Original subtitles

- Tonight, I am talking about trade schools, colleges,

technology, the global economy,

and I'm pretty sure there's a nicki minaj reference

in there somewhere since last week,

we shouted out cardi b.

Welcome to "kal penn approves this message."

- ♪

- one of the upsides to this quarantine is seeing how many

people learn to do new things.

Now, if you're like me, you have totally squandered that time by

pounding frosé over virtual happy hours,

largely boycotting pants, and thinking about

what life will be like if this never ends.

At first, I was like, "oh my god, it would be amazing."

but then the other part of me was like,

"frosé is a summer drink. This is not sustainable."

I realized, "look, if this does go on for a while,

"I should maybe join my instabragger friends

and learn some new skills."

and thinking about all of this reminded me of a story

about my friend nick that I wanted to share tonight.

So a few years ago, nick and I were eating some tacos,

as dudes do, and nick asked if I wanted to check out this house

that he's building himself.

So I followed him in his pickup truck for, like, 20 miles,

and I just kept thinking, "man, this is super impressive."

at 24, nick has somehow saved up enough money to hire

a whole contractor/construction team to build him a house.

You guys know what I was doing at 24?

I was wearing this oversized fez on the tv series "angel."

yeah, you're welcome.

So we pull up to nick's house,

and it's this beautiful, rustic cabin

that looked like it was out of "architectural digest."

for those who don't know, "architectural digest" is like

"us weekly," but for houses.

So while I'm checking out nick's huge fireplace

under a double-height ceiling,

he goes, "a lot of beer went into this living room."

and I was like, "what?"

and he goes, "yeah, you know, to get that heavy fireplace mantle

"in here, I had to have a bunch of friends come help out.

So I bought them a keg. We kicked it."

and I was like, "wait a [bleep] minute, nick.

"when you said you built your own house,

"you mean you actually built your own house?

"like, with your hands?

And got drunk during?"

and that's when I realized that in terms of life skills,

going to trade school taught nick

some really impressive things.

And it cost a fraction of going to a four-year college.

And that's what we're gonna talk about tonight:

Trade school, college, and how graduates of both

fit into a rapidly changing global economy,

all of which will be affected by

the people we decide to elect on November 3.

When it comes to what people do after high school,

usually there are, what? Four main options, right?

Go into the workforce, military, college, or go to trade school.

And tonight, I'm gonna focus on those last two:

College and trade school.

What do I mean by college?

Community colleges, four-year degree programs,

things that prepare for you careers that might range from

being a teacher to a ceo to whatever it is your friend

who unironically wears fedoras does for a living.

Uh, this is mine, by the way. His name is david.

David has a phd in something, but I have no clue what he does

for a living 'cause we just never talk about work.

By trade school, I mean any school that teaches you

a specific set of skills for a specific line of work.

So two systems, people, work it.

And, no, I'm not referring to

the rupaul institute of working it, girl.

Trade schools can prepare people for a range of careers,

whether you wanna be a medical assistant

or an electrical worker or a home inspector.

Those are all people who are working it.

I have admittedly often thought about whether I should have

applied to the rupaul institute of working it, girl.

What do you think, brita filter?

- Hi, kal. When I say working it,

I mean more of a state of mind and being,

where you feel good and you show the world who you are.

You know, getting training to make sure that you can compete

in today's economy is another important way of working it too.

So, work it! [laughs]

- thanks, brita.

College and trade school are both incredibly valuable

in their own right. But they often ridiculously

get pitted against each other culturally.

We have all heard these stereotypes before, right?

It's like, oh, universities are brainwashing for the elites!

Or, trade school? What?

That's for those people who don't wanna access college.

It's a lot of noise. It's a lot of bullshit.

The comparisons are a false narrative.

They're propagated by people who live for drama.

It's a manufactured beef.

You know what it's like? It's like nicki versus cardi.

Twitter makes me think that I can't like them both.

But you know what? I refuse to pick sides.

I am gonna be rap switzerland on that one.

Whether you go to college or trade school, you learn stuff.

You gain some knowledge. Ideally, that gets you a job.

Ideally, that's vital to our economy.

The thing is, the economy doesn't just sit still.

It's always changing. Technology evolves.

For example, when's the last time you wrote a letter

with a fancy quill dipped in olden-days black ink

made from the protuberances of oak trees

where a gall wasp has laid its eggs?

- Last week. - Not you, david!

The point is that most people have not.

We barely write things at all anymore, right?

We type on keyboards. We talk into phones.

Whether it's the quill industry getting disrupted by pens

or the pants-making industry getting disrupted by quarantine,

careers of today might fade away tomorrow.

This is really something to think about when we vote.

Some of us believe the world's richest,

most powerful country should fund

the education of its population.

Some of us think the government should be far less involved.

But as this debate plays out in the us, we gotta focus.

Other countries are getting their citizens ready

for these jobs of the future by investing in stem:

Science, technology, engineering, and math.

Look, to be fair, we're doing it too,

but is it to the same extent?

Less than 20% of 13 to 19-year-olds

are interested in stem careers.

That's not great, guys!

Even coming out of your room to say hi to your parents' friends

polls at, like, 23%.

If we don't convince more young people to go into stem,

we'll fall behind in the global economy.

And it shouldn't be hard to convince people

because stem fields are awesome.

If you still don't believe me,

take it from my friend bill nye the science guy.

A, yes, he's my friend. You can be jealous.

And b, when he was your age,

he thought about becoming bill nye the bagel guy.

Bill nye the break pads guy. Or just bill nye the guy.

But thankfully for all of us, he chose a career in science.

And it made all the difference for him.

- Greetings. Bill nye, here.

Kal asked me to do a little bit about the importance of science,

technology, engineering, and math.

There's nothing more important.

How do you think we even have this video?

Or you have enough food to eat?

Or the 7.7 billion other people around the world

have enough food to eat? Do you think it's magic?

No, people, it's science!

It's in the us constitution.

"the progress of science and useful arts."

that's like making things to solve problems.

Now, kal, you gotta figure out

how to put the paper in your printer yourself.

You can do that. You can do it.

- Now, some of you might be wondering: Isn't this all kind

of hypocritical coming from someone who is happily

benefiting from an education in the arts?

And to that, I offer you two points.

First, the arts aren't all fun and games.

Need I remind you?

Second, check out the movement

to invest in something called steam.

And, no, I'm not talking about turbine lobbyists.

Steam stands for science, technology, engineering,

arts, and the math.

The idea there is that infusing arts curriculum into stem

will allow the united states to not just advance technology,

but to creatively innovate it.

Aka, more jobs of the future.

Who you vote for locally and nationally will say a lot about

the direction of our educational system and the economy.

Will we stay competitive with the rest of the world?

Now, some elected officials do seem to understand genuinely

the importance of these fields for the future.

And for the ones who don't, well,

maybe it's time they learned a new set of skills.

Coming up, I'm talking with secretary hillary clinton.

- ♪

- with every new generation of technology,

our lives are totally transformed.

And the newest wave of innovation is automation.

- Man: This is a conventional 18-wheeler that drives itself

thanks to a $30,000 retrofit.

- Man: Introducing do not pay,

one of the world's first robot attorneys.

- Boeing announcing today it plans to start testing

pilotless planes.

- Kal: That sounds terrifying in more ways than one.

Within about 15 years, up to 47% of our current workforce

could be automated, according to some experts.

Even the field of hitchhiking could be automated.

- Hello, I am hitchbot, a hitchhiking robot

from port credit, ontario.

- Kal: But a lot of humans don't seem too worried about it

directly affecting them.

- I don't think a robot could do my job.

- I think there are certain aspects of my job

that could probably be automated.

Uh, but overall, I do not think so.

- To do my job, you have to have empathy and compassion

towards other living beings.

I don't think robots can do that.

- I'm confident that you're always gonna need

that human connection, uh, when it comes to sales.

- I've been working as a personal trainer

for 15 years now.

I do not think a robot could replace me right now.

- Kal: I got some bad news for you.

But look, even if robot trainers, pilotless planes,

and robot attorneys aren't my thing,

I'm actually really excited about how automation

will change the world and revolutionize the workforce.

And I'm not the only one.

By 2022, it's estimated that automation could actually create

58 million more jobs globally than it's set to displace.

And one place preparing for those jobs is girls who code--

a nonprofit organization that aims to introduce young students

to computer science.

- I am not scared of technology at all.

I welcome it with open arms.

The more technology that we create,

the better our lives will be in the future.

- I have seen so many cool things, uh, being 3d printed,

so many cool things being built in these past few months alone.

And I just can't wait to see more of it

and to see where we end up.

- I love technology.

I'm not scared of technology when it's being used in a way

that is not only accessible, but also in a way that is committed

to making sure that humans are at the forefront.

- This enthusiasm for automation has also reached politicians

on both sides of the aisle.

- We should be excited about automation because what it--

what it could potentially mean

is more time educating ourselves,

more time creating art.

- In an innovative world, where innovation drives the future--

and I believe that's what we're--we're moving into--

america wins, because america is the innovator of the world.

- But even if you're excited about the future,

it still leaves us with the question:

How do we prepare for the robot revolution?

- My backup plan would be

probably coding and data science.

- I would love to work in museum translation,

something like that.

- Stay-at-home dog mom and, I don't know,

sell something over instagram,

like a lot of people do nowadays.

- If a robot took my job, I would try to get another one.

But if I couldn't because robots took over the world,

I would move to costa rica

and I would live off the land, probably. [laughs]

- kal: All right, that sounds incredible.

But they probably don't have room for all of us,

so we need a plan.

Maybe liz reynolds, the executive director of

mit's task force on the work of the future,

has a better answer.

- So to the extent that whatever education people are getting

involves an apprenticeship or an internship or a co-op,

that is a great way to develop skills that are really important

in the labor force going forwards.

Government has a critical role to play in helping workers

adjust for the work of the future.

First and foremost is making education

both affordable and accessible.

- Kal: So remember, when we vote,

it's important to look at how our representatives are

investing in us humans, because technology will keep changing,

and so will the economy.

So we all need to get ready for the future.

[robotic voice] I, for one, am looking forward to it.

Coming up, I am talking to secretary hillary clinton.

- ♪

- ♪

- welcome back, everybody!

So my guest tonight was a very hated hall monitor

when she was in elementary school,

and we never got over that.

She's also a grammy-winning artist

and happened to be a fantastic secretary of state

and senator from new york.

Please welcome secretary hillary clinton.

- Clinton: Kal, it's great to be with you.

And, uh, were you one of those guys who misbehaved in the hall

or the cafeteria, huh?

- I actually did it the other way.

I was--I was--I think I was student body vice president.

And we would try to get away with as much as possible.

So we would--we would misbehave,

and then the teachers would come to us and say,

"uh, who did that?"

we'd be like, "I--I don't know. I--I couldn't tell you."

tonight's episode is mostly about education.

And we had discussed previously the fields that young people

may wanna consider given the rise in automation.

So we talked about stem.

We talked about university versus trade school.

Back in the day, you know, did you ever think that people could

be replaced by technology in the way that we have been?

- Not to the extent, uh, that we have been.

I mean, obviously we have seen people replaced by technology.

You know, people didn't, uh, drive horse carts when, uh,

I was growing up, as hard as that might be to believe.

Uh, so we knew that jobs were subject to automation.

But the acceleration of robotics and artificial intelligence and

everything that we have seen in the last 25, 30 years is just,

I think, faster than what any of us could have imagined.

- I feel like we've seen really incredible things

from young people recently, right?

Even in promoting the show, seems like a lot of times

journalists are the ones who will ask, "oh, young people,

they don't really care, right?"

I'm like, "what are you talking about?

Open your eyes! Look at what's happening!"

they're the ones who do care.

What are things that have inspired you recently

from youth movements?

- I think the black lives matter movement,

started by three young women, uh,

who have been not only focused, but smart in how they've tried

to pick their targets for change.

And they've gotten allies in city councils,

in state legislatures, and elsewhere.

Uh, I think the climate movement.

You know, it's not just greta thunberg.

It's countless young people.

And--and I mean some really young.

Little kids who now get the fact

that we're destroying our planet.

Come on, people! Wake up!

And young people have been saying this

and increasingly I think are demanding, uh,

that politicians and public officials

either act or get out of the way.

- I'm curious about-- it seems like

you were involved in young republicans in high school,

but then became progressive as you got older.

What changed your views the most?

How did that happen?

- Something happened to me when I was, um,

a senior in high school.

I had two young women teachers.

And they, um, put on a, uh, political convention,

because it was 1964.

So...Because of my father, primarily, you know,

I thought I was supporting republicans.

And so my very smart, uh, government teacher said to me,

"okay, you're gonna represent lyndon johnson."

and she said to my friend,

who was one of the few democrats in our high school,

"you're gonna represent barry goldwater."

oh, we both were very upset, da, da.

But it forced me to actually go to the library and come up with

arguments for a debate about why I supported lyndon johnson.

So I really began to go, "oh, wait a minute, you know?

Maybe--maybe there's something to this."

and then by the time I got to college, I was actually, um,

elected president of the young republicans

my very first year in college.

But by December of that first year, I decided, you know,

"I don't buy this."

- when I had the chance to book you,

this reminds me of this--

several conversations I had with friends, right?

Said, "I think secretary clinton

has agreed to join us for our show."

there was a lot of pushback from democratic friends.

Um, and I know that you know it's there.

It's sort of like, "oh, she might be too polarizing.

"do you--do you really want a polarizing guest on--on

"an episode of this new show

that's encouraging people to vote?"

and I just thought--I wanted to ask you how that makes you feel,

whether it's exhausting.

Because to me, it's sort of like how kumail nanjiani

is getting all the acting jobs

now that he's ripped and way funnier than me.

Uh, is that frustrating? Is it exhausting?

Or is that just part of how it is?

- Now, why I am polarizing?

Well, you know, I'm a kind of pushy woman,

if you really stop to think about it.

And I've also pushed hard on a lot of issues

that I care deeply about.

You know, back when I was first lady, um,

and was advocating for universal healthcare, uh,

I was burned in effigy.

Now, was I polarizing because I thought everybody in the country

should have access to quality, affordable healthcare?

Or was I the, you know-- the figurehead, ah,

that was then targeted because

there are a lot of really powerful interests

who don't want us to have, uh, universal healthcare,

no matter what you call it.

Whether you call it universal healthcare, medicare for all,

whatever you call it, there are a lot of powerful interests, ah,

that don't want you to have it.

So I have been literally in the cauldron of, you know,

tough political fights for more than 30 years.

And I know that people go, "oh my gosh, it's so exhausting.

"you know, maybe if she went away,

we wouldn't have these fights."

well, I'm here to tell you it's not about me.

It's about the fight.

- Can we play a quick game with you?

- Sure. - This was--so over the years,

you know, there have been buzzy voting blocks

that people talk about,

like soccer moms. - Yeah.

- Uh, so I will give you some voting blocks,

and you tell me if they're real or fake--

- [laughs]

- --according to at least one semi-legitimate news source.

Are you up for that? - Okay.

- Okay, all right. We'll set a timer.

Uh, here we go. Uh, nascar dads.

Real or fake? - Oh yeah, absolutely.

- Real. That is real, from espn.

Uh, office park dads.

- Yes, that's real too. - Also real.

That is correct. Wow, okay, two in row.

Uh, panera voters.

- No. - That was real.

There was a vox article-- - oh, really?

- Yeah, I was very surprised too.

A vox article that referred to a group as panera voters.

Uh--uh, "south park" republicans.

- Ooh.

Yes. - Correct.

It was "city journal" and andrew sullivan.

- [laughs]

- you did--you did well.

When I--when I got this list and we were going through them,

I got none of them right.

Uh, so well--well done.

- I have spent a lot more time than you have looking at how

pollsters and--and consumer, uh, analysts have--

divide people up, you know?

Rather than bringing people together,

let's segment them into as many different little, you know,

groups as we can.

- So unfair advantage.

You had way better briefing materials--

- secretary clinton: Yeah, I did.

I think so. - --Than I did.

Thank you, secretary clinton, for joining us this evening.

It's really an honor to have you,

and I appreciate your insights.

- Oh, thank you.

It's great to talk to you again, kal.

- Likewise. Good to see you. Thank you.

- ♪

- ♪

- hey, man.

Secretary clinton just texted me.

Um, were you talking shit about me?

- [nervous chuckle]

always nice to hear from my friends.

Before we say goodnight, you know,

I'd like to leave you with something you can do.

In this case, to prepare for our changing economy.

So a macro action that you can take is help start a club

in your community by becoming a girls who code facilitator.

They're a great nonprofit organization which aims to

support and increase the number of women in computer science.

The best part is you don't even need technical experience

to get involved.

But if you are interested in coding,

here's your micro action.

Just download a fun coding app.

Investing in a new skill for just five minutes a day

can really pay off in the long run.

It can also give you something to talk about

when your nephew comes to town, like, uh, "hey, tenzin,

"my ternary operator totally crashed and my angular injected

"into a controller and minified

"to something like x or c.

Isn't that crazy?"

look, we can all be prepared for the future

and still have it be fun.

And as always, register to vote.

Go to kalpennapprovesvoting.Com.

I'll see you next week.

In the meantime, here's something awesome.

- Balla's life. I know.

- Man: You made it.

- No! - Man: You did.

Woo-hoo!

- Man: I heard the haters were talking crap about you

on the internet. - Well, can the haters do this?

I call that the [bleep] shot.

[laughs]