Original subtitles

[theme music]

ANNOUNCER: From the most trusted

journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source

for news.

This is The Daily Show,with your host, Michael Kosta.

[cheers, applause]

# #

Woo!

Oh, yeah, baby!

Woo!

I love it.

Welcome to The Daily Show.

I'm Michael Kosta.

We got so much to talk about tonight.

The Iran war Cinematic Universe keeps expanding.

Sports betting gets its sexy makeover.

And great news.

New Yorkers are getting a public restroom

that isn't the C train.

Hey, let's get into the headlines.

[upbeat music]

[cheers, applause]

Let's start right here in New York City.

[cheers, applause]

Home of the New York Knicks!

[cheers, applause]

And the Statue of Liberty!

[cheers, applause]

And Throgs Neck Bridge.

[laughter]

We got some Throg-heads in the house.

It's the best city in the world.

A lot of buildup for that.

It's the best city in the world.

But it's not perfect.

Luckily, we've got Mayor Zohran Mamdani here now--

[cheers, applause]

--to fix our problems, starting with problems

number one and number two.

REPORTER: Finding a public restroom in the city

could soon get a lot easier.

Mayor Mamdani announced plans to install

17 modular public restrooms in busy areas

all across the five boroughs.

Yes!

Thank you, Mayor Mamdani.

Looks like Kosta has weekend plans after all.

[laughter]

But this will be helpful.

Because I'm so sick of having to buy a coffee every time I

need to go to the bathroom and then

having to buy another coffee because the first coffee maybe

need to go to the bathroom and then, yup,

you guessed it, another coffee for another bathroom.

Coffee, bathroom. Coffee, bathroom.

Coffee, bathroom.

Until finally I'm home and I can relax on my couch with,

you guessed it, a nice cup of coffee.

But these aren't just your regular old public restrooms.

These have some pretty high-tech features.

REPORTER: A QR code gets you in for free.

Safety features include a smoke detector and a 10-minute

time limit per use.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Attention, your use time has expired.

The door is opening now.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[audience exclaims]

Wait, after 10 minutes, the door is open automatically?

[laughter]

People are going to be in there on minute nine

with their pants around their ankles, trying to cut the wire

like it's Mission Impossible.

Red or blue?

Red or blue?

I can't believe the door just flies open whether you're done

or not.

Nothing keeps things moving smoothly

like a shot clock counting down until the entire city

gets to see your butthole.

[laughter]

On the other hand, it does beat the original idea,

which was to eject you over the Throgs Neck Bridge.

[laughter]

It's a great bridge.

Let's move on to something that's lasted

way longer than 10 minutes--

the war in Iran.

[dramatic music]

Nothing bad can happen.

It can only good happen.

[laughter]

When Trump launched this war back in March,

he promised us it would take just a few weeks

and it would cost us nothing, and

that promise went just as perfectly

as all his other promises.

REPORTER: Nearly seven months into the war with Iran,

Americans are also footing a rapidly rising bill.

From the price of the war itself,

the Congressional Budget Office now estimating $38 billion

and rising to the price of the things we need, like oil.

Diesel prices pushed to new record highs again overnight.

Diesel's rising costs can show up in everything,

from groceries to clothes to home heating.

Oh, great.

As if I don't already fight enough with my wife

over the thermostat.

I always want her to turn it down,

and she always wants me to stop coming home at 2:00

AM stinking of alcohol.

You know, it's like, marriage.

[chuckles]

But that's right.

We've got a problem with diesel.

And I mean the fuel source, not the brand of jeans

worn exclusively by disgusting Europeans.

[laughter]

And the cost is even more when you

count all the military bases we have to repair,

all the equipment we'll have to fix,

all the Iran war championship T-shirt

merch we had to throw away.

So I'm just a little confused.

Donald Trump has assured many times

that we've already won the war, so why

are gas prices still going up?

REPORTER: --as a new wave of strikes

this weekend targets vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,

prompting escalating threats.

Goddamnit, the Strait of Hormuz?

How is this still happening?

We're the United States.

We almost beat the Taliban.

I know we can handle one and strait.

REPORTER: A dramatic escalation tonight in the war with Iran.

Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen threatening a second waterway

critical to global trade-- the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait,

a vital route for Saudi oil.

[STAMMERING] Wait, wait.

There's another strait now?

This war is like a telenovela.

[laughter]

The Strait of Hormuz has a twin.

[dramatic tune]

[laughter]

I'm starting to think it's bad that our entire economy is

built on extracting oil from incredibly

narrow waterways in the world's most volatile region.

And I just want to give a shout-out to my favorite

strait, by the way--

Gibraltar.

I mean, drama-free, staying in its lane.

No one has anything bad to ever say

about the Strait of Gibraltar.

Anyways, love you, Gib.

[laughter]

So now we have two straits that we get our oil from,

and they're both closed?

How did this happen?

A lot of it has to do with the Iranian-supported

Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Here we can see the Houthis have now spread their control.

Actually, it does include this town right here.

And it also includes a very key island in the Strait

of Bab-el-Mandeb right here.

They've been running oil out of this pipeline

here into the Red Sea, but--

MICHAEL: Shut up!

Shut up!

Shut up!

Just shut up!

I don't want to learn any more obscure

Middle Eastern geography.

I shouldn't have to know what Perim Island is.

No offense to the people of this region--

I'm sure it's a beautiful place with a rich and

fascinating history-- but every time I

learn something new about it, it means

my life has gotten worse.

By this time next year, gas is going to be $12 a gallon,

and I'm going to be able to name all the rivers in Oman.

[laughter]

This brain wasn't built to learn

about international waterways.

It was built to learn the names of all

the characters in the Progressive

Insurance commercials.

Flo, Jamie, Mara, and, of course, Alan.

[laughter]

You guys don't know their names?

[laughter]

And more importantly, this all shows

how badly our commander-in-chief

has managed this war.

I mean, look at this shit.

Iran is not even on the map about the war in Iran.

[laughter]

I thought this war was about nukes,

but the nukes, they're, like, up here.

[laughter]

This war is starting to feel like that moment in Monopoly

when you know you're going to lose,

but it's still going to take, like, six more

hours of hemorrhaging money.

[laughter]

In the meantime, the only things we can count on

are gas prices going up and the president

lying about them going down.

But luckily, there's a new product you can buy

to help you get through this.

ANNOUNCER: Gas prices are rising,

but you're not worried because you're

driving the all-new Trump Promisero,

the first-ever luxury sedan that runs on Trump's promises

that gas prices will come down soon.

Your gasoline is going to come tumbling down.

Gasoline is going to drop like a rock.

Watch what happens to your oil, to your gasoline.

Pew.

ANNOUNCER: While other cars depend on foreign waterways,

ours rely on the one wet passage that never closes.

With a 400-horseshit power engine, your car will

be borderline uncontrollable.

The Trump Promisero.

Empty promises, full tank.

And ask about our premium model that runs on Trump

declaring the war is over.

This war has been won.

[explosion]

[cheers, applause]

When we come back, we'll catch up on the latest in sports.

Don't go away.

[cheers, applause]

[cheers, applause]

Welcome back to The Daily Show.

I think I speak for everyone when I say politics

drools in sports rules.

For a full recap of the biggest stories

in the world of jocks and straps, we turn to Sports War.

ANNOUNCER: Get ready for battle.

It's time for Sports War!

Brought to you by gambling.

Gambling.

Use promo code "Yom Kippur" for $50 in bonus bets.

L'chaim!

[cheers, applause]

[rock music]

What up, numbnuts?

I'm Ronny Chieng.

And I'm Michael Kosta.

This is Sports War, the show where

we are legally not allowed to agree with each other.

So if I say crowds at the US Open were too rowdy--

Then I say thank God for those loud fans,

'cause tennis needs them to drown out

all the players' sex noises.

Ah!

Oh!

Oh!

Oh!

[laughter]

Tennis is so perverted, no wonder you love it, Kosta.

Psh.

The only thing this proves is you've never

had tennis or watched sex.

Anyway, it's almost fall, which means football is back, baby.

And in week one, a new record was

set after the Giants' big win.

REPORTER: After the Giants' win,

cameras caught back up quarterback Jameis Winston

in the locker room, dousing himself with cologne,

by one count spraying himself over 25 times.

When the game came down to it,

what we started in the first drive

ended in the second drive, in the last one.

Hell yeah!

Do you see that?

He completed a record 79% of his spritzers.

This is how you make an impact as a backup quarterback, OK?

If you're not on the field, the least you can do

is make the locker room smell like an Armenian

bachelor party.

[laughter]

And I can say that because some of my best friends

are bachelors.

Well, PU, Ronny.

That take stinks worse than Jameis Winston.

The simple explanation is that Winston

has had so many concussions that he keeps forgetting he

already sprayed himself with cologne.

He's like the dude from Memento,but with Drakkar Noir.

Which brings us to our Odor Under Bet of the Night.

How many gallons of cologne will Jameis Winston

go through before next Sunday?

Brought to you by gambling.

Gambling, is that the smell of victory?

No, it's divorce papers.

Moving on from football to America's second and third

favorite pastime-- boobs.

REPORTER: This morning, Sydney Sweeney at the center

of another ad controversy.

The actress appearing nude for sports betting platform Novig,

covering herself with footballs, tennis

rackets, and hockey pads.

Think you know sports?

Prove it.

Novig is just sports.

REPORTER: Many female athletes now speaking out,

claiming the ad reduces women in sports

to their bodies instead of their abilities.

Pft.

I have one word for this ad-- gross.

It clearly objectifies women and is

offensive to female athletes.

I didn't even female athletes had bodies.

When I watch them play, I'm looking at their brains.

I mean, Gloria Steinem has been dead for three weeks,

and this is what it's come to?

Me putting my browser on incognito mode

and quietly sneaking into the guest room

while my family sleeps upstairs?

Then dimming the lights and being offended by this ad

three times in a row?

The point is, shame on Sydney Sweeney.

Apologies, Ms. Steinem.

You rest in power, queen.

[laughter]

Oh, please, Kosta.

This ad wasn't offensive to female athletes.

That movie where Sydney Sweeney played a female athlete

was offensive to female athletes.

[laughter]

Plus, if anybody should be offended, it's gamblers.

Conflating sex and gambling is wrong.

Those are two separate addictions.

I don't want to be confused when someone says,

hey, check out that spread.

Which brings us to our--

[audience laughs, exclaims]

Which brings us to our Nut Buster Bet of the Night.

What is Sydney Sweeney hiding behind those footballs?

Brought to you by gambling.

Gambling, you can't spell "addiction" without double Ds.

Moving on.

It's important to point out that not all female athletes

are easily offended.

In fact, one doesn't give a shit what you think.

REPORTER: Hyrox is apologizing after a professional athlete

was allowed to keep racing after she soiled herself

during an event in Beijing.

She went on to win the race.

Hyrox's co-founder says the organization made

a mistake by not stepping in.

And now Hyrox says it has put new rules and

procedures in place to prevent something like this

from happening again.

All right, someone called Jameis Winston.

We're going to need a lot of cologne, stat.

[laughter]

I can't believe she sullied the good name of Hyrox.

[laughter]

Something we all learned existed 10 seconds ago.

And, sure, it was disgusting, but, more

importantly, it was unfair.

The force of the diarrhea propelled

her forward like some sort of Mario Kart power-up.

[bleep] yeah, I got diarrhea star.

I'm flying!

Put some respect on this athlete, Ronny.

She's the Usain Bolt of sharding.

Plus, once you shit yourself, you have to stay in the race,

and you have to win the race.

Otherwise, you're just the person who shit themselves.

[laughter]

And, yes, she's listed as the winner

with an asterisk next to her name,

but that's only there to symbolize a butthole.

[audience laughs, exclaims]

This is all just a part of sports.

You gotta get a competitive advantage however you can.

And I know what I'm saying, because I

once shat myself during a high school football game.

Wait, you played high school football?

No, it was last week, at my nephew's game.

You should've seen the other team's faces,

and everyone else's faces.

Which brings us to our Poop There It Is Bet of the Night.

Which Olympic event will feature diarrhea in 2028?

Brought to you by gambling.

Gambling, sometimes there's corn in it.

[laughter]

Well, that's all the time we have for Sports War.

Join us next week when we debate

whether Monday Night Football should

be played on Thursday night and Thursday Night Football should

be played on Monday morning.

Oh, what are you talking about?

Thursday's game should be moved to April,

and then we have Sunday games in April.

Sunday games should be played on a Monday.

[cheers, applause]

[rock music]

[cheers, applause]

Welcome back to The Daily Show.

My guest tonight is a staff writer and

co-founder at Defector Media and a bestselling

author of Changeover--

A Young Rivalry and New Era of Men's Tennis.

Please welcome Giri Nathan.

[cheers, applause]

Giri!

- Welcome, buddy. - Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

MICHAEL: Giri, they love it.

[cheers, applause]

They love tennis.

Apparently all tennis fans here.

These are big tennis fans.

Sounds like it.

Yes, they are.

[laughter]

You wrote in Defector a blog about the state of the US open

is the state of us.

GIRI: Yeah.

MICHAEL: We're in New York City.

US Open is one of the biggest tennis events in the world.

What do you mean by that?

So tennis is really hot right now.

Tennis as a spectacle is really hot.

I don't know if that means tennis as a sport is very hot.

MICHAEL: Right.

You feel the difference between those two things

when you go to the US Open.

It's been kind of bubbling up in the last few years,

I think kind of a post-COVID thing.

But the sense that so many people are at the tournament

just to hang out, get drunk, like,

create content of one kind or another, and then go home

has never been more overwhelming.

And I don't know how much of that is the tournament's fault.

I don't know how much of it is specific to tennis.

It's just, like, kind of how people act in public spaces

these days--

Right.

--which is a little bit disturbing to confront.

Because, you know, you've been in tennis your whole life.

I've been going to this tournament for 20 years,

and it used to just be for kind of hardcore.

And it always had a bit of a scene seen to it.

You know, Anna Wintour was there every night,

but now it's really full-on overrun by people

looking for something.

What are some of those examples?

I mean, I think I see them.

You know, last year, I was watching Jannik Sinner play.

I think he was the number one seed, number

one player in the world.

And he had to stop his match because a bunch

of Wall Street guys had their back to the court

taking photos.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

And I go, what other sporting event or Broadway play

would you have your back to the athletes?

But what are some other examples that you saw?

No, it's crazy, 'cause a lot of it has to do with just,

like, indifference to the thing you're supposedly there to see,

right? MICHAEL: Right.

So you have people standing up in the front row

turning their back, recording content.

You have-- I think during Naomi Osaka's-- one of her early

matches, they had influencers blasting

the ring lights and doing dances

in the middle of the point.

So the umpire had to be like, please do not do this.

Don't do that.

Yep.

And it's various little things here and there.

Like, I was watching a match with pretty two fairly obscure

players, and you got a guy who's almost certainly gambling

on the match, yelling out, you suck,

right before the guy serves every time.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

So I don't think Tristan Schoolkate

has haters out there.

I think this guy just bet on the match.

Right.

Well, yeah, I mean, that is interesting,

because how much of that falls on the US Open

wants to grow the game--

Yeah.

--they want-- I mean, ticket sales are crazy.

GIRI: Yeah. - It's packed every time.

Yeah.

But maybe they could do a better job at-- at educating

the new spectator?

We can't turn people away from the sport.

Yeah.

No, they're unequivocally succeeding in getting more

people interested in tennis.

The trick is that tennis has a little bit of decorum to it.

And it seems like hoity-toity from the outside.

Like, why do I have to buy into this?

But, as you know, once you actually do and

you sit there and let the crowd get silent,

it's almost like live theater.

Like, it takes on a whole new level of enjoyment.

You hear the sneaker sounds.

You hear the ball.

And all of that is lost when you just

have a bunch of people filing into a stadium

and carrying on small talk or networking talk.

You feel like you're in a cafeteria.

It's just like, this is not the spectacle.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

And it is frustrating, if you're a tennis purist

and you love it.

And then when you go to Wimbledon--

Yeah.

--or you go to the other tournaments--

Like the temple of the sport.

--the temple-- it's silent.

Yeah.

And I don't wanna turn people away from the sport,

but I wonder what they can do.

What do you love about the US Open?

Yeah.

I mean, it still is, for all the issues

it does have, it-- it, like, the tennis

is still extremely engrossing.

It's insane.

If you've never had a chance to watch this tennis up close,

just go to the tournament, go to the outer courts,

see the speed and power that these players have.

And it is totally illegible from the TV screen.

You really-- MICHAEL: True.

--have to go see it.

And that's what I tell people.

Like, don't worry about seeing Serena, seeing

Carlos, all the big names.

Just go to a court you can get close to, and-- and watch them.

Even practice, it's-- it's phenomenal.

I mean, I was trapped in a Adrian Mannarino--

- Yeah. - --versus--

That's a funky player.

--Alexander Bublik--

Yeah.

--court 12.

And I'm like, I've been here for 4 hours and 50 minutes.

Yeah.

But it's engrossing, like you said.

GIRI: Yeah.

And those outer courts, in a way,

almost have a better decorum.

GIRI: Yeah, they're self-selecting in a way.

So, like, if you want-- if you're there,

you really wanted to be there.

And especially when the day session turns into the night

session, you've got people who've

been soaking up the tennis for six or seven hours,

and they just can't get enough.

Like, that's-- actually, for all the issues you might get

in the big stadiums, the outer courts are about

as pure as the fan experience.

I saw a lot of people this year stacking

their Honey Deuce cups. GIRI: Yeah.

I mean, that's like--

And if you don't know what a Honey Deuce is--

Yes, it's a Centipede thing.

--it's a $23 vodka drink.

And-- oh, yeah, there it is.

I mean, people just stack them.

And this guy is shit-faced screaming at Karen Khachanov--

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

--on match point.

And I'm going, is this what the US Open wants?

Is he-- they sold him a lot of drinks!

Right. They made money off him.

They made money off of this guy.

That was the quality of engagement with tennis.

Let's talk about the finals and who won the tournaments.

Yeah.

Women's final, very interesting.

Elena Rybakina took the number one ranking in the world,

and then beat the person who she

took it from, Aryna Sabalenka.

What did you notice from the women's final or the women's

tournament in general?

Yeah, that's my favorite rivalry in the game.

I think, because they are so similar.

Just on paper, you know, very tall, very powerful players,

great serves.

But the actual minute-by-minute experience of watching them

could not be more different, because you

have Rybakina, who's kind of icy, even-keeled,

very chill affect.

And you have Aryna Sabalenka, who's just

a roller coaster of emotions.

And it's, like, always two unforced errors

away from complete meltdown.

So it is kind of fun to ride, you know,

that tightrope between brilliance and

complete collapse.

And for that-- that contrast between those personalities

is always a pleasure to watch, for sure.

I love watching them play because I always pretend,

like, I'm like both of them.

GIRI: [laughs] Yeah.

You know, like, oh, I'm--

I'm composed and poised.

But then when Aryna cracks at racket, I'm like, I get it.

I can be emotional, too, Aryna told the camera after the match

to [bleep] off. - Yeah.

It was in her face that she said, [bleep] off.

- Yeah. - And I love that.

- Yeah. - Yeah!

Yeah, she-- she's pretty known for losing the match,

you know, keeping her cool, and then walking off off-screen

and just wrecking-- liquefying her racquets off off the court.

So I think there's something very honest and

relatable about that.

And at the same time, there's something to aspire

to in the total iciness of-- - Yeah.

--about it.

My daughter is six, and I always

have tennis on in the house.

And one thing that's great about tennis,

it just goes women's, men's, women's, men's, you know.

My daughter-- and she was watching Aryna Sabalenka,

and I think I'd probably told her 10 times that day,

speak quiet, speak quietly.

And she goes, well, she's yelling.

[laughter]

And I'm like, that is what's great about tennis, too.

My daughter is seeing a strong, powerful woman

scream, tell the camera to [bleep] off,

and she's a millionaire. - Yeah.

That's great.

No, I think it's, like, the reason I'm so

drawn to tennis as a writer is like,

it's such a pure expression of personality and style.

Like, there's no team, there's no helmets.

You're just out there.

And when you're under pressure, the real you comes out.

And sometimes, it's ugly, and sometimes, it's beautiful,

and sometimes, it's a mix of both.

MICHAEL: I love that, I love that.

The men's final, Ben Shelton, the American first Grand Slam

final, lost to Alexander Zverev, the German,

his second of the year.

You wrote, "now that I've seen this final,

it changes nothing"-- - It changes nothing.

--"about men's tennis."

Explain yourself.

Because the real power dynamic

at the top of men's tennis right

now involves two players who aren't in the final.

So you have Jannik Sinner, who's the world number one,

and you have Carlos Alcaraz, number two.

And they've pretty much dominated

every aspect of the game for the last three seasons.

MICHAEL: They dominated this book.

Yeah.

I mean, you wrote a whole book about these two.

Yeah, I got-- I got to keep selling them.

Yeah.

But they-- their absence from this summer-- in different

parts of the summer--

really opened up the field for everyone else.

Kind of allowed new players to break out.

Shelton was one of them.

Zverev, who had been toiling for years, at age 29,

got his first two slams.

It really seemed like he wasn't gonna get one, and now he has.

But it just feels like this kind of false little

sealed off portion of the tennis season

that's not gonna be relevant next year,

because the big dogs will be coming back.

MICHAEL: And yet, you know, they're hearing this--

- Yeah. - --and saying [bleep] you.

Yeah.

Because I just won two grand slams--

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

--but he didn't have to beat Sinner or Alcaraz either.

Yeah.

And why weren't they in the tournament?

So yeah, two different reasons.

Alcaraz had a wrist injury that took him out

for four and a half months.

And, you know, with tennis, wrists are pretty important.

And he-- - And in life.

Yeah.

[laughter]

He-- he played it pretty conservatively, and--

Yeah.

--and just was like, no tennis

for four and a half months.

Do you feel like Ben Shelton played the match

of his life to beat Alcaraz?

Or do you feel like Alcaraz still isn't at his-- he

beat him in the quarterfinals?

Yeah, he beat him in the quarterfinal.

MICHAEL: And kind of in same match,

I mean, it started 11:00 PM.

Yeah, yeah.

Match point was called at 3:44 AM.

GIRI: Yeah, insanity.

Yeah.

Who's going to work the next day?

Well, one of the things that is really cool

and kind of, you know, classic about the US Open

is these night sessions.

MICHAEL: Yes.

It comes back to bite you when every match goes

to the third set deciding tie break, and you have world class

tennis happening at 4:00 AM.

It's like, who-- who are we doing this for?

But I-- to answer your question, I think it's both.

I think Ben did play the match of his life,

and Carlos was a little bit lower than his average level.

You talk-- you know, this-- this book is great.

I recommend it to anybody who enjoys not just the sport

but rivalry in general.

You know, you tell a great story in here

of when Jannik is practicing--

I think it was as a junior--

Yeah.

MICHAEL: --and a coach thinks there's construction

happening-- - Yeah.

--behind him.

Illuminate that a little bit for me.

Yeah.

So this is a talent scout looking

for up-and-coming players.

And he's looking that way, and he hears booming,

crashing sounds behind him.

He's like, surely, there is some kind

of construction behind me.

But it's this very slender ginger Jannik Sinner

who does not look like he should

be able to create that much power on a tennis court,

but just has, like, perfect technique transferring energy

beautifully into the ball.

And it is-- to this day, it's the distinctive thing

about watching Sinner play. MICHAEL: It's true.

It's just like if you have the chance

to be within 10 feet of this guy smoking a tennis ball,

it's just--

it sounds like a gun. MICHAEL: Yeah.

It's-- it's unreal.

I remember thinking, like, oh, my forehand is pretty good.

And then you're like, my forehand doesn't have

a distinctive sound like that

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

It's amazing.

You live in Brooklyn.

You play tennis in Brooklyn?

Yeah.

The USTA makes-- how much money off the US Open?

They did-- two years ago, they did $550 million,

or something like that.

I've heard talk that they're gonna keep pushing

until they break a billion.

They wanna make a billion dollars?

Yeah.

I think they sold 700,000 Honey Deuces--

You joke, but they-- they do eight figures in Honey--

They do eight figures in Honey Deuces.

Which a lot of New Yorkers, that's

where they're getting their fresh fruit from.

[laughter]

You know, one time I saw a bowl full of just

the Honey Deuce balls. MICHAEL: Just the balls?

Yeah.

It would have been so refreshing to have that, yeah.

It's open.

Why am I frustrated that I know

how much money is being made in Queens for the United States

Tennis Association.

Yet, playing tennis in Brooklyn with a very

passionate group of tennis players is almost impossible.

Yeah.

Very, very difficult.

Though I love tennis deeply enough to write a book about it

and spend many hours a week watching it,

but I don't think I love it enough

to be a multiple-time-a-week tennis player in New York.

Like, those people orient their lives around it.

Because the court time is so scarce,

you end up having to pay for an expensive club, or

book court at, like, a crazy hourly rate,

or wait online for three hours to play

for one hour and somebody's breathing down your neck

the whole time.

So the scarcity of the courts and

the incredible surplus of tennis players

makes it tricky in the city.

Can the USTA fix that?

I know you're not a USTA board member.

But I mean, I just see the money,

and I see the passion here.

Yeah.

And then they're like, hey, we just built

64 courts in Oklahoma City.

Totally.

OK.

There's 64 people in Oklahoma City.

Yeah. [laughter]

What do you think the answer is?

I had a friend joking about, like, vertical parking

garage style tennis courts. They go--

- I like that. - --like, yeah.

Maybe we got-- we got to use the space we have,

and we have vertical space here.

Yeah.

And maybe for once, tennis could overtake

some pickleball courts.

I don't even wanna talk about pickleball.

- Yeah. - And you know what?

There's a part of me that wonders,

after some of your responses to act one,

if this is a pickleball audience?

[laughter]

You should take a poll. Yeah.

[laughter]

You've-- you've written a book,

a successful book on tennis.

You're teaching nonfiction writing at Columbia.

You're contributing to Defector.

For young people out there that are looking to be writers,

what would you advise them?

Tell me how we can create more writers.

I think-- you know, I had this totally

bleak and nihilistic view when I was

heading out for my book tour.

I was like, there's no way anyone

under the age of-- of 20 who's interested

in sports wants to learn about sports through books.

But at every stop, I would just meet

super passionate kid who was very

excited to get into the book.

And I'm just like, there is a way

of books opening up a world for you

that's not possible with short form vertical video content.

And I think even kids who are fed

that by these trillion-dollar corporations understand that.

And so long as there are holdouts

who do try to express the amazing stories in sports

through the written word, I think we'll

find a receptive audience.

But we have to work very hard to find that space,

because there's being bombarded by things from all corners.

MICHAEL: Are you writing every day?

I do.

I write pretty much every day.

Not always about tennis, but whatever catches my

eye, honestly.

MICHAEL: What would you advise a young writer on-- on best

practices to do that?

I mean, are you finding time to write?

Do you have a family?

Are you finding time to write in the subway?

Are you writing in the morning?

Are you keeping a journal?

How-- how do you manage that?

My best writing practice right now

is I write about my day with my one

and a half year old every single day.

MICHAEL: That's great.

So I have a cool document of just literally, like--

in the beginning, it was a lot of, like, poop consistency,

and color and stuff like that.

Now, it's more like words we're working on.

So-- - That's very cool.

--it's been a very cool-- and I

hope to turn that into something

book-shaped at some point. MICHAEL: OK.

You know what's one thing I am happy was not

in this book is Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz's poop

consistency. So--

That's for the sequel.

That's for the sequel.

Check out Giri's writing, defector.com,

and his book, Changeover.

Giri Nathan!

Let's take a quick break.

We'll be right back after this.

Thanks, man.

[cheers, applause]

[cheers, applause]

That's our show for tonight.

Now here it is, your Moment of Zen.

If you just always came down here and read your speeches--

some of them are written by AI now.

The staff better watch out.

It was a good gig while you had it,

writing the speech for your robot boss to come down here

and-- merp-berp-berp, here is my speech.

Well, now they got a robot to replace you

to feed your robot a speech.

This is not a robot speech, folks.

I am not a robot congressman.

MAN: Oop.

Sorry.