Jacinda Ardern | Photogen-Ick

Summary

Episode Summary: Jacinda Ardern | Photogen-Ick

Release Date: June 4, 2025

In this insightful episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert engages in a heartfelt conversation with Jacinda Ardern, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand. Ardern discusses her newly released memoir, "A Different Kind of Power," delving into her leadership philosophy, personal experiences, and the challenges she faced during her tenure.

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Welcome and Introduction

The episode begins with Stephen Colbert welcoming Jacinda Ardern back to the show. [13:48] Ardern humorously mentions shipping a couple of kiwis to make Stephen feel at home, setting a warm and friendly tone for the conversation.

Discussing "A Different Kind of Power"

Ardern introduces her memoir, explaining that the title encapsulates a dual meaning—highlighting both the nature of power in leadership and her personal experiences with self-doubt. [18:39] She states:

"We have choices in leadership, particularly in politics. You can either weaponize fear and blame or tackle issues with kindness, empathy, strength, courage, and resilience."

Stephen adds his agreement, emphasizing the harmonious blend of empathy and strength in effective leadership. [19:26]

Leadership Style and Imposter Syndrome

The conversation delves deeper into Ardern's leadership style, particularly her approach during crises. She reflects on her struggles with imposter syndrome and self-doubt, sharing how these feelings influenced her leadership decisions. [18:20] Ardern mentions:

"When you're in times of crisis, you can either weaponize fear or genuinely tackle the issues affecting people's lives with a people-centered approach."

Personal Reflections and Family Insights

Ardern opens up about balancing her role as a mother and a world leader. She recounts a poignant moment at the UN General Assembly where she walked onto the floor with her daughter in her arms, emphasizing the support system that enabled her leadership. [24:07] She shares:

"There wasn't just a photo of me. That whole group of people helped me be Prime Minister and a mother."

Furthermore, Ardern discusses the influence of her family, particularly her parents, on her civic-mindedness and leadership qualities. [28:42] She attributes much of her dedication to democracy and service to her upbringing and parental guidance.

Upcoming Documentary: "Prime Minister"

The discussion shifts to the documentary "Prime Minister," set to release on June 13th. Ardern appreciates the documentary's intimate portrayal of her time in office, despite her initial reservations about being filmed. [28:42] She remarks:

"I really credit him for sticking with it because I was pretty hard to film. But I'm glad he persisted because I think it gives an insight into leadership in a really human way."

Dedication and Core Values

Ardern explains the heartfelt dedication in her memoir to "criers, worriers, and huggers," highlighting the importance of humility, empathy, and emotional openness in leadership. [25:08] She elaborates:

"Those are the individuals that I think we need a bit more of—the ones with humility, who wear their hearts on their sleeves and lead with those traits."

Closing Thoughts

As the episode concludes, Ardern reflects on the unexpected nature of political leadership and the importance of staying true to one's values amidst challenges. [31:07] She shares a candid moment about the unpredictability of her rise to Prime Minister, emphasizing resilience and adaptability.

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Key Takeaways:

• Empathetic Leadership: Ardern advocates for a leadership style rooted in kindness, empathy, and resilience, especially during crises.

• Personal Struggles: She candidly discusses her experiences with imposter syndrome and the personal doubts that accompanied her role as Prime Minister.

• Support Systems: Ardern emphasizes the importance of a strong support network, including family and dedicated team members, in achieving effective leadership.

• Legacy and Reflection: Through her memoir and the upcoming documentary, Ardern offers a transparent look into her political journey, aiming to inspire future leaders to embrace empathy and humility.

This episode offers listeners a profound look into Jacinda Ardern's approach to leadership, her personal challenges, and the values that guided her tenure as Prime Minister. Her reflections provide valuable insights into the qualities that define true power and effective governance.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. From streaming to shopping, prime helps you get more out of your passions. So whether you're a fan of true crime or prefer a nail biting novel from time to time, with services like Prime Video, Amazon Music, and fast free delivery, prime makes it easy to get more out of whatever you're into or getting into. Visit Amazon.comprime to learn more.

[Jacinda Ardern]

This Father's Day helped dad be all he can be with a gift from the Home Depot. Because he's not just dad, he's the handyman of the house, the plumber in a pinch and the emergency mechanic. Upgrade his gear this Father's Day with the Husky mechanic's 270 piece tool set from the Home Depot. Now on Special buy for $119 a $695 value for every kind of dad. Find the perfect gift this Father's Day at Depot. Have a seat my friends, all you lovelies. Welcome to the Late Show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Before we begin, ladies and gentlemen, before we begin, I want to warn any of our more sensitive viewers, children, pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, that I am about to show you a picture of Donald Trump's face. Here's the deal, because yesterday the White House dropped the President's new official portrait. Now, you might remember he already had an official portrait, which I believe was released on his inauguration. And that photo can only be described as body in the morgue that just stood up. So this was the old one and here's the new one. Oh my God, it's getting closer. The new portrait is notable because it doesn't feature the American flag, which has appeared in every official presidential photograph since gerald Ford's in 1974. They had to remove it from the new portrait ever since the flag filed that restraining order. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Flagworth. The new picture will replace the official photographs of Trump that have already been hung in federal buildings and offices. The old pictures will not be thrown away. They will be used from now on to scare horses. I don't know why they want to do that, but that's what they're going to terrify horses with. It's possible that the portraits of himself are the only things Trump really wants to be looking at these days because reportedly Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is having a lot of trouble briefing Trump on world events. According to intelligence experts who have tried to brief him. The problem with Trump is that he doesn't read, which is appalling. Although he's not the first president to struggle with literacy. I mean, who can forget the sign on Harry Truman's desk? De Glurb strixher So true. De Glerb One analysis, one Harry Truman fans. There you go. One CIA analyst said that when he tried to give the president his daily intelligence briefing, Trump did not read it, but he touched it. Touching it doesn't count, I don't think. He's not your aunt Sarah who's only at the book club to drink wine. I like the way the letters on the COVID bumped out a little bit. That was nice. Let's crack open that next chardonnay. I'm not getting any less divorced. It's so bad. It's so bad that one retired officer said briefing Trump presented the intelligence community with the most difficult challenges it had ever faced. Yes. The most difficult challenges that the entire intelligence community of the United States has ever faced. Getting Trump to learn, I believe is the plot of the next Mission Impossible. Do we, Jim, do we have a clip? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get Donald Trump to read anything.

[Stephen Colbert]

No.

[Jacinda Ardern]

No. The intelligence community. He looks fantastic. Tom Cruise has still got it. He's still got it. The intelligence community has some ideas for how to better capture the President's attention. One is to turn the briefings into videos styled after Fox News. It makes sense because he's always watching. No, I think it actually makes sense because he is always like looking at fo and the best way to get information into his brain is just to put the information someplace he's already looking all the time. So either they have to put the top secret information on Fox News or at the bottom of a chicken bucket. Here's the troubling news. There's some troubling news from fema, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Yesterday, in a private staff briefing about the start of hurricane season, acting chief David Richardson said he was unaware the United States had a hurricane season. Okay, not great. Hurricane season is big for fema. That would be like the head of Hallmark channel saying they were unaware that we had Christmas. Or small town bakery owners who have given up on love. Named Brenda Jingle falls in love with a owner of a candy cane farm. This is a bad look for Trump's fema. So the agency quickly tried to clean things up by claiming Richardson was joking. Of course it was a joke. That makes sense. Just look at this laugh machine. Knock, knock. David.

[Stephen Colbert]

David.

[Jacinda Ardern]

David Richardson, acting FEMA chief. Let me in. There's a hurricane and I don't know why you kid. Thank you. Thank you. Primarily, I'm a hoofer. You could forgive female employees for not always knowing when Richardson is joshing him because on his first full day as acting administrator, he told the agency's employees that if any of them tried to obstruct his agenda, quote, I will run right over you. I'm kidding of course. I wouldn't want to hurt my car with your body. I would poison you. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees female defended Richardson saying despite mean spirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this hurricane season. Adding which we all know starts in martober the second week of Toyota thought another Trump appointee making headlines is FBI director and toddler who just walked into mommy and daddy's bedroom without knocking Cash Patel. Recently, Patel gave an interview to Fox News Bret Baier about I don't know, who cares? Check out how small Patel looks in his giant chair. His little tootsies can barely reach the little foot resty thingy. Is he sitting for an interview or is he ready for his num nums? Also, I'd like to point out, I'd like to point out at the exact same time, in the exact same type of chair as Patel, Bret Baier appears totally normal. It looks like a ventriloquist got an exclusive interview with his dummy. Yet another one of Trump's cluster of weirdos is Health and Human Services secretary and Vienna sausage having a stroke. RFK Jr. Since becoming, since becoming the head of HHS, Bobby Jr. Has introduced some radical changes to things like fluoride in the water and vaccination schedules. To justify these changes, last week HHS released a report laying out their scientific vision to make America healthy, which they called the Maha report, which claimed to be a quote, clear evidence based foundation for action on a range of children's health issues. Just one problem. The report is rife with errors, including at least seven fake sources. I mean, speculation. The speculation is they just use AI to make up their science. Any teacher would fail this paper immediately. I mean, how the heck did this guy even get through school? I was at the bottom of my class. I started doing heroin. I went to the top of my class. Wow. RFK Jr. Is also riding the white horse down to Texas where a new bill that he's backing may soon force products like Doritos and M&Ms. To include warning labels about ingredients not recommended for human consumption. No, no worries there. By the time I finish a bag of Doritos, I am no longer human. More specifically. Thank you. More specifically, Such generous people. Specifically, the bill warns about ingredients not recommended by other countries. Well, who cares about other countries, Bobby? We are Americans. We are pioneers.

[Stephen Colbert]

We.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We put a man on the moon.

[Stephen Colbert]

We.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We put a shack on a Roni. Finally. Finally, I've got a little bad news to everybody who likes to taste the rainbow. Because Texas also wants to slap warnings on Skittles and M. Froot Loops and Mountain Dew, which use synthetic dyes. Okay, I mean, that's not great, but was there anyone who did not already know those colors were synthetic? The two O's in the word fruit weren't a context clue. I mean, there's not one ingredient of Mountain Dew that wasn't created at Los Alamos. As Oppenheimer famously said, I am become death blaster of Bajas. Things are pretty bad, right? Right. Bloody well right. Things are. Things are pretty bad out there right now. Which is why it's important to focus on the little things. For instance, Tinder is rolling out a new feature that allows users to screen potential matches based on height. Oof. Tough week to be Cash Patel. Is he single? Is he single? Do we know? Is he single? Seems like a catch. Specifically, Tinder is adding a filter that lets users specify the minimum and maximum heights of their matches. Yes, ladies, you have to be careful with the maximum height. You go too tall, you get stuck with a guy with a beanstalk who only wants to fee fi fool around. I don't understand why people are so picky about dimensions. Are they looking for a or a dining room table on Craigslist? My dream match. Oh, someone modern with long legs and an expandable leaf that can accommodate six to eight diners. No surprise there's a little bit of blowback on the new feature, with many accusing the app of superficiality. Yes, yes. Tinder matches should be based on non superficial reasons, like a half second glimpse at someone's face. That tooth looks weird. Nope. We got a great show for you tonight coming up.

[Stephen Colbert]

Jacinda Ardern.

[Jacinda Ardern]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Go to Your happy price.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Priceline. Race the rudders.

[Stephen Colbert]

Race the sails. Race the sails.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. Ladies and gentlemen, my guest tonight is a former prime Minister of New Zealand who has just written a new memoir called A Different Kind of Power. Please welcome back to the Late show, the right honorable Dame Jacinda Ardern.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nice to see you again. Thanks.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Lovely to see you again. I always like talking to you.

[Stephen Colbert]

So lovely to see you.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We actually shipped in a couple of kiwis actually to be with you tonight just to make you feel at home.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the rest are all honorary New Zealanders.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Hoping I can include myself. Sure. In case I need to get down there real quick someday. Gosh, it's been a little bit since we've had you on the show. Thanks for being here. We want to talk about the new book here.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you.

[Jacinda Ardern]

A Different Kind of Power.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Before we do that, I heard it was your and your husband Clark's anniversary this past weekend. Is that true?

[Stephen Colbert]

It's true.

[Jacinda Ardern]

How did you celebrate?

[Stephen Colbert]

I forgot.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Did he forget? No.

[Stephen Colbert]

In fact, I'm starting to believe that he takes some joy and satisfaction in me forgetting. So he literally rolled over. It would have been more than 6:30 in the morning. Rolled over and I was facing the wall and this arm comes over and there's a card. He puts it right in front of my face and whispers, happy anniversary, my love.

[Jacinda Ardern]

That's someone who wants to win the anniversary.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the fact that he says, not about it, nothing in advance, doesn't say, what should we do? He just presents the card of victory in front of my face.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, so for the people who may not have kept entirely up to date. Two years ago, was it two years ago, 20, 23 or 22? You resigned 23. In 23. You resigned as Prime Minister of New Zealand. What's life been like since then? Since you are not the leader of.

[Stephen Colbert]

One of the five eyes, it's a simpler. It's a simpler life. I've been at Harvard, I've had a fellowship, so I've been in Cambridge for a little while, which has been wonderful. I still do work on climate. I still do work on light subjects like violent extremism online. And I still do work on leadership, including writing a Book. So it's been great.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, do you miss anything about being Prime Minister? I imagine it's a tough gig.

[Stephen Colbert]

It is a tough gig, but it is, you know, every day you're reminded of what a privilege it is. And I miss home as well. I do miss home. You've been there.

[Jacinda Ardern]

I love New Zealand.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's the most wonderful place again. And, you know, once you're an ambassador, you're always an ambassador. Visit New Zealand. It's one flight from New York direct.

[Jacinda Ardern]

To 17 hour flight.

[Stephen Colbert]

But it's just the one flight.

[Jacinda Ardern]

But it's just one flight. You can watch all three extended versions of the Lord of the Rings.

[Stephen Colbert]

Absolutely.

[Jacinda Ardern]

And then when you land, you're ready to go.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

You understand it. You've been living in Massachusetts with Clark and your daughter.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Are there any similarities between Bostonians, which are very distinct type of Americans? Distinct as a compliment, Bostonians and Kiwis. Is there anything you guys?

[Stephen Colbert]

No. I mean, I've lived in Arizona, I lived briefly in New York and now obviously the time in Boston. It is probably the place where I find myself most easily understood. You know, you park, park the car, you know, you're wicked smart. You know, there's just a little, a little similarity, but also really, you know, this is a massive generalisation, but really kind, pragmatic, Good sorts, as we'd say in New Zealand.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Good sorts, exactly. And also in Boston, they don't like you to get above yourself, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

No. Or make any error on the roads, I think they call it. That's when people turn into mass holes. I think they say the mass hol.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Yeah, that's exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

Are you allowed to say this?

[Jacinda Ardern]

Can't wait to say that. We'll find out. We'll find out. So your daughter, who's six now, I believe, how does she like America?

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, there's lots of things that she. She misses home, but she, she really enjoys the dollar store.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Oh yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Big fan. Massive fan.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Just kind of let her.

[Stephen Colbert]

She does believe there's been some inflation lately. She thinks there are. Well, she thinks there are more things in the $3 category now than the $1 category and she's very upset about that.

[Jacinda Ardern]

So she's gonna grow up to be an economist?

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't know.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, in this memoir, again, once again, a different kind of power. We're all familiar here and watch the news of how people exercise power and how people want power and will do almost anything to get a certain type of power. What is the different type of power you're talking about in your book here.

[Stephen Colbert]

It'S actually got a little bit of a dual meaning for me. You know, on the face of it, it's the obvious thing that, you know, we have choices in leadership, particularly in politics. You know, when you're in times of crisis, when you're in times when people have fear and uncertainty, you can either weaponise that, you can either try and appeal to people by using fear and blame, or you can actually tackle the issues that are genuinely affecting people's lives. And you can do it with a people centred approach that has kindness and empathy and strength and courage and resilience as well. Because I do think those two things can go together.

[Jacinda Ardern]

I do think they can go together too.

[Stephen Colbert]

But there's a little bit hidden extra layer in it as well that you can also be someone that suffers a little bit of imposter syndrome or self doubt.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Oh, do you have that?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Spades, Spades. This is quite a terrifying experience that you're joining me with.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Would you be out here?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Jacinda Ardern]

These are the nicest people in the world.

[Stephen Colbert]

They're lovely. This is a lovely audience. But you're Stephen Colbert and you're a little bit of a big deal where I come from.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Oh, am I really?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

That's why I like it down there.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We have to take a quick break. Right back with more Jacinda Arden, everybody.

[Stephen Colbert]

McCrispy strips are now at McDonald's. I hope you're ready for the most.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Dippable chicken in McDonald's history.

[Stephen Colbert]

Dip it in all the sauces. Dip it in that hot sauce in your bag. Dip it in your McFlurry. Your dip is your business. McCrispy strips at McDonald's. 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 kids 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. Hey everybody.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We're back with the author of A Different Kind of Power, Jacinda Ardern. You write about it's not just your political life and it's not just the life that we know from your public service, but also from your childhood. You talk about from your childhood, your sense of stage fright when you were younger.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Through. You know, you're trying to conceive, which is you're the. You were a world leader, you know, giving birth in office.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

How long. When did you know that you were gonna have a child? Were you already in office or before you.

[Stephen Colbert]

No. I mean, it was probably the most awkward timing you could possibly have imagined because in New Zealand, you don't always know that you're. That you've won on election night. That was certainly the case in 2017.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We used to. But we don't know anymore.

[Stephen Colbert]

So in our case, we had our outcome, and there was one party that held the balance of power, so they negotiated with our party and the Conservatives. We were in the middle of those negotiations, about three days out from them, concluding, waiting to see if I would become prime minister when I found out I was pregnant. That's what I said. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

And the thing that people may not know or may not remember from the times you talked about the. Is that you weren't originally the candidate. There was a. There was someone ahead of you. Were one of the.

[Stephen Colbert]

I mean, you may be familiar with this turn of events or this kind of scenario, but about seven weeks out from the election, the leader who was running to be prime minister, and my team stood down, and then he nominated me.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Even though you said, I don't do that.

[Stephen Colbert]

I had very clearly said to him that I did not feel it was a winning strategy, and I also didn't think that I was the best choice. And so I tried to convince him to stay, but he had another idea and he nominated me. And seven weeks later, I found myself as Prime Minister.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, I've never. I've never written a memoir. I've never written a memoir. What was it? You should really.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

I'm not sure if that interesting, but is that. What was this experience like for you? What did it do for you to write a memoir?

[Stephen Colbert]

It was hard. It was really hard work. And then there's this curious thing. When you write a memoir, when people then go and review it, they're kind of reviewing your life as well as the way you've written about your life, but the experience of it itself. A friend, when I tried to explain to them how it felt, they said, oh, so it's therapy with a deadline. And that's quite accurate. I mean, if you choose to, you can put a lot of yourself on a page if you choose to. And for better or worse, that's what I've chosen to do.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, there's a moment that a lot of people in the world saw and saw that you were a different type of leader. And I just love this photograph right here. Give me a second. This is when you walked onto the floor of the UN General assembly with your daughter in your arms. Looking back, looking back, this is six years ago.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

What do you, what, what do you remember of that time? What do you remember of that moment?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I remember not being aware of the cameras and you can tell that we're not really aware of them because poor old Paula, look at this face she's making here. We were just, we were just on the General assembly floor after an event for Nelson Mandela and I came down and unexpectedly Clark had brought Nev over because she'd woken early from a nap. So I was just having a very normal moment of saying hello to my four month old baby. And what I hope though, people see is that there wasn't just a photo of me. That whole group of people helped me be Prime Minister and a mother. So I had a team.

[Jacinda Ardern]

The book, Book. I like this, I like the dedication here. The book is dedicated to criers, worriers and huggers and on behalf of all of us. Why, why did you dedicate it to us?

[Stephen Colbert]

When it first came, when it first came through on the edit, they had this italicized and it looked like to the criers, warriors and buggers. And I thought in New Zealand that would be all right, but probably not anywhere else. I, I, I did that because when I left Parliament I gave a, I gave a speech where I just, you know, took the lid off a little bit and talked a little bit about all of the things that I bought to politics that I thought were incompatible. You know, being a bit of a warrior, you know, being quite, you know, openly in times of grief, you know, a bit more open with human emotion. And after I talked about that, a lot of people came up to me behind closed hands and would say what that meant to them. And so I thought maybe it's time to give them a little bit of a nudge, that those are the individuals that I think we need a bit more of, the ones with humility, the ones who do wear their heart on their side and you can lead and have those traits. So that's why it's dedicated to them.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, one of the things, as you said earlier, that you've suffered from imposter syndrome when you were younger and that you thought maybe you'd be too thin skinned when you were younger to be in politics. And there's a reason to worry about being because you do get a lot of slings and arrows. I understand that you have a suspicion that maybe some members of your family did not vote for you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, I mean, I come from a very politically diverse family and I brought my grandmother to one of my early, one of my early candidate meetings and I was asked a question from the floor about climate change and I spoke passionately on my views and the room booed me. And I've never to this day been able to determine whether my grandmother joined them or not.

[Jacinda Ardern]

She was not a Labour Party member.

[Stephen Colbert]

She was not. I mean, she very sadly passed during the election campaign, but beautifully before she passed, told me how proud she was of me, but then suspiciously, was never forced to break her record of voting conservatively her whole living life. So Lee's here.

[Jacinda Ardern]

We're going to take another break. We'll be right back with more. Jacinda Ardern, everybody. We're back with the author of the new memoir A Different Kind of Power, Jacinda Ardern. Now, throughout the book, you talk about, you describe sometimes grappling with your faith.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

And then ultimately decided to leave the Mormon Church. Now, I'm just curious, without that religious upbringing, do you think you would have been as civil minded as you are? Because certainly in the United States, Mormons are very dedicated to democracy and the idea of the Constitution is extremely important to them. And did you learn some of that from your faith?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, certainly. I mean, I remember one of the really significant parts of being part of that community growing up in New Zealand. And there are a few, a few cultural differences between the church in those two places, but service is so consistent. I just remember how service orientated, you know, our world was as a member of the church. I couldn't tell you whether or not I would have been as civically minded otherwise. But I think probably the biggest determining factor were my parents. You know, people always think when you're a politician that all your role models are other politicians. But, you know, as cliched as it seems, mine was my mum and dad. They're just such good people.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Yeah, lovely. Well, as good as the book, as lovely as the book is, if people want some sort of a visual aid, a supplement to go with that, you're the subject of a fantastic documentary that I've had the chance to see, which comes to theaters on June 13th. It's called Prime Minister, and it captures the intense highs and lows of your five years as prime Minister of New Zealand and some of the footage comes from extremely private moments because Clark basically, when you got sort of forced to the front of the labor party to run, Clark picked up a camera.

[Stephen Colbert]

He did.

[Jacinda Ardern]

And pointed at you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jacinda Ardern]

And how did that go over?

[Stephen Colbert]

Not well. I mean, his background is as a broadcaster, so I imagine it probably was instinctive to him. He thought, oh, this seems important. Maybe I should document it. So he did. He just picked up a camera. But, you know, I really credit him for sticking with it because I was pretty hard to film. I would often tell him to stop or to go away. Very politely, of course, but he persisted, and I'm glad he persisted because I think it gives an insight to leadership in a really human way.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Well, it's a beautiful documentary and moving in many ways and very funny. We got a clip right here. What are we gonna see, do you know?

[Stephen Colbert]

I think you're gonna see. I think you're going to see the wonderful people that I worked with putting on a birthday cake for me in the office. And you'll probably see a little bit of my daughter when she's younger. Thank you, everyone, for always supporting me. Even though I curse your name when this thing comes to me. Nev. When she sees me pick this up, says, bye, bye, see you tomorrow. Hello again.

[Jacinda Ardern]

I just wondered if you wanted to.

[Stephen Colbert]

Take the opportunity of sort of reflecting back on that first term as a prime minister. I don't even know how to sum it up. Everything about it was unexpected. It amazes me that the things that you campaign on can sometimes become the most irrelevant thing that you'll be doing.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Jacinda, so lovely to see you. Thank you for coming on.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you, thank you.

[Jacinda Ardern]

Her book A Different Kind of Power is out now. The documentary Prime Minister is in theaters June 13th. Jacinda Ardern, everybody. Thank you for listening to The Late Show PodC with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. This summer, Pluto TV is exploding with thousands of free movies stream hits like Good Burger, Four Brothers, the Wood, Paid in Full and Beverly Hills Cop all for free. It's Summer of Cinema on Pluto TV Stream now pay never. Summer of cinema is here and Pluto TV is exploding with thousands of free movies streamed blockbusters like Gladiator, Mission Impossible, Beverly Hills Cop and Good Burger all totally free on Pluto TV Stream now pay never.