STEVE: WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE.
EARLIER I HAD THE CHANCE TO TALK
TO A BEST SELLING AUTHOR ABOUT
THE PRESIDENT AND THE ANTI-TRUMP
RESISTANCE.
TAKE A LOOK.
AUTHOR AND SCREEN WRITER KNOWN
FOR HIS CONTROVERSIAL AND
THOUGHT-PROVOKING WORK LIKE LESS
THAN ZEA ROB WITH RULES OF
ATTRACTION AND AMERICAN PSYCHO.
NOW HIS LATEST BOOK HE'S MAKING
HEADLINES WAS H TAKEN TO
ANTI-TRUMP RESISTANCE.
AND HERE IS TO DISCUSS ALL OF
THAT, BRETT.
I GOT TO TELL YOU, THIS BOOK
ABSOLUTELY IT IS -- EVERYONE HAS
TO READ THIS BOOK.
IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT POLITICS.
ON THIS SHOW WE DO A LOT OF
POLITICS.
A LOT OF GREAT STUFF ABOUT
CULTURE AND MOVIE AND BOOKS.
BUT THE WRITING IN HERE ON THE
TWO BIG POLITICAL THEMES THAT
YOU WRITE OUT THAT I WOULD LOVE
TO COVER IS SO GREAT.
I THINK EVERYONE WILL LOVE IT.
IT SEEMS TO ME THE TWO BIG
THINGS THAT YOU DEAL WITH HERE
ARE THE NEW AUTHORITARIANISM OF
THE LEFT AND THEN A LOT ON
WHAT'S BEEN CALLED, AND YOU
REFERRED TO TRUMP DERANGEMENT
SYNDROME AND THE ANTI-TRUMP
RESISTANCE HAS JUST BASICALLY
GONE NUTS.
>> WELL THE ANTI-TRUMP
RESISTANCE HAS GONE NUTS AND
THEY HAVEN'T MOVED THE NEEDLE
FORWARD.
I LIVE WITH SOMEONE WHO IS AN
ANTI-TRUMP RESISTER.
WHO IS A FAR LEFT MILLENNIAL WHO
HAS LET TRUMP PRETTY MUCH RUIN
HIS LIFE EVER SINCE HE ENTERED
INTO THE PICTURE IN 2015.
AND SO THE PROBLEM BECOMES --
LOOK, I'LL ALL FOR RESISTANCE,
ALL FOR PROTESTS.
BUT THERE COMES A TIME WHEN IT'S
OVERREACH AND HYSTERIA AND IT
DOESN'T MOVE THE NEEDLE AND YOU
START DRAWNING IN A SEA OF ANGER
AND RESISTANCE AND YOU'RE NOT
MOVING THE SNEAD L FORWARD AND
YOU'RE DEALING WITH SOMEONE THAT
I DON'T BELIEVE CARES.
STEVE: THE PRESIDENT.
>> THE PRESIDENT.
I THINK HE'S JUST DOING HIS JOB.
BUT THE RESISTERS ARE SO
UNHAPPY.
SO MISERABLE.
IF YOU HATE HIM SO MUCH, WHY ARE
YOU GIVING HIM SO MUCH POWER
OVER YOUR LIFE.
STEVE: THIS IS SOMETHING I
EXPERIENCED A LOT AND YOU PUT IT
SO BRILLIANTLY.
WHEN YOU SEE THE WAY THEY TALK
SOMETIMES, THE WORDS THAT THEY
USE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A
LANGUAGE THAT THEY USE THAT'S
OVER THE TOP.
AND THERE'S A BIT I ABSOLUTELY
LOVE BUT I GET THIS FEELING AND
YOU PUT IT BRILLIANTLY IN A WAY
I HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE.
WHEN CONFRONTED WITH PEOPLE WHO
TAKE THIS ATTITUDE AND YOU'RE
THINKING IN YOUR HEAD WHEN
YOU'RE LISTENING TO THEM, YOU
ARE THE BIGGEST [BLEEP] BABY
I'VE EVER [BLEEP] IN MY ENTIRE
[BLEEP] LIFE EANL PLEASE YOU'VE
GOT TO [BLEEP] THE [BLEEP] DOWN.
I GET IT YOU DON'T LIKE [BLEEP].
ENOUGH ALREADY.
[BLEEP] SAKE.
>> THIS IS HOW I FELT.
STEVE: IT CAPTURED SOMETHING
ABOUT THE CRAZINESS OF IT.
>> WELL, IT'S ALSO OUR
RESISTANCE TO BEAR RESISTANCE.
THAT'S REALLY WHAT I FOUND
BUILDING UP WITHIN ME IS THAT
THERE WAS JUST SO MANY FALSE
NARRATIVES THEY WERE FOLLOWING,
SO MANY OVERHYSTERICAL STORIES
THEY WANTED TO WEE OUT OF
THEY WANTED TO PEE OUT OF
THEY WANTED TO PEEVEUT OF
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE O OF
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUTF
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEAE
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEAO
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEAT
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEAF
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEAT
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEAI
THEY WANTED TO PEEVE OUT OF WEA.
I COULD NOT FALL IN THE TRAPS.
MOST SERIOUSLY THE MUELLER
REPORT WHICH MY BOYFRIEND
BELIEVED IN AND THOUGHT WAS
GOING TO SAVE US ALL.
AND THEN WHEN IT CAME OUT, HE
WAS INCONSOLABLE FOR WEEKS.
STEVE: BUT ONE OF THE REALLY
SMART POINTS YOU MAKE ABOUT
WHAT'S DRIVING THIS HYSTERIA,
IT'S NOT REALLY ABOUT SUBSTANCE.
THE WORD YOU USE IS THETIC.
TELL US ABOUT THAT.
>> I THINK IN THE BOOK WHY TRUMP
IS ACTUALLY IN THE BOOK -- SO
MUCH ABOUT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
CULTURAL COVERAGE, TALKING ABOUT
FILM, TALKING ABOUT THE
DIFFERENCES THAT I'VE NETSED
BETWEEN AESTHETICS AND IDEOLOGY
AND HOW IDEOLOGY SEEMS TO BE
SUBSUMING AESTHETICS.
THE MESSAGE IS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN THE STYLE.
BUT TRUMP'S AESTHETIC, IT SEEMS
TO BE THE THINGS THAT TIPS THEM
OVER.
AND
THD
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HIS --
THE WAY HE LOOKS, HIS'
AESTHETICS --
STEVE: THEY THINK HE'S VULGAR.
>> SO NOT PRESIDENTIAL.
>> HE LIKES McDONALD'S.
I MEAN HOW THE YOU
I MEAN HOW CHE YOU
I MEAN HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY.
>> HE'S A DISRUPTER.
>> THERE'S A STORY, YOU WERE IN
A LONDON CAB WITH SOMEONE AND
YOU TALKED ABOUT MUSIC.
YOUR LIKING OF COUNTRY MUSIC.
>> I WAS IN THE CAB WITH A GROUP
OF MILLENNIAL LEFT-LEANING
PEOPLE IN THE ART WORLD.
I WAS THERE FOR AN EXHIBITION.
AND IN THE BACK OF THE CAB THEY
ASKED ME WHAT MUSIC I LIKE.
AND I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT AT
THAT MOMENT, TWO YEARS AGO AND I
THOUGHT, I REALLY LIKE COUNTRY
MUSIC.
THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT I WAS
REALLY CONNECTING WITH AND I WAS
LISTENING TO ALL OF THESE
ARTISTS AND I WAS MENTIONING
THEM.
AND HE WAS COMPLETELY SHOCKED.
SAID I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LISTEN
TO COUNTRY MUSIC.
THEY'RE AGAINST US.
THEIR VALUES ARE AGAINST US.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL THAT
MEANT.
I LISTEN TO THE MUSIC BECAUSE I
LIKE THE TUNES AND THE ACT.
THAT US WITH AN INDICATION AND
IT HAUNTED ME.
THAT'S WHY I PUT IT IN, THIS
CONVERSATION I HAD WITH THE
YOUNG PERSON.
THAT TO ME IS A PURE EXAMPLE OF
IDEOLOGY OVERTAKING AESTHETICS,
THE MUSICIANSHIP, THE SONG
SKILL, NONE OF THAT MATTER.
ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT HE
EQUATES THIS REPUBLICANISM WITH
COUNTRY MUSIC.
STEVE: IS IT GOING TO GET WORSE
OR WILL THERE BE A RESISTANCE.
>> I THINK THERE IS A RESISTANCE
TO ALL OF THIS.
THERE IS A PUSHBACK.
YESTERDAY AT THE KANN FILM
FESTIVAL, THE E WAS ABOUT GENDER
EQUALITY AND ME TOO AND ALL OF
THIS STUFF WOVEN IN THAT HAD
NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE
THAT HE MADE.
AND QUENTIN TEAR TEE NO SAID I
REJECT YOUR HYPOTHESIS.
NOW IT'S A VIRAL MEME.
AND I HOPE MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING
TO PUSH BACK ON THAT AND GET
BACK TO A NORMALCY WHERE WE CAN
FEEL COMFORTABLE EXPRESSING
OURSELVES.
STEVE: I THINK YOU'VE DONE A
GREAT JOB WITH THIS BOOK AND
WILL GIVE PEOPLE A LOT OF HOPE
THAT WE CAN HAVE FREEDOM OF
EXPRESSION, ALL OF THE THINGS
THAT WE KIND OF ASSUMED WERE
PART OF THIS COUNTRY.
>> YES.
>> IN AN ENDEARING WAY.
WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH THIS BOOK
IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND IT CAN'T HAVE BEEN EASY FOR
YOU.
>> I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, I GUESS,
AND WE DID TALK ABOUT IT, MY
PUBLISHER AND I THAT THIS COULD
BE CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE THERE
ARE A COUPLE F CHAPTERS THAT
DETAIL TRUMP, AND THE COVERAGE
OF TRUMP, HOW HYSTERICAL IT MADE
A FEW FRIENDS OF MINE WHO JUST
HAD COMPLETE MELTDOWNS FOR A
YEAR, TWO AND A HALF YEARS
LATER.
I DIDN'T KNOW HOW BIG OF A
PUSHBACK THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA
WAS GOING TO HAVE ON THIS BOOK.
IN DOING SO THEY HELPED MOVE IT
INTO AMAZON.
STEVE: THERE YOU GO.