually read them all, even though it hurts our feelings.

[David Gardner]

It doesn't hurt my feelings anymore because the great thing about being British is you really don't have feelings.

[Joanna Coles]

That's good.

[David Gardner]

But if you're not a subscriber to the Daily Beast, it's easy to sign up.

[D]

Up.

[Joanna Coles]

Just go to thedailybeast.com as my personal muse once said, everyone get out there and just be best.

[David Gardner]

I don't think she ever said that. And you know, as she takes over the Kennedy center with her husband. Oh, God, it's b. Beast.

[Joanna Coles]

Let me say it. With Vocal Fry. Oh, my God. Everyone be a beast.

[David Gardner]

I love you. With vocal Fry. That's very good.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, my God. Is that vocal Fry?

[David Gardner]

I think totally Vocal Fry. Vocal Fry. I was trying to explain vocal Fry to Ben Sher the other day.

[Samantha Bee]

Didn't get it.

[David Gardner]

But it's Ben's birthday today, so. Happy birthday, Ben.

[Joanna Coles]

Happy birthday.

[David Gardner]

Happy birthday. The Daily Beast podcast is produced by Sarah demakoft, Svia Beren Reinstein, Jesse Cannon, this week and Johnny Simon. Additional writing by Sasha Seinfeld. It's edited by Deanna Chapman, and it's engineered by Johnny Simon, who got two credits this week. That makes no sense because he didn't do twice the work. Whatever. He engineered it.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, my God.

[Samantha Bee]

It's the coolest thing ever.

[Joanna Coles]

Hey, guys, have you heard of Goldbelly? Well, check this out. It's this amazing site where they ship the most iconic famous foods from restaurants across the country anywhere, nationwide. I've never found a more perfect gift than food.

[Samantha Bee]

They ship Chicago deep dish pizza, New York bagels, Maine lobster rolls, and even.

[David Gardner]

Ina Garten's famous cakes. Seriously.

[Joanna Coles]

So if you're looking for a gift for the food lover in your Life, head to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code gift.