For Desi Lydic, the longtime Daily Show correspondent, who in recent years has elevated to become a rotating host of the late-night program, the pace of the news cycle feels like it’s intensified significantly since she joined a decade ago.
Whereas the first four years under President Trump felt to her like “an emotional rollercoaster,” now “it just feels like it’s been multiplied by thousands.”
Surviving in late-night, and continuing to churn out sharp takes on the topics of the day, has meant learning to stay malleable. “I try not to put too much pressure on myself, and I start from a gut feeling,” Lydic says in an appearance on our Comedy Means Business podcast. “I try to educate myself as much as I possibly can, especially coming in on a hosting week, so I know at least what the stories are, what’s going on, what the feeling is out there, and then I kind of just lean on my gut. And we just have very open, honest conversations.”
Admittedly, she days, “we don’t always know what [the story’s] going to be at the top of the day; most of the time, we don’t. I might have a feeling of something, but it’s going to turn over a million more times. So I think I’ve learned very quickly to trust the process, trust the team. There’s a reason why these people are here in the jobs that they have, and to trust that we’ll find it.”
Lydic just notched her latest trio of Emmy nominations to become the most decorated artist in the Short Form performer category, with her ongoing Daily Show segment Desi Lydic Foxsplains. Today on the podcast, she opens up about her recent experiences working alongside Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, candidly examining a moment of uncertainty for late-night as a whole. She also weighs in on everything from the Trump-Epstein saga to fears concerning AI, and why “it’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
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