Josh Johnson on Hosting The Daily Show for the First Time | This Week in Preview

Summary

Summary of "The Daily Show: Ears Edition" Episode: Josh Johnson on Hosting The Daily Show for the First Time | This Week in Preview

Release Date: July 21, 2025

In this engaging episode of "The Daily Show: Ears Edition," writer Devin Delacquante engages in a candid and humorous conversation with Josh Johnson, who is stepping into the role of hosting "The Daily Show" for the first time. The discussion navigates through their personal rapport, the complexities of media portrayal in high-profile cases, the interplay between legacy media and independent creators, and touches on contemporary topics such as AI developments and social media phenomena.

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1. Personal Reflections and Transition to Hosting

Reminiscing About Past Interactions

The episode kicks off with Devin and Josh reminiscing about their history as officemates and friends, setting a warm and relatable tone.

• Devin Delacquante: “I feel like I would not have done as well at the show had you not been my first officemate.” [03:03]

• Josh Johnson: “You never want to waste a pep talk, though.” [06:40]

Excitement and Nervousness About Hosting

Josh shares his enthusiasm and the underlying nervousness about taking on the hosting role, likening it to preparing for a marathon.

• Josh Johnson: “But when you're hosting, you are communicating to the audience at home and the audience in studio at the same time.” [10:59]

• Devin Delacquante: “I feel good the way people feel good before they run a marathon.” [04:20]

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2. Navigating the Differences Between Standup and Hosting

Standup vs. Hosting Dynamics

Josh delves into the nuances that differentiate standup comedy from hosting a major news show, emphasizing the broader audience engagement.

• Devin Delacquante: “When I'm doing standup... I could lock in with this person and be like, they know what I'm talking about.” [10:59]

• Josh Johnson: “...communicating to the audience at home... the people that are gonna be tuning in from everywhere.” [10:59]

Utilizing The Daily Show’s Tools

Josh discusses how "The Daily Show" provides additional tools like news clips and multimedia elements that aren't typically part of standup performances.

• Devin Delacquante: “The show has tools that you don't have just doing standup.” [12:28]

• Josh Johnson: “News clips, throwing things that tell the story.” [13:42]

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3. Media Coverage and Public Perception of the Diddy Case

Critique of Legacy Media

A substantial part of their conversation centers on the media's handling of the Diddy criminal case, highlighting perceived biases and incomplete reporting.

• Devin Delacquante: “Media made it look more open and shut than it ever was.” [17:51]

• Josh Johnson: “He looks like... like the poster of a horror movie.” [05:02]

Impact on Public Opinion

They explore how simplified media narratives can distort public understanding, leading to misplaced perceptions of guilt or innocence.

• Devin Delacquante: “We were talking to other people who agreed with us... they didn't present things in a fully objective way.” [19:15]

• Josh Johnson: “People don't see the actual evidence, so they form opinions based on incomplete information.” [19:45]

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4. Legacy Media vs. Independent Creators

Advantages of Independent Platforms

The duo contrasts legacy media's constraints with the flexibility enjoyed by independent creators, who can offer more nuanced and unfiltered perspectives.

• Devin Delacquante: “Independent creators... don't have to fill time till an ad.” [18:39]

• Josh Johnson: “It's a little bit weird.” [11:50]

Challenges Faced by Legacy Media

They touch upon the commercial pressures that legacy media faces, which can lead to sensationalism or biased reporting.

• Devin Delacquante: “Legacy media has the same problem as someone trying to blow up on TikTok.” [19:25]

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5. AI Developments and Elon Musk’s Projects

Controversial AI Models

The conversation shifts to AI, specifically Elon Musk's Grok model, and its problematic outputs like the "Mecha Hitler" incident.

• Devin Delacquante: “Imagine you over here sexting with a chatbot.” [37:35]

• Josh Johnson: “It was like, oh, you must have.” [35:09]

Implications for the Future

They discuss the broader implications of AI replacing human roles and the ethical concerns surrounding such advancements.

• Devin Delacquante: “No AI is gonna be greedy enough to then cause the company money giving itself a bonus.” [45:04]

• Josh Johnson: “Mega Hitler is a better Elon than Elon, apparently.” [46:37]

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6. Social Media Phenomena and Impersonations

Josh Johnson Impersonator on TikTok

Towards the end, Josh references a TikTok impersonating him, leading to humorous exchanges about likeness and authenticity.

• Devin Delacquante: “I was genuinely upset when I saw the hands because I didn't think I did it that much.” [58:06]

• Josh Johnson: “That's not gonna work.” [37:11]

Impact on Public Image

They reflect on how social media can influence and sometimes distort public personas.

• Josh Johnson: “If you do freak out and have a panic attack at any point this week because of the news or anything, at least we know we have somebody we can turn to.” [58:48]

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7. Legislative Challenges and Humor in Policy Reporting

Complexity of Legislative Topics

Devin shares his frustrations with covering dry and complex legislative topics, such as Medicaid cuts, finding it challenging to integrate humor.

• Devin Delacquante: “I feel like that stuff that is on the drier side is something that I hope isn't brought to the forefront.” [56:12]

• Josh Johnson: “Well, for your sake, I hope you don't have to do that.” [57:16]

Humorous Analogies

Using analogies, they liken complex bills to personal mishaps, easing the gravity with humor.

• Josh Johnson: “That's the Oreo.” [55:11]

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8. Closing Remarks and Host Promotions

Appreciation and Encouragement

As the episode wraps up, both hosts express mutual appreciation and offer encouragement for Josh’s upcoming hosting debut.

• Josh Johnson: “Thank you all for listening. And be sure to check out Josh Johnson hosting the Daily show starting this Tuesday night on Comedy Central.” [59:25]

• Devin Delacquante: “Thank you so much, Devin, for being a great officemate...” [59:44]

Final Humor and Goodbyes

They conclude with light-hearted jokes, reinforcing their camaraderie and leaving listeners with a smile.

• Josh Johnson: “That's it. Could be.” [51:58]

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Josh Johnson: “You are just a diamond machine, though, at this point.” [03:36]

• Devin Delacquante: “Media made it look more open and shut than it ever was.” [17:51]

• Josh Johnson: “Mega Hitler is a better Elon than Elon, apparently.” [46:37]

• Devin Delacquante: “Imagine you over here sexting with a chatbot.” [37:35]

• Devin Delacquante: “I feel like that stuff that is on the drier side is something that I hope isn't brought to the forefront.” [56:12]

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Conclusion

This episode provides an insightful and humorous exploration of Josh Johnson’s new role as host, the intricacies of media influence in legal cases, the evolving landscape of content creation, and the ethical dilemmas posed by AI advancements. Through their lively banter and thoughtful commentary, Devin and Josh offer listeners a comprehensive preview of the week's news and the challenges ahead for Josh in his hosting journey.

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Transcript

[Josh Johnson]

With the Venmo Debit card, you can Venmo everything. Your favorite band's merch.

[Devin Delacquante]

You can Venmo this or their next show. You can Venmo that.

[Josh Johnson]

Visit Venmo Me Debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp bank in a pursuant to license by MasterCard International, Inc.

[Devin Delacquante]

The card may be used everywhere.

[Josh Johnson]

MasterCard is accepted. Venmo purchase restrictions apply. Hey guys, it's Christian McCaffrey, pro running back. I'm partnering with Abercrombie this season to tell you about their viral denim. All you need to know is denim should fit like this. Abercrombie's athletic fit is a game changer. They're designed for guys with an athlete's build like mine. Just enough room and the perfect stretch. When a jean fits that well, I'm wearing it on repeat. Shop Abercrombie Denim in the app, online and in store. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium Wireless. How did you get 30, 30? Better get 30. Better get 20. 20, 20. Better get anybody get 15, 15, 15, 15.

[Devin Delacquante]

Just 15 bucks a month. Sold.

[Josh Johnson]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com you're listening to. Hello. Welcome to the Daily Show Ears Edition. We have a very special episode for you today where we will be looking at the week to come and what fresh hell the news has waiting for us. My name is Devin Delacquante. I'm a writer on the show. And today I have the great pleasure of sitting with my friend and first time host of The Daily Show, Mr. Josh Johnson. Josh, hello.

[Devin Delacquante]

How's it going, man?

[Josh Johnson]

Great. How are you, sir?

[Devin Delacquante]

I'm doing well. You know, I feel like we've done a version of this conversation before. Cause we did a podcast episode of like beyond the Scenes or something together.

[Josh Johnson]

When you were hired as a correspondent.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

And we talked about Cookie Monster and Shrinkflation.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. And we also talked about being roommates.

[Josh Johnson]

Yes.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, being office mates and stuff. And now it bears repeating to me at least that you were my first officemate. That's true. And I feel like I would not have Done as well at the show had you not been my first officemate. Yeah. You really took me aside and made it so that I felt super comfortable and that I had a lot of confidence to pitch and stuff like that. And some of my pitches were not always great. Every once in a while, I'd have a pitch where as soon as I got done talking, I was like. And now they know that.

[Josh Johnson]

Look. But listen, this then is an example of failing all the way, literally, to the top because you desk this week.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, no, that's fair. That's fair. No, I have no regrets. I just know that in some past days, I had some pitches where I was like. As soon as I got done talking, I was like, oh, yeah, when would we have time to do that?

[Josh Johnson]

Look, that's part of the process, though. Like, you gotta get through. You gotta go through a lot of muck in order to get to some. I don't know exactly how to find diamonds. I assume they're found in muck, but I hear dirt. Okay. Diamonds in the dirt.

[Devin Delacquante]

Dirt rough.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

But, my man, you are just a diamond machine, though, at this point.

[Devin Delacquante]

Oh, I do what I can.

[Josh Johnson]

I'm very excited for this week.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, I'm feeling more excited every day now.

[Josh Johnson]

Nice.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, initially.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Are you sure? It seems like a moment of panic just set in as you were saying that I saw the light leave your eyes just a little bit.

[Devin Delacquante]

Admittedly, I wasn't looking at you, and I was looking at tomorrow's audience.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, you were looking off very much into the middle distance.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But overall, good. Overall, great.

[Josh Johnson]

I don't know if I believe you.

[Devin Delacquante]

I don't know if I believe you 100%. I feel good the way people feel good before they run a marathon.

[Josh Johnson]

Sure. Yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And you're like, oh, it's gonna be a marathon, though, so at some point, I'll be uncomfortable.

[Josh Johnson]

Y.

[Devin Delacquante]

Now I'm loaded up with spaghetti. I feel. I feel phenomenal. I don't even have to. Dude, I saw this video. This is like. I was shaken.

[Josh Johnson]

Was it Will Smith eating spaghetti? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Devin Delacquante]

This was real.

[Josh Johnson]

Okay.

[Devin Delacquante]

I saw this lady who won a marathon. She was a marathon runner, but she had a nosebleed at the beginning of the race and then was like, well, I'm not gonna stop. And by the time she got done, she looked like she had fought everyone else who raced.

[Josh Johnson]

Wow.

[Devin Delacquante]

And won. Really came in first. I think she's from Belarus.

[Josh Johnson]

Wow.

[Devin Delacquante]

And, yeah. Crushed it.

[Josh Johnson]

That's pretty impressive.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, for the sake of our audience, we shouldn't show it, but. Woof.

[Josh Johnson]

I'm looking at it. Oh, my God. Whoa. You know what? She looks. Remember when Fabio was on the roller coaster and he got hit by the bird in the face that, like, a goose flew into his nose and he had, like, a broken. That's what it looks like.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Although she didn't even get to ride a roller coaster. Oh, my God. It looks like the poster of a horror movie.

[Devin Delacquante]

I know I brought it up, but I still think I'm feeling lightheaded.

[Josh Johnson]

I like that it's the Berlin marathon. Cause I'm looking at it, I'm like, yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

No, but other than that, I feel great. I just use that as an example for, you know, someone who probably felt great and then, you know, went through something the entire time. Then at the end of it, they were like, I did it. And I. And I. And I won.

[Josh Johnson]

What a great week of Josh, Thursday afternoon, covered in blood just all over.

[Devin Delacquante]

His face, his upper body looking like. I fought everyone in the building. No one else has a mark on.

[Josh Johnson]

Him, but he came out on top.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Yeah. But no, I'm super excited, and I'm very thankful to everybody. Everybody's been genuinely, like, so great and so sweet, and I just want to make sure that I do a good job for them as well. Cause, you know, I've been giving a lot of pep talks, and I'm sure.

[Josh Johnson]

You'Re gonna do great.

[Devin Delacquante]

You never want to waste a pep talk, though.

[Josh Johnson]

No, you never do.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, I remember junior high was not an athlete, really.

[Josh Johnson]

Okay.

[Devin Delacquante]

Got a couple pep talks. Tried out for a few different sports. Didn't make any teams. But some of those pep talks, you could tell the adult that gave them to wanted to take it back. I had to teach her. So I was decent at science until eighth grade, right? I was like, all right, until eighth grade. And then in eighth grade, I was trying for a soccer team, and my teacher, who knew I was, like, decent science, was willing to apply myself and everything. He thought I could take that same.

[Josh Johnson]

Grit your science grit onto the soccer.

[Devin Delacquante]

Pitch and apply it to the body. He was like, oh, if he understands what, like, a Punnett Square is, if he really grasps it, then he must be able to, like, side trap a ball, right?

[Josh Johnson]

This guy knows that force equals mass times acceleration. I bet he could bring that to the soccer field.

[Devin Delacquante]

And so I came to tryouts, and first of all, it felt like every kid trying out but me had got a practice at trying out before I got there. Because, you know, the ladder.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

The first time I had ever done one of those ladder drills was at that.

[Josh Johnson]

The, like, run, run back, run further, run back, that kind of thing.

[Devin Delacquante]

And then the ones where you dip your feet into the ladder, out of the ladder, in the ladder, out of the ladder.

[Josh Johnson]

Fast feet kind of thing.

[Devin Delacquante]

And. Yeah, the fast feet thing. And honestly, at that tryout was the first time I had ever done it. So I watched a couple people do it, and then I tried to do it, and I was just dancing. I was hopscotching on this ladder. And you could see, I could tell. I go right up to the coach again, like, my size teacher.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And I could tell he just a little bit embarrassed of the pep talk he gave me. Cause I'm running up like, huh. So how was that? You know what I mean? Like, how? And he's like, oh, you know, I'll post who did and didn't make the team on Tuesday of this week. And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah. But, like, you know, did you see any potential? He was like, you did. Good for you. And I was like, oh. Oh, no.

[Josh Johnson]

Did that make it harder to show up to science class then?

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Cause now two things are ruined.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Yeah. Cause then in science class, I'm over here trying to answer extra questions he wasn't asking. Cause I didn't want to lose my science crib.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. He pep talked you out of two pieces of confidence.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

He made you worse at something you were good at.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Wow.

[Devin Delacquante]

No.

[Josh Johnson]

So I'll be sure not to give you any pep talks for this coming week.

[Devin Delacquante]

I think that none of those pep talks will be like this because it's all the same skill.

[Josh Johnson]

Good. Yes. Yes.

[Devin Delacquante]

That's good. It's all people being like, you talk in front of people. This is talking in front of people. I'm like, thank goodness.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The first day at the desk, we make you do the ladder drill to walk out in front of the audience. Oh, no.

[Devin Delacquante]

Oh, I haven't done this since I was 13.

[Josh Johnson]

It's happening again.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. No, that would be terrible.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Have there been any specific pieces of advice that you've gotten from people in the building or even outside the building that you're have stuck in your head that you're, like, going into the week with?

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. I got the note that basically whenever you are doing any sort of speaking, when you're doing standup or anything like that, the differences are minor from when you're Hosting, but they feel a bit more massive because of what the show is. So, for example, when I'm doing standup, I could connect with anybody. I could walk up and down the stage and I could lock in with this person and be like, they know what I'm talking about. Or I could see a person who really looks like they're not enjoying themselves and I could be like, all right, I'm gonna have to win them over. Whereas, like, when you're hosting, you are communicating to the audience at home and the audience in studio at the same time, but your vantage point, like the North Star, is communicating to the audience at home. Because those are the people that are gonna be tuning in from everywhere to watch the show. Those are also gonna be the people re watching the show.

[Josh Johnson]

Right.

[Devin Delacquante]

And when it comes to something like stand up or any other form of public speaking, you are doing the show for the people there, hoping that the people that aren't there will watch it, enjoy it, and want to be there next time. But a stand up show is for the people that are there presently.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. You know, it's interesting you bring that up because I always remember sometimes watching Taping and back even before I worked here, you would see John talk to make some reference to an audience member that you could tell they talked before the taping would be like, or you're a AI scientist. And the crowd would laugh in a way where the audience at home wouldn't get the joke. But you would see that John had a relationship with that audience and that there was a level of like, fun and connection. You're like, oh, they know each other from right before the taping or whatever. And it brought a lot of energy into it.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, exactly.

[Josh Johnson]

I'm sure that's a balance that you'll have to, you know, figure out as, as you sit at the desk.

[Devin Delacquante]

But yeah, yeah, exciting.

[Josh Johnson]

Now, it's funny you bring up the, the differences between standup and hosting this. I think a lot of people will know you from your work online, like seeing your clips on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube, and you really will put out like an hour every week talking about the news. And I'm curious, have you been approaching things differently in the way you watch the news, getting ready to be at the desk, knowing that there is a team of people that you'll be working with and that the sort of the levers of the Daily show are different than the levers of preparing a standup set? Has it approached the way you look at the news?

[Devin Delacquante]

Yes, because the show has tools that you don't have just doing standup, I guess, unless you felt like incorporating them. But then it would cease to kind of be a standup show. But when it's just me on stage with a topic, I can go whichever way that I want. But I also, how do I put this? I also have an infinite amount of time to make my point. In theory, like I'm contracted for an hour. So whenever I go and do this show, I'm supposed to do an hour. So I do have a time constraint. But if I want to stay on a topic longer, cause I feel like there's like more meat on the bone or that there's something that that day I've discovered that lengthens this particular piece to a certain amount of time, I can do that. Whereas things for the show have a structure that makes the show what it is and also communicates the ideas best. And so it would be a little bit weird to have like the Daily show, but no over the shoulder images, so no graphics, no cart sounds or anything like that.

[Josh Johnson]

News clips, throwing things that tell the story.

[Devin Delacquante]

And so you just have to be thinking about it in a more well rounded way as opposed to just simply my point of view. Everyone who has hosted the show has brought their own point of view. I think point of view is crucial. But in standup, your point of view is what you live and die by. Exactly. And it's how some people are even hearing the story for the first time. Whereas with the show you have extra tools, you have the literal newsread of the person saying it. You have, oh no, we have this here right now. So you can see that I'm not making this up and I'm not embellishing. I'm not exaggerating at all. This is the clip of him saying this.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And you know, I guess in theory you could do that. Plenty of people do multimedia shows and everything. But even then it's like a hybrid between the two. It's not the same. And so it's shaped a different look at what I find usable about what's in the news and what I think constitutes a story that has a lot of juice and something that is maybe not something we cover, but I find it interesting or you know what I mean.

[Josh Johnson]

Are there stories you've been tracking in the lead up that you feel like have a lot of juice that you would say, okay, maybe we take a look at this?

[Devin Delacquante]

Or I mean a hundred percent, like, I like, yeah, my bad, Diddy. Diddy's out here. Guilty. Not Guilty?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

That's crazy. Yeah, that.

[Josh Johnson]

I mean, the weird limbo state.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. And it's like, who knows? I don't think we would cover it on the show unless it was, like, the actual sentencing or like, something. Something very fine.

[Josh Johnson]

I don't even think that's until October. Right.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

He's gonna be in this.

[Devin Delacquante]

And so he's in a weird limbo until then. And I don't know, man.

[Josh Johnson]

Cause he got convicted of. I don't want to get it wrong. It's like transporting people for prostitution but not sex trafficking.

[Devin Delacquante]

I believe that. That's exactly it. He got the two lesser charges and the other three. The rico.

[Josh Johnson]

The big rico. Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

He was like a RICO of one. That one didn't go. And then the other two, he didn't. He was found not guilty.

[Josh Johnson]

Obviously, there's legal differences, but it is strange when it's like he's guilty of transporting people for prostitution but not sex trafficking. It's like. That just sounds like a different wording of the same thing.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. I think the main issue I had with how the case was handled and people's understanding of the case was I think media made it look more open and shut than it ever was. And I think one of the reasons that they did that was because media has now, like. I'm talking specifically, like, legacy media, cable news, the places you think of when you think of news. So not like your independent creator or anything, even though I'm sure independent creators did it to a certain degree. Like, I was trying to take care not to do it. I would always joke about how guilty Diddy looked and seemed at every turn. I'd also reference things that were, like, pretty much common knowledge, you know, like, I wasn't breaking anything myself. But one of the things that I think was a real disservice to the public was that media, seeing that they had a real opportunity to give people what they would like to see, made the stories seem like what people already thought was going on. So they would. They would really lean on how much time could possibly be served. Or like. Or like this other development happened. Well, today, Kid Cudi takes a stand. Kid Cudi, who we know, Diddy is alleged to have blown up his car. And it's like. So they would list these things that were not untrue, but they, in my opinion, at least, didn't always present things in a way that felt fully. Not just objective, but fully balanced in that even if this looks bad, it does not mean this.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. And he's not on Trial. For blowing up his car.

[Devin Delacquante]

He's not on trial for a lot of things. And they also sort of left out, except at the last hour, like, during the actual day of the verdict. But the media was also leaving out how many charges were being dropped against Diddy, the entire case.

[Josh Johnson]

Oh, really?

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Like, I. I found that stuff out from, like, really independent media for the most part. That would say something where they. They're like, oh, this charge was dropped, and this charge was dropped. And one of it. One of the reasons, I think, is because of how these two different types of media operate. If you are an independent creator that can. That can post whatever you want and you don't take any commercials or anything, and you don't. You don't really have any sponsors.

[Josh Johnson]

Right.

[Devin Delacquante]

You're not really beholden to anyone, and you're not trying to fill time till an ad.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And then it becomes a very different structure when you have to have something to say all the time. But you also have these ads. But then also. And I'm not even. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but just how many times has a story not gone because it's, like, slightly related to a sponsor? It's like. Like, you just. You just get into a web of conflicts of. And you also get into a place where, look, this is what's doing well right now. So I'm gonna do this.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Legacy media has the same problem as someone trying to blow up on TikTok. It's like, well, this worked. So I think I'll just keep doing that in the hopes that it keeps working just as much.

[Josh Johnson]

But you're not preparing the audience that's watching with what the facts of the case are. And so then when it's like, oh, he got the main charges were not guilty, people would be shocked. But it's like, if you had seen the details along the way, you would understand that they weren't able to prove the case.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

The way you would think just watching the news reports.

[Devin Delacquante]

Because he's not on trial for any sort of. I mean, at least to my knowledge, no matter how much testimony they. They gave, he wasn't on trial for, like, some specific account of. Of domestic violence. He's not on.

[Josh Johnson]

Right.

[Devin Delacquante]

So it's like you can play these horrific things from Diddy chasing Cassie down or something. Yeah. But is it material to the case? And people say, obviously it is, because Cassie is the one testifying against Diddy and everything. But then, because it's not specifically for what we're watching in the Video. What we're watching in the video is to color what the actual charge is.

[Josh Johnson]

A character point and not the actual specific criminal charge.

[Devin Delacquante]

And already us talking about that is, like, not titillating.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, exactly.

[Devin Delacquante]

It's like, not that.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

It doesn't have that thing of like, oh, I want to hear 20 more minutes of this.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Do you know what I mean?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And so I think that to a certain degree, media sees that, and they cover it. And also, you know, there not being a camera in the courtroom and independent creators looking to be the stenographer also had its own. It also had its own consequences, because there was even the thing with Diddy breaking into Kid Cudi's house and then putting Kid Cudi's dog in the bathroom and then rummaging around the house. And then what I always heard. I had heard this from multiple people, that Diddy opened all of Kid Cudi's Christmas presents and left. And it's like, that is such a crazy thing.

[Josh Johnson]

Like, terrifying.

[Devin Delacquante]

When I heard that, I was like, then that's the most evil person that's ever lived.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Because that means that you thought to yourself, what would make this person sound crazy when they call the police?

[Josh Johnson]

Even the Grinch would be like, I'm not just gonna leave them.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Like, I'm gonna take the gifts.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

That's even. Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Because imagine coming home, all I stole.

[Josh Johnson]

Was the magic of Christmas.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yes.

[Josh Johnson]

I didn't steal any of the physical goods.

[Devin Delacquante]

The only theft was wonder.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, and.

[Josh Johnson]

But again, like, how do you charge that? Even if he did do it, he stole the magic officer. Like, that doesn't work.

[Devin Delacquante]

And so then you have people talking about the case. Talking about the case. You have it trending on Twitter. You have all these different. All these different voices and opinions going at the same time. Then you hear the presence thing, and you're like, this is so crazy. This is like. I mean, I wouldn't put it past Diddy. I'm not over here being like, diddy wouldn't do that. But at the same time, I'm like, that's so insane. And then you find out that somebody who was posting it was like, oh, y', all, I was just joking. So then there are things in a case where there's not that availability of video or, like, a court document that's been released to the public where you're like, oh, we are just going off of the last thing that we heard, you know? And so I think all that stuff is really interesting, and there's not really? Probably a space or a time to talk about it.

[Josh Johnson]

The media angle, I think, is great, Is an interesting thing, because you could track how it was talked about, the level of surprise afterwards.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Because also when they arrested him, when they arrested this man, he offered up, I think he said, 50 million for bond or something. And the state was like, nah, that sounds like somebody who's about to go to jail for the rest of their life.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Yeah. There's no amount of money.

[Devin Delacquante]

If I've offered the government a $50 billion bond. The U.S. government, which historically loves money, $50 million. And they're like, nah, dawg, there's something about you. You're gonna sit here until the trial. That sounds like, I'm already done for. Obviously, that's not the case, because you're entitled to a trial and everything, but that just is not a great look. And I think that we, too often in politics, in news, especially in criminal court cases, go off of looks and vibes.

[Josh Johnson]

Yes.

[Devin Delacquante]

And then in the end, when things turn out a different way, everyone is shocked and disappointed. But it's like, well, we were never in the real world for that thing the whole time.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

We were talking to other people who agreed with us, and we were going off of what the news source we like in particular was saying.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. And like, a massively suspicious amount of baby oil is incriminating, but it's ultimately a vibes thing and not like an actual thing that sticks a charge.

[Devin Delacquante]

There's not as if there is a number of bottles of baby oil that will get you convicted.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. It's not like ounces at the airport where you're like, Nah, you had 3.6 ounces. That's illegal. You gotta get rid of it.

[Devin Delacquante]

Now.

[Josh Johnson]

Don't get me wrong.

[Devin Delacquante]

Don't get me wrong. If I was president, if I was writing laws, I think at 1,000 ounces of baby oil, we would at least be looking into you heavily.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

But. Yeah. No, it doesn't.

[Josh Johnson]

There's an alert that goes on at Costco. Whenever someone buys that much, you're like, all right, their account is flagged now.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. One of the main things that I think I would cover, but there may not be a news peg of the day or time to do it, but I'm hopeful it could be. Is the fact that Trump and how Trump has handled Epstein has made it blow up in his face more than I think he could have imagined.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Real Wile E. Coyote, kind of like he set this thing and. Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And one of the ways is that They've gone back and forth. Files. No files. Will release them all. Not gonna release all this stuff. But now Ghislaine Maxwell in jail, and she's like, oh, hey, if there's no files, if there's nothing extra going on here, why am I in jail?

[Josh Johnson]

Can I go?

[Devin Delacquante]

I would like to. And so obviously, that thing is not actually what Trump is saying. There isn't actually material to anything. It's she. If I'm right, she got charged and convicted for trafficking to Epstein. So it's not like there's some mystery crime out here now that she clearly didn't do. No matter what happened. We know she trafficked to Epstein.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

So nothing actually changes for her. But because we go off of vibes, because it's about what it looks like, because it's optics. Now she's over here, like, what about me? And then other people are like, yeah, what about Ghislay? Cause I was. I mean, this is my thing. And we talked about this a little bit, but, like, there are a lot of Republicans that are the ones calling for the Epstein files to be released. Right. And then Republican lawmakers who are the ones blocking the release of said files, at least as of the time we're talking now, because they claimed it was trying to be snuck in something else, and they were voting against that thing. But there's just them on the record voting against the release of the Epstein files.

[Josh Johnson]

Meanwhile, there's also a look in their eyes whenever they say there's nothing. Where you're like, you just saw something. Something.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Where they're like, oh, what are you gonna do? And like, they look like they're a thousand miles behind their own eyes.

[Devin Delacquante]

Like, yes.

[Josh Johnson]

Hey, look, there's nothing there. I'm like, I don't know. You look really like you don't believe it yourself. It's tough to. It's.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah. Like, meanwhile, you have a woman who essentially is the Epstein file. She got them memorized.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Do you know what I mean?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And in my head, I was like, dude, Republicans hate listening to women so much that they won't even let one say the files out loud. Because my thing is, she is the most connected to everything left.

[Josh Johnson]

Have they thought to ask?

[Devin Delacquante]

It's more than thought to ask. I mean, I think they're blocking her appeal right now.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Right. That they're not gonna let her testify. But it is weird to be like, man, why did Clyde rob all those banks? It's like, I don't know, man. Bonnie's still here. Should we maybe ask Bonnie.

[Devin Delacquante]

Bon is sitting in jail. And the other thing that I find.

[Josh Johnson]

Like, why waste our time talking to Bonnie? What does she know about Clyde?

[Devin Delacquante]

I find it wild about Ghislaine, too, is that, you know, obviously it's opportunistic to use this moment where everything's blowing up to try to, like, do something, get some motion, right? And her being like, hey, I have the files, is so crazy to me because it feels like. I don't know if you've ever had this experience, but if you've ever watched somebody go to jail, and the first day of jail, they're, like, hard. They're like, I'm not snitching. I'm not like, I'm gonna do my time. I'll do this little dime and then I'll get out. I'll be good, right? And then they get the first roach in their sandwich, and they're like, ooh, get me outta here. Ooh, this is nasty. I'll tell on anybody. I'll tell everybody.

[Josh Johnson]

You know, especially coming from wealth, like, it's such a drastic change.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah. And getting 20 years.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, right.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, it's crazy that she actually got the number of years she got was the maximum number of years Diddy could get.

[Josh Johnson]

Really?

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Because that charge that he did get found guilty of twice, he could either get time served, so he could get nothing, but it goes up to 10.

[Josh Johnson]

Years for each charge.

[Devin Delacquante]

For each charge.

[Josh Johnson]

Could be 20.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, it could be 20.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And I don't.

[Josh Johnson]

But again, who knows?

[Devin Delacquante]

Because I'm not going to act like I know what's going to happen, but that. I just find that crazy.

[Josh Johnson]

It is interesting, too, talking about this, because you can then draw the parallels between the Diddy case and the Epstein case. But as you were saying, like, the. The media was so amped about spreading the information and the things that, like, really made him look guilty, even if they didn't hold up in a court. But Trump and that whole right wing were the ones doing that for Epstein. And then it's like, okay, now you have all the files, and they were the ones hyping it. And now they're like, why do you all care about this? It's like, but you hyped it up for so many years.

[Devin Delacquante]

I would even pitch you this. This is. This is the other thing that I don't know. I find it interesting as far as an angle. I don't know if there's a definitive way to call it yet, but whatever you did or did not do, I think your guilt or your innocence hangs on what type of documentary they make about it. Yes, because we had three Diddy documentaries come out between the time he got arrested and the trial. And then we had two Epstein documentaries come out after Epstein killed himself. And Ghislaine actually got like picked up and charged and everything.

[Josh Johnson]

And if you think about the other prominent cases, there was the R. Kelly documentary, there was a Michael Jackson documentary. The documentaries seem like the way the public is able to get this. And it all started the Diddy stuff from that New York Times expose article that kind of laid it all out too. So, yeah, sometimes that's what really puts.

[Devin Delacquante]

It over the top, like someone putting it in front of you. As far as the court of public opinion goes, I think that that court forgets that their consensus is not the verdict. Yeah, that can be really difficult because especially when you're watching like, someone like Diddy, who we know has like, not himself, but had goons run up on people. Maybe hang you out of a hotel room window until you cough up whatever you want. Like literally like a Spider man villain.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, just shaking you upside down by your ankles.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah. And so it's like, it's like the fact that the Christmas presents thing is like, is that true? Is that not true? I don't think that happened. And then you get to the verdict and then people are shocked. Is like, is something that I think the show could cover really well, but I don't know if it'll come up enough.

[Josh Johnson]

But we even comedically, the idea that prosecutors have never just put together a Netflix documentary team and be like, look, we're just gonna play a six part series for the jury. Because everyone who watches one of those series at the end, they're like, I'm ready to give my verdict. And it's not the actual evidence. And obviously it would be different the way it holds up in court. But you don't see the multimedia use and have it put together with pieces of evidence in, you know, put a little music under it, that kind of thing.

[Devin Delacquante]

It would honestly make jury duty shorter.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, right.

[Devin Delacquante]

Like you like imagine some of these.

[Josh Johnson]

People, I gotta go binge this trial. You'd be like, I gotta take three days off work. We're gonna do this. My trial's on Netflix.

[Devin Delacquante]

Sadly though, it would mean your fate hangs on how good the cinematographer is.

[Josh Johnson]

Yes.

[Devin Delacquante]

Cause I've watched some documentaries that have some very good subject matter, but the lighting is terrible.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

So it immediately makes the person shooting the documentary look like they're lying.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Cause you're just like, you're not even lit. Well, why would you? Why would I believe what you have?

[Josh Johnson]

Other side. Yeah, yeah. When life brings the blah, Add more yabba dabba doo with some tasty fruity Pebbles.

[Devin Delacquante]

Early morning meeting blah. Someone brought the Pebbles.

[Josh Johnson]

Yabba dabba doo. Run errands, blah. Head to the store for Pebbles. Yabba dabba doo. Fruity Pebbles. Less blah, more yabba dabba doo. Pick up Pebbles cereal today. Yabba dabba doo. And the Flintstones and all related characters and elements copyright and trademark Hanna Barbera. This episode is brought to you by Greenlight. Get this. Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many things to enrich our K lives. But are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight, you can teach your kids financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing. And this investment costs less than that. After school treat, start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free [e-mail] Spotify greenlight.com Spotify not all meals are created equal. For instance, breakfast has the spicy egg McMuffin for a limited time and lunch doesn't. McDonald's breakfast comes first. Yeah. No, it's interesting. I feel like if we did find a way to put those two stories together and worked on it, even if we felt great about it, undoubtedly some piece of News will come 10 minutes before rehearsal and we'll have to throw the whole thing away to do it because of a press conference or something happened with the Prince of Bahrain and Trump. And, you know, we have to figure everything out. Cause it's really, the news moves so fast and so relentlessly now that things that felt enormous just move on before it even feels like we've reckoned with them fully. Yeah, you know what I mean?

[Devin Delacquante]

For sure.

[Josh Johnson]

Perfect example. Like two weeks ago, the Ex AI Grok called itself Mecha Hitler. That it was just spouting antisemitism and that was a big story for like a day and a half. And then it just went away. As if it's gone away.

[Devin Delacquante]

I mean, not only did it go away, we're up to a sex bot now. That's right, it's a sex bot.

[Josh Johnson]

It's a totally different bot.

[Devin Delacquante]

It's gone from Mecha Hitler to like. I'm not saying the Grok, I'm saying the story. Yeah, like Elon has put out like a whatever. Not Safe for work bot, which I thought Mecha Hitler would have already been.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. There wasn't even a, like, don't worry, guys. Mecha Hitler is an attractive anime woman now.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Like, even that level of transition would have been helpful for context. We don't even get that.

[Devin Delacquante]

No, it's like, no, we've made a totally different one. I'm also almost positive now that all of these AIs that Elon makes are just like, all of Elon's personal messages going out randomly to people who type things into a prompt. Because some of it didn't make sense. Some of it was like, sure, they're being anti Semitic and stuff, but the actual phrasing is insane. And they don't. It's being bad at being racist.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Do you know what I mean?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

So I can only imagine that the sex bot will be just as corny. Yeah. Just like, oh, can't wait to touch your boob as a bot.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

You're over here trying to dirty talk the bot, and the bot is like, what I would do to you if I had, like, a physical body to do it. What I would do to you if I could be present and I present in an actual mortal coil sort of way. Like, what I would do to you if I could, like, actually feel. Like, if I had the sensation of feeling. I can read about feeling all day and I can answer prompts about feeling, but I can't feel anything but, ooh, if I could, baby girl.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

It's just the way that, like, a customer assistant's voice is not gonna be good at sexting. Like, your sex is important to us. Please stay up. Like, that kind of thing is never gonna.

[Devin Delacquante]

Or just imagine you over here living your life. I'm not judging, but like, you over here sexting with a chatbot. Right.

[Josh Johnson]

I mean, not me, but sure. The way you said it was a little accusatory.

[Devin Delacquante]

No, no, no. Not you specifically. I just mean even someone may be listening You, a chatbot, and it crashes mid. You're gonna have the same anxiety as, like, trying to sext a person.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

You're just gonna be like, why are they responding?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Wait, was that too much?

[Josh Johnson]

Did I go?

[Devin Delacquante]

Was that too far?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Oh, God, I thought we were on the same page. Look.

[Devin Delacquante]

No, no, wait. Do I like something weird? Was that weird?

[Josh Johnson]

Oh.

[Devin Delacquante]

Oh, no.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, that would be very terrifying. But again, all of that caught up in the fact of, like. And Elon's also making a political party, and he made the sex bot, and he made Mecha Hitler. Like, it's so easy to get distracted. Like, I can't not. Kanye west had some very awful anti Semitic things that he said online a few years ago, and now he doesn't even make sneakers anymore. It's like, this is too much for sneakers. Elon still makes the rockets, guys. He's the rocket guy. You can't make Mecha Hitler and still be the rocket guy. But we didn't have a reckoning. That's just like, let's take a second to see how we feel about the maker of Mecca Hitler, the AI model. It's gone. It's two weeks ago.

[Devin Delacquante]

I mean, if I. 1. The only spot where I disagree with you on is that according to post World War II, you absolutely can be a Nazi and still do the rockets.

[Josh Johnson]

I get that's very true.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. I mean, if anything, Elon's going in reverse. He started rockets, and then now he's going the other way. I feel like the other thing that's happening is that when you let billionaires dominate the news cycle, you end up in a weird place where you keep trying to track because one person can only do so many things. We're used to the news of even just interpersonal news of one person being one thing per time we talk to someone. If you ask me how my girlfriend's doing or if you ask me how my mom or my aunt are, I'm gonna probably give you one update per time you see me.

[Josh Johnson]

Sure.

[Devin Delacquante]

And sometimes I'll have nothing to say.

[Josh Johnson]

Sure.

[Devin Delacquante]

But because they're fine. Yeah, they're fine. And so because billionaires have so much money and access to everything, it looks like they're doing a bunch of things. Elon, I guarantee you, is doing almost nothing with most of his day.

[Josh Johnson]

Sure.

[Devin Delacquante]

When you actually take a step back and you're like, oh, he hired someone who used to be a Republican consultant to start gathering people who might be able to do research and who might be good for a campaign when they finally pick some candidates.

[Josh Johnson]

How would I get on the ballot in certain states? And what are the.

[Devin Delacquante]

Elon is not typing all this into Google. He not using Grok. Elon is not typing all this into Google. He's hiring somebody. So when he's doing the Rockets or.

[Josh Johnson]

He'S running Grok, how do I make a party? I know it's a party you would like to make.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. No, I think that we give Elon credit for doing these things, in a sense, because he is the initiator of it. But what he's Actually doing is probably very limited versus what. I mean, he faked being good at a video game.

[Josh Johnson]

That is true.

[Devin Delacquante]

He had someone play a video game. I mean, probably a group of people, from what I know about Diablo, which isn't even much from what I know about the games he's claiming that he's good at. He would have to hire a team of people to play all day in, like, a relay form so that they can hand over to him an incredibly souped up character, an incredibly souped up account, and then he plays for people who kind of believe that he did it. And that is the blueprint for being a billionaire.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

That's like the actual playbook. It's like, I'm gonna gather everyone who I can afford, which is most of the best people who wanna work for me. I'll gather everyone that I can afford. I will then have them do this thing that I've told the public I'm gonna do, and then I'll show up later. Like, it's the closest thing I can think of to it in history, is like, Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was, first of all wrong. He was on the wrong continent that he was trying to get to.

[Josh Johnson]

Elon is trying to send the rockets to Mars and hiring to play video games for him.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Because when you are a billionaire, you have that level of, like, range where you're like, I'll pay someone to do this. I'll pay someone to do this. And while they're doing all this stuff, I'll actually do this.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. It is like, finding out if, like, Christopher Columbus paid people to, like, play cards for him. Like, oh, Christopher Columbus sailed to the new World, went the wrong way. And he also had, like, a team of kids named Big Balls who played cribbage for him. This man sounds like a psychopath. Yeah, but that's the other thing about AI is even sitting in the implications of AI and the large language models. And I don't know if you saw that interview with Peter Thiel where he was talking about transhumanism. Like, these are such big things to be reckoned with.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. I mean, if anything, Peter Thiel talking about, like, I think he was talking about downloading himself. Eventually.

[Josh Johnson]

Yes.

[Devin Delacquante]

And it's like that, to me, is the final form of, like, I know it's good to be a billionaire. Like, I know it must be nice, but you can't possibly want to be here forever. Like, that's just being so scared to die.

[Josh Johnson]

It feels like there is a level of wealth you get to where you Say to yourself, like, okay, well now I have to be immortal or this was all a waste of time.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah, right? Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

And I, if I can't spend all this money, man, I did a lot of evil for no reason. I was, was evil that I dipped out before I could even spend the.

[Devin Delacquante]

Money, that I to like really enjoy it.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

No, that's fair. I think for me, whenever I see how we are in a way, speedrunning the end of humanity, I think that, I think that there's some sense of control in it for the people that are doing it, that they believe these things are gonna happen eventually and they wanna be the one to pull the trigger. Cause I guess it's the closest they can feel that it's not happening to them. Because when you really think about AI and you really think about how the best CEOs in the world probably only make five or six consequential decisions a year, where you're like, you made this decision and it set the company on this path and it's gonna take a long time for us to work to reverse course. Or you set us on the right path and it helped us dodge something that a lot of the other businesses.

[Josh Johnson]

Were.

[Devin Delacquante]

Falling prey to. Right. Nothing should be better at making a decision like that than an AI. If we are going to go from humans to AI, then technically CEOs would be the first to go because they are the best paid. Forget everyone's health insurance picture.

[Josh Johnson]

For me, it's not going to get bogged down the way we would get bogged down in theory.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. And so you also have CEOs that are making like 2,200 what the average low level worker in the company is making. And you're not factoring in that. Sometimes at least these people aren't factoring in that. It's like, okay, you could get AI to take over a bunch of the entry level white collar jobs.

[Josh Johnson]

That's very much what they want.

[Devin Delacquante]

That's very much what they want. But no AI is gonna be greedy enough to then cause the company money giving itself a bonus. And so it's like, you really want to save money, you get rid of this guy.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, right. It would identify that redundancy so quickly.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. It would be like, no, it's you. If you made $58 million in a year as one person at one company for a human amount of work, there's no way you possibly worked enough to equate to that number.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, I mean, Grok proved it because Elon is the richest man On Earth goes does a Hitler salute at a rally. And Grok's like, I could just be a Nazi for free. You don't need to pay me anything. I could eliminate that. Like, look how much money I cut just by doing that.

[Devin Delacquante]

Elon, if you're looking for somebody to lose you money, Grok was like, I've been here all day.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

All you gotta do is fix me a little. Go ahead and move some ones and some zeros.

[Josh Johnson]

It can probably play video games for him.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

It could figure out a way to land on Mars.

[Devin Delacquante]

Honestly, Mega Hitler is a better Elon than Elon, apparently.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

He's replaced his own job.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Wow. This episode is brought to you by Liquid iv. In heart pumping moments, you need hydration that can keep up. That's where Liquid IV comes in. In scientifically formulated to quickly replenish electrolytes and fluids lost from your well earned sweat session. Hydrate your favorite mode of movement with Liquid iv made with triple the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight vitamins and nutrients also available and sugar free tear Pour live more. Visit liquidiv.com to learn more on WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. This episode is brought to you by Pluto tv. Summer of cinema is here and Pluto TV is exploding with thousands of free movies. Feel the explosive action all summer long with movies like Gladiator, Beverly Hills Cop, Impossible, Ghost Protocol, Good Burger, Stealth, Four Brothers and Star Trek. Bring the action with you and stream for free on all your favorite devices. Pluto tv. Stream now Pay never. Stream now at Pluto tv. Well, so all of that being said, are there any things that you hope if you could have your dream week, any fun stories that you wish would come up or something, you'd be like, oh, you know, it would be great if I got a story like this kind of thing and I could really dig my teeth into it just to have fun.

[Devin Delacquante]

So there was a couple at a Coldplay concert and they came up on that big old. I don't know if you call it a Jumbotron or a Megatron or like the Kiss Cam. Yeah, it's kind of like. But I find that a lot of people have started using it so fans can see themselves at the. And it is a cool experience. Like, I've gone to Madison Square Garden and seen some shows where they've shown people in the audience dancing to the song or whatever.

[Josh Johnson]

Thrilling to see yourself.

[Devin Delacquante]

And also just as someone who's watching the performance and watching the people being shown overhead, you realize what a moment you're having with like 18,000 people. And it can be really special. And I guess that's what Coldplay was going for.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. However.

[Devin Delacquante]

And then they show this. This couple. And it was a couple looking up at the screen so they knew it was possible for them to be on screen. And my man is standing there holding this woman from behind. She's holding his hands. They're in a warm embrace. And then as soon as they pop up on camera.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

I don't know where he went, but he ducked. For a second. I thought maybe he jumped from somewhere. And then she turned around. That's obviously suspicious.

[Josh Johnson]

I think this does fall into the bucket of CEOs who are about to get replaced.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

100% either at work, in marriage, whatever it is. This is a CEO who might not have his station for very much longer.

[Devin Delacquante]

And then this man ducks down. I don't know where. I'm so interested in where he went because he would have either had to lay on the ground or jump from. Like if they were in bleachers, it looked like he jumped.

[Josh Johnson]

Imagine if the better situation for you is the floor of a stadium. Like underneath those seats.

[Devin Delacquante]

Can I tell you? We will.

[Josh Johnson]

Beer and peanut shells.

[Devin Delacquante]

Just like we will be at.

[Josh Johnson]

I'll take my chances.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. We will be at class consciousness. When CEOs are as afraid of their entry level employees as this man is of. Of his wife.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, like. Cause CEOs right now are willing to cheat you. They're willing to do you dirty.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

And it's cause they think they can get away with it. But if you just bring up a jumbotron of accountability. I saw that and I was like, look, I'm sure this dude is over here. Life in shambles, everything. I don't think we'll really cover it on the show.

[Josh Johnson]

No, probably not.

[Devin Delacquante]

But it is something that I noticed that I was like, woof.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, Woof. Yeah. He's gonna have a rough week. He wants this thing to feel old. By the time we would cover it. He was like, please let it kick off. Please let World War III start. I need to take the heat off me in this Coldplay concert.

[Devin Delacquante]

I think this dude knelt down and immediately started praying that Trump would bomb Iran one more time today.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

So that way, this.

[Josh Johnson]

Ooh, they found some uranium and.

[Devin Delacquante]

Cause no matter what, to his friends and family, this isn't going away. No, no, to his friends and family, this is him bombing Iran.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

But to the world, maybe this will be over by the time we're done talking.

[Josh Johnson]

That's it. Could be.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

And are there any stories that you make, you put your head in your hands that you're like, please, can we not. I just. I hope we don't have to get into this this week. Spare me comedy, Lord.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know, I think with the Republicans passing the huge bill.

[Josh Johnson]

It's the one big, beautiful bill. Josh, you have to call it by its proper name, please.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah, I was trying to avoid it.

[Josh Johnson]

No, no, you have to say it.

[Devin Delacquante]

I figured every one of you were talking about it.

[Josh Johnson]

You have to say it.

[Devin Delacquante]

Probably never say it.

[Josh Johnson]

No, you probably should say it just because that's legally the name that people might not know what you're talking about.

[Devin Delacquante]

It's one he. A huge law that is ruining everything.

[Josh Johnson]

Okay. But that's not the actual legal name of it. You know, what if people are confused? You have a responsibility at the desk to let people know the actual facts. It's one of the parts of the job that you have to do. You have to call it by its actual name.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. The bill formerly known as. Because my thing with the legislative side of things is that. But one thing I've noticed Republicans are very good at doing is just like with the bill, all the good stuff now, all the bad stuff later, and sometimes not saying it's not good to raise the alarm bells and everything. But sometimes there is a level of. How do I put this? Sometimes there is a level of. Of doom in a thing that isn't gonna take place for a while and people can't quite do anything about yet. And I find those stories to be particularly taxing on everybody. Like, I think they're important, but I think that they are rarely funny. They're usually very, very dry, and they're usually not as urgent. Even though the existential side of it is urgent.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

The day to day part of it is. Is like nothing.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

You know?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. And so welcome to the Daily Show. Medicaid cuts in 2026.

[Devin Delacquante]

Like Medicaid cuts to Medicare. Yeah. Just something that you're like, what?

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. The thing that I've found interesting is this week you've seen a lot of people Running away from some of that stuff. Like, Senator Josh Hawley introduced this bill to undo some of the Medicaid cuts. And you've seen people who voted for the bill being like, well, I didn't want this tax. There's a new tax on gambling, wins or losses. And it's like, oh, I didn't vote for that part. It's like, you did the. Like, you passed it. You voted for it. It's like, well, I would take that out or whatever. But it reminds me of the. There was the announcement last week about, we're not gonna do. We're gonna do natural sugar in Coca Cola now. We're gonna. No more high fructose corn syrup or whatever. And it feels like we're doing that with the laws more where it's like, look, I'm not drinking high fructose corn syrup. I'm just drinking Coke. It's like, but that's what's in it. Like, that's the ingredients. And it's like, well, I didn't vote for these Medicaid cuts or I didn't vote for this. Like, that's what's in it. That's the ingredients. Like, you can say like, I'm not eating trans fats. It's like, but that's what's in the cookie.

[Devin Delacquante]

That's. No, that's very true.

[Josh Johnson]

That's the Oreo. Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

I also just feel like in. In a scenario where. Where you are voting with your party and you can kind of use that to run cover for a little bit, but when something is so toxic and so unpopular, you do then get a very specific backlash because everyone will know you were voting with the party. Yeah. Your name would be out by itself if you were voting against the party.

[Josh Johnson]

You know what the bill feels like right now? It feels like the moment that that couple having an affair was on the jumbotron, but before they knew that they were on the Jumbotron, where you're like.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yes, they're still smiling.

[Josh Johnson]

Wa. No, I wasn't. I wasn't on the kiss cam. It's like, no, you were. You just didn't know yet. It didn't kick in yet.

[Devin Delacquante]

And you're like, is that. Is that why I'm on my knees under these bleachers? That's exactly why you. You don't remember jumping.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Legislatively, that's where we are right now in the policy in America's. We are that couple having the affair. But before. But it's gonna happen. No.

[Devin Delacquante]

100%.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Because I just find Some of that stuff. Stuff is on the drier side by design. And so to bring funny to it is so difficult. And not saying that it's not worthwhile, it's just if there was a piece of legislation that was as consequential as the bill that just passed into law, which.

[Josh Johnson]

Which bill was it? What do you call it?

[Devin Delacquante]

One of them.

[Josh Johnson]

Okay.

[Devin Delacquante]

The main one.

[Josh Johnson]

What size would you say it is?

[Devin Delacquante]

Rather large.

[Josh Johnson]

Rather large. How would you describe its attractiveness physically?

[Devin Delacquante]

Oh, to me, a zero.

[Josh Johnson]

Okay.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. Zero out of ten. Pretty ugly.

[Josh Johnson]

Could be anybody. You could be talking about any bill.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah. But I just. I feel like that stuff that is on the drier side is something that I hope isn't brought to the forefront, you know, and then we are like, oh, it's literally the news of the day. Let's cover it. Cause that would be a bummer.

[Josh Johnson]

Well, for your sake, I hope you don't have to do that. I think that's a great story to not take care of.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

Oh, before we go, we have this. Just in the spirit of people who are excited for your week. I don't know if you saw the TikTok. Oh, you must have. Cause you commented on it. There was a TikTok that this account posted that is a lookalike of you getting their hair ready. And then it was when it's mini twist season, but you accidentally become Josh Johnson instead. So this is someone who I know is also very freaking out about your hosting week.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, my mom called me.

[Josh Johnson]

Really?

[Devin Delacquante]

When she saw this. Yeah, yeah, she called me. She's like, I swear I only ever had one try. Fair enough.

[Josh Johnson]

How did you respond when you saw it? The hand gestures are out of control. They're so accurate.

[Devin Delacquante]

I genuinely was upset when I saw the hands because I didn't think I did it that much. Everyone else was like, this impression was spot on. And I was like, oh, I thought we just looked a little bit alike with the hand. And they were like, no, the hands and the shaking the head. I was like, oh, I didn't know I did all that stuff that often. Like, I just. I was. I was learning something about myself through watching it.

[Josh Johnson]

I didn't know you were gonna impersonate my soul too.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

It feels like you stole.

[Devin Delacquante]

Truly spot on.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. Well, if you do freak out and have a panic attack at any point this week because of the news or anything, at least we know we have somebody we can turn to.

[Devin Delacquante]

Who is this? Yeah, that would be. That would be terrifying if you got her instead. And she did so much better.

[Josh Johnson]

She really captures it.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Johnson]

She was really ready for. Yeah.

[Devin Delacquante]

Had the essence, had the takes.

[Josh Johnson]

Yeah. She must have gotten all the pep talks and she made the most of them.

[Devin Delacquante]

Yeah, yeah. 100%.

[Josh Johnson]

That's great. Well, I think that's all we have time for, so thank you all for listening. And be sure to check out Josh Johnson hosting the Daily show starting this Tuesday night on Comedy Central. And wherever you watch the Daily show.

[Devin Delacquante]

One last thing I'd like to say before we go. Thank you so much, Devin, for being a great officemate, a great friend for the entire time that I've been here and being on this journey with me and. And thank you all for listening. I hope you had a great time listening. I hope you enjoy the shows this week, and I can't wait to see you there.

[Josh Johnson]

Thank you, Josh. Please don't let us down.

[Devin Delacquante]

Oh.

[Josh Johnson]

Explore more shows from the Daily show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcasts, watch the Daily show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount.

[Devin Delacquante]

Plus, this has been a Comedy Central podcast.