Announcer tonight on late night with seth meyers, America Ferrera, author and host ina garten editor of the new yorker, David Remnick, featuring the 8g band with fred armisen and now seth meyers. Seth good evening im seth meyers and this is late night. We hope youre all doing well. Lets get to the news. According to a new report, some white house Staff Members are concerned about President Trumps behavior has changed because of a steroid hes taken to treat the coronavirus, which can cause mood swings, a false level of energy and a sense of euphoria and it may have been a mistake to start giving it to him in 2015. President trump announced yesterday he will attend next weeks president ial debate in person unless, of course, they decide to hold the debate at the top of the stairs. [ heavy breathing you guys, go ahead without me. President trump announced yesterday he has ended negotiations for the next Coronavirus Relief package until after the election dude, you yourself just got covid. This is like scrooge waking up on Christmas Morning and going, you there, boy, youre ugly you heard me off you go he was opening the windows scrooge style. I got to get me some scrooge windows, because i want to yell stuff all the time, but this, ive got to do this. Its just like less effective. You know what im talking about, shoemaker. Ill getem seth just some big old scrooge windows. Get nbc on that because im right over the ice rink and ive got some stuff to say. [ laughter ] following following the announcement that he would halt negotiations for a new Coronavirus Relief package until after he won the election, President Trump said yesterday that congress should pass a series of stimulus measures and said, if i am sent a standalone bill for 1,200 stimulus checks, they will go out to our great people immediately. Well, not immediately, said louis dejoy. You guys remember him. What did you say, baze, he has the name of a french puppet . Yeah. Seth louis dejoy oh, louis dejoy. I know baze is wearing a mask but hes not smiling [ laughter ] President Trump has been reportedly calling pharmaceutical executives personally and asking them to speed up the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Or at least he thinks he is. Ahead of tonights debate, Vice President mike pences staff initially requested no plexiglass barriers be placed on his side of the stage. Said pence, if theres going to be any flat transparent divider on that stage, its going to be me. White house Senior AdvisorStephen Miller has tested positive for the coronavirus well, everyone else at the white house has it and you know how much hed hate to be in the minority thats right, Stephen Miller has tested positive for the coronavirus and thats a picture of him from before he was sick so what does he look like now . Oh, okay just a little bit better today was russian president Vladimir Putins 68th birthday and he sat in front of his cake until the candles burned all the way down because he could not think of anything more to wish for. The governor of puerto rico yesterday endorsed President Trump and encouraged all Puerto Ricans to vote for him. And i dont want to say she was bribed, but take a look at her office according to a new study, almost 70 of people say that watching a horror movie is a fun way to escape the stress of 2020 as well as watching Science Fiction shows like the west wing. And finally, a duck named ben afquack recently set a Guinness World record as the duck with the most instagram followers, much to the display of quack damon [ laughter ] our writers came up with a worse one than ben afquack i mean, at some point you just say, oh, i dont have it. I mean, i think youre thinking, oh, matt damon. What would be a good duck name for matt damon . And then if the best you come up with is quack damon, maybe you dont send it in brian. That was the monologue weve got a great show for you tonight. Three good friends of our show will be joining us America Ferrera will be here shell tell us about her new digital Lifestyle Community and well talk about the new season of superstore. And the one, the only, you guys the barefoot contessa, ina garten is going to join us shes got a new book, modern comfort food, which we could all use. And the editor of the new yorker our friend David Remnick will be here but before we get to all that, one of our writers, karen, she is 25 years old. As a result, she has a much different frame of reference than i do, so i thought id find out how much karen knows about the past in a segment called what does karen know . Seth hi, karen, how are you . Im good, how are you seth good. I miss seeing you in person, but its lovely to see you virtually this way its so nice to see you too seth how has been how has the pandemic been for a 25yearold . Um, i mean for me particularly as someone who doesnt go out much to begin with, you know, just a little bit more sadness [ laughter ] seth all right are you ready for another trip down my memory lane to see if it triggers a memory in you yes, im excited. Ive done some studying. Seth okay, great youve studied the 80s, the 90s and whatnot oh. I think i went back too far. Never mind, thats [ laughter ] seth how dare you, karen how dare you heres our first item. Does this mean anything to you, karen . Um, no. It almost my initial thought was like a pogo stick, but thats definitely not true seth nah, not a pogo stick is it like a water gun of some kind . Seth its not a water gun. Karen, its a bop it does that mean anything to you oh, yes, i do i have heard of bop its. Seth what have you heard about the old bop it the toy itself tells you to bop it and then you bop it seth yeah. And it was a hit thats all i know seth what you just described was popular. Of course its not just bop it you know you also i think yank it, pull it, twist it, twist it, flip it, and then it gets faster and faster and right as you think you finally outsmarted the bop it uhhuh. Seth game over anyway, it didnt have a very long shelf life, but it was a big part of our lives for probably, like, three or four months do you know this gentleman um, no. A boxer . Seth do you think hes a real boxer or fictional boxer . I think hes fictional. Seth gotcha. Umhmm. And i think seth have you ever seen any of the rocky films oh, no but i know about rocky [ laughter ] seth well, thats very unimpressive he gets he gets knocked down and then he gets back up. Seth yeah. They wrote that song about him yeah. Tubthumping by seth yeah, tubthumping was the rocky theme song he would walk out and theyd play tubthumping. By the way, i cant believe you [ bleep pulled tubthumping. [ laughter ] i would have thought 0 chance do you know who sang tubthumping . Yes, i do oh, my god, i do i know this because it was an answer at, like, a bar trivia thing i went to a few months ago. Chumbawamba. Seth well, there you go. Here we are trying to that was was ivan drago. Ivan drago and he was a russian and what do you think happened in the fight when they fought . Wait, is this not rocky seth no, he fought rocky oh, gotcha. Seth wait, you thought that was rocky . Yeah, sorry [ laughter ] seth again, i just cant your brain both has room for chumbawamba and not Sylvester Stallone oh, stallone, okay. Seth were going to move on to the next one. No chance. Do you know who this is. Oh, no. Seth it looks like ivan drago going to a party. [ laughter ] probably shouldnt have put those two next to each other does max headroom mean anything to you no, yeah, sorry seth thats max headroom he was basically presented to us as sort of an a. I. Type fella. He had a show, a very brief show but then more importantly became a sort of television pitchman for new coke like the drink . Seth yeah. Oh. Seth did you hear about new coke did you hear about this . By now is it just what we call coke . Seth there was new coke. Okay. Seth then they went back to coke classic, right . Thats where we are now seth we had coke classic, but we just call it coke right seth all right do you know who this is . Oh, no. Im sorry. But she looks so nice. Seth you think she looks nice okay [ laughter ] based on her look, what would you guess she did for a living probably owned lots of property seth okay. I think technically yeah . Seth there was some property issues with what she was doing okay. Was she like some sort of host, presentertype person . Seth yeah, she had a television show. Her and her husband were presenters okay. Seth and what do you think they were talking about . When you see a lady like that, what do you think shes telling you to do . To get your life in order seth yes there was some of that and if you were to follow one person to get your life in order oh, jesus seth yeah. [ laughter ] my grandma will be so happy. Seth that was Tammy Faye Bakker and she was married to a hot piece of garbage whos closer to the devil than jesus i think thats safe to say, right . Sure. Seth yeah. And, yeah, they were they had a television show. Tammy faye and jim bakker. And jim is still around and she is sadly rest in peace Tammy Faye Bakker, i think she got the raw end of the deal. Thats where i land on that one. Heres our next one. Whos this oh, just a cool guy seth he is a cool guy. Cool is actually half of his name is it mr. Cool . Seth no. Oh. Seth but youre never going to get it so dont just keep guessing cool red. Im going to keep guessing seth please, karen, im telling you youre not going to get it cool dude seth please, karen, this is going to go on forever cool bug. [ laughter ] seth he was a pitchman as well also for soda. What soda was this gentleman his name is cool spot. Mountain dew. Seth no. But youre thinking in the right color can, but its not mountain dew sprite . Seth again, same color, but amazingly youre going to guess the right one last wait, what . Theres mountain dew, theres sprite theres another one thats green and yellow or green and red, sorry . Seth one, two, three, four, five, six [ laughter ] eight, eight [ laughter ] wait, what did you just say . Seth i said, one, two, three, four, five, six 7up. Seth there we go [ laughter ] he was the 7up cool spot. And that was probably my early teens and thats the kind of gentleman i needed to tell me what to be drinking. Nice. Seth again, it was him or that or max headroom. Right seth i didnt have a lot of choices right cool dude. Seth well, once again i feel like weve accomplished not a ton, but i think weve enjoyed our time together. Yeah, this has been really fun. Oh, but theres more seth oh, right yes seth this is the part i always forget about. Now you, a person of a different generation, is going to see if i know anything about your the things in your life. Yes these were things that are important to me growing up seth okay, lets take a look and just to be clear, youve never seen these pictures before seth all right do you know who she is . Seth that looks like a young Tammy Faye Bakker. [ laughter ] on her way to school oh, my gosh what that could be seth thats a Childrens Book is it a Childrens Book character . Mmhmm. Seth god, were reading some kids books now because of the boys, but i dont think weve read this one. Is she a crime solver . Oh, actually kind of in one of the books this is kit kittredge. Seth kit kittredge okay shes an American Girl doll seth oh, shes an American Girl doll yeah, yeah. Well, this is the book before the doll but shes great she lived during the Great Depression and she was really into writing and stuff seth im glad she could be so upbeat while the country starved. [ laughter ] its something seth while things are going okay for kit [ laughter ] probably not a crossover with the greatest of rap. I feel like seth all right lets take a look at one more. Oh, those are these are like talking vegetables, right . Yeah. Its veggietales. Seth is it some sort of pun off vegetables or something . Yeah. Seth the veget the vegetepeoples . No. But keep going seth the veg vegetebros [ laughter ] vegta i dont know its called veggietales. Seth veggietales. Yeah. Seth yeah. Its great because they tell you a lot of bible stories seth do they really . Mmhmm. Seth so theyre the real Tammy Faye Bakker in all of this yeah, theyre very effective. Theyre effective yeah. Seth well, i guess in the end that was probably the reason we didnt go to church that many in our family, no vegetables told us the upside karen, i feel like were even closer than we were before because weve shared our different generational attractions. Thank you so much for the time bye, thank you seth this has been what does karen know . Seth give it up for karen, everybody. Well be right back with America Ferrera. Announcer be sure to watch seth live in prime time this week for his closer look special thursday october 8th at 8 30 7 30 central right here on specimost awarded network. At im on my phone 24 7. Theninclude disney ,time ever, hulu, and espn . Were a big soccer family. Handmaids tale. I love frozen. Then give families plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need and offer it at a price built for everyone. Plus, get two Samsung Galaxy s20 fe 5g phones for 200 when you switch. The network more people rely on gives you more. Thats verizon. Now any order can be rewarding when you use the app. No matter how you pay, youll be closer to earning rewards and getting more of your favorites for free. More ways to pay, more ways to get rewarded. Starbucks rewards. More ways to get rewarded. Goldwe believe intriana good we can all afford. Sing it, yeah, yeah from make believe made for everyone. All gold to e to a tshirt that means the world. Yeah, good to me this halloween will be just like last. Well buy tons of reeses cups for the youngins. laughing then eat them all ourselves. Reeses. Just one jar was named best retinol cream,all ourselves. Want the cream winning beautys best . Best retinol moisturizer, and best overall night cream. Olay retinol24 faced the test to be awarded the best. Olay. Face anything. Know through thursday, get 10e kohls cash for every 50 spent plus, kohls rewards members earn triple rewards with a kohls card. Or double rewards any way you pay plus, free store pickup. Start gifting now with savings that wow. Kohls. Not much, how about you . Are you answering my text in person . I am, yeah. Lol come on in. This is tech that helps you be there. The Nissan Altima now offering the most techadvanced engine in its class seth welcome back. Fred armisen is remotely leading the 8g band this week. Hes performed from the tland, this week. So thanks so much for having him. We miss you, fred. Our first guest is the cofounder of she se peude, a new digital Lifestyle Community. Shes also an Emmy Awardwinning actor, director and producer who stars in nbcs superstore, which premiers on october 29th lets take a look. Hey, any update on when you two love birds are moving to cali well, um, with all of this craziness, theyve pushed my start date so its all a little up in the air. Just like this virus just kidding its not airborne. Well, we dont know that it could be. Anyway oh, my god. Hey, everyones overreacting i mean, no freaking way im missing out on spring break this year actually, the latest articles are saying that washing your hands isnt enough we should be wearing face coverings, avoiding large groups like, say, 50 plus employees and an endless stream of customers. That sounds like here seth please welcome back to the show America Ferrera its so nice to see you again. How are you . Hi, seth. Im doing well thank you. Seth and congratulations are in order weve talked about the fact that you have a son and now since the last time you were here, you have a daughter, correct . I do. She was born in may, kind of, at the top of quarantine. And shes 5 months old now so i would imagine its sort of a pro and con situation the con is, was it scary to, you know, obviously have to go through the medical care involved with having a baby during a pandemic . With the pro being, youre home and you got to spend, obviously, a lot of quality time, i imagine. Yeah. Yes. I mean, having the baby is an isolating time anyway. So its nice to know im not missing out on any fun anyway but it was a little bit nervewracking yes, in the beginning to not be sure what the situation was going to be like in hospitals. And, you know, things were changing on a daytoday basis so, i just had to kind of breathe through it and, you know, hope for the best. But, you know, we were all happy and healthy and thats all anyone can ask for so we got lucky seth congratulations i do have to ask how i guess its about a two year difference with you kids . How is your son reacting to his little sister so far you know what was great is we were home with him for so many weeks before she came that i think he was actually relieved that out attention was not on him. He was like, get another you know, get another focus, mom and dad. So hes been actually great and has not taken anything out on her which, i guess, is, you know, a good sign. Seth that is a very good sign i also want to congratulate you for this new platform you launched this is basically for i guess, how would you describe it the Latina Community is that an accurate way to describe it . Yeah, so she se puede is a new online home, lifestyle and community for latinas by latinas. And its meant to empower us to live in our full power and lead in our families and our communities and in the country its a mindset that latinas are ready and poised to conquer in every aspect of their life in culture and in civic action and politics, as well. Seth this both seems like a good idea and one that probably should have happened already how did you come about being a position to launch it . Well, there certainly have been a number of of platforms existing to empower and inspire latinas. She se puede came about, eva longoria and myself and eight other incredible women from from organizing, and activism, and from business, and from tech and research came together to say what is missing for latinas in this conversation about our empowerment. Because, you know, campaigns and candidates coming around two months before an election to knock on our door and say your vote matters is not cutting it. Its not going to lead to the true empowerment of latinas using their power and full force. And whats missing is community. And for us to not just hear that our votes count, but that our lives count. That our joy and our struggles and our goals, and that every aspect of our life matters and to celebrate the incredible contributions that were making across the board in every part of our country you know, one quick fact is that latinos are 18 of the population in the u. S. , but we are 34 of essentials workers. That in and of itself lets you know that contributions that the Latino Community is making in this country that all too often are either completely invisible in our culture and at worst are portrayed in really harmful ways and with harmful stereotypes so we have new story to tell which is all about the badasses that we currently are and the power that we hold in Latina Community. And the difference we can make when we are truly empowered and acting from that empowerment seth this is obviously youve been passionate about for a long time. It must be exhilarating to have a place to put this energy well, yes, its amazing and the response is amazing. The fact that we launched this and very quickly had tens of thousands of people in our community hungry for this. And especially in this year. Obviously were 20 something days away from an election were everything is at stake and latinas will be the deciders in every state across this country. In key states that matter for the outcome of this election like, florida, arizona, wisconsin, and michigan. Latina voters can be deciders up and down the ballot. And so we all need to be concerned the empowerment and the resourcing of latino voters and specifically latina voters, who on their own make up the margin of victory and defeat in so many states across the country. Seth i also want to leave by asking you about superstore. You are going to only do two episodes this season its bittersweet its the 100th episode is your last one which really speaks to the accomplishment of this show. Its very hard to stay on television that long how do you feel about saying goodbye to family that youve been a part of for so long well, its been a pretty long goodbye. I was supposed to say goodbye back in march, but then we got shutdown for quarantine. So, you know, the joke is that ive just, like, said goodbye 500 times. Ive had three last table reads. Like, the cast couldnt be more ready to just, like, get rid of me theyve said goodbye already but i you know, i love the show i had such an amazing five years. I got to work with this incredible cast. I got to be an executive producer i got to direct. And its been such an amazing five years the show im so proud of the show of what it is of how beloved it is by its audience and i you know, its always bittersweet to go. But i just couldnt be more proud of the five years that i spent on superstore. Seth well, congratulations on that. Congratulations on Everything Else its always such a delight to see you. Thank you for being here thank you so much seth please visit shesepuede. Org for more information on the organization. And superstore premieres october 29th right here on nbc well be right back with ina garten knowing who we are is hard. Its hard. Eliminate who you are not first, and youre going to find yourself where you need to be. The race is never over. The journey has no port. The adventure never ends, because we are always on the way. Leggo a big mac no pickles please. There you go. Medium fries. Con ketchup. And an oreo mcflurry. Of course ooof the j balvin meal. Get it on the mcdonalds app and the mcflurry is on me. Im lovin it does natural deodorant actually work . Schmidts does. Never formulated with aluminum or artificial fragrance, with coconut oil and essential oils. Schmidts keeps you fresh all day naturally. Go go go go go go go on a real vacation. Visit go rving. Com or your nearest rv dealer. The Bulleit Frontier Fund is making a commitment to help bartenders keep doing what they do best. Lets keep our bartenders pouring. Working within amazon transportation services, i really saw the challenge of Climate Change. We want to be sustainable, but when you have a truck covering over 300 miles, or you have flights going hundreds of miles, its a bit more challenging. We are letting the data guide us to the best solution. Its inspiring to try to solve a problem that no one else has solved. Thats super exciting. Seth our next guest is an emmy and james beard awardwinning Food Network Host and bestselling cookbook author her 12th cookbook modern comfort food is on sale now please welcome back to the show our friend ina garten. Hello, ina, how are you . Hi, seth. [ laughter ] so good to see you seth its always so good to see you. Wish we were at the place though seth i know, its not the same place of couse, the last time we saw each other was maybe the most fun time weve ever had together we went day drinking together, ina. [ laughter ] i have a bone to pick seth i think we could admit i drank more than you. I understand i drank less than anybody ever drank on day drinking with seth meyers. So i need a redo [ laughter ] and none of those little shot glasses, you know. Im bringing my own glass. Seth well, i notice you posted this. Oh, my god there thank you for showing that thats what im bringing. Seth cause i saw you posted this on social media and i was like, where was this ina . [ laughter ] when we were drinking it up. Exactly seth now it should be noted, you drank less than i did, but, you know, a lot of your at the time people you worked with, some of your colleagues were there, and they did say it was the drunkest theyd ever seen you, so you did do something [ laughter ] that was something. And i have to say seth i was very drunk. And i just want to show everybody how supportive a friend you are look at that lovely just a hands on my arm being like there, there. [ laughter ] it will be over soon. I do remember you trying to decorate a cake. Seth yeah. It wasnt pretty. Seth lets try to i dont think we need to remind everybody how badly it was so much fun. It was just great. Seth it was a blast. This is this is a lovely book a book that was planned. The idea of food is comfort is comfort food it was planned for the election. Yeah. Seth you did not know that it would also be coming back when people during a pandemic might want to find comfort in food so its a welltimed book, unfortunately. Yeah and all the layers on the pandemic and Racial Justice and all the issues that are going. Everybody is so completely stressed, its amazing it really is crazy seth and i think, you know, when youre stressed and yet you also want to cook, maybe now is not the time for more experimental cooking maybe nows the time to sort of cook the sort of recipes in here that are the food youre familiar with that have simpler preparation. So what are your favorite comfort foods . Seth i mean, you know, mashed potatoes. Yeah. Seth you know, baked chicken, stuff like that i have mashed potatoes with lemon zest is in the book thats so good. And you know what else emily blunt gave me a recipe for her roast potatoes that you actually cook parboil and then let them dry out. And then you toss them with oil and bake them and they are so crisp on the outside and the inside theyre like mashed potatoes theyre amazing. So if you like mashed potatoes, youll be gone on this one seth i didnt know this about emily blunt. Seth i didnt know people were allowed to pitch recipes to you. Shes a great cook. You know, we just hang out and talk girl talk you know how it is seth it feels like based on our friendship you should have asked if i had any trade makeup secrets. [ laughter ] seth hey, one of the things a lot of people cooked that they thought would bring them comfort and maybe didnt during this pandemic and obviously, much has been written about it are sourdough the sourdough starter. How do you feel like this trend will last . I cant tell you how many people emailed me and said, what should i do about the sourdough starter . And im like, ive never made a sourdough bread in my life. So i had to make stuff up. I think its going to last for about five minutes seth yeah. It was maybe the first week of the pandemic i got a lot of questions. After that, nothing. Radio silence. Seth my takeaway is it is ive always been a fan of sourdough, and then you try to make one and youre like, this is a pretty needy bread. Like, it wants a lot of attention. Everyone is different you know, do you start with the starter or do you get the free yeasts in the air . I mean like, how about going to the bakery and get sourdough bread and have a good time seth absolutely. And i think, you know, now is a good time, obviously, if you can, if its safe, its really important to go to things like bakeries to, you know, support restaurants. Yeah. Seth its a really hard time how do you feel like this time that were living through has reminded people the importance their relationship to food has insofar that it supports your relationship with your friends and family well, you know, the thing that happened was everything was so busy. Everybody was running around like crazy and all of a sudden it was just stopped. It was quiet and i think we really got back to the stuff that was important, which is cooking and taking care of the people around us, maybe roasting something and leaving it at a neighbors house it was i think we got back to what we really used to love doing, and it was simple i mean i had a dinner party the other night and literally, i had no time to cook so i got pizzas from sams in east hampton, which is great, and i set a great table. And we sat out under the stars, and it was a gorgeous night with a big fire in the fire bowl. And we had a wonderful time. And thats all we need i mean it doesnt have to be some big fancy dinner with octopus eyeballs and foam. [ laughter ] seth right it just needs to be something where youre sharing something together and you have a good time seth something we shared during this time was that we both produced our shows remotely by ourselves, basically we were the full staff [ laughter ] how did you find that time wasnt that fun [ laughter ] seth its fun to be back around people that know what theyre doing. Well, you had alexi, right . Seth alexi was not that helpful. [ laughter ] well i dont even have alexi. Seth she doesnt watch the show so doesnt really know what we were aiming for [ laughter ] and i feel safe to say this about her with the confidence that shell never see this yes but you didnt have to cook food seth thats true, thats true i could do my hair. Seth i should take a big step back and make sure thats clear. I was the food stylist, the prep stylist, the mic person i wasnt very good at the mic. I used to forget to turn it on i had two iphones as cameras i had to set them up, the detail shot and then i had to i was exhausted. Then i had to be the presenter it was seth yes it was hard. Seth you had a far now that you mention it, a far, far higher bar than i had, so. Oh, and then i had to do the dishes you didnt have to do the dishes seth no, i didnt have to do the dishes now i am worried my wifes gonna see this, so ill just say i love you, babe [ laughter ] its always such a pleasure to see you, ina congratulations on the book. Thank you thank you. Seth and i cant wait to see you in person again soon it was really fun okay, great to see you stay safe. Seth great to see you too. Modern comfort food is available now. Well be right back with David Remnick. Imagine the places well go. Together. Expedia have your attention. [sound fx bing] pull up a seat begin the lesson ba da bum, lets go mmm, sorry i got that, you got that, we got that boom its everything to me to be able to love them and experience them every day. Its a proud feeling. Being able to order stuff online, i can just go straight to the app. It helps out a lot. We get to use that time that we would be at the grocery store. That time is priceless. That time is priceless. Cheezit snapd. How does it taste . Its so thin, crispy and cheesy. And i just want to keep eating it. Ive done it and eating it. they love em snapd. So good, we may run out of cheese. Charmin ultra soft is so soft much are you hon . Youll have to remind your family they can use less. Charmin ultra soft is twice as absorbent so you can use less. Enjoy the go with charmin. Now any order can be rewarding when you use the app. No matter how you pay, youll be closer to earning rewards and getting more of your favorites for free. More ways to pay, more ways to get rewarded. Starbucks rewards. I have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now, theres skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. Skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. Seth our next guest is a pulitzer prizewinning author and editor of the new yorker. The 21st annual new Yorker Festival is running virtually now through sunday, october 11th please welcome back to the show David Remnick. How are you, david im great, seth, how are you . Seth im wonderful its so good to see you. You know, we had a pulitzer winner last night too, bob woodward was here. Hes pretty good. Seth hes pretty good. First i heard you guys dont get any money when you win the pulitzer [ laughter ] no. Well, you get a little bit seth oh, thats good all right. Im going to have to circle back with woodward thenw. This is the 21st year. Obviously due to world events, its the First Virtual year. Hows it going so far . Its pretty weird i mean, life is as weird as weird can be and were doing our best that we can on zoom and all the other technologies what can i tell you. Its got to be a little lonely in the studio there, seth, isnt it seth it is a little cavernous, all Things Considered [ laughter ] but again, im going from being around zero people to like nine so its a huge improvement right, so it feels like youre at a ball game with the crowd. Seth exactly, the din of the crowd. [ laughter ] so i want to ask about the fact that one of the nice things about the festival in the past is you have editors, writers at the new yorker, people whose bylines are known but whose fans dont get to interact with them much that must be one of the nice things about the festival. Well, look, the festival is the new yorker in three dimensions and the pandemic has reduced us to two dimensions. Its hardly the highest cost of the pandemic, though well get by and i hope were back live and in theaters and halls next year. In the meantime, the new yorker and newyorker. Com has come out just fine look, its a struggle. Everybody is struggling in one way or another and im just grateful to my colleagues that theyve done such a magnificent job in putting the magazine and the website out. Its kind of amazing seth you know, one of the things thats hurting as well obviously is movies and the promotion of films you are ending your festival, which is a really nice thing to do with regina kings i believe directorial debut, correct right, regina king obviously won an oscar as an actor, it was in watchmen, and a terrific actor. And decided to do this film one night in miami about the night that then cassius clay, muhammad ali wins the title against sonny liston, and instead of going out carousing that night, he spent the night, and this was a real thing, and i read a book about ali, i remember this very distinctly. He spent the night in his hotel room with friends. With jim brown, the great running back from the cleveland browns, with malcolm x, Everybody Knows who that is, obviously, and with sam cooke, the great soul singer. And these are four prominent black men, public men, speaking in private about their concerns, their fears, their humiliations, their anger, in real blunt terms. And as regina told me in the interview that i had with her, this was a way of both celebrating black men, and also, opening these voices up and the concerns that they were sharing. Unfortunately, in 1964, are pretty much the same concerns that you hear now about systemic racism, about slights, about humiliation. And these are four highly privileged Public People at the top of their profession. I found it very moving seth one of the other things youve written about recently is the fact that there have been all these questions about Donald Trumps taxes the New York Times obviously did an incredible piece of reporting about it they did. Seth and then, you wrote a piece basically asking does any of this matter i mean, weve been waiting for it it was, you know, obviously bad to hear that the president for all his claimed riches only spent paid 750 multiple years. What is your takeaway . My takeaway is were living in upside down world we are living in a world in which an authoritarian or a would be authoritarian president provides us a new shock every day. And remember that New York Times story was not more than a week ago when we discovered that the richest president ever paid, you know, next to nothing in taxes for the first two years. And since that time, weve had a debate that was one of the most disgusting, political performances in the history of this country hes gotten sick and instead of treating it with some sense of modesty or recognition or realization, he has betrayed the country yet again and stands on the balcony of the white house, calling to mind nothing less than benito mussolini. I hate to say it, it pains me to say it, but thats the imagery and then strips off his mask as if to say yet again this is not important and goes into his staff. And we know what this is what has been the result of this is that so much of the white house staff, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the press secretary, steve miller, all these people have gotten sick. And its a reflection of the absolute heedlessness of president ial leadership or lack of leadership in the last six months it is bewildering. And so when i say it may not stick, its that just a new shock comes at us every single day, and people are yearning for just a trace of normalcy, of nonlunacy seth how does this breakneck pace affect a place like the new yorker where you have editors and writers who are very aware that, you know, obviously you have to write things, you have to go through a rigorous Fact Checking and you are aware that almost as soon as its posted or its printed, it might feel like old news well, we try to do stories as well that have some that will last in time i readily admit its very, very difficult to do. We do investigative pieces and essays and all kinds of things and my colleagues, i just it moves me tremendously to even think about how hard they are working in their apartments, in their homes scattered across the country and the world, trying to assess and report on this profound moment in American History when the most powerful person in the country seems to be in so many ways a threat to the security and just the health of the entire country, and who ignores essential issues like the fate of the earth, which, you know, henry finder and i just edited a book about the new yorkers coverage collection of the the new yorkers coverage about a threat to the world that will make the pandemic seem like a dinner party, and thats Climate Change and were in the opening chapters of that catastrophe, and we continue to do little to nothing about it so its serious business, and i im proud to be a member of the press. And im fully aware that, you know, at any given moment, our popularity is not, you know, what one would hope it to be, but were not here to be popular. Were here to tell the truth and that may seem, i dont know, righteous or something but thats the job thats the job seth so you mentioned the book, this is the fragile earth, and one of the things thats remarkable about this, and you talk about popularity and you talk about criticism is, i guess its 1989 theres this pivotal, sort of, issue long piece in the new yorker about Climate Change obviously, you look back and you wish its sort of like wishing youd bought apple stock. You know, if only youd known to take it seriously in 1989. Yeah, absolutely. Seth and yet, in 1989, the magazine i should say did receive criticism from many that this was, you know, hysteria hysteria. So Bill Mckibben, a very young writer at the time wrote a piece called the ends of nature, which seemed alarmist. And it just come after the congressional testimony of james hansen, the scientist who warned most loudly and most clearly about Climate Change most people laughed at him or thought he was a fool or, you know, he was chicken little i some way and on the heels of that, Bill Mckibben wrote this very long piece, very detailed piece about Climate Change and a lot of people mocked him you know, it will go away, it will its a chinese hoax. My friend, michael specter, on the staff writes about denialism in science the urge to deny the need for vaccines, the urge to deny all kinds of scientific fact we have now over 200,000 people dead from this pandemic in this country. Much of it due to poor leadership and denialism and we can do much, much better. And we have to and where Climate Change is concerned, if we dont, if we dont, so much of the way of life that we enjoy in an extreme way is under threat, for our children, for our grandchildren and the price of not paying attention. The price of kicking that can down the road is horrendous. Seth you know, in closing, id just like to say, you know, the news churns out so fast that things get forgotten the Kimberly Guilfoyle piece i believe jane mayer, was it jane mayers piece yeah. Seth thats just wild. I feel like everybody should loop back and read that one. Yeah, yeah. Ill just let them press the button and take a look seth thanks so much for being here its always great to see you, david. Always a pleasure i hope ill be back to do some cartoons live with you soon. Seth absolutely. America is demanding it. I can hear them [ laughter ] i can hear america singing seth the 21st annual new Yorker Festival is running virtually now and through october 11th and the fragile earth is on sale wherever books are sold well be right back with more late night. Really . Youre right, i sshould get a delicious footlong from subway. That would be better. scissors cutting now you look better too. 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[sound fx bing] pull up a seat begin the lesson ba da bum, lets go mmm, sorry i got that, you got that, we got that boom you make my heart sing wild thing i. Think i. You know what i think . I think you owe us 48. 50. Wild thing. If you ride, you get it. Geico motorcycle. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Your shoulder seems to be healing nicely. Im sorry baby. I dont want you to play with that. singing twinkle, twinkle little star. How i wonder what you are. How are you doing . Schedule a video visit with your doctor. Kaiser permanente. Thrive. With your doctor. All californians will be able to vote safely from home. Every active, registered voter will receive a votebymail ballot with a unique barcode. You can track it using wheres my ballot . And youll receive automatic notifications by text, email or voice call to let you know the status of your ballot once you mail it, drop it off at your polling place or at a drop box. Vote by mail ballots. Simple, safe, secure. Counted. Learn more at vote. Ca. Gov im voting yes on prop 19. Nineteen limits taxes on seniors. It limits property tax on people like me. Nineteen limits taxes on wildfire victims. It says so right here. If 19 passes, seniors can move closer to family or medical care. I looked at moving but i cant afford the taxes. Will you help californias most vulnerable . Vote yes on prop 19. Seth we appreciate that people stay up late to watch our closer look segments so tomorrow were doing one before your bedtime. It will be closer look thursday at 8 30 pm eastern, 7 30 pm central on nbc tune in to see if i flub or curse because were doing it live right here. Whats in it who knows. It depends on what happens between now and then see you tomorrow when we find out together well be right back. Give you my world how can i, when you wont take it m you can go your own way go your own way your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. 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