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This Energy. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Michael past That. We have so much to talk about tonight. A Supreme Court justice in the hot seat, America wonders if it's drinking water should have less poison, plus a live performance by Vampire Weekend. Holy yeh show, let's get into a headline. I'd like to start tonight with a topic that's pretty important to me.
All right.
Water. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I'm like sixty percent water. Okay, It's kind of my thing. And if you'd like to put even more water in your body, well, here's some news worth celebrating this morning.
The Biden administration is announcing the.
First ever national standard for some harmful chemicals in drinking water.
And a new US rule will impose the first ever limits on kefas, or so called forever chemicals in drinking water. The EPA is now requiring utilities to reduce the toxic chemicals to the lowest level that can be reliably measured The agency claims this will reduce exposure for one hundred million people and help prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancers.
Oh yeah, yeah, I like not getting cancers.
Now.
I know it's not cool to say nice things about big government, but this is kind of exactly what it's made for, right that and bailing out banks, But that's not the point. Look, look personally, personally, I'm not worried about Forever Chemicals because my Brita filter's still been going strong after nine years. But it's still a good idea to cut them out, even if it costs money. Now, people have called me a big spender, but I am willing to pay a little more for water that doesn't
make everyone I love throw up and die. And it's the same reason I buy name Bran cheerios and not the asbestios on the bottom shelf. Now, it'd be one thing if Forever chemicals tasted good, like if they had that same flavor as the cucumber water sitting in the lobby of that Hampton in for who knows how long, you know, then I'd be like, yeah, it's worth getting the cancer. But since there's no flavor, I mean, this is a no brainer. Okay, water is supposed to be healthy.
That's why you're one weird coworker has that giant bottle because she wants to rub it in your face. How healthy she is. And it's not just water we have to clean up. Did you see this news about lunchables today? I mean, it turns out that they have dangerous amounts of lead.
Why do we do this?
Why do we poison everything? Lunchables are supposed to be healthy. Okay, they're not, but they shouldn't have lead in them. How did lead even get in there? I guess if I were an aspiring chef and I ended up working at lunchables making food for a bunch of little shits who have no palette and obviously no understanding of umami, I might just grind up a bunch of pencils into their food, now that I think about it, But let's move on.
If you're one of those people who like sending handwritten letters on special paper to your loved ones, first of all, stop nobody wants to read all that. Just send a text. And second of all, sending letters just got more expensive. Stamp prices are about to increase.
The US Postal Service files and notice, then it plans to raise the costs of the first class forever stamps from sixty eight cents to seventy three cents.
Oh, I know, that's right.
The price of a stamp is going up five cents, which doesn't seem like a lot because it's not. Look, I know it's not cool to say nice things about big government, But the Post Office, everybody, it's still pretty good deal. Okay, imagine if it didn't exist in some Silicon valley tech bro pitched this as a startup. All right, listen up. It's called blue box.
Okay.
Now, you take a letter, you put it in any blue box anywhere in the country. We'll find it, we'll transport it to anywhere else in the country within three days. And the best part, it'll only cost you forty dollars a month, forty five without ads. And of course we get to steal of course we get to steal all your personal data. But welcome to blue box. It's very hard to cancel. That was my blue box, right, yeah, Post Office. And finally, let's talk about the Supreme Court,
the law's final boss. Ooh, this crowd is mad at the Supreme Court. We've had no shortage of reminders lately about the Supreme Court's shift to the right. They overturned Roe, they killed affirmative action. Last summer, they issued that ruling that just said no homo. And part of the reason Conservatives were able to do all that is Ruth Bader Ginsburg resisted calls to step down when Obama was president, which meant that when she died, Donald Trump was able
to appoint her replacement. And now the Democrats are at a high risk of losing the presidency and Senate in November. They're thinking, maybe we shouldn't trip over our own dick a second.
Time, growing calls from the left for Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor one of their own to step down and leave the bench. The point for the sixty nine year old Soda Mayor to retire while Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate, and then they can choose to replacement.
Democratic Senator Richard Blueminth recently voice support for Soda Mayor stepping down, saying, you know, we should learn a lesson, and it's not like there's any mystery here about what the lesson should be. Yeah, yeah, they sure isn't. Obviously the lesson is RBG should have retired, or if they would have listened to me, turned her in some immortal robo judge. But for some reason, neither of those things happened, and now Democrats are trying to avoid that mistake with
Soda Mayor. But the tricky situation Soda Mayor is sixty nine years old, which by definition is nice, right, And it's a little ironic that Democrats are trying to push her out at the exact same time they're trying to elect a president who can tuck his testicles into his sock. But on the other hand, it's just smart politics. And I know people are saying this isn't fair to Soda
my arm, But yet I have a little perspective. It's not like they're going to melt her down to make the new justice she gets to She's gonna make money, She's gonna sit by the pool. She won't have to spend her days pretending to like her coworkers anymore. She can spend them pretending to like her family. And I don't care if she retires or not. I just hate that we have to go through this every few years. And like everything else in America, this is the founding
father's fault. They decided for some reason that the Supreme Court justices get lifetime appointments, and now they're basically the forever chemicals of democracy. And it's not great for the rest of the country. Yeah, it's not great for the rest of the country. And it's certainly not dignified for the justices. Everyone's first thought when you die shouldn't be
yes a job opening. Here's my proposal. If they're going to get to stay in the court for their entire lives, at a minimum, the justice should be required to lead more dangerous lives. You know, you can stay on the court as long as you want, but you have to do an annual running of the bulls. Right, But if sodem Or does retire before November, who will Democrats replace her with? To find out, we go live to the Democratic Party headquarters and Troy Iwata.
Yeah, Troy, Troy.
What are Democrats looking for in a new justice? I assume a liberal track record, some racial diversity.
No youth.
Their only requirement is youth. If you make any noise when you stand up, they don't want you.
Okay, okay, So.
Who are Democrats looking for a judge? In their forties, I said, youth. Okay, Well I'm in my forties, so oh yeah, younger okay, So like a law student.
Okay, so they're thinking of going baby that, you know, like really taking advantage of that full lifetime appointment. Birth it, slap it, wrap.
It in a row.
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, Troy. That's ridiculous. Babies aren't allowed to be in the Supreme Court.
Oh, there is no age limit to be on the Supreme Court. Check your constitution, you tell, bitch.
I mean, okay, but how will you even get a baby through a confirmation hearing? They'd be screaming and crying the whole time.
Work for Brett Kavanaugh?
Okay, all right, but hold.
On, hold on.
A baby can't do the job of a Supreme Court justice.
What you mean, sit and bang their little law hammer while wearing a sleepsack. I think a baby can handle it.
Okay, all right, And I can't believe I'm even asking this, But how would Democrats even know the baby will be liberal?
Well, they'll just bribe them, baby. They're super easy to bribe. You just give them a juice box and they'll rule however you want.
All right, that's that's really unethical, Troy. And you can't bribe a judge.
All right, I'll ask Clarence Thomas if he's okay with Okay, has the gamesmanship of American politics really come to this that we're putting a baby on the court?
Okay?
All right, Fine, we'll stick with the current plan where all our rights depend on which of our decrepit jurist's body wear out the fastest. Is it sotomayor is it Clarence Thomas?
Spin the wheel? You're right, you're right, you're right, Baby, judge is easier, TROYA wata everybody. When we come back, Vampire Weekend.
Will be here, walk away, Welcome back to the other show.
My guests tonight are the members of the Grammy Award winning band Vampire Weekend. Their new album is called Only God Was Above Us. Please welcome Ezra Cannig, Chris Bayo, and Chris Thompson.
Yeah. Yeah, it's gotta feel dead.
I mean, they didn't didn't They certainly didn't do that when I came out. So you all met while you were at Columbia together, which I'm pointing to uptown.
That's right.
What was there a backup? Plan if this didn't work out, let's let's let's start with you, Baio.
I was going to maybe teach math for two years each math. Yeah, I took the l SAT and stuff. Yeah, you should say I did rather well at it.
Yeah. Yeah, but I like a.
Musician better than being a lawyer.
What was your backup planets.
Room, Well, there was one year where I had a real job after graduation, before the band took off, and I taught eighth grade in Bedstide, Brooklyn.
No way, what did you teach English? It out English?
Yeah?
Okay, well you have a thing with words. Yeah, it's all connected. What about Ucy too?
I also had a real job for one year okay, not too far from here. I used to work at Sony Music Studios as an entry level tape archivist.
Tape archivist, yeah yeah, and that doesn't even exist now. I don't think it's no, it doesn't. Your album is tremendous. I love it the song I read somewhere that Vampire Weekend has a superb return to form. What I mean, are we thinking about this in the studio and recording and we're thinking about our form? What is Vampire Weekend's form? Does that annoy you. Even that someone else is talking about your form would annoy me a little bit.
Now, that's what you hope they say every time we returned to form, we went home and we returned to the form. Right, It's hard to say because we've made five albums now they're all pretty different from one another. Yeah, it's it's funny.
I know it when I hear it.
That's how I feel about what sounds like Vanpire Weekend recently.
Though a lot of you. I believe you're you know, you're you're iconic New York City band, but you now live in la What the f.
No?
I mean what we have?
We have earthquakes here now to you, and I know has that done anything for the bands? Adjustede in you in any ways? Start with you?
I guess it's been really nice all being in the same city for the last five years because we were spread out for a while and lived in London for a period of time. And I feel like, you know, we hang all the time, we see each other every week when we're home. It's like, really nice.
What's your response to LA helping the band or hurting.
The band or it?
I like LA, and you know, I know a lot of it's like any place it's spent. Like our producer Ril, who produced this album, he born and raised in LA. And I just think any time you're in a city and you spend time with people who know.
It, grew up there, love it you. I'm to love it too.
What's a well tried path New York, New York musicians go to LA.
Yeah, there was always a chance for return, you never know.
Yeah, Yeah, I think there's just a lot of great people out there that we've been able to work with in the studio and live and stuff. It's just it's felt like really vibrant for us.
I think I can certainly say as a comedian, going somewhere new always helps a little bit. Well, yeah, I got some new ideas in LA. You don't interact with anybody. I'm sitting on the bus now instead. But only God was above us. Explain the title of the album a little bit.
Well, we we were lucky that we found the cover kind of early in the process, and it's this amazing photo taken by a guy named Steven Siegel who took all these amazing pictures in nineteen.
Eighty step No, not that Stephen, Steve me that Steve, who I thinks birth said earlier that if we're going to edit something, yeah that's what we'll.
Ed it out.
But I have a feeling I think Steven Saga was probably born Stephen Siegel.
Absolutely.
But so there's a photographer, Steven Siegel, and he the images were all taken in this what he described as a subway graveyard, so all the cars were overturns. He took these really surreal pictures of these gritty eighties New York subway cars, and it was such a good image, and I kept thinking, like, where's the vampire we kin going to go? And eventually realized why ruined this beautiful image? And the only text on screen is the newspaper, which is a daily news headline.
Only God was above us.
So at first I kind of thought, well that works, But then as time went on, I started to feel like this is the perfect title. Actually.
I also love when a band doesn't need to plaster its name all over the place. There's a confidence with that. And that's your fifth it's your fifth album, you know, maybe that played into it.
I don't know.
The song Mary Boone, can you can you? Can you describe a little bit about what who is Mary Boone? Where does this come from?
Well, Mary Boone's a very important figure in the downtown New York art world. Came to prominence in the eighties, you know, which is an amazing time for New York art, well known gallerist. And this song is kind of about the you know, people coming from to the city trying to make it and so I don't know, I kind of picture the person singing the song as like addressing or something like an artist or something.
It wants to take it to the next level. Do you remember when this band took it to the next level? Was there a moment when you said, holy shit, we actually have a little bit of money in the bank, or we can eat something now I don't have to teach math for the rest of my life. Well no, not.
Well, one moment where I felt like maybe early on we leveled up was we played our first gig in Brooklyn in two thousand and six at Pete's Candy Store for about thirty people. But it was the first time they're all here. I mean that we packed it out because that's all it fits. But we played Mansard roof Apunk and one of our other songs for the very first time, and it felt like, really with us, it was the first time you maybe had enough music to
make an album someday. So that was something that was very exciting that I remember.
Do you remember Leveling Up, Ezra?
I mean, yeah, there's been so many small level small levels up. I mean, look like, like you said, the band started in New York. We all have deep New York connections and heritage. So even on our last album twenty nineteen, we finally played the Garden, I mean, because that's true from Pete's Candy Start.
Yeah, see two level Up. Nobody ever talks to the drummer, you know, So this is.
A I appreciate.
I appreciate you having me asked.
Quite frankly.
I think the one that comes to mind is the first time we played Glastonbury, which is a big music festival in England, and you know, we're like twenty four, like twenty four year old knuckleheads, and all of a sudden we're playing for fifty thousand Britons and it's just like, oh my goodness, how did I get here? One of those moments where it was really just I barely remember the set, but I remember the feeling right before it.
That's so cool. I say that to myself every time I sit here. How did I get here? And how stupid is everybody else to put me here? You record a lot of this album in New York, London, La, and Tokyo. I have so many questions, how, why? How did that transpire? What else?
I mean?
You know, La and New York were always in LA and New York.
But I just thought a band like goes to their studio and then three weeks later they drink whiskey and they fight, and then three weeks later they have this album. Is that not how it works? Am I mistaken the music?
Indus?
Some people are blessed and it works out that way.
We we like to take our time. But the I was living with my family over the last few years for a while in London and then Tokyo, but my wife was working both those places, so it was good to be somewhere different, have some time apart. And then Aril came out and we found studios and so yeah, we just ended up recording.
Okay, it is the.
Real reason I brought you here today is I want to talk to you about your podcast.
Oh thank you? I mean here, Okay, all right.
Literally, the whole reason your rock stars is so you don't have to do a podcast. As a comedian, I'm like, I have to do my podcast, but it's like, you guys don't even have to do a podcast. But tell me how this started. What is it about? You asked me backstage how tall I was? You said, we talk about this a lot. What the hell does that? Well, so other you're going to kick the shit out? No, no, a hockey jersey?
I mean, well, yeah, if you haven't heard our new podcast it's called Vampire Campfire.
And invited their whole studio.
I think one of the origins of it is that in the fall, when the record was almost done, we went up to Oregon for the first ever Vampire Weekend corporate retreat.
Oh wow.
And corporations have been having corporate retreats forever, but I don't think many bands have had corporate retreats. So it's very fun. But the last night we were on the ocean and had a nice fire going and sort of discussing our plans and stuff like that. And I think it's just really fun to sit around a fire and talk about your future and talk about the things you want to achieve. So that was like one of the reasons why we did Vampire camp Fire.
Vampire Campfire for anyone who hasn't listened to what are we going to find?
What are we gonna lik We did talk about heights just because I'm six feet tall, but I'm the shortest member of the band. Because these two guys are six two so people always ask which one of them is taller. It's actually him, Oh some people think. So we were talking about our got us interested question, and so we got kind of interested in our relative heights and also the height of the fictional character Jack Reacher, because the
character is taller than the actor who plays him. Correct, and you're somewhere between the actor and the character.
And I'll let you talk in a second. But I was furious when Tom Cruise played Jack Reacher. I mean it was like, this is but the I love that show. That show is male ego at its fine, isn't it. I just want to get a cup of coffee. I don't want anyone to bother me. Oh shit, I have to kill everybody, right? Very cool? Yeah, what's the podcast to do for you?
You know, I think a big part of being in a band is can I say bullshitting, Oh my god, and just kind of like chopping it up on the bus and airports, like there's a lot of sitting near each other while in motion, kind of the biggest part
of being in a band. And yeah, I think we just we're thinking about this record and how it feels and how it feels for us to be together, and we just kind of felt like, oh, this is something we're kind of doing anyways, like this is something we could share and it contextualizes.
In a cool way.
Who doesn't want to hang out with their favorite band And that's what the podcast can be. So Vando ezra ct, thank you very much, thank you. That's our show up for tonight and our hero is your moment of ze welch And also Chicken, I'll get to take care of the questioner's business.
Good.
I'm thinking a.
Lot of money and everyone can get rich, right. This has been a great American franchise.
Chick fil A, Yeah, they do very well.
That clothes on Sunday, it's the Lord's Chicken.
That's the Lord's Chicken.
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