The point of having a guest on your show is to make the audience smarter, but Comedy Central The Daily Show temp host Desus Nice accomplished the opposite on Tuesday as he welcomed author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyan to discuss his new book and label the National Football League, “big juggernaut of evil white men telling black bodies to go hurt yourself.”
Adjei-Brenyan wasted no time in getting to the mind-numbing absurdities. When asked to explain his book, he laid out a truly insane premise, “So, my first novel is an imagined future in which convicted wards of state can opt out of the future of at least 25 years and participate in death matches. So, it’s really about abolition of the prison system, but in a fun way… They become gladiators and they’re fighting for their freedom, yeah.”
For Nice, the problem isn’t that Adjei-Brenyan appears to be assuming that everyone in prison for at least 25 years is there unjustly, but that New York City Mayor Eric Adams may take it too literally, “Yeah, don't give Eric Adams that idea, man.”
He also wondered, “Is it hard to write a dystopian novel because we're kind of living in a dystopian novel right now?”
Speaking in generalities, Adjei-Brenyan patted himself on the book, “Bro, it is crazy to see it. I started this book about seven years ago, almost eight years ago and in the process of writing it, you, I sort of watched the world become more and more aware of some of the things I was thinking about because it was becoming more and more true, we were seeing just how heinous the system was in so many different ways. And so it’s difficult, but also makes me feel like, you know, maybe I am doing something that needs to be done.”
Moving to the real world, or at least his warped view of the real world, Nice followed up, “Got you, and now in your book, it’s a for-profit prison system which is kind of similar to, I don’t know, the NFL? Do you see any parallels there?”
Adjei-Brenyan did see parallels, “I think that in general, our sort of consumer culture, we have this idea where people's bodies are things to be entertained by. We’ve become really comfortable viewing humans as a means to the end, you know or outside of it being a means to an end in and of themselves, I think the NFL is particularly heinous. I think that’s the big juggernaut of evil white men telling black bodies to go hurt yourself.”
Having a logical argument with a crazy person is never easy, but the NFL is not just “black bodies.” Also, if there were fewer black players, people like Adjei-Brenyan would call it racist for not being diverse enough. Third, what does The Daily Show, of all shows, think entertainment is? Athletes entertain with their bodies and so do actors and talk show hosts and every one of them is there because they want to be, not because some cabal of “evil white men,” who pay them millions of dollars, told them to.
Here is a transcript for the October 24 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
10/25/2023
11:22 PM ET
DESUS NICE: Your first novel, tell us about it? Because it's super popular, everyone I'm talking to-- everyone I talk to, I say I'm having you on the show and everyone’s like, "I've read that book already." So, what am I missing it out on?
NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAN: Thank you, I appreciate it. So, my first novel is an imagined future in which convicted wards of state can opt out of the future of at least 25 years and participate in death matches. So, it’s really about abolition of the prison system, but in a fun way.
NICE: So basically, incarcerated people can fight to the death to become free?
ADJEI-BRENYAN: They become gladiators and they’re fighting for their freedom, yeah.
NICE: Yeah, don't give Eric Adams that idea, man.
ADJEI-BRENYAN: This is a satirical book, Eric Adams, please.
NICE: Is it hard to write a dystopian novel because we're kind of living in a dystopian novel right now?
ADJEI-BRENYAN: Bro, it is crazy to see it. I started this book about seven years ago, almost eight years ago and in the process of writing it, you, I sort of watched the world become more and more aware of some of the things I was thinking about because it was becoming more and more true, we were seeing just how heinous the system was in so many different ways.
NICE: Right.
ADJEI-BRENYAN: And so it’s difficult, but also makes me feel like, you know, maybe I am doing something that needs to be done.
NICE: Got you, and now in your book, it’s a for-profit prison system—
ADJEI-BRENYAN: Yeah.
NICE: -- which is kind of similar to, I don’t know, the NFL? Do you see any parallels there?
ADJEI-BRENYAN: Yes. Well, no, I mean, I think that in general, our sort of consumer culture, we have this idea where people's bodies are things to be entertained by. We’ve become really comfortable viewing humans as a means to the end, you know—
NICE: Yeah.
ADJEI-BRENYAN: -- or outside of it being a means to an end in and of themselves, I think the NFL is particularly heinous. I think that’s the big juggernaut of evil white men telling black bodies to go hurt yourself.
