video is a pop music video about the dangers of an inflationary monetary policy. it is called fast >> are you working with any authors who have created children's books? >> sure. -- we had these animators who worked for disney and were passionate about the american revolution. on an animatedem retelling of the boston tea party. it sounds adorable. she said that if you teach kids characters and themes and relatable ways, it would help them understand it later. with that in mind, these

encounteredrs characters in a very clever and effective way. we are adapting a book right now for classroom use with a series of cgi short films. all these things. we love passion stuff. we love great ideas for passion projects. >> this question wants to do role-playing. she says i am talking to my neighbor but even go immigration and he tells me a story about a 22-year-old quietly living her life, working at a grocery store, and this person is illegal. now what?

what story are you going to tell him? not one of theis issues that gets me as fired up as other ones. i would not be the best person to convey a response on that. could pull up the negative ramifications of immigration. the most immigration we get his cubans turning a roof into a boat and floating over. i would use whatever characters or personal stories you could that illegal immigration has had negative ramifications on your life. that is something closer to home for you guys. book?e you written a

if not, why not? >> illiteracy. with some tutoring -- i am not a creative type. i do development work, outreach work, media stuff. the only thing i have ever been -- we have ar is big event in manhattan, and every time our fermenters come up to me they want me to work with them. the same thing every time. you would be great for voiceover work. [laughter] that is the greatest backhanded compliment you could get. i did some voiceover work for an animated short. they called me. now i'm getting typecast. st i havehe close

got to anything creative. i did a radio pilot. do yourkind of budget projects typically have? >> all over the place. we have videos the causes little as $6,000. obviously, narrative films are more expensive than documentaries. feature-length is more expensive than short films. lost will probably cost for production somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million. your marketing budget has to be as big if not bigger than the production budget. the marketing is key. as crazy as that sounds.

if somebody sees an ad for justca lost, it could be as effective as a political ad. but it's not just something that is forgotten as soon as the election is over. i view the advertising as a much more worthwhile investment when it's done for social action campaigns. >> speaking of candidates, can you think of any good examples of candidates or political figures or leaders using humor and storytelling effectively? youalifornians, can any of point to a great politician? >> ronald reagan. that's the best example.

ronald reagan. that is the best example. governor reagan, you are accusing mr. carter of those mistakes. mistake?ever made a yes, i was once a democrat. [laughter] moral outrage is the most powerful political tool. reagan also employed -- there you go. mostolled anger is the powerful political tool, but humor is the second most powerful political tool. breakdown of black families is the results of government policies. any thoughts on how you might

change that? in stockton, california -- when all government institutions disappeared. it can wreck families lives. it is crazy. the troy today, they don't even offer police services in some areas. just like you see in other countries when they enact socials health care systems, initially it starts out as the greatest health care ever. then they can afford it. it's incredible. you will see that in virginia. >> is anyone else making films that celebrate freedom?

>> a lot of individual filmmakers out there do great films. not everybody works with us on every project. our goal is to build a movement, not an empire. we partner with an organization called free to choose. a district a lot of our content and classrooms. there is another organization in california that do a lot of free workshops for filmmakers. we are the only organization doing what we do. creating content online, theatrically release content -- of we partner with a lot institutes as well. we have been fortunate enough to partner with a lot of great organizations out there. >> did i you have anything to do with the film the last man

standing? >> no. what was that? >> [indiscernible] >> should i be watching it? ok. i'll put it my netflix or tivo queue. we celebrate films that promote liberty. year, we also did the liberty tv wards. we could not do it every year because there is not that many tv shows. how many times can you talk about shark tank? last man standing, tim allen -- is that on abc? >> i haven't heard of it either. i will look for it. we talked about children's books

-- this is a question about a specific book. any interest in working with rush limbaugh? >> no. that i wouldnd old record and listen to rush limbaugh when i came home from school. young people here today, they would be really confused because they don't know what tape-recording is. people always ask us, why don't you work with glenn beck. that would lower cover. he is selling red meat to tea party members. >> you said you had one more clip. let me do one more question. then we will wrap it up. with the movie,

unfair, exposing the irs? >> i have never heard of it. similarly, if anybody knows of great filmmakers or people who share our beliefs and want to be more active in filmmaking, i would love to talk to you. this last clip is not one of the ones we did. ede guy i mentioned to work mtv didlodeon and this one. wanted to make it so funny that the liberals could not ignore it. salon said that they hate every bit of this video. 1980's parody of

action figures called cronies. clip] ♪ new kroeady for the all nies. >> they are stealing our customers with superior products. >> meet the extreme shape shifter. >> you can't stop me. come parts and labor. >> we are under competitive attack. >> raise the trade barriers.

>> this wall street are stacks the deck and rigs the game. >> take to the skies. >> she's awful. she is wasteful. >> every team needs a leader. the ultimate source of kronie power. >> get connected to the geforce. >> we are connected. >> find out more. collect them all. do not attempt to be a real kro

nie without political influence. [applause] thank you so much for having me. i love coming to a place where against all odds, against all adversity, there are still people who are passionate about liberty. it is a true thrill and inspiration to come out here to meet people fighting for our belief against such incredible odds. thank you for having me. i appreciate it. [applause] congressman tom price talks about the budget process, the spending bill, and a look

ahead at a congress with both chambers led by republicans. newsmakers, sunday at 10:00 a.m. on c-span. >> here's a look at some programs on christmas day. festivities start with the lighting of the national christmas tree, followed by the white house christmas decorations with michelle obama, and the lighting of the capitol christmas tree. p.m., celebrity activists talk about the causes. 8:00, supreme court justice and a former governor on the founding fathers. venture into the art of good writing. see the feminist side of a superhero. p.m., authors talk about

the reading habits. on american history tv on c-span3, the fall of the berlin wall with c-span footage of george bush and bob dole, with speeches from john kennedy and ronald reagan. at noon, fashion experts on fashion choices and how they represented this thousand the time. 10:00, former nbc news anchor tom brokaw on his more than 50 years of reporting on world events. that is christmas day on the c-span network. for a complete schedule, go to c-span.org. >> among the senators retiring at the end of the session, mike johanns. mitch mcconnell recently made these remarks in tribute to the one term senator. it is 10 minutes. >> i'd like to pay tribute today to a truly outstanding senator,

who will soon retire after more than 30 years of public service. i am speaking of senator mike johanns. he is the only current member of this body besides senator alexander to have served as governor, and cabinet secretary. accomplished,e is mike is not the flashes senator. he does not hold the most press conferences. he does not yell the loudest. you don't have to worry about him knocking your over to get to a tv camera. mike has proven himself a remarkable, remarkably successful member of this body. that was true in his battles to defend nebraska's rule communities against government overreach. it was true when he worked to

sink a national energy tax that threaten his constituents. it was true when he led the first successful legislative effort to revisit obamacare, working with many democrats to repeal the 1099 provision. mike is never looking for drama. he is always aiming for results. for peopletake long around here to recognize that mike was more than just another freshman in the minority. he became the guy you turn to if you wanted to get an amendment up to 60 votes. that is truly remarkable for a first-term senator. it is especially remarkable when you consider that mike came to the senate at a time when republicans were deep in the minority. mike is a pretty remarkable guy. county commissioner, city ,ouncilman, mayor, governor

secretary of agriculture. you name it, mike has done it. that was before he even set foot in the senate. some think mike must have a secret that allows him to assemble bipartisan coalitions on conservative issues. i don't think it's much of a secret at all. mike works across the aisle, works in good faith, and he works hard. he does not care what party you are from. absolutely no one can outwork him. mike make sure of that by getting up earlier than anyone else. it's a habit he learned growing farm.a for he would get up at 5:00 a.m. every day. from age four, he would work. he would shovel mock.

he'd fill the hall tanks. he'd even deliver piglets. the point is, mike developed an appreciation for hard work and responsibility at an early age. along with his strong catholic faith, these are the traits that still define him today. they don't paint the whole picture. mike johanns may be in a congressman, he may be one of the smartest and most capable public servants you are ever meet, but he is absolute poverty in the wife of his hands. they complement each other perfectly. their idea of a perfect night out is a night in together. fans.re both husker

as my clinic, steph has almost mike put it, she is almost never in a bad mood. them have logged tens of thousands of miles together campaigning across nebraska, usually in matching t-shirts. sometimes in a beat up old corsica. they have plenty of storage from the trail, too. but one for mike's run for governor stands out in particular. here's what happened. one are driving home evening after a long day of marching in parades in the hot sun. way,passed a barn on the assuming it was a cattle sale.

they figure they were drop-in and press a few palms. stephanie parker car. mike open the door. dozens of well-dressed nebraskans eyes fell on them. t-shirtsheir sweaty had not drop a cattle sale, they had crossed the wedding. i will give them this, they made the best of it. mike ended up dancing with the he wentnd of course on to win the election. one month later -- here's the ,equel -- at an inaugural ball too uninvited guest showed up. it was the bride and her husband. they had a civil message, you crashed our wedding governor and now we are crashing your

inaugural. senator may like to brag, but our colleagues know the truth. mike is the original wedding crasher. certainlytephanie have traveled a long and interesting road from when they first met while serving on the lancaster county board in the , when mike would draft up list on an old typewriter and they would go out and campaign door-to-door. a lot has changed. thing -- mike is not a democrat anymore. but much of the same two. he still cares deeply about mental health issues. considers his crowning achievement as governor. he still has loyal fans on staff

who remember all of his efforts on the issue. -- theruly a rare thing loyalty mike inspires and people. this is a senator with staffers who have been with him for many years. some since his days in local politics. abouts what they all say mike johanns. senator johanns is a man who cares. he cares about his family. he cares about the people who work for him. and he cares about his constituents. given hisy he has cell phone number out to half of nebraska. he has made his mistakes. as mayor, he had to cancel halloween one year. that is old news. -- he isnebraskans

simply mike. they respect him, and i know they will miss him. and so are we. at least retirement will give mike more time with his hobbies. watche washer.us window know thate does, we this is a retirement well-earned. flu, madalt with bird cow disease, a farm bill, deficit reduction, and just about any other issue you can think of over a long and distinct career in public service. -- we all want to thank senator johansson are his loyal dedication to the senate and the people of nebraska. we wish mike and stephanie the best as they look forward to their adventure together.

>> the majority leader perry >> i would join in the remarks. i would add to that. . >> i would add to that. stephanie is one of the funniest people. a sense of humor that is remarkable. >> [indiscernible] >> yes. >> the senator from nebraska. >> thank you. mr. president just a word to both leaders. thank you so very much for your kind words. i also want to say thank you for mentioning my wife, stephanie. this is been a remarkable partnership for a lot of years.

i could not do what i did without her. mcconnell.o senator thank you. it has been an honor to serve in this body. i will have more to say next week and my farewell speech, but i do not want this day to go by without expressing my appreciation. thank you. >> seth rogen talks about political humor in move maze. movies. followed by retiring senator harkin's farewell speech on the floor. >> on the next washington tankersley examines what has gone wrong with the middle class and what the country must do to get the economy working for everyone. aaron david miller talks about his book, the end of greatness,

why a america cannot have and not want another great president. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> this week on q&a, katy perry much on what she perceives as the hypocrisy of liberals on their war on women rhetoric. what is republic ted kennedy? is your problem with ted kennedy? >> they were showing this tribute video. him as theretraining women's rights champion when he left the young woman to drown in his car. if he had not gone back to save his own behind, she would've probably survived.

you can't do an entire video at a convention or about the war on women and glorify someone like that by not including that part of his life in the video. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. to mark 10 years, we are airing one program from each year starting december 22 at 7:00 p.m. eastern. rogen and liz winstead on politics and humor. this event took place before mr. rogan ended his public appearances and before sony pictures canceled his release of the film, the interview. mr. rogan briefly discusses why he made the movie. it is part of a broader discussion on how comedians and filmmakers use comedy to address political issues. the harvard institute of politics posted this event. a note to our viewers, this

program contains language that some may find offensive. this is about one hour and 10 minutes. [applause] >> hello, everyone. i am maggie williams. welcome to the john f. kennedy junior forum in the institute of politics. our mission is to inspire students towards careers in politics and public service, but we have some laughs along the way. over the years, this form has hosted chevy chase, john stewart, stephen colbert, al franken, and i hope you will as much asdiscussion you have enjoyed the others. leading our conversation tonight is a young woman who knows a , namedr two about humor

this past january as the first african-american woman president of our 138-year-old harvard lampoon. [applause] she started her writing career at age seven when she began her i am the onlyd, one who knows about anything. [laughter] senior and studies economics, which is a writing comedy. turn ina directors in the state of wisconsin. please welcome alexis wilkinson. [applause] >> thank you so much, maggie. i can die now.

tonight toe are here discuss the role of politics and humor, and i think what is becoming increasingly apparent about the role of humor and politics. -- some people would argue that influence the entire country -- to the daily report. the colbert r with that in mind, our guest tonight our liz winstead, the cocreator of the daily show. she has campaigned tirelessly and hilariously for contraceptive access and abortion rights.

she has appeared on comedy central, hbo, cnn, msnbc. welcome liz winstead. [applause] rogen as an actor, him he nominated writer, comedian, filmmaker. appeared in a number of block busters. he is also a canadian. seth has been an ardent supporter of marijuana legalization, gay rights, and alzheimer's awareness, testifying to congress about the importance of research.

please give it up for seth rogen. [applause] ok, i'm going to ask them a couple of open-ended questions and we will watch a couple of video clips and then we will move on to q&a. i will start with list. liz. you started as a standup comedian and then went on to write. some 80% of millennial's watch the daily show. that is a crazy percentage. can you describe how you came to create the show and what your original vision was for the show? >> oh, boy. i thought i it was would be a standup forever.

i was on the road and making a living doing standup. i was fine about it. i was kind of a hack. like great dane should have to wear underwear in public. really, it is so embarrassing to say, but it is true. this up tiffany, and what moment --i was set up on this date. it was before tender. i went on a date and the guy shows up and he is wearing a

yankees hat and a yankees jacket becausealready doubting i'm from minnesota, i'm a twins fan, and i have a theory about who went double sports gear that they won't go down on you. isn't dolcee -- vita in black and white? that's a negative. i thought i should and do the date. but i continued. we went to the movie. he fell asleep in the movie. i hated him so much for falling that i smeared my greasy popcorn hand on his yankees jacket.

i felt horrible guilt. i said let's go have a drink. we get to the bar and it's the night of the first gulf war. the tv is on. born,of you weren't even but it was when there was just cnn. all of a sudden, cnn had graphics and a theme song and hot people talking about war. , are theyto myself reporting on a war are trying to sell me a war? it felt really weird. , -- i thought,e we're screwed as a nation. i started looking at the world through a different lens. i started reading more stuff in talking about the media. one-womanuple of

shows an comedy central said you want to create a show that's on everyday about the news? i said, i do, but the one thing that is key is that we make fun of the newsmakers, we actually use the news of the character. we look at the way they do the news and make fun of that. the manipulation is part of it. >> ok. awesome. thank you. work, a lot of your involves merging politics and humor. let's go to a clip from your organization. clip] >> oh, there's a screen. ♪ fallopian tube.

end uninvited guests. the state of our uterus is strong. the end of last year left is unstable. when the government shutdown, there was panic. with no politician in place telling me what to do, our vaginas ran amok. that was then. that thei assure you government is back to work and that republicans and republicans alike are tirelessly fighting so have the samewill rights as those of saudi arabia. [laughter] [applause] lady parts justice is dealing

with a contentious and divisive issue. legislation is now closing family planning clinics, leaving women without options, so what made you want to be in this fight? think leaving women without options is bad. also, i realize people were not aware of what was happening. planned parenthood is a strong brand. busy, you don't understand what the assault is. -- when i hear people talk about this issue they talk about circumstances that are not true. some age ofere is abstinence we have to get back to.

people have sex. they dupe mistakes happen. whatever. why not make sure all access is given and talk about it in ways that are fun and interesting and also get men involved, because out that women cannot get pregnant by themselves. >> what? >> yes. it is true. can't like if women control everything about their , they will never be a part of the power structure. i would like to be more a part of the decision-making process. [applause] >> thank you. let's move on to seth. >> oh, man. forou are most known

outrageous blockbuster comedies and smoking cannabis. deeply aboutre alzheimer's research. how you came to be involved in that conversation and what it was like to testify to congress about it? mother-in-law was diagnosed with early alzheimer's when she was in her 50's. i had just started dating my wife around that time. i really knew nothing about it. i knew how was for trade in movies. i very quickly got a crash course in all things alzheimer's. one of the most interesting things and startling things was that there is literally no treatment at all. there is nothing you can do. then you start to look into how

and it isng it gets, ridiculously overfunded in comparison the things that kill much less people and have many forms of treatment. so, no one is doing anything, and as far as diseases that are ,ool to talk about, it's polio just not hip in any capacity. there is a lot of shame associated with it. there is aware of microphone thing happening. the whole thing is flocked. is --. there was no competition. it was mine to take. [applause] older, you realize --

not everyone -- i'm a famous person in people pay attention to what i say, and i generally say stupid shit. maybe i can deflect that onto something they could use some elimination. i wonder how to do that. i'm not very educated. it was a struggle for a long time. very organically this thing came into my life where i could talk about it on a very personal way. i did not have to memorize facts or statistics or anything like that. i can speak from my own experiences. all of a sudden, i was raising awareness. they invited me to go to congress and talk about it. way, i discerning in a guess. they have these panel set up so they can hear people's personal please on issues and no one

shows up to them. that is like the norm. there are 17 people on this panel and two people were there. wonder whyted to there were only two people that's whatone was happens. people do not show up to these things. what a great job. you're defended in your choice to not show up to it. in a way, that was disconcerting. at the same time, people hate the government, and that is why. it seems inefficient and people are getting paid to do ship they are not doing. moment, alzheimer's went viral, i guess. the speech got a lot of views on second, on c-span, the most-watched video after obama's inauguration. not a lot of competition. [applause]

that i can, showed even if for a brief moment, shed some light on something, and that's a microscopic step towards relevant change. >> ok. also. thank you. the next thing i want to ask you about is your new movie, the interview. you and james franco are hired by the cia to kill north korea's leader. let's watch the trailer for that. [laughter] clip] >> who is this? >> our leader is interested in doing an interview with james schuyler. >> did you do say china? >> i will be traveling to north korea to interview north korea's

president. ♪ am agent lazy with central intelligence. in awo are going to be room alone with north korea's president. we would love it if you could take them out. take them out. >> for coffee or dinner? >> take him out. >> you want us to kill the leader of north korea. ? >> what? >> hello, north korea. ofi watched every episode your show. i especially enjoyed the miley cyrus camel to know episode. >> you are entering the most dangerous company on earth. >> i have a gift for you.

this dog is killing me with his cuteness. ♪ >> i wish we had an escape plan. >> i'm a good swimmer. >> it is really far. >> people have done it. >> that is not true. ♪ >> nice tank. is that real? >> it was a gift to my grandfather from stalin. >> in my country it is pronounced stallone. ♪ >> i never heard this before in my life. >> i love katy perry. >> i spend a lot of time with cam, and i think he's not a bad guy.

>> all right. [applause] ok. the actual north korea has flipped. they called it merciless retaliation. i don't think they have nukes. idea for the movie come about? how did you think north korea would respond? from --dea came about we -- it was anecdotal conversation. we were talking about mike wallace interviews of osama bin laden. if you're in a position to be in

a room with dangerous people, and i'm not saying they should kill them, but were they so inclined, they would be in a good position to do that. that became -- we would just talk about, you know, and then meanwhile we were fascinated with the north korea, as a lot of people are. it is a bizarre place. the more you read about it, the more bizarre it is. the more mysterious it is. the deeper you dig, the deeper the mystery goes. eventually, we combine the ideas. we would make a movie about a journalistic is an interview with a leader and disaster kill him. more lookinge and into north korea, learning more about it, we started to see the crazy rhetoric is the name of the game.

the opening scene of the movie makes fun of that idea. when they ultimately came out rhetoric, it was not that surprising. it confirmed the theory of the movie to some degree. yeah. fearful that they will actually do something? >> not really. no. i would hope they have better things to do. don't take that as a challenge. again, i would hope they have better things to do. >> i don't think the movies being released there. i suspect low box office revenue there. [applause] >> ok. both is topic with you that there has been a lot of talk about gender dynamics and comedy, feminism, and that is

people are looking at andculture and humor holding people accountable for things being said. -- question i have for you you obviously have worked and comedy for a long time, late-night tv, political satire, and for that genre there is a real thirst for women. when stephen colbert is leaving -- the black part of me was happy, but the woman part of me was not happy. what you think can be done to correct that? >> well, since i have so much power. we have made great strides from where we were and where we are going. i think there was an old guard for a long time. the old guard is retiring.

when you look at young show runners taking over, they have come up the ranks with women and with people of color and those people are now along for the ride. i think the predisposition that women are not funny is not there. i feel good about that. you will now see tons of women and people of color. it is really cool. -- it's always amazing to me. i look at late-night into different ways. i look at stephen colbert and john stuart and belmar as different animals. generally, when i watch the many writing get submissions from women. they did not have the chops to do that show at the time. that has changed.

you know what kind of packet to write for it. if you think about it, if you're going into the world of tv writing or film writing or whatever >> there are few jobs for big, nerdy, funny political junkies who also have historical ,orking knowledge of life politics, and who can say that nixon said that, reagan said that, this is weird, fdr radio clip. those people existing work on the shows. you have to be a combination person. on top of having all that you are examining the landscape of the media and politics. a lot of people just go, there's more sitcoms than shows like that. hard -- ift it is you look at the ratings of the daily show, they are different

than modern families. i think that people interested in doing those things are not as great. women doing those things are not as great. people doing them well is not as great as that. it gets hard. the pool gets smaller when you assess what you need to make your show great every single night. theas to just to do with cool people. you are known for these romantic comedies with a bunch of dudes. they get out of it by being pretty stupid. you took to twitter to defend the movie neighbors. the washington post link movies

barbarat to the santa murders. you tweeted, how dare you and --impolite many people pointed out that she isaracters wife -- actually in on all the action that is crucial to the plot. all that is just to say, do you think about the gender dynamics until making? how much of that should go into what stories you want to tell? >> as we got an older, we have thought about it more. when we were in our early 20's making super bad, it was so -- -- it was perspective

removed from that perspective. the rules of the women in that movie was very clear what they should be. yes, withen older, neighbor specifically, we put a lot of thought into how do we the character to be as important to the comedy, the story, and how to we not make the story about a couple who is in conflict, but make a comedy team out of a husband and wife who really get along with each other and like each other. the article she wrote had some good points, and i probably overshadow that with my rage because on that movie specifically, i was hurt that movie specifically is one that we put a lot of thought into not doing that. i think a lot of people responded very well to that and understood that was a key element of that movie.

you know, being told that you responsibley way for a mass murder socks. that is also where i is coming from from some degree. older and smarter, i guess, we realized that -- it is the nature of how movies are that lens themselves itself towards sexism, honestly. the traditional structure of a movie that is romantic -- the structure that works for 100 years, which is why people keep doing it, is very much the structure that a lot of movies follow the do not paint women in plot drivenependent light. were like, not do that, it is interesting how many conventions we had to unravel.

a lot of the standard movie mechanics are trying to put this a bad rule, and we had to fight against that. we do it more and more. it is something that we are trying to be more aware of. >> the more you get women in writers rooms and women as creators and in life in general where they're making decisions, then the roles of those women will also be reflected in film. i think that is the problem. if you have a life where you don't have women all over it, then you don't create movies from the perspective of a woman. how many women are running studios? it's a fallacy that perpetuates still. people say, there are women comedies and there are men's comedies and movies like

bridesmaids and stuff. they have started to break the mold. unless we stop having women in these positions where we can write about experiential things, we will be stuck in that same formula. >> do you feel comedians should have license to push the boundaries? when it comes to joke time? >> i think -- i mean, i think you have to know what you're talking about.

i think you have to be able to defend your own material on an intellectual and moral level. i don't think -- i would never make a joke that i think would get a laugh that has a political view that i don't personally believe in, because i might get asked about that one day and i don't want to look stumed. it's like -- i do think that a lot of people who try to be edgy r political who feel they're unfairly targeted by the political correctness crowd or forget that they have to be funny as well as edgy and political, and i think that if you really look at the people who complain about that and the people who don't, their view of the people who are complaining about it are hilarious and motives the people who are truly hilarious and incredibly edgy never complain about it at all. i think every time you make a joke that you know in your head

is slightly controversial -- there's almost like a group of people that have to react negatively to the jokes in order for that joke to be valid. you know the group of people think this thing that you think is not necessarily what they should be thinking, you know. and they will say their thing and sometimes they'll say something, though, that offenses more than just those people by accident. i do see comedians apologizing sometimes. i've never done something that i felt like i had to apologize for. but i've seen people makes zwhreeks i think, yeah, they should apologize. it's some admission maybe they went too far. we screen our movies a lot. there are jokes that go too far and that are probably in bad taste. by the time they reach mass consumption we filter those out. we may realize -- we didn't even

realize it and somebody will say something and just the way it will play in the room, we're like, oh, and we try to be sensitive to that personally. but i personally don't feel like, you know, i -- that -- like there's some political correct squad that is trying to prevent me from doing my job in the best way that i can. if anything, what i'm able to get away with, generally speaking. >> and i always adhere to it's -- you i would never tell anybody not to say anything. what i -- we were talk about this earlier and i say it often -- is you must understand, though, that when you say something, the second a second it passes your lips, everybody else gets to intercept it the way they intercept it.

so with that, it's always mindful and not a bad idea to think about what your intention is, be able to defend it, know that there's going to be haters no matter what, know there's going to be people who are going to misconstrue. i put a tweet out there about a year and a half ago that was like a horror show for me. and what it was was i -- it was during the time when the republicans were having those hearings about the i.r.s. and saying that obama had only targeted republicans in the i.r.s. scandal. right. it was also a time when the religious right had the habit of blaming storms on gays and lesbians' bhaven action right. so -- >> there's no proof it doesn't. >> right.

we can neither confirm or deny. >> san francisco's really rainy. [laughter] having that knowledge in my purview, the oak tornado was coming down the pike. it hadn't landed yet but i said i wonder if the tornado is only going to target republicans. i go have a drink. i come back to my twitter feed and it is hit. there are children who have died that's out tweet there. people are -- you're a tornado person, we wish people are -- i got it. people don't know how many people actually do that storm comparison. it wasn't worth me to defend it, because it was just too much of a thing, so i took it down and i said "i tweeted this, let me have it, like i get where this thing exploded into another thing" and i moved on with my life and of course people don't let it go.

i went and looked like it and i said hotel -- and i was like that is just -- up. so i took it out. there have been tweets where i've gotten an amount of anger that i was totally, i will double down on that. i'm like, i'm sorry. every time someone's offend doesn't mean that i'm, a, thoroughly thrilled to offense them because i think they're weaners, or i just think it's right and made a larger point or whatever. so you just have to take it all in because you're putting it all out there and sometimes you never know where you're at unless you do hit a barrier and say, wow, that was we're. >> that was too much. >> yeah. i say you got to own it when people come down under a take lumps like everybody else and -- >> yay. >> feel good about knowing you can defend it and take the hits if you can take the hits, i

guess. >> all right. thank you. ok. so before we go to audience questions, i have a few like nonserious rapid fire questions, so, you know, lightning rounds. whatever comes first to mind. so liz, do you think hill hill is a -- more of a -- hillary clinton is more of a samantha or a charlotte? >> i can't decide. they're opposite characters. >> i think she's -- do i have to pick one of those? >> do you think of miranda? >> what? >> i mean, please, please. >> what if i said i didn't want "sex in the city," so i'm stumped by your question. big.think she's of mr. >> good answer. >> i'm going with that.

>> tearing down gender walls. >> oh, my god. i'm wrecking your game. all right. that's ok. i know the viewers want to hear and -- yeah, yeah. things that i wish my life was. >> so, seth, do you know public relations? >> no. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god. that's the controversial part, nd then i don't know the rest. that's only for movies and -- >> awesome. [applause] >> ok. liz. >> i'll do better. >> you got this. obama, worse good president or est bad president? >> you know who he is. >> all the hair and the drinking

was -- >> that's not a crack. >> worth best president, best orst snpt i would say best black president. >> oh. >> with that logic, he's also the worst black president. >> i take that back. you know what? you know, i always feel like he's a president who has given us as much humor as he gave us -- he gave us health care, so he passes for me. >> yeah. >> great. so seth, is -- if marijuana were legal in all 50 states, which do you -- which state do you think would have the best weed? >> that's a good question. >> fraking helps. i don't know. probably i would imagine where there's like a strong farming,

botany community, like vermont or something like that. . yeah. pastures, green pastures and stuff like that. vermont. yeah. >> ok. awesome. >> ben and jerry ice cream. >> all about the food. ok. liz, this is a two-part question. is it better to have loved and lost than to never loved at all and which state do you think has the worst abortion laws? >> is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? yes. because vibrators are ex pensive. >> true. > and the worst abortion laws? believe it or not, it's hard. oregon is the only state that

has not curbed any abortion wade. since row v. so i guess -- you'd think it might be texas. >> but you'd be long. >> curve ball. >> because it might be louisiana and it might be north carolina. because just -- or it might be mississippi. i think any place with one click in which there are five states, there's only one clinic to have access, so i would say the southeast region and ohio could be thrown in there. i don't know. i'm confused. i'd like to stay right here. you have good ones here. > you can't even read "dirty dancing" in texas. >> you can't sell sex toys in texas. >> what? >> i know, we wanted to go down there and do a vibrator buy-back

program, and we said no questions asked, just put it in the bucket. >> ok. awesome. >> thank you. >> so seth, this is the last question. >> did you just thank me for that? >> i did, i did. good information from you. texas, who knew? so seth. >> yes. >> pick options here. james franco still hits on underage girls on facebook or franco has now gone on to tumbler. >> i'll say tumbler. any evolution is a good one. >> all right, all right. ok. so now we're going to start the audience q-and-a. there are mike, one, two, three, and four. there are three rules to this q and a. one you need to introduce yourself.

evan is going to join us. >> a partner, wow! >> he co-wrote "the interview" together. rules are, you have to introduce yourself if you want to say your affiliation with a college or otherwise, go ahead. you need to keep it short and it needs to end in a question mark. so no semi colon -- just keep it here.let's start over >> hi. my name is alex. i'm the co-president of the business school of republicans. my question tonight is are there any candidates that you ever want to win even if you disagree with them just because they'll provide you with good material? >> no. always put - i'll social issues above my own personal comedic well-being, personally. >> i know.

>> i do wins a little bit when they lose. >> i might have voted for arnold schwarzenegger just for a laugh. > i've voted against people or when michelle backman decided she was resigning. i'm from minnesota, and i was like, oh, i can't use this accent anymore. so i don't -- no. >> it's temperaturing, though. >> probably like rob ford's moving on. >> true. >> that was a wild thing to watch. >> it helped us get a movie made. we had a movie about a politician who's a crazy drug adict who went off the rails and en rob ford went/nuts -- and then all of a sudden there was a movie about a politician that went off the rail. >> my name's ben. i'm harvard law.

i was wondering what your thoughts were on dennis rodman on a diplomat for the united states. secondly, most importantly, if the leader of noirk were to give you an invitation to screen your movie there with the agreement that you'd come back alive, would you go? >> there was some type of tend magic et's pre exists? if there was some kind of magical spell they could put on us and say you'll be ok, yes, i would do that. i'm always curious to see how the movie plays. >> we did all that research and we'll never get to go. >> yeah, so it would be -- yeah. i would -- i would do that. again, if magic existed. and what was the first part? we wrote did movie before that

happened. kim jong un was actually the -- kim jung il was actually the star of the movie and we recast him. in the movie, as you see from the trailer, it's about an idiot who goes to north korea and is seduced by their leader and they grow to like him. we thought, is that really far-fetched? and then it -- happens. in a way we were like -- at first it was a little irksome. it adds credibility to the whole thing. its could be a -- made a far-fetched story actually seem very plausible. it kind of validated the whole thing and grounded it in reality even more than it was, yeah. > all right. >> hi. >> hey. >> hi. i'm jacob, a sophomore at the college. i think satire tends to be critical as opposed to

constructive and also sometimes silly. i don't think it's sat tire's role to be constructive nor is it suited to play that role. but i wonder how in sat tire we learn to be the jerk in the project and shoots people down and shows how they won't work. how do we avow that? >> i got to disagree with you on that. >> ok. i think satire is constructive. if it doesn't, that person will not be seen adds satiric. if you're not going doing something, it's just cruel. you're trying to make -- "the daily show"," every joke is a limb different. >> although they're attacking things that are stupid, by doing that they're either directly or indirectly bolstering things that are not stupid and there is

like -- it's an action-reaction reality. comedically it's a lot harder -- it's easier to be critical of something. like if you see comedy, comediennes complain about stuff. >> tights negative. the essence is negative. >> it's 100% rooted in negativity. that just is what comedy is. i think what you're saying is right, ultimately by rejecting a negative, you are, you know, bolstering a positive. with dr. strangelove, yes, there's not a bloment they say nuclear bombs are bad or no, nuclear bombs are good. >> like that guy is saying a lot of valuable stuff. i think my life is better for me listening to his comedy. he's complaining a lot about

stuff in life but he's teaching me about what it's like to be a dad raising children. i like seeing the things he thinks are funny or wrong or right. i think i learn a lot from satire. >> i do, too i feel like also being able to observe what you want to expose means that you do a lot of research on it and you get to a lot of nuance. the colbert character is a nuance. it's a thought process and i think that it gives people a little bit of insight into things. so, yeah, i'm sorry. we all disagree with you. >> but good question. >> that was my plan all along. >> may i say one thing? often when people ask a question like that, they have something specific they're thinking about. is there something specific you're thinking about when you ask that? a specific piece of comedy or satire when you asked that?

>> not necessarily. i was especially thinking about "the dately show." there's satire when you're pointing out -- when john makes fun of a pet on the giant screen. i think sometimes there's not an obvious alternative, when we're saying like that's a stupid idea and i don't have any specific example. >> i think, i think -- ok. so i'll close this out really quick. part of the reason that i have started this new medium and gone into this new medium is i agree with you. it is not satire's role to solve problems. it's the role to make fun of it. if you love satire and then you say, you know what? i want to be able to slow that -- out into the world and have some ways and places where people can quo and try to fix it themselves, that's what i want

to do but that's not -- that wasn't the role of having a tv show and that. i'm happy that exists because it's like you can do it that way. so i guess i'm actually -- >> you can't go any further. >> i'll talk to you after. i'll talk to you after. >> ok. >> hi. my name is tess. i'm currently a freshman here at the college. i'm both a staff writer for the u.s. section of the harvard political review and i'm also a correspondent for harvard internet comedy group on harvard time. now, my question is, since now i'm going to be figuring out what my future career plans are, what do you recommend i go into, demeeping mind that my parents will be watching this online. >> comedy or politics? >> or a combination of the two. >> i mean, do you want to laugh or be serious all the time? >> it's really fun to work in comedy and you can do both. >> and also politics. >> and you can inject a lot of

your political beliefs in that. >> or you can become the funniest politician ever. >> yeah. ject think it's easier to in comedy into politics. i would suggest you become a comedian who is politically oriented rather than a politician who is comedically oriented. >> because often times, they don't go there. >> you'll never compete with some of those guys. >> my name is william, mr. rogan mentioned that a lot of people aren't very foifpblet i've established funny people, even many of you have pointed out that you attract jokes because you think they've gone too far. my question is, how do you know when a joke's gone too far. >> when we're on set we always say that we have to go too far on set in order to make sure that we went far enough and we

can always tone it back. everyone on the set has to be mature about that we've had jokes that we set on said and -- said on set and we turn around and look at the crew and they're like nooo. but we also test the movies a lot with test audiences and we really listen. like the truth is, people won't laugh a lot if a joke is mean spirited or they feel morally wrong. it just -- you can just feel it in the room. you say something -- up, people will like, aargh. >> we videotape the audience so we can play it back and see that. >> we sit in the theater and you can feel the energy sucked out of the room the seconds it happens. it's almost a physical sensation. there's been times we love the joke and we think it's hilarious and the audience doesn't -- we don't want to offense most

people. some people no matter what are going to be offend. we have to be able to defend it. sometimes it takes testing of jokes to realize, oh, we might have done something that would be hard to defend because people are saying in the focus group afterwards, that joke was -- up so don't do that. >> the line is changing. >> yeah. >> it depends who you're developing your material for, what that means, what does offense mean? do you know what i mean? so when we talk about something that's offensive, should we not talk about religion? should we not talk about abortion, should we not talk about executing a world leader. should we not be talking about whatever. there's going to be people that say that should be off limits for comedy. should you not ever talk about rape. so i think that everybody -- there is no line.

there is only what you feel in your gut perfectlyly that you canned defend. >> yeah. >> and you see -- and you don't want to put it out there in the universe, really. >> that's exactly right. we have to talk about our work a lot, so -- i guess i'm an --, oh, yeah. and, yeah, so we put a lot of thought into what can you defend, what can't you defend. but we make movies general speaking that are designed to play in a theater full of people. and that is our litmus test is how does the theater full of people respond to it. and basically do they all laugh at it and afterwards in the focus group does anyone point out anything being to them something that's like specifically offensive. and obviously, like we made a -- this is the end of essentially, making fun of christian itself.

and some people -- christianity. people are like, yeah, this whole movie is offensive. those people aren't who the movie's for. you're listening to the people who the movie is for, which is people who would go see that movie and pay. and if they are put off by something, then they're right. if it doesn't get a laugh, how do you defend that? it means it's not funny. >> i would just also add that how you feel you want to defend something and how you write things is also super crucial to who is in that room with you. do you have a diverse writing staff. >> yeah. >> what does that mean? all of a sudden if you actually have a writing staff that is reflective of the world you live in, then everybody does a different kind of check. that's why i think it's really important to have diverse writing staffs with women and people of color, because then you really do look at what does

thall mean. you may all vote and say, you know what, we're all willing to take that same place, but what is your check-in at that point? of brave to be in a full white people and you say all this stuff and you're like really? i think that's the important thing to talk about when talking about the creative process. >> for sure. >> thank you. >> hi there. my name is branson. i'm studying film and video production. my question is, haven't you worked on some pretty small to large projects, series, films, i'm curious how have you been able to preserve what you find to be your own creative and comedic voice in the production of this pleath of media and where are you -- plethora of media and where are you willing

to compromise? >> for us, with movies, i think there's a temptation to as you get more successful to try to acquire as much money for your budget as humanly possible. that's kind of like, it's a sign of success on the surface, at least, in hollywood, if you make big expensive movies, that's kind of the upper echelon. the kind of unspoken implication is like you want to make bigger, more expensive movies, we were able to make a $150 million movie and so we did it what we very quickly found was that budget robbed us of everything that made us creatively valuable basically, and everything we enjoyed the most about the process itself, which is if we think of it, an idea, we can do it. if someone pitches a joke, they can just do it what we learned

is that money actually robs you of something very large, which is creative control and freedom. and so in the pars -- >> you kind of said mo money, mo problems. >> mo money, mo problems. that's the short of it. we make movies that are half the price of the movies we could be making and we're getting paid half the amount that we could be getting paid. but what we are getting in exchange for that is pretty much do whatever the -- we want, which is much more valuable than money on a day-to-day basis. >> and we'll cut our own budget down. >> yeah. >> we'll sea say to them. at 40 you're going to tell us a lot of stuff and 30 you're not. we'll do it at 30. >> yeah. we do the numbers that will allow us not to listen that much. >> i've been in the situation in "the daily started

show"," cable was still really cheap. i've never worked on anything that i had a budgets. what that means is, a small staff also means lot of ownership, and that's what's really fun is that when the graphic person is the president and you have six writers and you're working your balls off or whatever. i don't have in anymore. you work so hard that everybody cease their joke on the air and sees that they're part of the process, it's really rewarding. the bottom line in this business is that there's no making it. there's only the path which you make your worth. that path isn't fun and rewarding and full of cool people, you are going to wake up one day and be a rich person who doesn't have a lot of hang-on to cool experiences. i can't stress it enough. >> i think as we get older we realize our lives are spent actually making the movies, and that is the process that is like

occupying our day-to-day existence, and so that has to be fun. like it can't all be like, well, it's -- miserable but at least it's good in the end. it has to be a process that we enjoy and is inspiring to us creatively and makes us feel like we can think of new ideas and get excited about them and put them in the movie without having to call and check a million things. and that was like a >> i am a physician from canada. livesquestion is for the --liz. how successful has her comedy been in disarming and influencing policy with regards to the lunatics that hate human

sexuality? >> we launched in july. what had been a great part of the disarming thing, in an issue that is as controversial as abortion rights and reproductive rights, someone has to be evoke i and i decided that i will default i. when someone says, how do you left at killing babies? medical science does not say this is what this is. it is against the law, that is terrible. through the language that has been co-opted by really radical people who don't listen to science and don't listen to the medicine of this, they don't know what to do with me because i am relentless when they come at me and say, how do you

,dvocate birth-control pills women are pushing themselves with chemicals. i say well, i can't wait to help you. when do we work together on this? or they will say why can't women just shut their legs, and i will save why should they? somebody needs to stop saying those kinds of things because otherwise we just go with their narrative. they say sometimes people take birth control pills. it is mostly because they don't want to get pregnant, so can we please just talk about that in a real way? other people are tactful and awesome and say super appropriate things, i am not one of them.

it gives people a sigh of relief to go -- i have been through this experience, one of three women have had an abortion in the lifetime, that means one of three women are holding onto information that is personal, and they felt relief and guilt about that. comedy, sarah silverman has been a great champion with me, amy schumer, have come together and put it out there to say nothing should do you, especially in medical choices that you made. that is where we are going, to bring it to a level where you go to the doctor and be the best person you can be. that is what we are striving for. [applause] can we get one more question so we don't end on abortion? >> please. in "knocked up" you talk

about abortion. can you give some background about that joke, to leave the portion of and liz what do you think about it? >> i think that was an improv that came up and each of itself people'sting on discomfort with it and how silly does. in that movieter is an idiot and so he is acting in a way an idiot would act which is thinking that abortion is something that they're not be named. people forget that in our movies we are pretraining morons. we are ourselves not that moronic, and i always think it is so funny how we are ascribed the personality trait of the people we are essentially mocking in our work.

no one has this problem more than jenny mcbride, she made up the character of a redneck idiots because he takes in the idiots i know people think he is a redneck idiot. i think that happens a lot. askundred people think -- anthony hopkins it is ok to eat people's faces. i think that joke more than anything was making one of the type of people that it was making fun of. >> in somebody's comedy and art, they do what they need to do. it is morek important that the people who are actually aching policies and aroundng the services this issue are saying the word abortion. they are not legislating pro-choice, they are legislating abortion. it is whatever somebody chooses to do, but in the practical sense saying it is something we need to start doing.

abortion! >> i am excited for the holidays. anybody? i have a great ginger recipe. >> that is only time we have. i would like to thank evan goldberg, seth rogen. i would like to thank all of you guys were coming out. it was awesome and a pleasure. have a good night.

>> next, i was senators talk about i will -- i what partnership. followed by senator perkins speech on the senate floor. after that, we will have tributes for outgoing senator mike johanns. condimenters, georgia tom price, incoming chair of the budget committee, talks about the budget process, the spending bill congress has passed, and what will happen when both chambers of congress are led by republicans.

here is a portion of his remarks. >> the american people made a decision in november and what they said was that the government was too large and too expensive, that it was too prescriptive in all sorts of areas of our society. senate made it so the was now 54% republican, they made it so the house of representatives has the largest republican majority since 1928, republicans now control 62% of the governors in this country. if you draw even further at the state is late of level, almost 70% of state legislators are now controlled by republicans. that is a message we lost to be listening to as a nation. we hope it can bring some of our current callings along and say this is an imperative time for this country to solve the challenges that we face.