>> STEPHEN: YOU KNOW MY NEXT GUEST AS THE THREE-TIME GRAMMY
AWARD-WINNING LEAD SINGER OF R.E.M.
PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO THE "LATE SHOW," MICHAEL STIPE!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )
>> Stephen: NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
>> THANK YOU.
>> Stephen: YOU WERE HERE IN 2016 LAST TIME.
IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG, BUT, OF COURSE, A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE
2016.
ARE YOU KEEPING UP WITH THE NEWS?
>> UM -- ( LAUGHTER )
-- I ACTUALLY STOPPED ABOUT A YEAR -- NO -- A YEAR AGO
THANKSGIVING.
ONE OF MY MEDICAL PEOPLE SUGGESTED THAT I STOPPED
WATCHING THE NEWS AND STOP DRINKING CAFFEINE.
>> Stephen: REALLY?
AND, SO, I DID.
>> Stephen: CAN YOU GIVE ME HIS OR HER NAME?
>> SHE WORKS IN TRY BECCA.
SHE'S GREAT.
I ALSO SHUT DOWN ALL MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.
I DELETED EVERYTHING I HAD THAT HAD TO DO WITH INSTAGRAM.
>> Stephen: AND WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR CESSPOOL OF ANXIETY?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, I'M A LITTLE BIT OF AN ANTENNA, SO I PICK UP
THINGS FROM EVERYTHING AROUND ME, AND THEN I FUNNEL THAT
THROUGH MY WORK, BUT WHEN I'M NOT WORKING, LIKE FOR THE PAST
DECADE, THEN IT'S HARD TO FUNNEL, SO IT GETS ALL KIND OF
JAMMED UP IN THERE.
>> Stephen: ANTENNA IS HOW I MIGHT DESCRIBE YOU.
I WAS TALKING TO ONE OF MY PRODUCERS I LIKE HAVING MICHAEL
STIPE ON BECAUSE YOU VIE BRET BRAT IN REACTION TO THE WORLD,
YOU FEEL EVERYTHING STRONGLY, AND THAT'S WHY I LOVE ARTISTS
AND YOU'RE CREATING NEW ART AGAIN.
>> THANK YOU.
>> Stephen: BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT THE NEW BOOK HERE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) IT'S CALLED "INTERFERENCE TIMES"
AND IT'S YOUR THIRD BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
THERE ARE A WIDE VARIETY OF PHOTOS IN HERE.
WHAT'S THE BOOK SAYING TO YOU?
>> THE BOOK IS ABOUT THE SPACE THAT WE HAVE BEEN IN SINCE
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS BROUGHT US TO WHERE WE ARE NOW WHICH IS
BETWEEN ANALOG AND DIGITAL.
THESE ARE TWO SYSTEMS THAT DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER VERY WELL,
AND WHEN THEY TRY TO, THEY GREAT CREATE THESE SCREWY PATTERNS AND
THAT'S WHERE WE ARE CULTURALLY.
>> Stephen: THE VERY FIRST PHOTO IN THE BOOK, IS THAT YOU?
WHAT IS THIS?
>> THAT WAS WHEN I WAS VERY, VERY YOUNG, MY HERO WAS THE
HUNCH BACK OF NOTRE DAME.
>> Stephen: QUASIMOTO?
YEAH, QUASIMOTO.
I RELATED TO HIM, BECAUSE MY GRANDMOTHER AND FATHER HAD A
HUNCHBACK, BUT HE WAS KIND OFOS OSTRACIZED OUTSIDER THAT WAS
BELOVED BY PEOPLE LIKE ME AND PROBABLY YOU, ACTUALLY.
>> Stephen: SURE.
AND PATTY SMITH.
WE RECENTLY HAD A CONVERSATION, YOU KNOW, I'M A GREAT FAN OF
HEARSE AND ALSO A FRIEND, BUT I SHOWED HER THAT PICTURE, IT
OPENS THE BOOK AND KIND OF SETS UP THE BOOK AS THE IMMERSIVE
FALLING THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, YOU KNOW, ALICE IN WONDER
LAND KIND OF EXPERIENCE, I HOPE, IF I'M SUCCESSFUL, AND SHE ALSO
AS A KID IDENTIFIED WITH THE HUNCH BACK OF NOTRE DAME.
HE REPRESENTS THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS.
>> Stephen: I LIKE THE IDEA OF THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS.
DID YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS A MISFIT TOY?
>> FROM THE FIRST TIME I SAW RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER,
AND IT WAS BEFORE MY HAIR CURLED, I WASN'T LIKE THE
DENTIST, I WAS MORE LIKE THE BROKEN TOYS.
I KNEW I WAS NOT STRANGE BUT I KNEW I WAS DIFFERENT.
>> Stephen: DID YOU FIND OTHER MISFIT TOYS?
IS THAT ONE REASON ARTS AND MUSIC APPEALED TO YOU BECAUSE
YOU WERE FINDING OTHER -- BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS I LOVE
ABOUT BEING IN SOME SMALL WAY AN ARTIST OR WORKING WITH ARTISTS
IS PEOPLE EMBRACE THE BROKENNESS IN THEIR LIFE AND TURN IT INTO
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL.
DO YOU FIND THAT?
>> GRETA THUNBERG SAID THIS ASPECT OF ME IS WHAT I CONSIDER
HER BEING AUTISTIC OR ON THE SPECTRUM IS WHAT I CONSIDER TO
BE A SUPER POWER AND, IN ONE SENTENCE, SHE FLIPPED THE ENTIRE
STORY TO PRESENT HERSELF AS SOMETHING THAT CAN TAKE WHAT
MAKES HER VERY DIFFERENT AND MAYBE WHAT SOME PEOPLE WOULD
LOOK AT AS A LIABILITY AND PLACE IT AS SOMETHING ACTUALLY HEROIC
AND VULNERABLE BUT VERY, VERY STRONG.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: THAT IS BEAUTIFUL.
THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL APPLICATION OR POSITIVE USE OF HER
CONDITION.
I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMPICS IF YOU DON'T
MIND FOR JUST A MOMENT.
>> OKAY.
>> Stephen: BECAUSE NOT TO BRING ANYBODY DOWN, BUT HE IS
USING R.E.M. SONGS AT HIS RALLIES DESPITE YOUR OBJECTIONS.
( BOOING ) >> Stephen: IS THERE REALLY
NOTHING YOU CAN DO?
( LOUD LIBOUSING ) I WISH THAT WOULD HELP, BUT IS
THERE NOTHING YOU COULD DO TO STOP HIM?
>> IT'S A LICENSING PROBLEM AND THERE'S NOTHING TO DO EXCEPT
RESPECTFULLY REQUESTED HE NOT USE --
>> Stephen: WHY RESPECTFULLY?
BECAUSE WE TAKE THE HIGH ROAD, MY FORMER BAND AND I.
( APPLAUSE ) WHO WAS IT THAT SAID WHEN THEY
GO LOW, WE GO HIGH?
>> Stephen: MICHELLE OBAMA.
HE'S COOL.
>> Stephen: SHE IS VERY COOL.
EASIER TO SAY THAN DO.
>> THAT REMINDS ME OF A SHOW I WENT TO IN THE LATE '90s IN
NEW YORK CITY AT JOE'S PUB.
SMALL.
>> Stephen: YEAH.
RIGHT WHEN PATTY SMITH HAD COME BACK FROM PERFORMING AND
SHE AGREED TO DO A BENEFIT WHERE PEOPLE DID THREE OR FOUR SONGS
EACH AND I WENT TO SUPPORT HER.
I SHOWED UP WITH A FRIEND, STANDING ROOM ONLY, AND THEY
TOOK US TO THE V.I.P. OVERFLOW BOOTH, WHICH I'M SURE YOU HAVE
BEEN IN ONE OF THOSE BEFORE.
>> Stephen: IT'S WHERE I LIVE, BABY.
>> AND WE WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE AT THE TABLE AND THE SHOW
STARTED AND THIS PERFORMER WAS ON STAGE, AND THIS BIG LOUD GUY
CAME IN WITH A DATE, AND THEY BROUGHT HIM, ALSO, TO THE V.I.P.
OVERFLOW BOOTH AND HE WAS SAT NEXT TO US.
SHANTI WAS BETWEEN ME AND THIS COUPLE, AND HE WAS TALKING TO
HER, AND HE KEPT TALKING TO HER THROUGH THE PERFORMANCE, AN IT
WAS, YOU KNOW -- YOU KNOW JOE'S PUB IS A VERY SMALL ROOM, AND
PEOPLE WERE TURNING AROUND, IT WAS VERY DISRUPTIVE AND RUDE,
FRANKLY, AND THAT PERFORMER CAME ON, PATTY SMITH WENT ON STAGE,
STARTED HER FIRST SONG, HE WAS NEVER, SHE STARTED HER FIRST
SONG AND HE KEPT TALKING AND I WAS, LIKE, EXCUSE ME, THAT'S MY
FRIEND, AND YOU HAVE TO STOP TALKING, YOU CAN'T -- STOP --
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
SHUT UP.
I SAID SHUT UP.
THE GUY GOT UP AND LEFT.
HE WALKED OUT.
HE TOOK HIS DATE, WHO HE WAS OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO PICK UP, AND
LEFT THE CLUB.
AND DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT GUY WAS?
DONALD J. TRUMP.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: WE HAVE TO PAY THE
BILLS, BUT PLEASE DON'T GO AWAY BECAUSE WHEN WE COME BACK, WE'LL
BE HERE WITH MICHAEL STIPE.
PLEASE JOIN US!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )