Stephen Presents: John Dickerson

Summary

Summary of "Stephen Presents: John Dickerson"

The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert
Host: Stephen Colbert
Guest: John Dickerson
Release Date: January 2, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Stephen Presents: John Dickerson," Stephen Colbert welcomes listeners to what he initially refers to as the "last podcast of the year." However, he quickly clarifies that it's actually the first podcast of 2025, setting an engaging tone for a reflective and forward-looking discussion. The episode centers around John Dickerson, CBS's chief political analyst and the incoming co-anchor of the CBS Evening News, highlighting his influence and the high regard in which he is held by both hosts and listeners.

Celebrating John Dickerson

Stephen Colbert opens the conversation by celebrating John Dickerson’s popularity, noting, “the number one podcast download of the year for us, was the ex post facto deconstruction and the explaining of Dickerson” (01:58). Colbert praises Dickerson’s journalistic integrity and his balanced approach to reporting, emphasizing his ability to remain objective even when dealing with emotionally charged topics. He remarks, “He deeply loves his country and you feel it in his concern that people understand the news” (02:56).

Building a Friendship

The hosts delve into the personal connection between Colbert and Dickerson, sharing anecdotes about their friendship's origins. Colbert recounts how he became a fan of Dickerson through the "Slate Political Gabfest" podcast and describes Dickerson’s demeanor as having a “Tolkien elf-like quality” (03:12). This metaphor highlights Dickerson's thoughtful and measured approach to discussions, avoiding biases and striving for clarity. The conversation also touches on shared interests, such as Tolkien and Thomas Merton, and personal interactions that solidified their friendship (05:38).

John Dickerson’s Role in Politics and Media

As the discussion progresses, the focus shifts to Dickerson’s imminent role as co-anchor of the CBS Evening News alongside Maurice DuBois. Colbert commends Dickerson’s professionalism and personal integrity, stating, “He is a person who's enormous personal integrity, and I think he's a person to be admired and modeled” (06:32).

Election Analysis

The podcast transitions to an in-depth analysis of a recent election, with Dickerson providing insights based on exit polls and voter behavior. He explains the complexities of the voter dynamics, noting discrepancies in Vice President Harris’s performance with women and the overperformance of Biden in certain demographics (10:49). Dickerson draws parallels to the 2004 presidential race, emphasizing the unpredictability and surprises that often accompany elections (10:45).

The Impact of Donald Trump

A significant portion of the conversation examines the enduring influence of Donald Trump on the Republican Party and American public institutions. Dickerson asserts, “He [Trump] has changed [the Republican Party] down to the studs more than Ronald Reagan” (19:09), highlighting Trump’s profound and lasting impact on the party’s dynamics and strategies. He discusses how Trump’s behavior and rhetoric have reshaped public institutions, especially the press, and the challenges this poses for traditional journalism (20:14).

Democrats' Current Position

Dickerson offers a critical view of the Democratic Party’s struggles, attributing them to the erosion of their coalition by Trump’s influence. He emphasizes the need for the Democrats to reassess their electorate and develop messaging that resonates with the current voter base. He envisions an ideal "working democracy" where both parties engage in meaningful competition to improve lives, particularly for those facing systemic barriers (17:11, 18:49).

Journalistic Integrity and Future Role

Addressing his upcoming role as co-anchor, Dickerson underscores the importance of maintaining journalistic integrity in an era where facts are often contested. He states, “Our job is basically the same job we had before... trying to figure out what's going on and then take it to people and say this is what we think is happening” (22:36). Dickerson reaffirms his commitment to factual reporting and serving the public’s need for reliable information, despite the challenges posed by political figures who undermine trust in the media.

Explaining Democracy to the Next Generation

In a poignant moment, Dickerson shares his approach to explaining the complexities of democracy to a young audience, specifically addressing how to convey the nuances of political choices to a 14-year-old. He uses the metaphor of two buses representing different political agendas, emphasizing the importance of collective effort and the impact of personal choices on the broader democratic process (24:37).

Conclusion

The episode concludes with mutual expressions of gratitude between Stephen Colbert and his co-host, reinforcing the camaraderie and respect among the hosts and their guest, John Dickerson. The discussion leaves listeners with a thoughtful exploration of the current political landscape, the evolving role of media, and the enduring significance of integrity in journalism.

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Notable Quotes:

• Stephen Colbert (01:58): “Nobody lays it out in a reasonable and interesting thing about John is that not only does he lay it out in very clear ways and not only is it, I think, admirably journalistically objective... but he deeply loves his country.”

• John Dickerson (10:49): “There's always surprises. And so I thought now did I think he was going to run all seven? I thought the polls were so close, I thought he might not, or whoever won might not win all of them.”

• John Dickerson (17:11): “Democrats have to figure out what happened to them. The Democratic coalition was eaten away by Donald Trump.”

• John Dickerson (20:14): “He has followed through on a lot of the things he said... presidents always want to do stuff, but they're constrained by traditions of the office... He has a person of impulse with all of those things gone.”

• John Dickerson (22:36): “Our job is basically the same job we had before... trying to figure out what's going on and then take it to people and say this is what we think is happening.”

• John Dickerson (24:37): “People have been given freedoms that they were denied and glorious opportunities in this country that you can't get anywhere else... there are other people on the bus who just want to be seen and have opportunity in American life.”

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This episode provides a comprehensive exploration of John Dickerson’s professional journey, his impact on journalism, and his perspectives on the current political climate. Through candid discussions and insightful analysis, Colbert and his co-host offer listeners a deep dive into the challenges and responsibilities of modern journalism in a rapidly changing political landscape.

Transcript

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[John Dickerson]

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In all.

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[John Dickerson]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Hey everybody. Welcome to the last podcast of the year.

[Co-Host]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right.

[Guest Host]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

This would be it, right?

[Co-Host]

This would be it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, actually, it's even past this.

[Guest Host]

This is probably.

[Stephen Colbert]

We're probably already in 2025 at this point, aren't we?

[Co-Host]

Yeah, because we also, we post the pod. This is the first podcast actually of the year. If you think about it. This is the one we're posting on January 1st.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Happy New Year.

[Co-Host]

Happy New Year. Happy 2025.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you very much. I hope it is a year.

[Co-Host]

I hope it is a year.

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't want to put anything on it. I don't put good or bad on it because I've been hoping the years would get better for many years now and that's not working out. So let's just say have a year.

[Co-Host]

Have a year. Have a year. And so for tonight's podcast, I want to play the podcast from 2024 that got the most downloads that the listeners listen to the most. And it's not a huge surprise which one it is, but. But it was the podcast that we posted on November 6th with John Dickerson, I think a lot of people wanted.

[Stephen Colbert]

To hear, really that was the number one podcast download of the year for us, was the ex post facto deconstruction and the explaining of Dickerson. Like, nobody lays it out in. A reasonable and interesting thing about John is that not only does he lay it out in very clear ways and not only is it, I think, admirably journalistically objective, even about things that have emotional content to them, but it's not dispassionate. He cares a lot about not only the news and his job and the integrity that you need to do that, but. But he deeply loves his country and you feel it in his concern that people understand the news. Wow, that's just. I'm so happy to hear.

[Co-Host]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

John Dickerson, podcast superstar.

[Co-Host]

I know. And I wanted to ask because I know that you guys are dear friends, how did you guys become friends? Because he. We just had a mock up with him on the show. He tunes into T for Tuesday.

[Guest Host]

You know, he's Dickerson.

[Stephen Colbert]

I got to know him because my gateway podcast was Slate Political Gabfest. That's the first podcast that I listened to because I had a producer who turned me onto it, Alison Silverman and. Hi, Alison. And I loved all those guys, Plots, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and John Dickerson. And I interviewed Dickerson, I interviewed Plotz, and I interviewed Bazelon on the old show, but I never interviewed Dickerson. I only knew him as this person from the podcast. But I listened to every single one of the podcasts. I even went back and listened to every podcast they had ever recorded because I liked it so much. And in all of those, Dickerson has this very elf like quality, Tolkien elf like quality. And I'm sorry to turn everything to Tolkien, but a Tolkien elf like quality in. Now there's a joke. There's literally a joke. The Frodo says, go not to the elves for advice. For they will say both yes and no. And the elves laugh at that. They go, oh, really? Is that what they say? Well, advice is a dangerous thing. Dickerson, basically, it's not like he takes both sides of every issue, but he is so measured in his and thoughtful in his answers that it seems like an elf going like, I don't want to go too far in one direction. I don't want to jump on David's side or Emily's side here, because I don't think either side is necessarily the entire picture here. And I just loved that. I loved the inherent patience with information and trying to figure out the story while he was telling you about it. And I liked him so much on the podcast that later when I had a book that I needed someone to interview me for at 92nd Street Y, I asked him if he would do it. And he did it. And his wife Ann came along and Evie came along and we went out to dinner afterwards. And everything about our personality is meshed. We're not the same people. But everything I heard about him, I liked. And we also had so many common interests. Turns out he's mad for Tolkien and he loves Thomas Merton and he wears a memento mori and he had this very powerful mother figure, like, I did. And also, like, was born in D.C. like I was, and.

[Co-Host]

Oh, I didn't know you were born in D.C. yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then one of the. And one of the things that really clinched it was our wives were watching the two of us, like, just like, click and click and click and click across the table. And at one point, we were talking about, you know, big families and the, you know, what's fraught with growing up at all and tensions within families or something like that. And he was telling stories about his family. I was telling stories about, like, growing up in a big family. And I looked at Evie and I went, well, your mother's family. You know them. And he turns to me and goes, each and every one a gem. Which is. That's a. That's basically a call and response line from a Loud and Wainwright song. And we looked at each other going, how do you know that song? Like that. And Evie and Anne looked at each other and went, oh, no. And we've kind of been tight from that moment.

[Co-Host]

Oh, that's really beautiful.

[John Dickerson]

Yeah.

[Co-Host]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And he's about to take over along with Maurice dubois, the CBS Evening News, which is, I think, great for news.

[Co-Host]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

He is a. A lot of fun. He enjoys a cocktail only on weekends, though. Very responsible and. But he's also a person who's enormous personal integrity, and I think he's a person to be admired and modeled.

[Co-Host]

Yeah, yeah. No, and I think this. I'm excited to play this podcast. I know it was a hard day for everybody, and it's gonna be a big year. 2025. But I think if 2025 is more conversations with friends talking about what's going on, you know, that's what it should be.

[Paramount Announcer]

Really?

[Stephen Colbert]

That's what it should talk it over with your friends.

[Co-Host]

Yeah, exactly. And friends are the most important thing, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, a hundred percent.

[Co-Host]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

One hundred percent.

[Co-Host]

So this is two friends hanging out on The Late Show. Pod Show. Thanks for a great year. 2024. And we'll see you next year. We'll get them.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thanks, Becca.

[Co-Host]

Thanks, Steven. All right, handshake, handshake.

[Stephen Colbert]

You have to say handshake when you shake hands in a pot.

[Co-Host]

And then they shook hands.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to audio describe. Thanks. Bye.

[Co-Host]

Bye.

[Guest Host]

Folks, I'm happy to say. I'm happy to say that my guest tonight is CBS chief political analyst and the incoming co anchor of the CBS Evening News. Please welcome back to The Late Show, Mr. John Dickerson. Good to see you again.

[John Dickerson]

It's great to see You.

[Guest Host]

You know me. I'm a company guy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Guest Host]

I was watching CBS all night last night, up to a certain point when I conked out. You didn't, though. How late were you up?

[John Dickerson]

We may still in fact be doing the show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Are you.

[Guest Host]

But how do you seem so fresh as a daisy? Have you just tipped over into some sign of chemo psychosis?

[John Dickerson]

Remember with kids, they would go into that period where you wouldn't put them to sleep and they'd kind of suddenly get hyper reactive and then they'd just be bouncing off the walls right before they pass out.

[Guest Host]

Exactly.

[John Dickerson]

We are at that moment. At one point, we were on till six in the morning. At one point, Nora O'Donnell, who was running our coverage, got up from the desk, walked over to Anthony Salvanto and Major Garrett, who were doing the magic wall of States and was like, what's taken so long with these votes from Milwaukee? We were on all night.

[Guest Host]

You were on all night. And then did you do the morning show?

[John Dickerson]

Yeah.

[Guest Host]

And then you did another show this afternoon before you came here?

[John Dickerson]

Yes.

[Guest Host]

Ok. Ok.

[John Dickerson]

Thank you. Ok.

[Guest Host]

So you were there at the panel of Endless Pundits thought. And you had your computer there in front of you. You were always checking your little iPad there. At what point in the night did you get a sense that. That something sort of unexpectedly momentous was happening?

[John Dickerson]

Well, I was in charge of the exit polls. And one thing I Learned in the 2004 presidential race when President John Kerry was elected, was that the first wave. Was that the first wave of exit polls which said John Kerry was gonna win are wrong. Right. So I came in with real skepticism. I'm looking at the exit polls and Vice President Harris wasn't doing as well with women as she needed to do. And everybody had written about how she was gonna do so well with women after Roe v. Wade was knocked back and all the other reasons she was gonna do well, she just wasn't doing well enough with him. And he, the former president, was doing well with all of his groups. And then I saw Latino voters. Latino voters, and he was doing much better than he'd done before. And then everywhere, he was doing just a little bit better and she was doing less. She won women by 10 points. That wasn't as much as she got 53% of women. Biden got 57. And so you could see where she was not performing and where he was slightly overperforming. Were you surprised by this?

[Guest Host]

Or did you. Or do you not put much stock in those polls ahead of time or.

[John Dickerson]

Well, I've just been so surprised going back to the beginning that I just, you know, back to 1992, because you think it's going to go one way and it goes another way. There's always surprises. And so I thought now did I think he was going to run all seven? I thought the polls were so close, I thought he might not, or whoever won might not win all of them.

[Guest Host]

How close were the polls? Because, you know, quite famously, all the polls and the aggregator polls were saying it's a dead even tie. Is that what happened?

[John Dickerson]

I think pretty much, and especially if you account for the margin of error, I think the states fell the way roughly the polls said they were going to fall. And the polls were certainly right about people caring about the economy and voting based on that. And so I think the polls will come out okay on this. And the exit polls, you know, they go through several waves, and all through the night, it was kind of pretty consistent. There weren't any real crazy changes between the two of them. The exit polls, we should note, will get kind of compared to the actual election and turnout and so forth. So they'll get improved even over the next couple of weeks.

[Guest Host]

What about Turnout altogether in 2020? We had a historic turnout.

[John Dickerson]

Yeah, I think it's, I think he ended up. Well, I think it's less than 2020. I haven't seen the final numbers. We still, I think we've still got counting going on. The most important thing with turnout related is that Donald Trump, in what was a historic and extraordinary victory, also won the popular vote, which is just a kind of extra level of affirmation for him and for his policies and his party that he didn't get, obviously, in the last elections.

[Guest Host]

Well, right about now, four years ago, you were on CBS News responding to a press conference that Donald Trump had had, basically saying that we should stop the counting. No more counting. I won. These massive dumps came in the middle of the night in Pennsylvania. And it's not fair and they're cheating. And you said afterwards, if the Republicans do not respond immediately to this, to shut this down, the beginning of the big lie that was the very, the acorn of it at the time. You said they will be burning the Democratic furniture, which was a metaphor that we've returned to many times on the show. And I know you talk about it a lot. How is the Democratic furniture holding up this time?

[John Dickerson]

Well, that was, as you said, on election night in 2020, and then January 6th happened. So there was literal and figurative Democratic furniture burning, I think The Democratic furniture is in good shape. And I know there are probably a lot of people out there who don't like the outcome. But first, let's think about all of the people who volunteered to make the vote go relatively smoothly, all the early voting, the absentee, all of the work that volunteers did, people who care about their communities and their country. They did. All the secretaries of state. That's an amazing thing. So that went well. And there was none of the violence of the kind that was presaged. And I think Democrats would say, well, that's because Kamala Harris, in her acceptance or in her speech conceding defeat on today, basically conceded defeat. And that. That's the difference. That's why there was a.

[Guest Host]

As you said, we have to abide by this and perceive this, that, no, this is the reality.

[John Dickerson]

That's right. Which used to be a throwaway line in concession speeches, which is. Or you wouldn't even have to say, we have to abide by the results. So that was obviously an implicit note, that the man who had defeated her had lied about losing the last election, but nevertheless, he won fair and square and the process worked. And so I think that's for healthy democracy. That's great. Even though you may not like the outcome, which, by the way, is a part of a healthy democracy, you hate or love the outcome, but it allows for both. And then everybody goes on to fight another day in the organized fashion of fighting that is there. They don't fight outside of that, which is what was so dangerous in 2020 when President Trump lied.

[Guest Host]

I guess the question is, given that Donald Trump, leading up to it, along with his friend Elon Musk, was questioning the validity of this election before it ever happened, saying there was massive cheating and the police need to respond.

[Stephen Colbert]

And.

[Guest Host]

And we have to do something right now. I assume he's not pursuing any of those avenues now that he's won.

[John Dickerson]

No, no.

[Guest Host]

So democracy's fine as long as Donald Trump won. Democracy would be in tatters if he hadn't.

[John Dickerson]

I think that was his game plan, you know, I mean. And now.

[Guest Host]

So the furniture's still on the pyre. He just didn't throw the match on it.

[John Dickerson]

I. That's true. That's true. We have to take a quick break.

[Guest Host]

We'll be right back with more. John Dickerson, everybody.

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[Co-Host]

You're all right.

[Guest Host]

Here we go.

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[John Dickerson]

We roll the US one last time.

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[John Dickerson]

Hey, everybody, look at that.

[Guest Host]

We're back with CBS News chief political analyst John Dickerson. Now what happens now with the Democrats? Who's the leader of the Democrats? Because it normally would be this person who had just been the president of the United States, but it's not going to be Joe Biden because Joe Biden was asked to step aside for this person, but it's not likely to be her because she didn't ascend to the final position. Is it Hakeem Jeffries who is the.

[John Dickerson]

Person who's open question? And I think there's two interesting competitions going on. Democrats have to figure out what happened to them. I mean, the Democratic coalition was eaten away by Donald Trump. I mean, Latino voters in certain states, he did well with black voters in a way that Republicans haven't traditionally. Kamala Harris was unable to break into his hold with non college white voters. And so, you know, they have to find out where the, what the electorate really looks like. So once they figure that out, then they've got to find a message that works with that electorate. And so I think it's a footrace to try to figure out who's going to speak for the party. Bernie Sanders, I don't know if you saw it, issued a scathing press release that basically said, you know, the Democratic Party has ignored working people. And so, of course, this is the outcome that would happen. So he's put out the first very strong and just if you want to fantasize for me for a moment, what about a working democracy? And the way it would work is imagine how great it would be if the two parties had a real fight in the political structure over how to make lives better for people who aren't born into Privilege so that they can achieve the American dream through the roots of opportunity, many of which have been closed down, colleges, more expensive, costs of health care have risen faster than regular inflation. Like a massive competition about to get and help those voters. That would be great.

[Guest Host]

On Monday, after the show was over, I said to the audience that night, I said, who, who do you think is going to win? And I said, I don't know who's going to win. I said, but I do know that whoever wins tomorrow, something is going to end on Election Day one way or the other. Given this outcome, what do you think ended, if anything?

[John Dickerson]

Well, I guess the view among maybe some that Donald Trump was just a blip. I mean, he's the most fundamental figure in Republican politics. He didn't pick up as many, his party didn't pick up as many seats as Reagan did in 1980. But I don't know. I mean, I think he's a bigger political force in that party. When you think about how he's changed it down to the studs than Ronald Reagan. And he's, and it's not just, it's not just Donald Trump. What we saw is members of the Senate elected who are running on the Trump platform and on the steam of his success, patterns of behavior that are completely in sync with Donald Trump. It's not like there's a political, there's a Republican class and a Donald Trump class. They are the same. That's an extraordinary political achievement. And I think there might have been some people who thought, oh, it's kind of Donald Trump and can't be fully transferred to a party. I think that end. Thinking that might have ended.

[Guest Host]

You're a big fan of public institutions. What does Donald Trump mean to American public institutions?

[John Dickerson]

Buckle up. I mean, he's, which includes the press. You know, he's, he has followed through on a lot of the things he said. And so you've got to assume that the things that, the way he behaved and the things he said during the campaign about institutions and, and also think about it. I mean, here is a president who is, I can't think of another president who has, who has so consistently followed his impulses, come what may, as Donald Trump. And think of the. He no longer has the constraints we associate with the presidency. In the presidency, presidents always want to do stuff, but they're constrained by traditions of the office, by having to get reelected by the legal system, by, you know, political censure. If they get impeached, all four adversarial Congress, an adversarial Congress, checks and balances, those have all been taken away. So you have a person of impulse with all of those things gone. And I could imagine also you would add to that a chastened opposition because Democrats have to you can imagine some Democrats saying, you know, we Talked about this January 6th stuff all the time and you know, the voters kind of went the other way. They didn't care about it. And so as they calculate about how to get back into power, they might chasten themselves. They might based on the signals coming pretty clear from the electorate, which means that's another check that might not be on the 47th president.

[Guest Host]

We have to take another little break here, but don't go away. We're right back with more John Dickerson, everybody.

[John Dickerson]

You know who this is.

[Guest Host]

We're back with CBS chief political analyst John Dickerson. You work as a journalist with integrity in a fact based, verifiable environment to the best of your ability. The president elect does not. How will you approach your upcoming job as the co anchor of the CBS Evening News? Have facts had their day? Is it going to be the CBS Evening Hunch with John Dickerson? What will change about journalism in response to this man?

[John Dickerson]

Well, we've talked about this so much. I mean, we always have needed to recognize what people think about the work that we do and the reputation we have, which is under some pressure, distinct from Donald Trump. We have not treated the audience's attention with the care it deserves. So that's distinct from him. He, however, has a lot of power now and has a lot of power. And he's attacked the press directly, some in it very directly. And then he also is not involved in the same project we are, which is to use reason to understand facts as best as you can with humility and adaptation when those facts don't pan out to achieve a result that is the betterment for everyone. So I think our job is basically the same job we had before. Why did we get in the business to do the hard work and meaningful work of trying to figure out what's going on and then take it to people and say this is what we think is happening and we are going to give it to you with total care for your attention. We're not messing with you. We're trying to give you something that we think is worthy. And that's what we did yesterday and two weeks before. And hopefully it's the thing we get up and do every day, no matter what the weather or who's in power.

[Guest Host]

Eight years ago, eight years ago, the night that Donald Trump was elected. I went home that night and my then 14 year old was still up. And I did my best to explain to him how this could have happened because he was absolutely mystified. And I said, well, I believe that the American people essentially vote in the ways that they believe will be best for themselves and their family. You have to start from that sort of generalized and virtuous assumption. How would you explain that to a 14 year old today? How would you explain this election?

[John Dickerson]

I'll try not to think about my voice because yes, I think the way you would explain it is this. You'd obviously not go into all the complexities of things, but I think you would say that, you know, amazing things have been done through the American political system. People have been given freedoms that they were denied and glorious opportunities in this country that you can't get anywhere else. And then awful things have happened in the American, American system and you have to fight to make sure that you're doing the good part and not the bad part. And that requires everybody to do their part. And when people choose to do their part in this system, they can get on basically one of two buses that are going to take them to a destination they think is meaningful. And on you get on the bus and there are a whole bunch of the people on the bus who just want to be seen and have opportunity in American life. And then there are other people on the bus engaged in the same journey who are there absolutely just for themselves to get power, to give themselves just more riches and more control over things. And that's true no matter what bus you get on. But you 14 year old child want to be associated with the people who want to use the political system to help themselves and others like them live a life of opportunity. And you know what happens is if you succeed in doing that, the success of your endeavor will in part being recognizing that the other bus that didn't make it had other people on it just like you who want to feel seen and who right now don't feel seen because they lost. And you got to think about them too.

[Guest Host]

John, thanks so much CBS News chief political analyst John Dickerson everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late.

[John Dickerson]

Show POD show with Stephen Colbert.

[Guest Host]

Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

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Now streaming on Paramount. Plus, what's your job? When people go missing, I get hired.

[Stephen Colbert]

To help find them.

[Paramount Announcer]

Catch up now on Tracker. I'm here to help the CBS original series that critics are calling a breakout hit. Nothing good comes without risks.

[John Dickerson]

I would drink to that.

[Paramount Announcer]

Justin Hartley stars.

[John Dickerson]

Hold on.

[Guest Host]

Did you say Arrow?

[Paramount Announcer]

Run.

[John Dickerson]

That's a new one.

[Paramount Announcer]

Coulter in the CBS original Tracker. Catch up on the latest episodes. Now on Paramount+ the Showtime original series. The Agency.

[Stephen Colbert]

Lie to everyone.

[John Dickerson]

Risk your life on a daily basis.

[Stephen Colbert]

No glamour.

[Paramount Announcer]

No exploding.

[Stephen Colbert]

Watch.

[Paramount Announcer]

Starring Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, Jody Turner Smith and Richard Gere.

[John Dickerson]

The CIA sends us out into the world to behave in dangerous ways.

[Paramount Announcer]

Whatever it takes, make it impressible. You deploy undercover for years. People come back. Damage from that. This is the Agency. Nothing is personal. The Agency new series now streaming on the Paramount plus with Showtime Plan.