Happy Daylight Savings Time, everybody.
Yeah. (whoops) Yes.
That's the worst thing America ever, like, did.
And, yes, I'm remembering all the wars.
-(laughter) -Daylight Savings is horrible.
My body's not made for this.
My brain is not made for it.
Like, I know I've always wanted to do, like, time travel,
but this is the shittiest version of it.
You, like, set your clocks. It's, like, it's dumb.
Do you want the light at night, or do you not...?
Like, do you know what we do in the rest of the world?
We just accept that the sun changes its position.
That's what we do.
Classic. America's like, "Nah.
What if we could change time?"
But you don't. You just make life horrible.
And then, I don't know which clock is correct now.
'Cause some-sometimes I have clocks that I've changed,
and then there's clocks that I haven't changed.
And there's clocks that I think don't change themselves,
but then they have changed, and then I change them.
And then, now, I'm actually, like, super behind,
but I'm not, like, behind like everybody.
I'm just, like, two hours behind.
Do you know how weird that is?
Sometimes I'll be in the kitchen,
and then, I'll get on, like, a phone call,
and then, when I look at the microwave, I'm like,
"Ah, shit, I've been talking for two hours!"
And it's like, no, I haven't.
The time just didn't change.
I would bet half of the murders in America
-just come from Daylight Savings. -(laughter)
You guys need to stop this.
What happens if you murder someone
when the clock jumps back?
Like, if you time it really well,
did you murder the person?
'Cause there's just, like, an hour that's missing.
-What happens then? -WOMAN: Nothing.
Yeah, do you go to jail for that?
-Uh, I'm asking for a friend. -(laughter)
But I need the answer now.
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from the heart of Times Square
in New York City, the only city in America, it's
The Daily Show.
Tonight-- islands are going extinct,
Big Bird and Aaron Rodgers brawl,
and Spike Lee!
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
And joining me for today's headlines
is my good friend Michael Kosta.
-What's going on, Michael? -Ah, feeling good, man.
-Yeah? -I love sitting here. This is fun.
I got a great seat.
Well-well, it's the only seat.
I know. I'm front row seat watching you perform.
-Oh, I-I appreciate that. Um... -And then I'll...
I take notes and stuff, and I'll email 'em to you after,
-but this is a great seat, you know? -What do you mean, notes?
Like-like, notes about, like, What I'm doing?
Well, just positive feedback.
Just enjoy it more and don't worry
-about the-the criticism, though. -Yeah, okay. Got it.
It's like we're doing this thing together.
Just think of it like that. It's...
Like, this thing we're doing here-- it's sort of like sex.
-We're both in it. -Yup.
And I appreciate that you appreciate me,
and I'm just trying to appreciate you,
-but if you send me e-mails afterwards? -Yup.
-Yeah. No. -That's true. That's true.
And now that I think about it,
that's-that's been one of the issues I've had
-in previous relationships. -(laughter)
-E-mailing after sex? -E-mailing after sex.
-Well, we live, and we learn, my friend. -Yup. Thank you
-for helping me today. -All right, well, let's do it.
Let's get into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
We kick things off with climate change.
It's humanity's way of getting revenge on that Titanic iceberg.
Now, some of the biggest victims of climate change
are actually going to be island nations,
which could be completely swallowed by rising sea levels.
And one of these nations is trying
to call attention to this danger.
NEWSWOMAN: One world leader demonstrating the impact
of climate change on his home.
Tuvalu's foreign minister recorded his COP26 message
in knee-high waters.
Island nations like his are particularly vulnerable
to the impacts of climate change.
Some world leaders at COP26 are asking
if wealthy industrialized nations
should pay reparations
for damages already caused by climate change.
Yeah, that's a powerful image.
Although next time I wouldn't smile.
You know, I wouldn't be in, like, the water,
being like, "We're dying!" It doesn't have the same effect.
But it is powerful still.
Island nations can't survive
if everybody is in waist-deep water.
It's a terrible thing.
I mean, there's one benefit and that is you can pee
whenever you want and nobody will know,
but that won't make up for all the other problems.
And I hope a message like this will spur the world
to take action, especially rich first-world nations,
because if these islands sink,
there's a lot of tax haven money that's gonna drown.
And I know what you're thinking right now.
If this means Staten Island goes away forever,
then it's worth it, right, Trevor?
No. We need to protect all islands.
'Cause think about it. Think about how much
islands have given to the world.
Without islands, there's no dream vacations,
there's no Rihanna, there no Cool Runnings,
there's no more seasons of The White Lotus.
And then what are white people gonna watch? Huh?
Succession? Yeah.
I mean, I guess they could watch Succession,
but that's one less show. You know what I mean?
White Lotus and Succession are my two favorite TV shows.
-Did you mention that? -Yeah. I literally just said that now.
I feel like white people love those shows.
-Yeah, that's what I was saying. -Oh, right.
Right. Do you find it interesting
that he had that blue screen behind him in the water?
Like, was he trying to change his Zoom background?
Doesn't he know that most people make their background
a beautiful beach or the ocean?
Well, I think if you live in a place,
you try and do the opposite background.
So he would do a city background?
Yeah, he would probably do, like, a tiny apartment
-in New York as his background. -(chuckles): Right.
Well, that's an interesting commentary,
that we all kind of want what isn't right in front of us.
-You know? -I don't know if it's powerful.
I mean, it's just a little observation that we have.
There was a small observation I made, and-and...
you bring up a great point about smiling.
I think that image would be even more effective
if it was terror on their face.
-You know? -That's also what I said.
I know. Well, that's what I mean.
I'm really absorbing from this seat.
(crew laughing)
-Thank you, Michael. -Yes.
All right, let's move on to our next story,
which is about Elon Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla,
and Jeff Bezos on molly.
As the world's richest man, Musk gets a lot of perks
in his life, right?
He has his own space force, he can invent a new language
to name his baby, and he can watch Hulu without the ads.
Another big thing about being super rich
is that Musk basically never has to pay taxes.
Yeah, because all his money is in assets like stocks--
he doesn't actually earn an income from doing his job,
so he doesn't have to pay income tax.
So right now, right now there's a movement in Congress
to tax wealth instead of income because of situations like this.
And Elon Musk, he hates this idea like it's paper currency.
But unlike most super wealthy people who would just, like,
quietly pay off a senator behind the scenes,
no, Musk took his fight to Twitter,
and he hosted a poll, right, he took a poll
asking whether he should sell ten percent of his shares
in Tesla, which would earn him about $25 billion,
which he would then have to pay taxes on.
And, I mean, even that, people, even that just shows you
how wild it is to be a billionaire.
You hold a poll on Twitter that says, "Should I pay taxes?"
Like, you normal people try doing that shit,
the IRS Will answer that in person.
They'll be at your house: "Yo, you send that Tweet?
Whaaat?
So how did Elon's poll go?
Well, uh, he's definitely paying something.
NEWSWOMAN: And the Twitterverse has spoken.
Elon Musk asked millions of Twitter users
if he should sell ten percent of his Tesla shares,
and results are in.
Nearly 58% of people said yes
while 42% said no.
Tesla down big
after Elon Musk asked Twitter users
whether he should sell ten percent of his stock.
That's taking four or four and a half percent out of Tesla.
Yeah. Because of Elon's tweet,
Tesla's stock crashed instantly.
Which should be a lesson.
You never take financial advice
from random-ass users on Twitter.
That's what reddit is for.
But at the same time,
I actually find this kind of refreshing, you know?
I mean, yeah, Elon Musk is unpredictable,
but he's the only CEO who's having a good time.
He's running Tesla, but he's also the mascot.
You know? It's almost like if the Pillsbury Doughboy
was also the CEO.
That would be so much fun, you know?
Just him going around the office
telling people to touch his belly button.
(giggles) "Don't tell HR about this."
(giggles)
And by the way, if he actually ends up
paying taxes on that stock,
you realize that's gonna be, like, billions of dollars
for the United States government all of a sudden.
Like, just at once.
I really hope that you voted in the election last Tuesday,
but I really, really hope
you voted in Elon's Twitter poll,
because that, my friends,
is clearly the vote that really matters.
-Did you vote? -I didn't vote,
but I feel for those astronauts
flying on a SpaceX rocket ship right now
whose toilet broke, and they're wearing diapers,
shitting in their own pants,
going, "I wish someone would fix the toilet.
"What's our CEO doing?
Sending out a Twitter poll?"
Wouldn't that be frustrating?
I think El... I think this is a cry for cash.
He needs ca... There's a difference between wealth
and actually having money,
and I think this guy's broke, man.
-Wait, wait, wait. You think Elon Musk is br... -You know?
-Like, he's cash broke? -I don't think he has any cash.
I think if you go to Applebee's with Elon Musk,
he can't split appetizers with you.
You know? He'll smile.
He'll be like, "Oh, you guys, I'm Elon Musk."
And they'll go, "We need $11, dude.
Do you have $11?" "I got stock options."
Where's your (bleep) money, dude?
That's what I'm saying. You know what I mean?
-I-I guess. -Yeah.
Who's on Twitter polls? Come on.
-Uh... -Children.
What do children not have? Money.
-Do you see how I drew that conclusion? -Yes, I do.
-Perfectly. -Yeah.
Total... That's a really interesting way
-of seeing things. -Thank you.
I'm glad I have you here, Michael.
All right, finally, let's talk about Joe Biden,
president of the United States
and baby boomer with Gen Z teeth.
After a rough few months,
Biden just had a pretty good weekend.
Congress finally passed his big infrastructure bill,
the economy added more than half a million new jobs,
and daylight savings means it's not as weird
when he falls asleep at 5:00 p.m.
Unfortunately for Biden,
the story most people are talking about
is this one.
NEWSWOMAN: Camilla, duchess of Cornwall,
just can't stop talking about President Biden's faux pas
in Glasgow at the climate conference last week.
He apparently passed wind in front of her,
with a palace source claiming
his own emissions were long and loud
and impossible to ignore.
So, let me translate that for you.
"Passing wind" is "farting."
Yes. Joe Biden farted.
That's what he did.
British people are so fancy.
"He passed wind."
Where did he pass it? It sounds like you're going past it.
No, he passed wind. The wind was passing through you.
That is a fart. We have a word for that.
And, also, can you really blame Joe Biden?
I mean, if you're gonna blame anyone,
blame British cuisine.
You can't serve a 78-year-old man baked beans for breakfast
and then act shocked when he blows the doors off the hinges.
And Joe Biden can't be happy about this getting out,
both the fart and the news about the fart.
Because it doesn't matter how powerful you are.
Once you fart, no one takes you seriously.
Nobody. Like, I don't care who you are.
You fart, people will stop taking you--
Like, Jesus could come back today,
but if he farted in the middle of it,
he'd have to go and chill in heaven for another 2,000 years
until we forget.
And, by the way, just-- by the way, of all people,
the British royal family has no right judging anybody
about anything, especially not a fart!
You're the last people who can judge.
"Good heavens. President Biden farted.
"I simply have to go tell my uncle,
"who is also my husband, about this,
"as soon as he gets back from Jeffrey Epstein's sex island.
Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo."
You know what? If I was Joe Biden,
I would have just owned this shit. Yeah.
I would have gone back to the American press
and I would have been like, "Yeah, yeah, I farted.
"And it wasn't a mistake.
I saw The Crown. That fart was for Diana."
(mumbling)
(Kosta laughs)
America believes in farting.
-That's what I love about this country. -Yeah.
And England is, you know...
It's, like, not proper to fart.
That's why you look at so many of the royalty,
their face is always like...
They're holding it in. Right?
But America, we believe in the freedom to fart.
That's why the American flag is always waving.
That's-that's how George Washington crossed the Delaware.
You know? The Statue of Liberty,
that torch is eternal because they hooked up a hose
from her butthole all the way up to the torch.
I don't know if that's true...
It's-it's true.
But I'm glad that you are proud.
Yeah, I'm proud of that, of American farts.
-That's powerful. -Yeah.
It's like the-the nation-- powerful.
Like...
You know what I mean?
I think we solved it, dude. Thank you.
Well, thank you, Michael.
And thank you so much for being here.
I look forward to your email.
All right, that's it for the headlines.
Don't go away. Because when we come back,
we'll find out what Sesame Street thinks about COVID.
Pretty controversial.
-♪ ♪ -ANNOUNCER (accented): Our islands
are in danger.
The world must act now to reduce methane emissions
from coal, oil
and presidents.
(passing gas)
America must reduce President Biden's methane emissions
to 30% of their 1990 levels
or else our islands will drown.
So, please, America,
tell Joe Biden to hold it in,
because silent is still deadly.
(passing gas)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
Let's talk about the COVID vaccine.
It's Bill Gates' dumbest idea ever.
He's just giving us microchips for free?
Idiot!
There are a lot of big stories about the vaccine right now.
So let's catch up on all of them
in our ongoing segment, Vaccination Nation.
♪ ♪
When the pandemic first hit in March 2020,
most international travel shut down.
You guys probably remember canceling summer vacation trips
and pretending to be upset that you couldn't go
to your cousin's destination wedding in Cancún.
Well, now that the vaccines are out,
the world is slowly opening back up again,
including, as of this morning, America.
Yeah, that's right. America is open for tourism again,
which means, come on in, everybody! Come on in!
But, but, but, but, but, but
before you get on that plane, there are some rules.
The U.S. today will reopen its borders to international
visitors as long as they are fully vaccinated.
People from more than 30 countries will be allowed
to travel to the U.S.
as long as they show proof of vaccination
and a recent negative COVID test.
Coronavirus restrictions have kept the crossings closed
for nearly 20 months.
Exceptions include travelers under the age 18
and those from countries with low vaccination availability.
Wow! That is a...
That's a boatload of countries.
What is it, like a list of 50?
But like, okay, maybe it's just me,
but this is a little confusing.
They're saying the virus is so deadly,
so deadly, you can't come to America
unless you're vaccinated,
but also, if you don't have the vaccine, no biggie!
I mean, the policy's a little all over the place, no?
It's almost like Dr. Fauci and Nicki Minaj worked together
on a group project.
I mean, the only other time you see this logic
is from a bouncer at a nightclub, you know?
They'd be like, "Hey, we got no room. We got no room!
"Come on, guys. We're totally full, man! T...
"Yo, totally full. Back up. No room. No room.
"Hey, yeah, come on in, ladies. Come on in.
"Yeah. Come on in. Good to see you, girl.
"Yeah, you're looking good. You're looking good.
"Yeah, come on. Hey, man, what did I tell you?
No room! It's a fire hazard, B!"
And let's be honest, people.
This travel rule seems to be more about feelings
than actual public health, right?
Because clearly, the Biden administration is trying
to balance public safety with not looking like you're banning
(as Trump): shithole countries.
Because now you're in a conundrum.
Do you let unvaccinated people into the U.S.
even though that's more of a risk, or do you look racist?
Either way, it's a problem that could have been averted
if America had shared its vaccines
instead of having six vaccines
for every man, woman and emotional support animal.
I'm just saying. Oh, and one person
who definitely doesn't have the vaccine
is the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers.
Last week Rodgers came down with COVID,
which is how everyone learned that he wasn't vaccinated.
Yeah, and apparently, Rodgers tried some homeopathic treatment
instead of getting the vaccine.
And that took a lot of people by surprise,
because back in the pre-season he said this.
REPORTER: Are you vaccinated?
And what's your stance on vaccinations?
Yeah, I've been immunized.
Yeah, yeah, I've been immunized.
Not vaccinated, immunized.
That was a pretty slippery answer, looking back at it.
This is like your girl asking if you're wearing a condom,
and you put on a bike helmet and you're like,
"Yeah, yeah, I'm wearing protection."
And after this news broke, everyone wanted to know why.
Why did Aaron Rodgers refuse to get vaccinated
and hide it from everyone?
And on Friday, He went on a podcast
to give his side of the story.
I'm not, uh, you know, some sort of anti-vax flat-earther.
Um, I am somebody who's a critical thinker.
Uh, you guys know me, I march to the beat of my own drum.
I consulted with a now good friend of mine, Joe Rogan,
after he got COVID, and I have been doing
a lot of the stuff that he recommended in his podcasts.
I have been taking monoclonal antibodies,
Ivermectin, zinc, vitamin C and D, HCQ.
I believe strongly in bodily autonomy
and the ability to make choices for your body,
not to have to acquiesce
to some woke culture or crazed, you know,
group of individuals who say you have to do something.
The great MLK said that you have a moral obligation
to object to unjust rules
and rules that make no sense.
Oh. That actually reminds me of another famous MLK quote:
I have a dream that when I'm gone
you will leave me out of your messy-ass drama.
So Rodgers basically says that he's an independent thinker
who doesn't want to be told what to do with his body.
And I don't know, y-you ever notice
how all the independent thinkers
are doing the exact same thing? Right?
It's not like they're all coming up with different ideas.
Like, "I'm an independent thinker.
"What are my thoughts, Joe Rogan?
Tell me about my independent thoughts."
But you can tell how politics has just infected
the entire vaccine debate.
Right? Because you'll never see
Aaron Rodgers doing this to anything else.
He's never applying this kind of independent thinking
to the rest of his body.
Like, just once, I'd love to see him out there on the field like,
"Forget pads and helmets.
I've decided to cover myself in manuka honey."
And honestly, people, my biggest problem
with athletes like Aaron Rodgers or Kyrie Irving
is that they think that this choice
only affects themselves.
But there are real victims here.
And yes, I'm talking about those of us
who play fantasy sports.
Because it used to be when you drafted players,
all you had to take into account was their injury history
or their team's off-season moves.
Now... Now you got to be like,
"Okay, what are the chances
"that this player gets his news from Facebook?
Aah, I'm gonna lose points."
And if you're wondering, isn't there a cultural figure
out there who can challenge Aaron Rodgers?
You know, someone who's pro-vaccination
and who everyone respects?
Well, worry no more, because help is on the way.
NEWSMAN: And now Big Bird is causing a stir
over the COVID vaccine.
The Sesame Street character,
who is six years old on the show,
posted about getting the vaccine after the Pfizer shot
was approved for kids as young as five.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz responded to Big Bird's tweet,
saying, "Government propaganda for your five-year-old."
All right, first of all, Ted Cruz, you need to calm down.
All right? Five-year-olds aren't even gonna see Big Bird's tweet.
Five-year-olds aren't on Twitter. They're on TikTok.
And honestly, I'm surprised
Ted Cruz is even going hard after Big Bird
considering how much they have in common.
I mean, they both desperately want to fly, but they can't.
This whole thing is such a double standard, right?
People are upset about Big Bird getting the vaccine,
but no one, no one cares
about all the hormone injections that they've been giving him
to make him as big and delicious as possible
when they eventually eat him.
Because that's gonna happen, people.
It's only a matter of time. And it's gonna be
the worst Thanksgiving episode of all time.
I mean, I will say, though,
Big Bird getting vaccinated is not an effective way
to convince people to get the shot.
If they really... If they really want to convince kids,
they should have killed
one of the Sesame Street characters with COVID.
Yeah, kids remember that shit.
The Count should be there on his deathbed like...
-(monitor beeping) -"The vaccine could have saved me,
"but it's too late now.
"How many regrets do I have?
One regret. Two regrets."
(laughs)
(monitor flatlines)
Yeah, your kid will remember that shit forever.
Now, look, Big Bird is entitled to his opinions,
but it turns out not every giant bird
feels the same way.
And we here at The Daily Show,
well, we-we want to hear from all sides.
So, in the interest of fairness,
here to offer an opposing and equally important opinion,
please welcome Independent Thinking Bird.
Thanks for having me on, Trevor!
I'm excited to spread the truth.
(coughing)
Wow. I hope that's all you're spreading.
Um, now, I understand that you disagree with Big Bird?
It's not about disagreeing, Trevor.
It's about keeping an open mind.
Everyone says listen to your doctor,
but what about listening to this guy I met at the gym?
His cousin got vaccinated,
and, two days later,
his nipples fell off.
That's why you should do your own research.
Come on. That can't be true.
And, also, I mean, I assume that means you're not vaccinated?
I still have my nipples, don't I?
I-I can't tell.
Are you vaccinated or not?
Even better--
I'm immunized!
That means I use alternative medicine
so I'm safe from disease
and big pharma!
But what alternative medicine is more effective than the vaccine?
Well, I do yoga,
I get acupuncture,
and, every night before bed,
I drink a warm glass
of goat piss.
Which reminds me--
today's show is brought to you by the letter "P."
Yum.
No. No, no. No, do not listen to him, kids.
We're-we're not sponsored by the letter "P."
Nobody drink pee, please.
Sounds like Trevor's part of the cancel culture woke mob.
I've been on Team Goat for years,
and, so far, the only diseases I've had
are measles, mumps,
rubella, early-onset Alzheimer's,
whooping cough, Ukrainian smallpox,
early-onset Alzheimer's
and bird flu.
Or as we birds call it,
the flu!
Oh, that reminds me--
today's Daily Show is also brought to you
by the letter "B."
That's the hepatitis I don't have.
Okay, you know what, uh,
this-this is pointless. We shouldn't have done this.
Let-Let's get you out of here before everyone gets sick.
Um, thank you, Independent Thinking Bird.
Oh, hey, can I use the bathroom on the way out?
No, it's for employees only.
That's okay. I'll go on your windshield.
You're gonna shit on my windshield?
N-No. Can we... (stammers) Can we--
You know what, let-let's take a break.
And when we come back, I'm gonna be chatting to Spike Lee
about a book that covers his entire life.
You don't want to miss it. Listen, man,
-you don't come to my show and tell me... -What? No.
-(Trevor mumbling) -(stammering)
INDEPENDENT THINKING BIRD: I just got to go! I got IBS!
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is Academy Award-winning filmmaker
Spike Lee. He's here to talk about his new book
which is a visual celebration of his life
and iconic career thus far. Spike Lee,
-welcome back. -Well, it's good to see you, man.
-How are you, sir? -Good to see you. I'm good.
It's good to see you. You look... you look...
You don't look better. You look gooder
than I've ever seen you before, and I wonder
if the Knicks have anything to do with it.
-Well... -As a Knicks fan, how long have you been struggling?
Well, the last time we won an NBA championship
-was the '72-'73 season. -Uh-huh.
-I feel like it's time now. Yeah. -Oh, it's time.
But we're... We got... we got the ingredients,
and, uh, as I say, it's orange and blue skies.
Let's talk about that suit. Where do you even find that?
-No, that's-that's... -Cause I... You don't... you don't
-pop out to a store and find an NBA logo suit. -That's...
LEE: The logo is Jerry West,
and it's a Louboutin suit, and my brother Virgil--
-he hooked it up. -Okay. Okay.
Very, you know... It was... it was...
-the season opener! -(laughing)
I had to come out strong!
(laughter)
-You look sharp. -Hey, I could not... Hey,
I could not be messing around. You know, we're...
-Things are looking good this year. -Yeah.
-As far as basketball mostly. -Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
The rest of the world, I can't deal with.
You know what? You know what my mom always says?
-"You take what you can get. Take what you can get." -Got to.
My-my grandmother lived to be 100 years old told me, also.
"Spikey,
got to crawl before you can walk."
-That's the truth. -Made it 100.
Put me through Morehouse and NYU Film School,
-my grandmother. -Wow.
She saved the Social Security checks
for 50 years for grandchildren's education.
-And since I was the first born, I had first dibs. -Wow.
So then, in many ways, I would argue
that this book is almost a celebration of her hard work.
-Oh, yes, yes. -Because I mean, this is... this is...
Her grandmother was a slave,
yet she was a college graduate from Spelman.
-But we... Can I just say something here? -Yeah, yeah.
95% of those pictures in that book are about my brother.
-That's what I wanted to ask you about. -Yeah, David Lee.
-Let's jump into the book. -Okay.
Um, there are few people
who could put out a book of their work
that would be as, I mean, not just, not just wide-ranging,
but also, like, time-spanning as this book is.
You know, everything from She's Gotta Have It
and then, you know, you go through some of these pictures.
I mean, Do the Right Thing, and then you're getting down,
you go to Jungle Fever, you go to Malcolm X.
Let's talk about the book as a whole.
-Mm-hmm. -First of all, what's amazing is,
your brother has taken, as you said,
like, 90% of the pictures in here.
I didn't know that you work with your siblings
-on so many movies. -Oh, yes.
My brother David, David Charles Lee.
Since film school, when I was in NYU graduate film school,
he has been taking... documenting all my films,
and now he's the top unit photographer in New York City.
So I've been blessed.
My sister, Joie, is a writer, director.
She's been in my films.
Uh, her and my brother Cinqué cowrote...
-were the original writers of Crooklyn, -Right.
which is a semibiographical of our family growing up
in Brooklyn, New York, during in the late '60s, early '70s.
My brother Chris, who's no longer with us,
he was one of the...
really, really great first wave of graffiti artists.
His name was Shadow.
So this just went through the family.
Went through the family.
And I come from a very artistic family.
-Uh-huh. -My father Billy, great jazz musician,
great composer.
Composed the scores for my films from film school,
all of it, the Mo' Better Blues.
And during the early '60s,
he was the top folk bassist in the world.
When Bob Dylan decided he wanted to go electric,
everybody folk went electric.
And my father to this day
has never played an electric instrument.
Wow.
But at first I couldn't understand
why my father would do that,
but as I've gotten older and wiser...
-Uh-huh. -he had convictions.
This is something he's not going to do.
Now, of course, all jump saying,
you have five kids.
But...
he... he wanted... He called it "tone as is."
-He's a jazz musician. -Mm-hmm.
Even when he played, even when he played,
he wouldn't put a mike up
like, on a stand to his bass.
He didn't want anything...
He just wanted it to sound the way it was.
Yep. And I can't hate him for that. I can't do that.
I'm just happy that...
for me, as a filmmaker,
I was able to give-give him a platform so his music...
I mean, that Do the Right Thing soundtrack
was probably his best.
I mean, people love that, you know?
-You... -I mean, the score for it. Not the soundtrack.
-The score. Mm-hmm. -Right, right, right.
Your-your work speaks to everyone in every single way.
I-I-I love that this isn't just a book of pictures
from Spike Lee's work but it's also...
it's also snippets of your thoughts, your ideas.
-Mm-hmm. -You know, as-as I was going through it...
-Uh, which-which tab is that? (laughs) -Oh, man, I mean...
I-I'll tell you, like, for me, like Jungle Fever, for instance.
You know, just reading through your mind
where you were going, "A lot of people
"misunderstand my work.
"Or they put one label to my work,
"and they don't understand that I'm telling a story
about a complicated issue."
-Right. -"I'm not telling the story about all issues."
Yes, the-the rap against Jungle Fever is that I was
against interracial, you know, marriage or whatever,
but that was not the case.
What I want to do is to use specif...
two specific neighborhoods.
-Mm-hmm. -Harlem-- African American--
and Bensonhurst-- stone Italian American.
And these two people
from different backgrounds come together,
and the pressures on them
make it difficult for them.
But that was not the really...
The whole interracial thing was only a platform
to get to what the movie's really about,
which is, at the time,
how crack was devastating the Black community.
-Mm. -Which you really see
through what I believe
is one of the greatest Sam Jackson performances
-as Gator. -Right.
There are so many stories in here.
There are so many moments from your life.
I mean, you know,
you-your life has spanned decades,
-time, stories, people. -I'm on my fourth decade of filmmaking.
-Fourth decade of filmmaking. -Mm-hmm.
I would love to know what the 1986 Spike Lee
would take as advice
from the 2021 Spike Lee, you know?
Person who's been through all these journeys,
-from Crooklyn, Do the Right Thing... -If I w...
...all the way through Da 5 Bloods.
I-I rarely do these hypothetical things.
-But for you, my brother, I will. -Thank you.
If...
if the 63-year-old Spike Lee
could speak to the...
as my mother would say, my late mother would say--
the skinny rusty butt Spikey...
I would tell my younger self that...
you have to be more patient with people
and...
everybody is not the same.
Uh, you can't expect everybody knowing you--
what you think, how you think
-and what you know. -Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
And that-that...
is giving grace.
Were you ever able to extend that grace to your father?
Yeah.
I mean,
you know, we're not-- you know, he's-he's kind of, like...
not really good in, uh...
-in the... mental thing. -Right.
But he's still with us.
You know, he's still with us.
And if it wasn't for him and my mother,
I would not be the artist I am.
So, love is always gonna be there.
And if it wasn't for you,
we wouldn't be the people we are,
-watching all these films. -Yeah. Whoa, we got something.
I know you got the book there.
-But I have personally signed this. -(laughing)
Marked it up. You're there.
My beautiful family. My siblings.
And can we-- can you read that?
Personally signed. To me.
To Trevor.
Peace and Love.
-Spike Lee. Thank you, Spike. -Spike Lee.
A-And here's the thing though. Last thing.
I appreciate you.
-What you do is needed. -Thank you.
Keep doing it, man, because...
the streets love you.
-And that's-that's 100. -Appreciate it.
-The streets love you, man. -Thank you. Thank you very much.
-We love you, man. -Thank you so much.
All right, people, Spike is available November 17
wherever books are sold. Not this one. This is my one.
We're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight. But before we go,
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times
for the Feeding America network
of food banks and meal programs,
and their mission is to bring nourishing food
to people in need.
So if you would like to support them in their work,
please donate at the link below
and help to make the holidays brighter for your neighbors.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there,
get your vaccine and, remember,
if you fart in public,
shit, you're presidential.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
-("God Save the Queen" playing) -President Biden had met Camilla
and broken wind so loudly
that she was shocked.
There's something about stories about people farting
in front of royals or royals farting in front of people,
and I just have an endless appetite to read this stuff.
I think our, uh... our director has a special sound effect
-on that... -(passing gas)
But poor President Biden, to be traveling all that--
those distances, eating rich foreign food.
And I think for, you know-- He's in his late 70s.
Camilla is also married to a man in his 70s.
I'm sure she's no stranger to a bit of flatulence.
I know this conference of saving the planet
is about low emissions, but I just wanted to demonstrate
wind power can be very effective.