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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2016

⏱️ 74 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is a serious conversation with a very funny man.Trevor Noah is the host of Comedy Central's the Daily Show. He's also a stand-up comic who grew up in apartheid South Africa, the son of a black mother and a white father. That was illegal in apartheid-era South Africa, so Noah grew up hiding his real parentage, only seeing his father in carefully controlled circumstances. Somehow, he managed to turn this into a very funny, very incisive stand-up act. Today, he occupies one of the commanding heights of American comedy, and when you talk to him, you can see why: he's funny, but he's also damn smart, with an outsider's perspective on America's very unique problems. In this conversation, we talk about:- What it was like growing up biracial in apartheid South Africa- Noah's experience watching South Africa’s post-apartheid truth and reconciliation commission, and what an American one might look like- Noah's thoughts on the right to be forgotten on the internet- How Donald Trump's superpower is his lack of shame- The ways in which Obama’s presidency changed – and sometimes inflamed — the conversation about race over the last eight years- What Obama does and doesn’t share with other Black celebrities in “transcending” race- The parallels between experiencing catcalling and experiencing racism- Noah's critique of both "objective" news sources, and biased ones- Why Noah was taken aback by the response he got criticizing Bernie Sanders- Noah's news diet, and why he doesn’t watch as much Fox News as you might think- How Noah develops a joke, from start to finishAnd much more. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The following podcast contains explicit language.

0:11.2

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Ezra Client Show.

0:14.5

And this is a really fucking great episode of the Ezra Client Show.

0:17.7

I'm really excited for you to get to listen to it.

0:20.3

I got to sit down with Trevor Noah of The Daily Show.

0:23.7

I almost feel like he is one of these folks who needs no introduction.

0:27.2

But if you don't know, he doesn't just host The Daily Show.

0:29.2

He is one of the smartest, most interesting comics.

0:33.4

I'd say easily of the last decade.

0:35.7

And all I'm not an expert, I love comedy enough to say that.

0:39.6

I think with some clarity.

0:41.6

His background is really interesting too.

0:43.4

He grew up in apartheid South Africa.

0:46.3

He is the son of a white father and a black mother.

0:51.1

And that was illegal at the time if people had found out

0:53.6

in his background he would have been taken away from his parents

0:55.7

and taken to an orphanage.

0:57.1

He was only able to see his father once a week.

0:59.6

He lived a very strange life for a very long time.

1:03.2

Later on he had some other problems.

1:05.2

He had a piece of stepfather.

1:06.4

His mother was shot in the head by him.

...

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