Stephen Presents: Jack White, Nick Offerman & Jeff Tweedy (Extended)

Summary

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The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Stephen Presents: Jack White, Nick Offerman & Jeff Tweedy (Extended)

Date: April 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

This extended episode of The Late Show Pod Show brings together three of Stephen Colbert's favorite guests and friends: Jack White, Nick Offerman, and Jeff Tweedy. The main theme centers on gratitude, the creative process in music and art, and the ties of friendship formed both on- and off-stage. The episode dives deep into personal stories about family, creativity, collaboration, and the camaraderie that often develops from years in show business.

Stephen and his producer reflect on what it means to work in such a "meditative respite" and the lessons learned from their time together on the show. The conversations with Jack White, Nick Offerman, and Jeff Tweedy offer both humorous and heartfelt insights into their lives and creative philosophies.

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Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Stephen & Producer Steven Reflect on Show Business and Friendship

• Gratitude and Nostalgia in Show Business
  • Stephen and producer Steven open with a candid discussion about the fleeting nature of TV work, why they try not to dwell on past shows, and the gratitude they have for creating the pod show (01:30–04:04).
    • "You gotta fully flush what you just did and then just do the next show." – Stephen (02:20)
• The Nature of Collaboration
  • Talk about how mistakes are forgotten quickly in TV due to the fast pace, making it a good training ground for resilience (07:21–08:25).
    • “If I mess something up one day, the amount of grace people have around you—that’s like, ‘it’s okay, we have another show tomorrow.’” – Producer Steven (07:53)
    • "Don't remind me of my failures. I had not forgotten them." – Stephen, quoting Jackson Browne (08:25)

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2. Jack White: Music, Family, and Artistic Growth

Extended Interview Segment (08:50–23:23)

• Family Roots and Upbringing

  • Jack White shares stories of being the youngest of 10 in a noisy Detroit household, bonding over being from large Catholic families (09:43–10:05).
    • “There was 10 kids in the family, so there was already a lot of noise going on.” – Jack White (09:46)
    • “I'm the youngest of 11.” – Stephen Colbert (09:54)

• Musical Beginnings and Early Inspirations

  • Jack reveals he started as a drummer, idolizing Gene Krupa and Mitch Mitchell, and only transitioned to guitar later (10:36–10:51).
  • Vivid story from Montessori school about anxiety to perform |shave and a haircut two bits| as a child—his first taste of showbiz ("still trying to beat that kid," 12:27–13:26).

• Changes in Music Creation & AI Concerns

  • Discusses how young musicians today can produce music alone but lose some emotional connection by not playing together live (11:02–11:43).
    • “The lack of playing together is kind of becoming a disease…they’ve never actually played live in a room together.” – Jack White (11:32)
  • Musings on AI in music and how audiences crave authentic live experiences (11:44–12:23).
    • “It’s this thing we created that nobody likes. But we're just not going to do anything about it. It's just going to ruin the universe.” – Jack White (11:56)
    • “People want to be able to see human beings with other human beings performing things written about being human for humans in front of real human.” – Stephen Colbert (12:09)

• Remembering Family – Tribute to Jack’s Mother

  • Emotional stories about his mother, Teresa, after her passing; anecdotes highlighting her humor and strength (14:27–16:18).
    • “She was a saint…incredibly funny without realizing how funny she was.” – Jack White (15:14)
    • Shares a sweet story about doing donuts in a church parking lot and her witty response: “Well, they have coffee and donuts after mass.” (15:51)

• Art and Sculpture: New Ventures

  • Jack introduces his first sculpture show in London, inspired by Damien Hirst, and describes the “fake palette company” art project (16:31–17:41).
  • Explains how reupholstering furniture is a metaphor for his creative process—taking the old and transforming it into something new, both in music and visual art (18:00–18:52).
    • “Maybe that's what I've been doing with all the art I've been working on. If it's sculptures or music…taking something from the past that I really enjoy, and incorporating something brand new and remaking it, synthesizing it into something different.” – Jack White (18:10)

• Hidden Treasures in Art

  • Jack describes writing poetry and hiding records inside reupholstered chairs as an inside joke for upholsterers—creating “secret” art within ordinary objects (19:18–19:35).

• Space & Humanity

  • Shared excitement about the Artemis mission, space travel, and the sense of collective human achievement (20:09–21:04).
    • “There’s a real sense that humanity’s doing it.” – Stephen Colbert (20:47)

• Poetry Reading

  • Jack recites his poem “Jus Suppose to juxtapose” from his new book, touching on art, love, and the nature of human striving (22:11–23:23).
    • "But love cannot be compared or dissected or defined to be negative...it is. Love is. And we desire it and need it and deserve it. But it's not free. Well, it should be." – Jack White (23:08)

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3. Nick Offerman & Jeff Tweedy: Friendship, Collaboration, and Stories

Extended Interview Segment (24:58–33:37)

• The Origin of Their Friendship

  • Nick tells how he admired Jeff’s music for decades before casting him on Parks and Recreation—fulfilling a “John Lennon” slot in Nick’s emotional life (25:46–26:38).
    • "For about 20 years, Jeff was the particular...he was like my John Lennon or..." – Nick Offerman (25:50)
  • Jeff’s self-deprecating humor about playing a “washed up Midwestern rocker” on the show (26:48–26:54).

• Collaborative Humor

  • Banter about the lack of reciprocation in woodworking gifts, riffing on friendship levels (25:38–25:45).
  • Nick describes getting in shape and spray-tanned for his new role as a pro wrestler, sharing the absurdity of "Kardashian spray tan" via Jimmy Coco (28:31–29:15).
    • “You're sprayed with a sort of paint, and then you're not allowed to sweat or touch anything. And everything in my house is white. So I was forced to canoodle with my wife out in the yard.” – Nick Offerman (29:15)

• Musical Collaboration

  • Nick and Jeff composed “Songs about Woodworking” as exclusive tracks for the Good Clean Fun audiobook (29:37–30:19).
    • "At the end of my woodworking book...there are like five or six songs that we do together...Nick sings them." – Nick Offerman / Stephen Colbert (29:52–30:19)
    • Nick relates the nerves of singing with/after Jeff Tweedy on record (“aspirational karaoke”; 31:01–31:13).

• Friendship Adventures and Group Texts

  • Discuss their group text with Colbert and George Saunders—with Stephen hilariously suspecting a second, more active thread he’s excluded from (27:07–28:05).
  • Recollections of hiking trips and near mishaps, like Jeff saving George Saunders’ glasses from a river in Glacier National Park (31:55–32:15).

• Invitation to Further Friendship

  • Nick jokes that Stephen is being evaluated for inclusion on future adventures — “if you pass tonight, then we take you with us to a second location” (33:01–33:12).
    • “We're here to evaluate your behavior and comportment for one last time. And if you pass tonight, then we take you with us to a second location.” – Nick Offerman (33:05)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the flow of show business:

  • “You gotta fully flush what you just did and then just do the next show.” – Stephen Colbert (02:20)

• On musician collaboration:

  • “The lack of playing together is kind of becoming a disease.” – Jack White (11:32)

• On AI and humanity:

  • “It's this thing we created that nobody likes. But we're just not going to do anything about it. It's just going to ruin the universe.” – Jack White (11:56)

• On hidden art:

  • “We hid records in a lot of them [chairs]…upholsterers are the only people who see these. We should have our own inside jokes and tell the stories to each other.” – Jack White (19:33)

• On love, from Jack’s poem:

  • “Love is. And we desire it and need it and deserve it. But it's not free. Well, it should be.” – Jack White (23:08)

• On friendship and collaboration:

  • “For about 20 years, Jeff was the particular…he was like my John Lennon or…I would get his records and say to my friends, how does he see into my soul?” – Nick Offerman (25:50)

• On the absurdity of Hollywood life:

  • “I was forced to canoodle with my wife out in the yard. That's what the picture's from.” – Nick Offerman (29:15)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Details | |-----------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:30 | Opening Reflection | Stephen & Producer Steven on TV/podcast life | | 08:50 | Jack White Interview Begins | Childhood, family, musical origins | | 11:44 | AI & Live Music Discussion | Concerns about tech in music | | 14:27 | Remembering Jack’s Mother | Story & impact | | 16:31 | Sculpture & Art | Jack's new art show | | 18:00 | Creative Process Metaphor | Upholstery as metaphor | | 20:09 | Artemis Mission & Collective Achievement | Space discussion | | 22:11 | Poetry/Book Reading | Jack’s poem “Jus Suppose to juxtapose” | | 24:58 | Offerman & Tweedy Interview Begins | Friendship origins, Parks & Rec, group texts | | 29:37 | Song Collaboration | “Songs about Woodworking” story | | 31:55 | Hiking Adventure with George Saunders | Group bonding anecdotes | | 33:01 | Evaluation for Next Adventure | Nick jokes about Stephen in the friend group |

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Conclusion

This warm and sprawling episode is as much about creative gratitude and personal connections as it is about the music, art, and legendary status of its guests. Jack White’s stories blend humor and vulnerability, Nick Offerman and Jeff Tweedy bring a unique blend of admiration and gently acerbic wit, and Stephen keeps the conversation candid, inclusive, and deeply personal.

Fans and newcomers alike will find insight into the realities of creative work, enduring friendship, and the ongoing human project—whether reupholstering a chair, starting a band, writing poetry, or simply sending a text in a shared group chat.

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Transcript

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[Stephen Colbert]

Becca.

[Producer Steven]

Hi Steven.

[Stephen Colbert]

I am so looking forward to today's POD show intro.

[Producer Steven]

Me too. Me too.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thanks for doing these because this, this one will be a synecdoche for all the ones that we have done before. And I just. Before we go any further, I just want to thank you for producing this podcast for so many years now and let you know how much I've enjoyed the almost meditative respite it has been to sit in this little quiet room with you. It's like we're not in the building at all.

[Producer Steven]

I know.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's almost like you and I, years later, are meeting to talk about what it was like to do the show. Yeah, but we do it like every five weeks. Yeah, but it really has felt like there's like we have little bits of nostalgia for things we just did.

[Producer Steven]

Mm.

[Stephen Colbert]

The crazy thing about doing the show is that because it's such a gallop and every day or as I like to call it the Flaming Toboggan Ride and that you cannot hold on preciously to the memory of any of it. You gotta fully flush what you just did and then just do the next show just. Cause it just makes it easier to focus on the next thing you have to do. And that's great. I'm glad yesterday's show went well. I can't really tell you much about what happened yesterday, because I am fully focused on what we're going to do tonight and, like, 5% on what's gonna happen tomorrow.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

So that's only to say I feel like you and I have set ourselves up really well to see each other after the show's over, because we've already got the vibe.

[Producer Steven]

I know. I love talking to you, Steven.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, I love talking to you, too. This is. You're a great conversationalist, but I mean that.

[Producer Steven]

Like, I know that you are the celebrity boss, which is a game we played on this podcast before. But I feel like I've been watching you in the writers meeting. We're around each other all the time. I have a much lower role than you do at this show, but I have always just felt like this guy is just down to hang out, and I'm really. There's so many things I want to say that I will write in a card and we'll talk about later. And we have a month ago. So I'm not going to cry on the podcast today. I hope. My goal for these podcasts is that they're centered around the gratitude we both have for getting to work someplace like this.

[Stephen Colbert]

I hope so. I hope so, too. I will not have time to do everything I want to do for everybody. I want to do it for here. So I'll just use this opportunity right now.

[Producer Steven]

Oh, Stephen, thanks so much. All right.

[Commercial Narrator]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you, Becca. You're an absolute joy to work with.

[Producer Steven]

You too, Stephen.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right, let's do it.

[Producer Steven]

All right. All right, let's podcast. Well, I have something kind of also centered around gratitude today. I want to do the Nick Offerman Jeff Tweedy combo interview we just did, and also a Jack White extended interview. Because here's what I want to group up with all these people who are people you've met through this show who are now your friends.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Producer Steven]

And that's a really beautiful thing. And for Celebrity Boss, which I just said is a. Is a game we play sometimes where I ask my celebrity boss questions about being a celebrity.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Producer Steven]

Because I have access to him, and I don't have access to Other celebrities, I guess. Who was the last rock star or a musician of great acclaim that you sent a personal text to?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, Jack. I mean, Jack. Because we're doing this other thing that people don't need to know about yet.

[Producer Steven]

Cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

We're doing this other thing. Kind of a surprise thing. I don't know. I'll look in here. Elvis Costello.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah, let's. I mean, come on.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah. What is.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. He's in my phone as Declan.

[Producer Steven]

What's that? I know you.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's his name. Declan McManus.

[Producer Steven]

Oh, great.

[Stephen Colbert]

He was born Declan McManus, I think, back then. Declan Aloysius McManus. But I might be throwing the Aloysius in there just because I love the name now.

[Producer Steven]

Is Jack White someone you became buddies with during the rapport years?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Producer Steven]

Okay, cool. Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I went down to Nashville to interview him at Third Man.

[Producer Steven]

Oh, so cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

And we had a great time. And what I didn't know was that he's one of 10 kids. He's the youngest of 10. I'm the youngest of 11. Youngest of 10 kids. And just how Catholic his upbringing was. And it felt very similarly Catholic. So we had a Catholic throw where we fought each other with, like, liturgical or relic trivia, stuff like that. You know, I'm hitting him with, like, I tried to get him to name, like, what a surplus is, you know, and he tried to hit me with a Monstron. And I don't know what your religious upbringing was, but Jewish with a little

[Producer Steven]

bit of Catholic in there thrown in there. Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

So. But we hit it off. And I also hit it off just because some people, actually, some famous people, really like talking to that old character because he gave nobody any respect whatsoever. And I think they found refreshing to be fucked with, matter of fact. Like, if I had Paul Simon on the other night. Oh, I texted Paul Simon.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. So I had Paul Simon on the other night, and he. I fucked with him. I don't know. And he seemed to like it because I guess people don't fuck with Paul Simon that much. It might be refreshing. And I thought I should do a show called Fucking with Legends with your host, Stephen Colbert, where I just don't give them any respect as opposed to being like the sort of the, you know, the soft focus, Barbara Walters, you know, Oprah treatment or something like that. Just give them hell. From hell to breakfast, definitely. So anyway. Anyway, we got. We just hit it off. We hit it off over Bob Seger, you know, also another Detroit rocker. Yeah, it's time for Segers to have a comeback, in my opinion.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

We're time for the resigrants.

[Producer Steven]

Oh, that's a T shirt. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, it's time for the resigrants. Oh, hell yeah.

[Producer Steven]

Okay, cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the Silver Bullet band.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And so, I don't know, we just hit it off and I don't know, we just kept in touch over the years. Yeah, yeah, I admire him.

[Producer Steven]

Sweet guy. This is a great extended interview. We got all the good bits in there. Please enjoy. And before we end this podcast, I just want to tell you that the thing that you said about, like, oh, we delete what happened the day before and we keep going forward. Yeah, that's been. This is the first, like, real job I've had. I got very lucky that this is the first, like, real TV job I've had in my life.

[Stephen Colbert]

And how long have you been here?

[Producer Steven]

Like six and a half years. Almost seven.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's good. TV jobs usually don't last that long.

[Producer Steven]

I know.

[Stephen Colbert]

I hate to tell you, you're about to get into real show business.

[Producer Steven]

I'm going to be scrappy and I'm going to figure it out. It's all going to be fine, but

[Stephen Colbert]

it's going to be fine.

[Producer Steven]

I can't tell you how amazing that has been to learn how to do a job like this or any job, which is that if I, I mess something up one day, the amount of like, grace people have around you, that's like, it's okay. We have another show tomorrow. Like, nobody remembers the mistake you made yesterday. As long as you go in the next day, you know? Totally. I don't know, it's just been because

[Stephen Colbert]

you know why it's been a great training ground because I, and I know everybody who works here because they're pros is remembering it themselves.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You don't need to remind anybody.

[Producer Steven]

Exactly, exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

There's a great line from Jackson Brown which is, don't remind me of my failures. I had not forgotten them.

[Producer Steven]

Exactly, exactly. All right, enjoy the podcast. Wait, we have one more if you have time.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, there's another one after this. Oh, the no handshake then.

[Producer Steven]

Okay, no. Jack White. Nick Offerman. Jeff Duiti. Enjoy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back, friends. Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest Tonight is a 12 time Grammy Award winning Rock and Roll hall of Famer. Please welcome back to the Late show, Jack White.

[Jack White]

Wow, this crowd is so welcoming.

[Nick Offerman]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nice to see you again.

[Jack White]

See you too. The great Louis Cato over there. Yes. Come on, man.

[Stephen Colbert]

Great big joy machine.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, last November White Stripes were inducted in Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

[Nick Offerman]

All right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Congrats. Congrats on that. Is it a nice night?

[Jack White]

Yeah, it was wild.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. So in your speech, you thanked your family for a lot of things, but for letting you. Let's see. Make all that noise in the house all the time growing up.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

What kind of. What kind of noise are we talking?

[Jack White]

Well, there's 10 kids in the family, so there was already a lot of noise going on.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you fall.

[Jack White]

I'm the youngest of the 10. You know what that's like?

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure. I'm the youngest of 11.

[Nick Offerman]

They get it.

[Jack White]

You beat me.

[Stephen Colbert]

Finally got it right.

[Jack White]

Yes, that's right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Keep trying. Okay, so it's already noisy because there are 10 people there. Chaos.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then.

[Jack White]

But it's also in inner city Detroit, too, which in the 70s and 80s was kind of. You could probably set up your band on the front lawn and nobody. You could do whatever you wanted, you know, so we were. That was in the mix, too. But it was really gracious of them to let me. My parents letting me make so much noise, though.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you up. Down to the basement?

[Jack White]

Up in the attic.

[Stephen Colbert]

Up in the attic, yes.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you're broadcasting to the entire neighborhood.

[Jack White]

Yes, exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

Why the attic? Did it not have a basement?

[Jack White]

I think the basement was full of about 60 years of clothing from all these kids, you know, so.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, there it is.

[Jack White]

Yeah. My dad's tools and stuff, too.

[Stephen Colbert]

Was it always guitar? Did you play other instruments?

[Jack White]

No. Drums was all I played growing up.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, really?

[Jack White]

Yeah. All I wanted to be was a drummer. Gene Krupa, Mitch Mitchell.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Jack White]

And this was. Yeah, guitar was, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm so sorry. Not sorry to work out for you.

[Jack White]

I'm sorry.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, too.

[Jack White]

Yeah. So I thought maybe tonight I could audition and.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, well, if you. At the end of the interview, you want to jump in over there, no

[Jack White]

one's gonna stop you. He's doing too good already. I'm not gonna mess.

[Stephen Colbert]

How is it different? So how do you think? Do you get a sense of how it's different for, like, when you were a young musician coming up to. When it's like a young person coming up today, like, what the different challenges are?

[Jack White]

Yeah, I think it's. It's kind of easier in certain ways because people learn how to record on their own. They learn how to produce themself in their own kind of living rooms, their own bedrooms and, you know. But at the same time, the lack of playing together is kind of becoming a disease. You Know. Like.

[Commercial Narrator]

What do you mean?

[Jack White]

Like young bands might come and.

[Stephen Colbert]

Too much layering.

[Jack White]

They've never actually played live in a room together. Like record all at the same time. They were. You know, you record that part and then we'll do this part.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right. Right.

[Jack White]

So it's. But I think that's finally starting to come back and go away.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right.

[Jack White]

You want to see that. Right? Yeah. It's soulfulness is becoming more of a. In the as AI takes over more and more. And people. Does anybody like.

[Stephen Colbert]

AI

[Jack White]

seems like the. As. As our species. Like it's this thing we created that nobody likes. But we're just not going to do anything about it. It's just going to ruin the universe.

[Stephen Colbert]

The money. The money likes it for some reason.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because the money's already spent so much money on the money.

[Jack White]

Yeah. So.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. I don't know how I think I might be good for live performances because people want to be able to see human beings with other human beings performing things written about being human for humans in front of real human.

[Jack White]

Exactly. It'll ensure. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. You got to go live. Know that it's real.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Where did you discover your own musicality? Where did that. Where did that.

[Jack White]

It was.

[Stephen Colbert]

There's a moment. Or is there like a year that was big for you.

[Jack White]

There was a moment. I went to Montessori school and it was like a Salvation army building for unwed mothers. And they had a Montessori school in there. And my mother got me in there. And they had like a little recital when we were five years old. And so there was a little semicircle of kids and they handed a pair of bongos to the kid on the. And it was going around. Everybody play. And I was the last person on the end. And I was so filled with anxiety. Not for the reason that you think, though. The reason I was filled with anxiety is. Was I want to do shave in a haircut two bits, but some other kid's gonna do it before it gets to me.

[Stephen Colbert]

And.

[Jack White]

Well. And what you're witnessing. Anytime you've ever seen me make music, I'm still trying to beat that kid and do shave and haircut to bits first.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did somebody beat you?

[Jack White]

No. I got to do it. So. Yeah. Wow. So that's nice. But I got. Not only that it went around and I did it also. I was still in the mindset. I remember this. Doing it for myself. Like, I thought that's what I wanted to do. And it killed. You know, to a group of parents of 20 parents or something. Everybody laughed, but that was the first showbiz moment.

[Stephen Colbert]

Really?

[Jack White]

Then.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Youngest of 10. Youngest of 11.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

We've never done the race. Like, who could say the brothers and sisters faster than the other?

[Jack White]

You're gonna beat me.

[Stephen Colbert]

I've got one more than you, though, right?

[Jack White]

You're gonna see me.

[Stephen Colbert]

So I've got a handicap.

[Jack White]

I don't think I'm gonna do the

[Stephen Colbert]

1, 2, 3, go. How about that?

[Jack White]

We remembered it was Mars J. Blah Jay with the first initial. So Maureen and race team.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wait, no, no, we're gonna do it together.

[Jack White]

Oh, at the same time.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's called a race, baby.

[Jack White]

Okay.

[Nick Offerman]

All right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, so 1, 2, 3, and then we'll go. Ready?

[Jack White]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

1, 2, 3. Jimmy, Eddie, Mary, Billy, Mar, Tommy, J.

[Jack White]

Loop, Barb, Leo, Eddie, Alan. You on that one?

[Stephen Colbert]

I got it.

[Jack White]

I knew it.

[Stephen Colbert]

I can't play the guitar. You know, I wrote you about this recently. I was very sorry to hear about the passing of your mom, Teresa. You know, especially a big family, the mom is so important, holds everybody together. Just last month, you posted some beautiful photos. Ebi and I were looking at these this weekend. Some beautiful photos of you and your mom. Here you are on stage. Look how much pride she's got in you. And this is just fantastic. This is her doing your hair for you backstage.

[Jack White]

In this photo, I'm sitting down. In this photo, she's standing up.

[Stephen Colbert]

She was a very strong woman. Other than minuscule. How. How do you best remember your mother?

[Jack White]

Tell us about that. She was. She's a saint. She was just a saint, you know? And she said something. She was kind of. She. Incredibly funny. Without realizing how funny she was. If you love that kind of person, you have someone out in your life. Like that winter. Last winter, I was driving. She wanted to go to Mass, so. At this Capuchin monastery. So I took her to Mass, and it was my kids in the back, Scarlet and Henry and my mom in the front. And we're driving this Jeep. And it's icy in Detroit in the wintertime, of course. So just to get a little reaction out of her, I thought I'd give a. Just slide the truck a little bit. There's no cars, no people around at all. Empty streets of Detroit. So I just went, you know, just.

[Producer Steven]

Mm.

[Jack White]

Just a little turn. She goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop that. That's not funny. And I'm like, no, mom, it's really icy. I can't. I don't know if I can control it that way. She goes, well, you have to get control of it. I said, well, listen, when I get to the church parking lot, I'm going to be doing donuts when we get to the church parking lot. And she goes, well, they have coffee and donuts after mass. That's who she was.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh. People think of you, obviously, as a musician, but you're also a very, very visual guy. You're about to do your first public

[Nick Offerman]

sculpture show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Here we go. This is where.

[Jack White]

Gallery in London.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Jack White]

He invited. He asked me. I showed him some pictures of my sculptures I've worked on over the years.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's called Platinum. Yeah.

[Jack White]

This is a. So this is a. I was garbage picking these wood pallets, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yep.

[Jack White]

And I found that they made metal ones. So I had this one chrome plated, so you can't. It's hard to see in the photo, but it's fully reflective, like a mirror. The idea is this is a fake company. This part of the art show is a fake palette company that thinks they need to make pallets for different industries. So that's the platinum edition. That's the platinum.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, for the finest in your pallet needs. Yeah, yeah, go all the way. Throw it in.

[Jack White]

This one, this is the fruit sellers roadside palette.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Jack White]

So, you know, a country, they think that they need to make this specifically for them.

[Stephen Colbert]

And this one.

[Jack White]

Oh, and this is the presidential model.

[Stephen Colbert]

Also. Also. I mean, does that make you nervous at all that people show you another, like, another side of yourself, another form of your art?

[Jack White]

It's nice to be in a spot where, you know, Damien Hirst, of all people, encouraging me to do it. Because when I was first doing it in the 90s, I was doing upholstery in my studio and sculpture. Nobody said, hey, you should do a show, or, why don't you do a show? No one. I just assumed I couldn't do one, you know, so it took this long.

[Stephen Colbert]

You've mentioned before that writing a song is like reupholstering a chair.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, I'll bite.

[Jack White]

It was something I kind of just learned about myself a couple years ago, which was, you know, when people say, oh, you make furniture? I said, no, I don't make furniture from scratch. I take old, beat up, kind of half destroyed furniture and bring it back to life. And I started to realize maybe that's what I've been doing with all the art I've been working on. If it's these sculptures or music or taking something from the past that I really enjoy and incorporating something brand new and remaking it, synthesizing it into something different. And then something. Then I think it's interesting. So I think I accidentally just formed all my art opinions based on bringing furniture back to life.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, what do you like, not metaphorically. What do you like about reupholstering chairs?

[Jack White]

They're softer.

[Stephen Colbert]

And do you still do it?

[Jack White]

Yeah, I do.

[Stephen Colbert]

I need some. I need some work done on the chairs. If I sent you a chair, could I get it reupholstered? Do I get to pick. Do I get to pick the fabric?

[Jack White]

We can do whatever you want.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right. Because I don't.

[Jack White]

But my chairs are actually sculptures. The interior of them, you would never know. You know, the interior of them is what I put all kinds of things that I created inside of them. I started off writing poetry inside of them and then also adding things that.

[Stephen Colbert]

So, like, years from now, if I cut it open.

[Jack White]

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I got to the point where actually we hid records. Hid records in a lot of them, in many pieces.

[Stephen Colbert]

That seems uncomfortable,

[Jack White]

but, yeah. So I thought it'd be nice because upholsterers are the only people who see these. We should have our own inside jokes and tell the stories to each other, so. Because I'd never seen anybody else write inside of one of all the chairs and couches I opened, but wow, you know. All right, How about the Artemis mission? Oh, baby. How great is that?

[Stephen Colbert]

Look at this art. He's got this. He's got this in his. That's on the side of his house. He's got one of the old NASA signs. How exciting is that?

[Jack White]

Yeah, they're the farthest humans have ever been from right now.

[Stephen Colbert]

I know I said that in the monologue. Did you not watch?

[Jack White]

I was prepping. I was prepping.

[Stephen Colbert]

Prepping, yeah. You were doing push ups.

[Jack White]

What's that? You do push ups? Lewis, teaching me some chords backstage.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you go. No, it's so exciting. My kids are really excited. And, like. No, this is what it felt like when, like, Apollo was going on. Exactly. It's incredible.

[Jack White]

This is it. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Jack White]

I wish we could just divert, you know, some funding to massive, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, what I love about it is that I've got a couple people who work writers for me who are not some American citizens now, but they weren't raised here. And they said, like, people around the world are going, oh, look, we're doing this. Yes, America's doing it. But there's a real sense that humanity is doing it. Humanity's doing it. That's a wonderful feeling.

[Producer Steven]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And how. And how is going back to the Moon. Like reupholstering a chair, Jack.

[Jack White]

Well, there's a dark side to every couch, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

You also have a new book. Yes, they have a new book out.

[Jack White]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

The book is called Jack Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing, Volume one.

[Nick Offerman]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Lyrics?

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Commercial Narrator]

Why?

[Jack White]

Good question. There's like a. This was kind of my test to write a book of poetry, which I thought I'd sneak it in with the lyrics of some of.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is there poetry in here other than

[Jack White]

your lyrics in the back?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. So you've snuck in a couple things that are hot.

[Jack White]

Can I read you one?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, I would love it. We love poetry. Please.

[Jack White]

Quick one. It's called Jus Suppose to juxtapose. All images are pornographic, they say. Taking something living and breathing with a soul and reducing it down to a two dimensional object you can crumble up and dispose of at will. All crime is a variation on theft, they say. Murder is theft of another person's life. Graffiti is theft of someone's property. A razor thin veneer of someone's property. All glory is fleeting, they say. Desired and sought after by so many. But all too often, maybe always, the reward is empty and pointless. But love cannot be compared or dissected or defined to be negative or pulverized and destroyed by cynical sentences and sour ravings. It cannot be denied or ignored. It is. Love is. And we desire it and need it and deserve it. But it's not free. Well, it should be.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you, Jack. That was beautiful. Jack White, everybody.

[Commercial Narrator]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Ladies and gentlemen, my next guests have won Grammys and Emmys and are New York Times best selling authors. They are also best friends. Please welcome back to the Late Show, Nick Offerman and Jeff Tweedy. Hey, fellas. Nice to see you.

[Nick Offerman]

Nice to see you, sir.

[Jack White]

Nice to see you.

[Stephen Colbert]

As is appropriate for whenever you guys are out here, we have the table that you made for me over there, Nick. And then everyone's using their Offerman Workshop coasters.

[Nick Offerman]

Thank you very kindly.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you go. You made. Yeah, limited edition. You made him a table?

[Nick Offerman]

I did, yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Has he ever made you a table? No. You'll get there. Yeah. We were best friends.

[Nick Offerman]

Stick around.

[Stephen Colbert]

How did you. How did you two become such friends? Where did this come about?

[Nick Offerman]

I mean, you know, Jeff has had a couple major bands in my life. First for briefly, uncle tupelo in the 90s. My cooler friends turn me onto them. And then soon enough that became Wilco. And so for. For about 20 years, Jeff was the particular. He was like my John Lennon or I. I would get his records and say to my friends, how does he see into my soul? Like he, we are in love, but he just doesn't know it yet. And I mean, literally, after 20 years, I had the opportunity. I was directing an episode of Parks and Rec and there was a role to beat Jeff by casting him on Parks and Recreation.

[Stephen Colbert]

And what was the part? Jeff washed up Midwestern rocker. How'd you feel about that?

[Jack White]

They said,

[Stephen Colbert]

I mean, I was hurt a little bit.

[Nick Offerman]

It just goes to show what a great actor you are, that you were

[Stephen Colbert]

able to pull it off, have it that. Yeah, good for you.

[Nick Offerman]

I mean, I get cast as like, overweight, indulgent hedonists. Yeah, that took a lot of training.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Okay, now, you people may not know that the two of you are dear friends along with the great writer George Saunders. And I found this out, and I know all three of you, but I did not know you together as a group. And I wheedled my way into a group text that you guys have. So there's a group text with all four of us here. And I'm just curious, do you have a group text that does not include me? Is there a. Because it doesn't light up that often. And I'm wondering, there has to be another one that I'm not part Of. Well, I mean, you're busy, Steve. I will soon be extremely available. That's why we're here. Oh, really? A trunk. Okay. What?

[Nick Offerman]

Yeah, I mean, group text. Did you know we were friends before you solicited us?

[Stephen Colbert]

But some of you became friends because of me, right?

[Nick Offerman]

That's true.

[Stephen Colbert]

I met George on the finale of the Colbert Report. All right.

[Jack White]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

So I want my. I don't. Daddy wants his 10% of that friendship over here. You sent. I got this. I got this recently from you. Maybe last year. I think maybe he sent it to all of us. I know it was unsolicited. What's happening here, Nick?

[Nick Offerman]

Well, that. I have a new show coming out called Margo's Got Money Troubles on Apple tv. And I. I. That's right. I play a former pro wrestler named Jinx. And so a guy named Grant Roberts helped me get my. My body in that shape.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Nick Offerman]

And a guy named Jimmy Coco sprayed me with spray tan.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is this what Jimmy Coco does professionally? It is. Or is this a volunteer job?

[Nick Offerman]

Jimmy Coco is the Kardashian spray tan guy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, is he really?

[Nick Offerman]

I got. Yeah, I went to the top.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy having the cocoa butter tan?

[Nick Offerman]

It is disgusting. I hate it. It's terrible. I mean, you're sprayed with a sort of paint, and then you're not allowed to sweat or touch anything. And everything in. In my house is white. And so I was forced to canoodle with my wife out in the yard. That's what. That's what the picture's from.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's hell on the grass.

[Nick Offerman]

I'm getting ready.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you guys collaborated, like, musically in any way? Yeah, we have. I wrote some songs with Nick for his woodworking book. Songs about Woodworking.

[Nick Offerman]

Yep, that's right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure.

[Nick Offerman]

At the end of my woodworking book, Good Clean fun, Jeff agreed to do some songs with me on the condition that they would only be available at the end of the audiobook of a woodworking book. It's called Good Clean Fun. It is [e-mail] and at the end of it, there are like five or six songs that we do together. A couple instrumentals.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nick sings them.

[Nick Offerman]

I do.

[Stephen Colbert]

You sing them.

[Nick Offerman]

Yeah. So when you do a song with Jeff, he has this wonderland called the Loft, where he produces his records, and he and Spencer, his son, like, they. I would come up with the woodworking words, and Jeff and Spencer would come up with the songs, and they would. They're so prolific, they would say, well, here are three choices for melodies Then you pick one and then they just lay down the tracks. And then Jeff. Jeff would sing the melody and then I would. My, my dear, the Bob Dylan of my life is in my headphone and I have to hear him sing and replace his voice with this.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you would sing along?

[Nick Offerman]

Yeah, because. Because he didn't agree to. To be on the record as a singer.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's. That's. It was.

[Nick Offerman]

It was the most.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's beyond wood shop cash. That's right. That's right there.

[Nick Offerman]

It's like some sort of aspirational karaoke where it was. It was so torturous. Where I'm like, why can't we just use your beautiful dulcet tones?

[Stephen Colbert]

Nah. Well, I know that we tried. The four of us tried to go hiking four years ago, right around now April up in Pisgah National Forest up in western North Carolina. Didn't work out. I had Covid. You guys kindly went and used the cabin I rented anyway, which is nice. Honest to God. I was very happy. You did. It was beautiful. We missed you. No, but I missed this too. What. What is happening here? This is you and George. You guys and George out. Where are you?

[Nick Offerman]

We're in Glacier National Park. We were. We were on a hiking trip together. That was for friendship, but also fuel for a book I was working on.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. And.

[Nick Offerman]

And that, I mean that the story of that was that Jeff saved the day by saving George's glasses from the river.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you dive in? I didn't dive in, but I was. I mean, cat like reflexes. That's what people associate with you. I'm fast movement. Fast movement. So high energy. I've always been high energy. He's always been like this.

[Nick Offerman]

He's like the Bear Grylls of mid tempo rock.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's right. Well, again, I'm going to be available soon if you go whitewater rafting in glacier, could I come next time? So we're here to figure out.

[Jack White]

What.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is.

[Jack White]

Did I look?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I mean, George sent. George sent us.

[Jack White]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, George. He's the ringleader. Okay.

[Nick Offerman]

We're here to evaluate your behavior and comportment for one last time.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Nick Offerman]

And if you pass tonight, then we take you with us to a second location.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I hope that's where the spanking machine is. Well, I hope I pass. I'll look for my letter in the mail. I hope it's a thick one. You know, that's exciting when you get the thick letter. Yeah. It's going to be amazing. Yeah. Well, this is Nick Offerman. And this is Jeff Tweedy. He's going away, but he's not because you are going to stay and perform. That's right.

[Producer Steven]

That's right.

[Stephen Colbert]

With Hayley Williams. Stick around for performance. That's Nick Offerman. That's Jeff Tweedy. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show 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. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[Commercial Narrator]

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[Nick Offerman]

Trust us, we've tried.

[Commercial Narrator]

This summer, it's time to put that

[Nick Offerman]

angry ball of fire on mute. Columbia's Omnishade technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that can burn and damage your skin. The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your [e-mail] to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe love lotion. You're welcome, Columbia. Engineered for whatever.