[ cheers and applause and now, Seth Meyers Seth good evening. Im seth meyers. This is late night. We hope youre doing well tonight. And now if you dont mind, we are going to get to the news today is halloween, so if you like jump scares, ghouls, and goblins, then you just have to wait eight more days [ light laughter ] until that [ laughter ] President Biden early voted over the weekend in delaware because people his age do everything early. [ laughter ] voting two weeks before the election, dinner at 4 30 hell, his luggage is already packed for christmas vacation. [ light laughter ] thats right President Biden voted over the weekend, and in the interest of bipartisanship, he voted for everyone [ laughter ] i like them all theyre all good fellas. [ light laughter ] teslas ceo elon musk last week completed the 44 billion deal to take control of twitter and meanwhile, a lot of his customers are still trying to take control of their teslas [ laughter ] after completing the purchase of twitter on thursday, elon musk sent a tweet directed at the social media companys advertisers and said the platform, quote, obviously cannot become a freeforall hellscape. No, but it could stay that [ laughter ] during last weeks Pennsylvania Senate debate, republican candidate dr. Mehmet oz said that he thought the decisions about abortion should be left up to, quote, women, doctors, local political leaders. Though to be fair, in some cases, that local political leader may be the father [ laughter ] just statistically [ laughter ] President Biden is reportedly considering a plan to use guantanamo ay to house haitian migrants unfortunately hes going to have to wait another few days to move them in. [ laughter ] and finally, yesterday was National Candy corn day, which makes today national theres still plenty of candy corn day. [ laughter ] and that was the monologue, everybody. Were off and running. [ cheers and applause two weeks off and were back at it we have got a great show for you tonight. Hes an acclaimed actor, a grammywinning hiphop legend, and a good friend of this show icet is back on late night tonight. [ cheers and applause we love authors here at late night. Were very excited about our second guest hes a bestselling author, oscarwinning screenwriter his books include classics like the world according to garp, the cider house rules, shoemakers favorite, the hotel new hampshire. His 15th novel, the last chairlift, is out now john irving. The great john irving will also be joining us. [ cheers and applause and we will have music from rina sawayama. But before we get to all that, everybody, we are now just over a week away from the most consequential Midterm Elections in recent memory, and republicans have made their priorities very clear. Continue spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, intimidate people trying to vote in this election, and claim preemptively that the results must be illegitimate if they lose. For more on this, its time for a closer look. [ cheers and applause seth theses are anxietyridden times, so lets start with the good news thanks to new relaxed covid restrictions in the building, our cue card guy, wally, no longer has to wear a face shield during the show. Now, thats true of everyone here, but wallys face shield was different. Want to tell them why, wally well, yeah. Mine had a tiny wet sponge on it seth wallys had a tiny wet sponge on it [ light laughter ] wally, you want to tell them why it had a tiny wet sponge yeah. Well, i couldnt lick my fingers between each cue card, so i needed the sponge for moisture [ laughter ] seth he couldnt use his tongue, so he had a tiny wet sponge he couldnt do this so he had to do this [ laughter ] and for over two years, ive had to read cue cards while looking at that, thinking to myself, that sponge is a standin for a human tongue. And i dare anyone here i dare any person here or watching to see a mask today thats more disgusting than that happy [ bleep ] halloween, everybody. [ applause ] my National Nightmare is over. Moving on wally, i said moving on. [ light laughter ] ugh [ laughter and applause republicans have made it clear if they win back power, theyll do things like impeach joe biden, pass a National Abortion ban, and threaten to detonate the economy to force cuts to Social Security and medicare but its not Just Congress where pivotal elections are being held protrump republican election deniers across the country are running for key positions that would allow them to supervise elections in swing states, and some are poised to win an exhaustivrvey and founducted that a majority of gop nominees on the ballot thall or tion the 2020 res. And the website 538 found most of those candidates are likely to win. 60 of americans are going to have an election denier on the ballot this fall of the 552 republican nominees running for office, 200 have fully deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Seth we simply cannot have a functioning democracy where one party denies the legitimacy of any election they dont win. You dont see jets fans spraying champagne on each other claiming they beat the patriots yesterday even though they lost 2217. And, yeah, the jets jokes are back, baby [ laughter and applause after a red after a redhot start to the season, the jets lost to their Bitter Division rivals at home yesterday so this morning, first thing i did, i walked right up to our Security Guard jim breyer and said, how about those jets yesterday . And he said, stand back or ill crush your head like a peanut, joke man. [ laughter ] and then i said, yes, sir, because i respect jim, because at no point did he wear a tiny wet sponge on his face [ laughter ] take, for example, the gops nominee for secretary of state in arizona, a guy named Mark Finchem Finchem was actually at the capitol on january 6th and has been interviewed by the january 6th committee. In fact, just a few weeks ago, finchem, who is currently leading many polls for secretary of state, which supervises arizonas elections, tweeted, all i want for christmas is a few arrests of Election Fraud criminals. Which is the worst mariah carey cover ive ever heard. [ laughter ] and of course it will not shock you to learn that these lunatics have absolutely no evidence whatsoever for their lies. In fact, finchem was asked directly by a reporter for Time Magazine if he would certify biden as the winner of the 2024 election if biden gets the most votes and this is how the Exchange Went finchem told the reporter, i thk youre proposing something that qui frankly is a fantasy. Why, i asked him, was it so impossible to believe biden won in arizona it strains credibility, finchem responded. Isnt it interesting that i cant find anyone who will admit that they voted for joe biden. Well, where were you looking in the crowd on january 6th . [ laughter ] do you think maybe if someone voted for joe biden, they wouldnt want to say that to you, a [ bleep ] loony tune who asked santa for christmas arrests . [ laughter ] other than that solid logic, thats his argument. If you dont personally know anyone who voted for joe biden, then by logical extension, no one voted for joe biden. In fact, now that you mention it, if you never met joe biden, and you dont know anyone whos met joe biden, then how do you even know joe biden exists hes probably not even real. Thats why he gets stuck onstage sometimes and freezes in place [ laughter ] hes actually just a computer simulation, and what were seeing is a glitch by the way, if you recently bought a tech company, that whole glitch thing was a joke, not something for you to post and say, food for thought. And, sure enough, all these stolen election lies are having very real consequences in arizona, for example, selfappointed poll watchers, some with guns and tactical gear, have been loitering near early voting drop boxes to intimidate voters. These people waiting in the dark hours of arizona nights what brings you out tonight are part of an effort by conservatives to watch critics say intimidate voters as they drop early ballots into drop boxes arizonas secretary of States Office has referred six incidents of potential voter intimidation in these parking lots to the fbi for investigation. Some individuals have been armed and masked theyre referencing these people, varying numbers, at two different drop boxes in Maricopa County people sitting in lawn chairs, and then some say they are camoclad, that they are intimidating, that they have a clear intent to intimidate seth all right, first of all, why the [ bleep ] are you wearing camouflage in a parking lot . [ laughter ] why do they even sell camouflage in phoenix the only thing you can blend in with wearing camouflage in phoenix is all the other idiots wearing camouflage in phoenix. [ light laughter ] the whole point of camouflage is to blend in. If you wanted to hide in a parking lot, you should disguise yourself as a shopping cart. [ laughter ] mongoose, why arent you at your post they rolled me back into the cart corral, sir [ light laughter ] it continues to shock me how these guys continue to be both incredibly dangerous menaces and also complete dip[ bleep ] at the same time. We are living if an era of lethal dip[ bleep ]. On the one hand theyre accomplishing their mission of scaring voters away from drop boxes. But on the other hand, theyre sitting in lawn chairs wearing camouflage like a dude trying to catch a gopher in his backyard you think you can eat my petunias you bucked tooth son of a bitch, you got another thing coming i got a cooler full of natty light and no place to be oh, dammit honey can you run to the store and get more natty light the gophers ran off with it again. [ laughter ] lets not have any illusions about whos fueling all of this. The maga cult of election deniers led by the gop statewide candidates in arizona and of course donald trump, who has continued to spread deranged claims about the drop boxes on social media, and even reposted the specific address of one of those boxes. Donald trump himself has now reposted videos and photos on his social media account of new unfounded claims by these drop box watchers and another repost of his included the exact address of one of those Maricopa County drop boxes seth trump is now posting the specific addresses of ballot drop boxes in arizona. Do you know how out of your mind obsessed you have to be to even know the address of a ballot drop box i dont even know the exact address of my 6yearolds school i just drive around until i find a building with [ bleep drawings in the window [ laughter ] i mean not him hes got a real hes got a real talent. [ laughter ] got a real got a real claude monet in the house. [ laughter ] at this point, trumps social media accounts are like scavenger hunts for insane people its the dumb vinci code [ laughter ] you have to find a drop box, a susan b. Anthony dollar, and the severed head of a bird and if you need a hint for where to find a severed head, i would check under a windmill, because to a bird, a windmill the windmill is the Freddy KruegerFreddy Krueger we love Freddy Krueger, dont we, folks . He was a tough character he was a tough character [ applause ] he was a tough character, but he cleaned up elm street. He cleaned it up [ laughter ] no one gives him any credit for that, but he came in he killed all the kids and now elm street is a nice place to live again [ laughter ] no more slumber parties keeping you up all night on elm street i remember freddy came up to me once, tears in his eyes, [ bleep ] face, and he said to me, he said [ laughter ] he said to me, he said, sir, sir, i may be hard to look at, but at least i dont wear a mask with a tiny wet sponge on it. [ laughter ] and i respect that so true. So true. [ applause ] couldnt lick his fingers either because theyre knives knife fingers and he still wouldnt do the wet sponge [ laughter ] he toughed it out because he knew a sponge would be gross to look at. [ light laughter ] and trump hasnt just been egging on the ballot drop box crazies in his base. Hes also been talking directly to the candidates themselves, encouraging them to double down on his stolen election lies. Take Arizona Senate candidate blake masters. When masters was running for the gop nomination, he said in an ad that he thought trump won and even had a section on his website claiming the election was stolen but then when it came time to appeal to voters in a general election, he deleted that passage from his website and admitted in a televised debate that he didnt see any actual evidence of vote tampering, which infuriated trump in fact, a film crew following masters for a Tucker Carlson documentary captured a phone call from trump in which trump told masters to stand firm on the claim that the 2020 election was stolen mr. President , how are you, sir . Doing great. I got a lot of complaints about that i dont know what you did at the debate, but i heard you did great on the debate, but a bad election answer. You got a lot of support you got to stay with those people absolutely. We stay with those people. If you want to get across the line, you got to go stronger on that one thing because that was the one thing you had a lot of complaints about look at kari kari is running with very little money, and if they say, how is your family, she says the election was rigged and stolen youll lose if you go soft youre going to lose that base im not going soft. Seth i didnt think anything could be more grating than trump talking, but i underestimated speakerphone trump [ laughter ] it release accentuates just how much his throat has deteriorated he sounds like hes been smoking three packs of marlboros every day and eating one [ laughter ] and sure enough, the entire gop and their media apparatus are in lockstep behind trump. In fact, theyre now even claiming preemptively that any democratic wins in the midterms next week must be illegitimate like, say, if John Fetterman wins the senate race in pennsylvania, even though polls have consistently shown him leading dr. Oz its not about the person its about the party its not about the individual. Its about the group and to prove it, they can even run mentally defective candidates who can barely speak and not only expect them to win but expect you to accept the outcome no matter how transparently absurd it is on november 9th, theyll be telling you that John Fetterman got 81 million votes in pennsylvania, and theyll threaten to put you in jail if you dont believe it why wouldnt they do that . It worked with joe biden seth why wouldnt they do that why wouldnt they conspire to steal an election in pennsylvania and throw you in jail if you dont believe why wouldnt they come to your house and ask who you voted for, and if you say republican, why wouldnt they take your house away why wouldnt they take your car and all your money why wouldnt they take your dog . Why wouldnt they take your second secret dog thats an exact replica of your first dog that you keep in your basement because youve been anticipating that the leftist woke regime would come to your house and take your first dog . [ laughter ] why wouldnt they threaten to put you in jail or kick you off social media or ban you from your favorite restaurant carrabbas Italian Grill [ laughter ] and when you show up to carrabbas in a fake mustache, why wouldnt they point and laugh and say, did you really think that would work . And then why wouldnt they drag you into the parking lot and make you sit next to small bushes who you only later realize were actually camouflaged dip[ bleep ] in lawn chairs [ laughter ] this is all obviously insane, and to combat it, the Democratic Party has turned to perhaps its most popular figure for the last days of the campaign, barack obama, who has been out hitting the campaign trail to push back on republican conspiracy theories like at recent rallies for wisconsin Senate CandidateMandela Barnes and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer mandelas opponent has done more than just about anybody in congress to spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election i mean, he has a gold medal in that event if that doesnt elicit uniform outrage, what will what does it take . The other day, a video came out of governor whitmers opponent claiming that democrats have been working for decades to topple the United States because theyre still upset about losing the civil war. [ laughter ] and that covid restrictions were part of some master plan to do this now, first of all, what . [ laughter ] wha what . What [ laughter ] seth whatever else you may think of him, you cant help but love standup comedy obama [ laughter and applause i mean, clearly working on material for his new netflix special barack the house. [ laughter ] its just nice to see a politician have a normal human reaction to how utterly deranged this all is. I wish we could use that as a reaction clip for everything going forward. On november 9th, theyll be telling you that John Fetterman got 81 million votes in pennsylvania, and theyll threaten to put you in jail if you dont believe it what . [ laughter ] seth the stakes of this Midterm Election couldnt be higher republicans have made that clear. Theyve told us what they plan to do if they win back power both in congress and in key states across the country. Priority number one seems to be rigging future elections and laying the groundwork for the next coup attempt. Theyre already preemptively claiming these elections will be illegitimate if they lose. Most people react to those voter fraud claims in the same way i reacted when i first saw wallys tiny wet sponge, by saying what . [ laughter ] seth this has been a closer look. [ cheers and applause well be right back with icet announcer for more of seths closer looks, be sure to subscribe to late night on youtubube. Le le introducining go5g plulus, the fifirst plan t that alwas gives s new and exexisting cusus introducining go5g plulus, ththe same grereat device e d, introducining go5g plulus, and d youre upgpgrade ready inin two yearsrs versus thth. Right now,w, brbring tmobibile your phphe anand get the e amazing ipipe 14 on usus. Trapped. D. Free. Get the amamazing iphohone 14 on n us. Trappeped. Free. Get the amamazing iphohone 14 on n us. New emerergenc crysystals pod fizz when n you throw w them. And who o doesnnt love a goodod throwbackck . [sfxfx video gagame sound]] nenew emergennc crystalsl. Ththrow it bacack. Theres onone juice ththan satisfsfy that savavory cravi, and get t you your v vegg. Theres onone juice ththan satisfsfy that savavory cravi, therees only onene v8. The company goes to the firstborn, audrey. The model train set is entrusted to todd. Mr. Marbles will receive recurring deliveries for all of his needs in perpetuity, thanks to autoship from chewy. I always loved that old man. Whats it say about the summer house . Yeah, the beach house the summer residence goes to mr. Marbles. mr. Marbles chuckles plot twist im sorry, what . Doesnt make logistical sense. Unbelievable. Pets arent just pets. Theyre more. You got a train set, todd. [announcer] save more on what they love and never run out with autoship from chewy. [ cheers and applause seth give it up for the fantastic 8g band right over there. [ cheers and applause sitting in with us this week, weve got a grammynominated drummer, author, and educator based right here in new york city. Currently shes playing for the awardwinning offbroadway revival of little shop of horrors at the westside theater. Dena tauriello is here welcome to the show, dena. [ cheers and applause thank you, seth seth our first guest tonight is a talented actor and grammy awardwinning hiphop legend he stars in law order special victims unit, now in its 24th season. You can see new episodes thursday nights here on nbc c a ststreaming ththe next dayay on peacacock. Lets takeke a look. By the e way, i gotot somethg for you. Hmm a bullet samame caliber r as the onenu gogot shot witith. You have to own your trauma, or your trauma will own you seth please welcome back to the show our good friend icet, everybody. [ cheers and applause seth how are you whats up, seth seth thank you for spending your halloween with us well, this is not halloween night. Im definitely going to go party later. Seth okay. Good for people watching, this is before the mayhem starts oh, yeah, this comes on later than when people get home seth yeah. So theyll see you hopefully theyll all when theyre watching this, they should know youre still out absolutely. Seth yeah. [ laughter ] last year, you and your wife coco were harley quinn and the joker. Very well done do you guys have plans [ cheers and applause yeah. Coco is going to be this vampire. You know, whatever she is, shes going to be sexy seth yeah. So a sexy whatever, you know. Seth sexy vampire. Then i try to match that up, so im going to put on a cape and some teeth and a wig seth okay. Seems like you put less thought into it. Is that yes [ light laughter ] seth does is this a situation where you follow her lead do you ever come up with it together, or do you just let her decide i let her decide. She usually pulls out about four or five different outfits. And then now we have chanel. Seth yeah. So its a bunch of costumes going around the house during the week and then when she picks her final one, then i say, okay, i can jump on it seth chanel is 6 what does she want to be this year she went to school today. She was a princess of course seth yeah. Something they had to do something to deal with the renaissance. Seth okay. So they had a theme and then tonight shes going to be a vampire with the rest of them seth all right, so family of vampires there you go thats nice. Do people recognize you when youre dressed as a vampire . Do they go, oh, my god, thats icet the vampire . [ laughter ] they definitely recognize coco seth yeah, thats true they put it together. Even when were out, like you know, like, if were out. If were at the airport, and somebody theyll see her, and then they look and see me, and they go, oh, i should have known. Seth yeah. [ laughter ] when you have the two together, then its definite can you tell now, youve been working on this Television Show for 20 i guess, 23 years . Is that because you came in season 2 i came in last episode of the first season seth technically you were in all 24 im claiming all 24 [ light laughter ] seth yeah, well give you the full 24. Can you tell now when people come up to you whether theyre going to be someone who knows you from svu or someone who knows you from your hiphop career, music career nah i cant tell my fans right now. Seth yeah. Its impossible, because hiphops 50yearsold seth yeah. Hiphop has gray hair, so a hiphop fan could be 70yearsold you could talk to somebody with a cane, and theyre like, i used to breakdance. [ laughter ] you know what im saying so hiphop is embedded in our culture, so i dont know if i got a metal fan im talking to i dont know if its from a film i dont know but, you know, i dont really care if you dont like something i do but you like something else, you still like a part of me. Seth yeah. So im cool with it i really dont care. A fan is a fan, you know seth i think one of the things about svu absolutely, man. [ cheers and applause absolutely one of the enduring qualities about all the law and order franchises, they rerun all the time people enjoy them. They weirdly even though yeah, exactly. [ laughter ] thats very comforting to you, right . When i first got on the show, i was doing movies and stuff, and i didnt understand residuals. So the first year, i did the show, and im like, i dont know how long ill do this show. I dont know how long. And then i looked my accountant showed me this number after a year, and im like, whats that number . And she said, thats residuals. Now, you dont mike residuals from movies, unless youre like brad pitt or somebody. Seth sure. You get like a dollar for a movie. So i saw the number, and i went from, i dont know how long ill be on this show to i will be on this show until they throw my black ass out in the street. [ laughter and applause because were on peacock were on tnt were on now, right now. Seth yeah. Are you upset right now that somebodys watching this when they could be watching you on svu . Because you will not be getting the same residuals from this [ laughter ] you know that blum blum seth yeah. We call that dick wolfs Cash Register [ laughter ] blum blum. Seth now, do you ever watch an old episode of svu . Not really. I usually watch the show when it first comes on seth mmhmm. With everybody else what people dont understand is we shoot the show out of sequence im not in every scene so when they watch it on television, were watching it for the first time too, you know so, im sitting there like, wow, yo, sometimes i dont remember who did it im like [ laughter ] yo, you know also, we shoot it out of sequence so we might shoot the court trial before we even figure out who the you know, so its real jumbled but i can watch it once, you know some people walk up to me, they go, you know, ive watched every episode two times. Im like, we might need to investigate you. [ laughter ] cause its kind of a dark show. [ laughter ] seth do you feel like people like older people use this show as a gateway to maybe introduce their kids to the fact that you had this hiphop career that a whole generation might not be aware of . Well, thank god for youtube and the thing of it is, all of us that were involved with hiphop, all the people in the audience, 30, 40, 50, 60, they believe that theyre cooler than their kids see, thats the one thing hiphop did. It made you feel like your kids are never going to be as cool as you. So your kid comes in, oh, i like lil this or lil that. Youre like, hell, no, rundmc. Watch this this is what rap looks like, you know and you dont know nothing about nwa. So, our generation pushes our generation on the kids because we are cooler than them. Seth yeah. [ laughter ] the fascinating thing, though [ cheers and applause got to get your adidas on kids you got to understand. This is what it is seth i feel like when my parents introduced music to us, they never had to be like, oh, no, no, no, not this song, because thats with my kids, like for example you mentioned nwa. And like, you know, thats again, thats what i grew up with when i was driving to high school and driving home. Then ill say to my kids, oh you got to hear this one then im like, what am i doing [ light laughter ] its okay seth its okay we got to push it through . Because were cooler. Seth okay, great i got it from the source its okay seth this is your third book, correct . Its my third book. Seth so this is split decision. You wrote this with spike. Tell us who spike is spike was my crimey before i got involved in music, i was in the streets i was breaking the law i was doing a lot of things that were going to end me up in the penitentiary and there was a point in my life where i decided, you know, im done im done im going to try to make this music. Im going to do something. Spike was trying to be a rapper with me. He went and did one more robbery and ended up catching a 36 to life prison term so when he got out of prison he did 26 straight and when he came home, he said, i want to write a book. I want to write a cautionary tale that tells people that everything everybody in this room, youre one decision away from basically destroying your life, whether youre getting in the car with somebody drunk or you just we make so many decisions and just all it takes is one bad one and this book right here shows you my trajectory, which i became icet getting to sit on your show, and what he went through. And its a cautionary tale i think everybody should read it theyre going to find something in it thats good for them seth well, i really like the fact that despite those different paths, its very nice that you guys came together to do this. Yes seth and its always nice to have you here sitting on the couch with us. Thank you so much. Absolutely. Seth you guys, thats icet. Law order special victims unit airs on thursday nights here on nbc and streams the next day on peacock well be right back with john irving. 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[ cheers and applause seth our next guest is a bestselling author and oscarwinning screenwriter whose books include a prayer for owen meany, the world according to garp, the hotel new hampshire, and cider house rules. His 15th novel, the last chairlift, is out now please welcome to the show john irving, everybody [ cheers and applause seth welcome to the show, john im so honored to have you here. Thank you thank you. Seth now, this is your 15th book youre a prolific writer this is 900 pages. This is the longest one. Did you know when you set out . I sincerely hope its the longest one. [ light laughter ] and im almost certain seth yeah, youre not going to beat this record . No. Theres only short trains in the station. [ light laughter ] seth when you had the idea, did you know this was going to be the long one . I knew it would be long i didnt know it would be my longest or longer forgive me than bleak house. Almost as long as david copperfield. I didnt know it would be that long but when you follow the lives of the main characters extended family his cousin, her girlfriend, his mother, her girlfriend, and the stepfather who transitions to female, you have a lot of lives to follow. Seth yeah. [ light laughter ] and its my intention to take each of those characters to an ending seth you i think a lot of writers begin with an idea of how a book should start. Ive heard you say you like to begin knowing what the ending is going to be. Have you always found that reverse engineering to be the right approach for you creatively always, yes, but i needed to write four books before i realized it wasnt going to change i needed to realize that there wasnt something really wrong with me. Its that i see endings first. I dont have the confidence to begin a novel unless im writing toward an ending that i have foreseen, that is, in my mind, predetermined. And thats its just always been that way. Seth certainly, as a reader, i appreciate when that moment sometimes of dread when you realize an author might not know where this was going [ light laughter ] and so, i like when you the confidence when youre reading, again, an author that you have a relationship with. Being in safe hands is a nice feeling. You sort of mentioned a lot of the characters, and maybe people picked up on it, but the protagonist is a straight white male surrounded by lgbtq characters is this was it a plan of yours to write about his perspective of that world or to make him sort of the outsider amongst that group it was certainly my intention to make him the odd guy out, to make him the queer member of the family, queer in the sense of strange and not up to speed. And he is the slowest member of his extended family. Hes learning from all the rest of these people. And i dont think it will be a surprise to anyone that hes also, as the only straight guy, the most badly behaved sexually. Seth yeah. [ light laughter ] youve been youve been writing about sexual and gender politics for a very long time. I feel like, you know, perhaps the you know, the take on those topics from your readership has changed. Has it made it easier to write about it has it made it harder to write about, more satisfying to write about . Its made it depressing that it hasnt gone away. Seth the issues . Yeah. I remember when i was starting the world according to garp that i was even naive enough to imagine that a novel about these extremes of sexual intolerance, these extremes of sexual hatred, i honestly thought the novel was in danger of being passe or out of date before i published it. Seth you another book of yours, cider house rules, which took place in the 40s and was sort of a book about what would happen if abortion was illegal, is it also shocking to you that we havent or it seems as though maybe we moved past it and now maybe were moving back . Well, we sure are moving back i remember at the time, some of my friends thought it was quaint that i was writing an historical novel about that time when abortion was unsafe and illegal. And what they meant was, now that we have roe v. Wade, now that its secure well, i wrote that novel intentionally as a warning because there were already the voices in the the antiabortion zealots were already there, and this was my way of saying, everything that happens in this story can only happen at a time when this procedure is unsafe and illegal. Do you really want to go back there . And it doesnt make me feel prescient. Im not prescient. Im really bad at guessing the future but ive also been really bad at underestimating the pushback against everything progressive in womens rights and lgbtq rights i underestimate that theres going to be a pushback seth yeah. Progress is not and the pushback doesnt go away seth yeah. This is really special to have you here tonight i grew up reading your books my mom is your biggest fan she came to the show tonight she went in your dressing room beforehand with me overall, how do you think she behaved . [ laughter ] i i thought her behavior was exemplary. [ laughter ] i was very happy to meet her seth well, you have not sacrificed your role as her favorite living author [ laughter ] you clinched it. You clinched it, right there john irving, everybody [ cheers and applause the last chairlift is available now wherever you buy your books, and please support local and independent bookstores well be right back with music from rina sawawayama [ cheeeers and apppplause oone hit sonongs anand with thehe work you uo in your cocommunity. Wewere e excited to o offeru ththe firstevever fingertrp sponsorshihip deal. Wewere e excited to o offeru espepera. Justst my fingerer . Wewere e excited to o offeru justst your fingngertips. 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Lilike im thehe most fabubus ththing youveve ever seene . Exactltly. Ill take em. [ cheers and applause seth her u. S. Tour kicks off tomorrow night with two soldout shows here in new york performing frankenstein off her criticallyacclaimed album hold the girl, please welcome rina sawayama. [ cheers and applause put me together thread a needl so im like other people without all of the evil im trying to be normal but trauma is immortal and none of this is your fault oh my god this is so unbearabl make it stop this is more than medical all i want is to feel beautiful inside and out youre the one who can save me from myself destruction 999 i need your help all i want i to feel beautiful put me together one more tim love me foreve fix me right i could be your frankenstein frankenstei put me togethe make me better love me forever hold me tigh i could be you Frankenstein Frankenstein i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i was doing fin til i hit rock bottom opened up my problem watch that poison blossom oh my god this is so unbearabl make it stop this is more than medical all i want is to feel beautiful inside and out youre the one who can save me from myself destruction 999 i need your help all i want i to feel beautiful put me together one more tim love me foreve fix me right i could be your frankenstein frankenstei put me togethe make me better love me forever hold me tigh i could be you Frankenstein Frankenstein i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster i dont wanna b a monster anymor i dont wanna be a monster [ cheers and applause put me together one more tim love me foreve fix me right i could be your frankenstein frankenstei put me togethe make me better love me forever hold me tigh i could be you Frankenstein Frankenstein i dont want to b a monster anymore [ cheers and applause seth rina sawayama, everyone go to rina. Online for tour dates. Well be right back with more late night. [ cheers and applause you in mymy lane get o out my lanene you in mymy way get outut my way youou crossed t that line youou crossed t that line it t aint t yo d y it aint yo day i need mymy space getet out my waway, get t out my wayay yeah , g get out my y way woo , geget out my w way, getet out my waway, get t out my wayay yeah , getet out my waway move , geget out my w way woo well i need d my space theres onone juice ththan satisfsfy that savavory cravi, and get t you your v vegg. Theres onone juice ththan satisfsfy that savavory cravi, therees only onene v8. [clicking]g] whenen occasionanal heartburn wont let t you sleep. P. [c[clicking] whenen occasionanal heartburn wont let t you sleep. P. Geget fast relelief with n new hearartburn slsleep suppor. Love f food back and fallll asleep fafaster. Geget fast relelief with n new hearartburn slsleep suppor. 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Subscribe to the late night podcast, featuring a closer look and more available on apple, spotify, google, oror wherever r you lisn to pododcasts. warehouse ambience inintroducing g togos new frfrench dip s sandwiches feataturing frfresh artisasan b piled highgh with tendnder roast bebeef, smothehered with m melty provovolone cheeeese and seserved with h hot au ju fofor dipping. G. Try y the roast t beef or papasi frenench dips totoday only at togos [ cheers and applause seth i want to thank my guests, icet, john irving, rina sawayama, everybody [ cheers and applause Dena Tauriello and the 8g band stay safe, get vaccinated, get boosted. We love you. [ cheers and applause