Trump's "Liberation Day" Tariffs & Booker's Speech Breaks Senate Record | Melissa Arnot Reid

Summary

Summary of The Daily Show: Ears Edition Episode – "Trump's 'Liberation Day' Tariffs & Booker's Speech Breaks Senate Record | Melissa Arnot Reid"

Release Date: April 3, 2025

In this engaging episode of The Daily Show: Ears Edition, host Michael Costa and The Daily Show News Team delve into significant political events, satirical analyses, and feature an inspiring interview with mountaineer Melissa Arnot Reed. This summary captures the key discussions, insights, and humorous critiques presented throughout the episode.

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1. Cory Booker's Record-Breaking Senate Speech

The episode opens with a spotlight on Democratic Senator Cory Booker's historic achievement in the Senate. Booker delivered the longest speech in Senate history, surpassing Strom Thurmond's 1957 record by speaking for 25 hours and five minutes (02:11). His speech aimed to protest what he described as a crisis wrought by the Trump administration's policies.

Notable Quotes:

• Cory Booker (02:22): "I don't know how to solve this. I don't know how to stop us from going down this road. But I know who does have the power. The people of the United States of America."

Michael Costa humorously critiques the media’s focus on the physical endurance of Booker's speech rather than its substantive content, questioning whether Booker had any bathroom breaks during his marathon address.

• Michael Costa (03:35): "Does he get any bathroom breaks?"
• Cory Booker (04:13): "My strategy was to stop eating. I think I stopped eating on Friday and then to stop drinking the night before I started on Monday."

The discussion underscores the dedication of Booker to his cause while poking fun at the physical demands of his record-setting speech.

2. Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" Tariffs

Transitioning to economic policies, the episode tackles President Donald Trump's announcement of "Liberation Day," marking the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on approximately 10% of all goods entering the United States (05:03). Costa sarcastically interprets this move as Trump’s attempt to rejuvenate American industry.

Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump (05:37): "Coming into the United States. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn. The day America's destiny was reclaimed."

Costa likens the tariffs to a necessary yet inconvenient home remodel, suggesting that while the tariffs may strengthen the economy in the long run, they will cause short-term discomfort and economic instability.

• Cory Booker (07:28): "The economy, this is kind of like a kitchen remodel or a bath remodel."

The segment humorously addresses the anticipated inflationary effects of the tariffs, with Trump attempting to reassure the public that prices would not rise, to which Costa skeptically counters the likelihood of such outcomes.

• Donald Trump (08:10): "They're not going to have higher prices."
• Cory Booker (08:14): "Do you believe Americans can afford higher prices because of tariffs?"

3. Trump's Obsession with the Word "Groceries"

In a comedic exploration of Trump's linguistic habits, the show examines his newfound fascination with the term "groceries." Costa presents a satirical segment highlighting Trump's repetitive use of the word and questions its relevance in contemporary vernacular.

Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump (14:05): "I went on the border and I went on groceries. It's a very simple word, groceries."
• Grace Kuhlenschmidt (18:04): "No one uses that word anymore."

The humorous dialogue between Trump and the panelists underscores the absurdity of political figures rehashing commonplace terms, suggesting that Trump's use of "groceries" is out of touch with modern language trends.

• Michael Costa (18:00): "What would you call that kind of store?"
• Grace Kuhlenschmidt (19:02): "Is that still on the table?"

The segment concludes with playful banter about alternative terms for grocery stores, emphasizing the disconnect between political rhetoric and everyday language.

4. Interview with Melissa Arnot Reed: Scaling Everest and Personal Triumphs

A highlight of the episode is an inspiring interview with Melissa Arnot Reed, the first American woman to summit and descend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. Reed discusses her new memoir, Enough: Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest, delving into her mountaineering achievements and personal struggles.

Key Topics:

• Mountaineering Feats: Reed recounts her six successful ascents of Everest, emphasizing the physical and mental challenges she overcame.

  Notable Quotes:

  • Melissa Arnot Reed (22:27): "It's a lot of walking uphill slowly and you all just clap for that."

• Personal Struggles: She opens up about her turbulent personal life, including tumultuous relationships, and how climbing became a coping mechanism.

  Notable Quotes:

  • Melissa Arnot Reed (23:21): "It's called running away."
  • Michael Costa (27:08): "I was really laughing at your book when you were struggling. Excuse me."

• Nonprofit Work – The Juniper Fund: Reed introduces the Juniper Fund, a nonprofit she co-founded to support the families of Sherpa workers in Nepal, highlighting the often-overlooked human infrastructure behind Everest expeditions.

  Notable Quotes:

  • Melissa Arnot Reed (28:53): "It's the infrastructure, you know, it's a human infrastructure of real people whose job it is to make Climbing Everest possible."

• Life Lessons and Philosophy: Reed shares valuable life hacks, emphasizing flexibility and adaptability as crucial traits for both climbing and personal growth.

  Notable Quotes:

  • Melissa Arnot Reed (31:25): "I try to continuously be flexible, willing to change. Pretty focused, but not rigid."
  • Melissa Arnot Reed (32:07): "You're gonna die."

Reed's candid discussion provides profound insights into the metaphorical parallels between mountaineering and navigating life's challenges, inspiring listeners to embrace resilience and adaptability.

5. Repeated Promo: Bone Valley Season 2

Interspersed within the content are promotions for Bone Valley Season 2, a narrative podcast featuring Jeremy Scott and his son Gilbert King navigating the aftermath of a crime confession. While primarily promotional, these segments maintain the episode's flow without detracting from the main discussions.

Notable Quotes:

• Jeremy Scott (00:02): "Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one."
• Gilbert King (12:00): "At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Daily Show: Ears Edition masterfully blends political satire with meaningful interviews, offering listeners both laughter and enlightenment. From dissecting unprecedented political maneuvers and speeches to celebrating personal triumphs over adversity, the show delivers a comprehensive and entertaining exploration of current events and human resilience.

For those who haven't listened, this episode provides a vivid portrayal of the intersection between politics, media, and personal stories, all delivered with the characteristic humor and sharp wit that The Daily Show is renowned for.

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Timestamps Referenced:

• 02:11, 02:22, 03:35, 04:13
• 05:03, 05:37, 07:28
• 08:10, 08:14
• 14:05, 18:04, 18:00, 19:02
• 22:27, 23:21, 27:08
• 28:53, 31:25, 32:07
• 00:02, 12:00

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Note: The timestamps correspond to specific moments in the episode's transcript, providing context to the quotes and discussions highlighted in this summary.

Transcript

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app. App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Michael Costa]

You're listening to Comedy Central.

[Cory Booker]

From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news. This is the Daily show with your host, Michael Costa.

[Michael Costa]

Yes. Yes. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Michael Costa. We've got so much to talk about tonight. What a great audience. Cory Booker bursts his bladder. America's economy experiments with S and M. And we'll tell you why Trump would be the worst instacart shopper ever. Let's get into the headlines, shall we? Let's kick things off with that big Supreme Court race in Wisconsin that we've all. Yep, we've all been following closely ever since everyone started telling us how important it was for reasons we tried really hard to understand, but ultimately ended up just taking their word for it. Well, last night, despite Elon Musk putting $25 million to back the conservative, the liberal judge won the race. That's right.

[Cory Booker]

Fuck it.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, suck it, Elon. Now you only have 340 billion dol. What are you gonna buy with that, dumbass? And here's something we haven't said in a while. A second good thing happened for Democrats.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Update the history books. Last night, Democratic Senator Cory Booker concluded.

[Senator]

The longest speech in Senate history, clocking.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

In at 25 hours and five minutes. He was protesting what he called a.

[Michael Costa]

Crisis brought on by the Trump administration's policies.

[Cory Booker]

I don't know how to solve this. I don't know how to stop us from going down this road. But I know who does have the power. The people of the United States of America.

[Michael Costa]

What an amazing day for Cory Booker. Not so great for the C SPAN cameraman who missed the birth of his first child and kindergarten graduation. It was a long speech, and Booker not only set a new record, he broke the 1957 record held by segregationalist Strom Thurmond, a man so racist, we never even talk about how weird of a first name Strom is. Is that short for Stromboli? What the hell's going on? You never want a huge racist at the top of the record books. If, like, the world record for eating the biggest burrito was held by Hitler, someone should probably beat that sooner rather than later. And the amazing thing is that Booker didn't just get up there and read from Wikipedia. He stayed focused on condemning the Trump administration's assault on working people and the rule of law. So you can imagine that when he was done, the media had a lot of questions for him about these serious issues.

[Senator]

Does he get any bathroom breaks?

[Michael Costa]

Did he have a bathroom break?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

No sitting and no bathroom break.

[Michael Costa]

You couldn't take a bathroom break.

[Senator]

How did you not have to use.

[Donald Trump]

The restroom for 25 hours?

[Michael Costa]

Were you wearing anything that allowed you to not have to go to the bathroom for 25 hours? Senator. Senator. Senator. Senator. Peepee. Senator. A follow up. Poo. Poo. This is why our country is in the shape that it's in. The media won't talk about the substance of his speech, rather talk about how he held it in for so long. No one cares about that. But just out of curiosity, how did he do it?

[Cory Booker]

My strategy was to stop eating. I think I stopped eating on Friday and then to stop drinking the night before I started on Monday. And that had its benefits and it had its really downsides.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The downside is that he was hungry the whole time, but the benefit is that he can go straight from the Senate floor to his colonoscopy. So that's a bonus. But that is pretty amazing. It's pretty amazing. He didn't eat for three days, although he is a vegan, so that's not much of a sacrifice, you know. Oh, no. A weekend without tempeh. But let's move on, because while Democrats were congratulating themselves for their bladder control, Donald Trump was shitting out a new holiday, a big day for the country.

[Senator]

President Trump, calling it Liberation Day.

[Michael Costa]

Liberation Day.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Liberation Day.

[Michael Costa]

The world is watching, right? Liberation Day. That sounds like the fake holiday your friends make up after you get dumped, you know? Nah, man, Nah, man. Who needs that beautiful, smart, independently wealthy woman in your life when you could die alone? This is your Liberation Day, bro. But actually, what is it? Our breaking news just moments ago.

[Donald Trump]

President Trump officially announcing widespread, what he calls reciprocal tariffs.

[Michael Costa]

At least 10% on practically all goods.

[Donald Trump]

Coming into the United States. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn. The day America's destiny was reclaimed.

[Michael Costa]

Okay, so Liberation Day is just the day that Trump announced new tariffs. I kind of doubt this day will be remembered for all of history. But if you give me a day off from work, you can call it whatever you want. To be honest with you now, you might be thinking, what am I even being liberated from the ability to afford goods and services? Yes. But what Trump is hoping happens is that businesses move back to America. But until then, Republicans are preparing Americans for the inevitable rocky road ahead. I feel like in some ways in.

[Cory Booker]

The economy, this is kind of like a kitchen remodel or a bath remodel.

[Michael Costa]

There's a bit of a mess at.

[Cory Booker]

The beginning, but everybody has a long term look of where we're headed. I mean, if you're going to remodel your house to make it better, in the end, it's going to be really annoying in the short term when your house is getting remodeled and there's drywall desks everywhere and there's workers in your living room. The reality is that remodel has got to happen in order to make things stronger and more stable on the back end.

[Michael Costa]

Great. It's like a home remodel. I feel much better about tariffs now that you compared it to something famous for costing people way more than they ever expected. Nobody likes a remodel, and they especially don't like the people in charge of the remodel. Even the homeowners who hired Jesus to be their carpenter hated him. Is he seriously going out for another walk on water? I'm going to kill that guy. But look, guys, whether you like it or not, Republicans don't want to hear your bitching, because we all knew this was coming.

[Donald Trump]

It's going to be a rocky road, and Trump has admitted that.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Trump has acknowledged that there will be.

[Michael Costa]

Some minor inflationary aspect of that as.

[Cory Booker]

He begins to realign the economy to put America first.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Everybody knows. And when they voted In November of.

[Cory Booker]

2024, they knew that's what they were voting for.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, that's right. Voters, you can belly ache all you want, but we all knew what we were voting for. Trump was very honest during the campaign that tariffs would drive prices higher. Right, Right. You want to impose a 10% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. how will you ensure that that doesn't drive prices even higher?

[Donald Trump]

Not going to drive them higher.

[Cory Booker]

Do you believe Americans can afford higher prices because of tariffs?

[Donald Trump]

They're not going to have higher prices.

[Michael Costa]

Okay, okay. Technically, he said prices wouldn't go up, but in his defense, he was lying, and you should have known that. So that's on you. But you know what? Yeah, Perfect. Some people at Fox News would To know why you're so obsessed with your money in the first place, huh?

[Cory Booker]

There are some things more important than money. And the president's trying to tell Americans, you know, there may be a little suffering going on here.

[Michael Costa]

It's a little volatile right now, but people have been very happy and very enthusiastic since the administration was inaugurated. Look, I wouldn't watch the stock market.

[Cory Booker]

Every hour, every day.

[Michael Costa]

I really hope that somehow the average person out there can separate themselves in their mindset from Wall Street. You know, don't let. Don't get fooled by what's happening in the stock market. Yeah, yeah. Making money isn't everything. Take it from the guy hosting the show called Making Money. Oh, man. Why would you think that making money was something this guy cared about? Just because it's on the desk and the screen and the wall and the other wall, Life isn't about making. Oh, also another one on that same wall. But look, I get what these guys are saying. In the long run, these tariffs will make America more prosperous, even if in the short run, you personally will lose all your money. So if you're so short sighted that going broke and dying in a ditch bothers you, there's a new Fox Business show you'll definitely want to check out.

[Cory Booker]

You love Making Money and the big Money show. And now, with Trump's awesome Tarif, Fox Business has a new show introducing Money.

[Senator]

Monk, money is just a human fiction. It does not exist. Especially your money, which does not exist.

[Cory Booker]

This show will guide you into our new economic reality.

[Senator]

Ignore the market and find joy in your work, which you have to keep doing now that you can't retire.

[Cory Booker]

It's the perfect show to unwind with after a shift at your fourth job.

[Senator]

How. How will I afford my rent?

[Cory Booker]

The Money Monk has all the answers.

[Senator]

Look inside yourself for nourishment. Specifically, the organs inside yourself that you can sell for food. Release your greed of wanting both kidneys.

[Cory Booker]

Money monk. Weekdays at 8.

[Senator]

You mean my portfolio's been wiped out? I will rip your ass straight out of your mouth. Do you hear me?

[Cory Booker]

Money. Monk, enlighten your broke.

[Michael Costa]

When we come back, we find out what's inside Trump's brain.

[Cory Booker]

Don't go.

[Michael Costa]

Well.

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Michael Costa]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Scott]

Long, silent voices from his past came.

[Gilbert King]

Forward, and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Scott]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Scott]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.

[Gilbert King]

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Michael Costa]

Welcome back to the Daily Show. The human brain. It's a three pound mass of tissue that can comprehend the vastness of our universe. And remember the lyrics to that bare naked lady song, Chicka da China, the Chinese chicken. I don't even like that song, you brain. And no brain holds within it more mysteries than that of American president and ketchup fueled sex machine Donald Trump. As fate would have it, the thoughts that dwell inside that brain now affect everyone on earth. So why not try to understand how it works? Come with me on a magical scientific voyage. In our new segment.

[Donald Trump]

Donald Trump's very, very large brain.

[Michael Costa]

A lot of thoughts have been occupying. Excellent. A lot of thoughts have been occupying Trump's mind. Late invading Greenland, boobs taking over the Panama Canal, boobs selling Teslas, and of course, putting tariffs on boobs. It's a beautiful, horny mental tapestry. But recently, one mysterious word has been stuck in Trump's brain.

[Donald Trump]

I went on the border and I went on groceries. It's a very simple word, groceries. Like almost, you know, who uses the word? I started using the word the groceries.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, yeah, groceries. I mean, who uses that word except everybody, all the time. Donald Trump found the word fascinating and this was not just a fleeting thought. His brain has been contemplating the word groceries for a while now.

[Donald Trump]

You know, more people tell me about groceries. The word grocery. I've heard it more in the last year than any other word. I think everyone tells me about the word groceries. You know, you hear the word groceries, you say, really? But I get more complaints about groceries. Beautiful but simple word, groceries. Sir, my groceries, please.

[Michael Costa]

Sir, my groceries. What? Now, based on that, you might think that Trump has never heard the word groceries until the 2024 campaign. And just thought, this must be a new slang word. You know, he was probably like, Barron, what's groceries? Is that like Rizzo? But if you tunnel deeper into Trump's brain, you find out that he's heard the word before, just not in a long time.

[Donald Trump]

The cost of groceries, a word that I used a lot on the campaign. It's like an old fashioned word, but it's a beautiful word, very descriptive word. They say my groceries are so much more. The term is just like an old term and it's a beautiful Groceries, A term I used to use. It's sort of an old fashioned term, but I used to use it.

[Michael Costa]

Whoa. Okay. This raises more questions because groceries is not an old fashioned word. It's a word we use right now to describe groceries. There's actually no other word for it. So now, so now I'm wondering, does Donald Trump know what groceries are?

[Donald Trump]

Groceries. It sort of says a bag with different things in it.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're on the right track. Not all bags with things in them are groceries. Can you ask your brain to narrow it down a little bit?

[Donald Trump]

The word grocery, it's sort of simple word, but it sort of means like, everything you eat.

[Michael Costa]

Ah, everything you eat. So simple, so almost correct. It says everything, yet absolutely nothing. Let's keep digging.

[Donald Trump]

You know such a basic term, groceries, the groceries. They mean every single item of grocery.

[Michael Costa]

Every. Every single item of grocery. I have to say, I never thought of it like that. I thought groceries were merely some items of grocery, but every item of grocery. And now. And now his bulging frontal lobe must wrestle with the most important question of all. What, in a cosmic sense, are groceries?

[Donald Trump]

People tell me about the groceries. The groceries are groceries. They use the. And what they're talking about is food.

[Michael Costa]

Ah, at last, Enlightenment. Groceries are food. Food are groceries. And lest we forget, groceries are every single item of grocery. And yet Trump's mental journey with groceries goes on, leaving us with more unanswered questions. Like, has it been so long since he stepped in a grocery store that his brain was like, I don't need this word anymore? Or is he just an 80 year old man whose brain is deteriorating before our eyes? Or hear me out. Maybe he's right. And nobody in America says the word groceries anymore. So we sent Grace Kuhlenschmidt to find out.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

What do you call this store behind you?

[Michael Costa]

That's a grocery store.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

No one uses that word anymore.

[Cory Booker]

Right?

[Michael Costa]

That's what I've heard.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

What would you call that kind of store?

[Michael Costa]

A grocery store.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

That word is so old. Not a single living person uses the word grocery stores. Except for you.

[Michael Costa]

Oh, my God. I've been using this word for like 28 years.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

You literally sounded like, hey, kids, let's.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Gather around the big crawler.

[Michael Costa]

It's time to talk about groceries.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Groceries is like an old fashioned term.

[Michael Costa]

Oh, okay.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Like my like great, great, great grandma used it.

[Michael Costa]

Uh huh.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

And like, she's dead as shit.

[Cory Booker]

Okay.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Yeah. Then it's also when someone brings up a dead relative, it's like, weird to laugh.

[Michael Costa]

What's wrong with groceries?

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Donald Trump says that nobody uses it.

[Cory Booker]

Nobody says it.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

He says it's old fashioned. Oh, so Trump is a trendsetter. He doesn't want to use groceries anymore. What do you think we should call them?

[Michael Costa]

I don't know. It's something I have to think about.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I really am blindsided by this.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Who sang these lyrics, Eat that booty like groceries, you know?

[Michael Costa]

I don't know.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Come on, you know them. You love them. I can tell you know them. You love them. The Beatles.

[Michael Costa]

Oh, the Beatles, Yes. Is that. Lennon said that. Eat that foodie like groceries.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Blackbird, I think. And I feel like young people like us, we don't even go to stores anymore. We just get everything from the cloud just from our apps.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Food.

[Cory Booker]

Is that still on the table?

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Oh, food is 100% on the table.

[Cory Booker]

My girlfriend says nom noms.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Gribble, Shane. Wokeries. Wokeries. Tummy treats.

[Michael Costa]

No, no.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Mouth stuffers.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, yeah, you'll use that one. Although it conjures some of my past experience.

[Grace Kuhlenschmidt]

Oh, really? Okay. I won't ask any more questions about that.

[Michael Costa]

Thank you, Grace. When we come back, Melissa Arnott Reed will be joining on the show.

[Cory Booker]

Don't go away.

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Michael Costa]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Scott]

Long, silent voices from his past came.

[Gilbert King]

Forward, and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Scott]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Scott]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Bone Valley Season two. Jeremy.

[Gilbert King]

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th, subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Michael Costa]

Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is the first American woman to summit and descend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. Her new memoir is called Enough Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest. Please welcome Melissa Arnot Reed. Amazing. Whoa. How fun is that? Oh, my God. Thank you for coming.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Thank you for having me.

[Michael Costa]

Thank you for opening up so much of your personal and professional life in this book. You've summited Mount Everest six different times.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I have.

[Michael Costa]

Is there like a loyalty rewards program when you go up and you get a free drink on your seventh time or something like that?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah, absolutely, 100%.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It's a lot of walking uphill slowly and you all just clap for that.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah. This is a simple question, but what is it like? I mean, the most. The highest I've ever skied is at 13,000ft. I couldn't breathe. I was freezing, and it was like, get down to warmth as fast as I can. Camp one is at 19,000ft, and Mount Everest is 29,000ft. What is it like to be up there?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I mean, it's really like your experience, but everything is harder.

[Michael Costa]

So you had six beers with lunch right before you hit the slopes.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Six beers with lunch. 100%. Yeah.

[Michael Costa]

But it must be. It's addicting because so many of the characters in your book, yourself included, organize their entire life around this action. And that includes letting everything else in one's life go to shit in a lot of ways.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that there's this idea that when you go and you get that achievement and you receive those accolades. Yeah, you want to go back and do it again, but it also feels pretty empty.

[Michael Costa]

Interesting.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

That's a weird sort of dichotomy.

[Michael Costa]

Why does it feel empty? You did the thing.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I mean, it's never enough, Right.

[Michael Costa]

We were talking backstage, but what is it like to actually exist at elevations like that from, like, motor skills and sleeping and eating?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

You're not supposed to, you know, we're not supposed to live at those very high altitudes. And it feels like you shouldn't be there. Everything is really, really hard. Everything takes a long time to do, and it is pretty, but you kind of.

[Michael Costa]

I can see it right there.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah. So that's just below also.

[Cory Booker]

You know what?

[Michael Costa]

Technically, that could be anybody who would be.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It literally could be just below the summit of Everest without oxygen.

[Michael Costa]

And do you recognize those peaks just from a picture? Like, you know. Exactly.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I do. I like to think I do. But, I mean, don't give me a test.

[Michael Costa]

No, that's ok.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I was gorgeous.

[Michael Costa]

One of the things I love about this book, you can definitely dork out on all the climbing, but you really open up about your personal life and in particular, the difficulties of your childhood.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Mm.

[Michael Costa]

Why was that important for you to share? I'm glad you did.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Thank you. Yeah. It's not a book about Everest. It happens to take place on Everest. And my career on Everest has really been about achievement and standing on a summit and receiving the accolades of that. And I've always wanted to explain to people, like, there's so much more, and it's not all summits, and it's actually a lot of dark dissent. And I wanted a chance to explain that to people and the idea that we can be really flawed and still be deserving of achieving great things.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah. So often in the book, you're describing your personal life in turmoil, and then you would say, and then I went to Alaska and climbed a glacier, and then I biked across Colorado.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It's called running away.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah. I was gonna say, was that the coping strategy and mechanism?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah. I mean, it's a really wild thing when going to some of the most deadly places in the world starts to feel more safe than just being in your regular life. And now I can say, like, that's probably not healthy. Therapy would have been cheaper, but I went to Everest instead.

[Michael Costa]

Why does climbing Mount Everest without oxygen help you find inner peace as you describe? And did it? Yeah. Are you at inner peace now? It's probably a little bit of nerves talking to such a celebrity, but, like, are you honestly?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah.

[Michael Costa]

Why is that funny? It feels like climbers, high level climbers, it's never enough.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah.

[Michael Costa]

I mean, you get to the top with oxygen. I can do it without oxygen, and I want to do it without oxygen. Or I want to do this thing. I want to do this thing. I mean, have you achieved inner peace, the ultimate summit?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

You know, the climbing cliches abound, so bear with me here. But, you know, it is a forever journey. There is no neat and tidy summit that we arrive on and we're just enough. And then we just have the rest of our life. It's just kind of a continuous, forever climb. And I'm on That climb. And it's actually weirdly more hard and also more rewarding than climbing Everest, for sure.

[Michael Costa]

I was really laughing at your book when you were struggling. Excuse me.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

That's so kind of you.

[Michael Costa]

Excuse me. Well, you were struggling so much with relationships, with men, and then you would go do this feat. And I was like, it might be harder to be married than to climb Mount Everest.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah, yeah, it was for me in that era of my life. And I wrote an essay about that. Marriage was my Everest. And it was kind of like the only honest at that time. And it felt like, oh, this is a joke and people will laugh. And then really I was like, no, no, no. It's much, much harder to be married than it is to climb Everest. And such an unhealed way to live.

[Michael Costa]

More technical, probably to climb Everest than. I don't know. That was meant to be kind of a climbing joke.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

That was a good one.

[Michael Costa]

You got broken up with on Camp 2.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Like, actually a couple times.

[Michael Costa]

I got a couple times.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I like to do things more than once.

[Michael Costa]

I mean, I got broken up with at a bar, and every time I go to the bar, I shake. But it's like every time you go to Everest, you're like, oh, that's where that happened.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

No, no, we go back. Yeah, we go back.

[Michael Costa]

I'm never staying in that tent again.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

We go back, we make new memories, and then you take those forward.

[Michael Costa]

Right. Explain acclimation to me. I don't understand that. You go up, you hang out, then you come back down, then you go back further. What is that?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It's like the silliest thing ever. You know, you have to climb almost to the summit three times just to get there once. And so you go up, let your body adjust to the altitude, then go back.

[Michael Costa]

Still easier than marriage, honestly. Okay, sorry. Keep going.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah. And so you just allow your body to adjust. So it takes a really long time. I was just saying I've spent a total of a year on Everest of my life. Like an actual year.

[Michael Costa]

That's so cool.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah, I know.

[Michael Costa]

That's so cool. Talk to me a little bit about the Juniper fund and what it is and why it's important to you.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah. So I co founded a nonprofit that provides financial support, vocational training, small business grants to the families of high altitude workers, primarily Sherpa in Nepal.

[Michael Costa]

And these are essential. What's the word? Workers. Helpers. Yeah, I mean, teammates during this.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It's the infrastructure, you know, it's a human infrastructure of real people whose job it is to make Climbing Everest possible. And they don't have an amazing support system when things go wrong. And so. So our nonprofit provides as much support as we possibly can to the families. When something happens and things go wrong, things go wrong.

[Michael Costa]

I mean, you've experienced and seen the absolute worst. I mean, one of the more harrowing descriptions early in the book is when people are climbing up, there's bodies that get left there because maybe even the families of the climbers want them to stay there or you can't recover them.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah.

[Michael Costa]

And then you've. I mean, yeah, it's really moving to read, but also you've seen some shit.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

I've seen some shit up there for sure. Yeah. It's not theoretical.

[Michael Costa]

Still easier than marriage, honestly.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It says probably something about people who climb at high altitude and pass frozen bodies and then act like that's normal later, like it's not normal. It's really, really weird and it's not normal.

[Michael Costa]

I kind of love that achievement, competitive mindset. And I have to admit that when I was reading that, I was like, I wonder if a college tennis player could have what it takes. Do we have what it takes? Like, does this audience, some of them more than others, have what it takes to actually do that?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It depends on how hard your childhood was, really.

[Michael Costa]

Yeah, I was gonna say yeah. Do we have to have traumatic childhood?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It's really helpful to have had a pretty hard upbringing because you know, then you feel like you deserve to suffer and you're probably more willing to do it.

[Michael Costa]

Do you. Would you wish for a less dramatic, traumatic childhood?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

You know, very honestly, no. I think that everything that happens prepares you for what's coming next. And I wouldn't have survived some of the things that came next if I didn't start out the way that I did.

[Michael Costa]

What would you say to younger Melissa about romantic relationships with men?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Oh, don't, girl, just don't.

[Michael Costa]

It's a treat for me to get to talk to such a world class athlete and achiever. And I would be remiss if I didn't ask you for a life hack. Something that you do that's helped you, that we could all steal from you. Does anything come to mind? It can be climbing, it can be anything related. I love getting in the mindset of someone that's done what you've done.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Yeah. I think one of the things that's been the most helpful in my life and helped me survive in so many different scenarios is this really lack of rigidity towards things. So I try to continuously be flexible, willing to change. Pretty focused, but not rigid.

[Michael Costa]

That's awesome. And that's very hard. Now I have a follow up. I always like the tree in the wind. The trees move with the wind. They don't go like this.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

Nature does not favor the rigid.

[Michael Costa]

Right. Medically, you're also trained. You talk about being called into emergencies. What should we know medically? What's one thing I should know medically all the time?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

You're gonna die.

[Michael Costa]

Okay? Oh, shit.

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It is unavoidable.

[Michael Costa]

How is that a life hack?

[Melissa Arnot Reed]

It's just important to, you know, again, acknowledge, focus, but don't be so rigid.

[Michael Costa]

Right. I love that. Thank you so much for writing this book. I loved it. Enough is available now. Melissa Arnott Reed. We're taking a quick break. We'll be right back after this. Thank. That's our show for tonight. Now here it is, your moment of Zen.

[Cory Booker]

He's saying to every business and every country in the world, if you want to sell to America, move your business here.

[Michael Costa]

I get it.

[Cory Booker]

And in the long run, he's right. But in the long run, we're all dead. 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 plus Paramount Podcasts.

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad, it's, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.