Hasan Minhaj: ON How To Strategically Express Yourself & Take Criticism Positively

On this episode of On Purpose, I sat down with Hasan Minhaj. Hasan is a first generation American, and is a comedian, actor, and the host and creator of the weekly comedy series Patriot Act. Hasan shares that he was fired from every previous job he’s ever had, and the value of relentlessly trying new things until you find work worth doing. He reminds us of the challenges that come with making great art and to always be specific with the message you want to share. Text Jay Shetty 310-997-4177 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jay Shetty?

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• 0:40Speaker 01

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• 1:10Jay Shetty?

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• 1:41Speaker 02

  Well dude, I got fired from pretty much every job that I had. So you know, Safeway, Office Max, wherever I was working. And generally when I got fired, the manager would call me in and they'd be like, "Hey, look, Hassan, you're a nice enough guy, but we gotta let you go." Like, it just seems like you don't want to be here.

• 1:57Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 1:57Speaker 02

  And I remember like every time they would fire me, they'd be like, "Is there somewhere else you would rather be? Because you seem very disinterested here at Del Taco."

• 2:05Jay Shetty?

  And what would be your answer?

• 2:06Speaker 02

  I'd be like, "I could, I'll tell you exactly where I want to be." What's crazy is every time they would fire me, I actually did have the answer of exactly what I'd want to be doing and where I'd want to be. Yeah, I wanted to be performing. I wanted to be doing stand-up.

• 2:24Jay Shetty?

  Welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. Thank you so much for coming back every single week to listen, to learn and to grow from some of the most amazing minds in the world. And today's guest is definitely not going to disappoint. He's absolutely awesome. His name is Hasan Minhaj and he is a comedian, an actor, the host and creator of the amazing Netflix series Patriot Act. And in 2019, he received and was named in the Time 100's Most Influential People in the World. And this is the audio introduction going in as well. His one hour Netflix comedy special, Homecoming King, earned him a 2018 Peabody Award. Hasan joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a correspondent and continued on after

• 3:08Jay Shetty?

  Trevor Noah took over as host and remained on the show through August 2018. He also spoke at the 2017 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Hasan, it is so awesome to have you here, man.

• 3:19Speaker 02

  Thanks for having me, man.

• 3:20Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I had to do it with you here.

• 3:22Speaker 02

  That was very flattering and touching.

• 3:24Jay Shetty?

  Because it's all true. And, and I have to be honest with you, the first time I saw you live was when you came to LA last year at the Ace Theatre. And we didn't know each other then, but you're, you're amazing. I thought you were absolutely brilliant. And that comes from someone who only moved to the US three years ago, so just catching up on politics.

• 3:40Speaker 02

  Oh, wow.

• 3:40Jay Shetty?

  And, and then I met you through our mutual friend, family Lily, which was awesome, which was a much more intimate setting.

• 3:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:47Jay Shetty?

  And I have to say, man, like you just have this captivating, always-on energy. And, and I was just like fixated on everything you were saying.

• 3:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:55Jay Shetty?

  I was like, I need to have this guy on the podcast.

• 3:57Speaker 02

  It got, it got very deep, very fast. I was asking a lot of like philosophical questions and, and deep political, geopolitical questions and it got very intense.

• 4:05Jay Shetty?

  Absolutely, man, that's true. But, but today I want to dive into your journey.

• 4:08Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 4:09Jay Shetty?

  You finding your purpose. I want to go back to, you know, your upbringing here as a first generation American.

• 4:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:16Jay Shetty?

  And, and I want to talk a lot about, you know, what, what drives and motivates you? Because when I see you, I see you as an activist disguised as a comedian.

• 4:22Speaker 02

  Oh, wow.

• 4:23Jay Shetty?

  Right? That's how I see you. That's, that's just my way, that's how I see you. But what drives and motivates Hasan?

• 4:30Speaker 02

  I would say right now, the things that drive me the most are saying and doing the things that I did not believe was possible five, 10, or even 15 years ago.

• 4:40Jay Shetty?

  Wow.

• 4:41Speaker 02

  That's what really gets me excited. Like, when I choose an episode for Patriot Act, I just try to think about, can I be as real and as raw and as honest as I am with the homies on WhatsApp? Like, that's what you're really trying to do as an artist, to be like, can I be that raw? You always think about that, right? Like, there's like the persona that we have when we're meeting people, and then there's iMessage persona.

• 5:04Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 5:05Speaker 02

  Where like, dude, if this gets leaked, I'm getting canceled.

• 5:09Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 5:09Speaker 02

  But how do you be that just...

• 5:13Jay Shetty?

  And when has it got to those points where it's like, super difficult? Are you trying to, are you starting to find that really easy?

• 5:17Speaker 02

  That's the, no, no, that's not easy. That's the challenge. That's the challenge to making great art. So, the topics that we've picked on the show were things that I, dude, I got threads on threads about, you know, US relationship with Saudi Arabia, the Indian elections, like, oh, there's just, everything you've seen on the show is pretty much something that I've talked about with friends, you know, policing in America. These are like, third rail issues that are very, very difficult to dive into and can be divisive, but to me, I find them to be the most rewarding, so.

• 5:48Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, that's amazing, man. And where do you go on that spectrum of like, is this too risky? Is this not? How are you pushing yourself? Like, what is that process of pushing yourself in that direction? Because I think, like you're saying, so many people just shy away from stuff.

• 6:01Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 6:01Jay Shetty?

  You're hitting it head on, but tell us that process in your head of like, how far do I go? How do I push myself? How do I not settle for, you know?

• 6:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. Look, like, the Overton window is only so wide, right? And obviously, given everything that's happening in the world right now, certain political figures have stretched that Overton window to places where it's sometimes insane or crazy. To me, it's really about seeing how far can I stretch it constructively, and am I being argumentatively accurate? And, you know, this is where I lean on the news team and the writing team a bunch is, are our facts straight?

• 6:38Speaker 02

  And then after that, I kinda, you know, I throw up a prayer and I hope the man upstairs, you know, protects me. And I think, I certainly hope the audience can, even if they disagree with me, can acknowledge, just, he's trying. This is a good faith actor.

• 6:58Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 6:58Speaker 02

  You know what I mean?

• 6:59Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I get that. That's pretty powerful.

• 7:01Speaker 02

  And look, like, you're talking about the medium that we're in. We're looking at cameras. This is gonna be on YouTube. There is a lot of media manipulation. So, you know, leaning in for controversy over dialogue, or leaning into just super hyperbole, instead of being like, really accurate. I think I've tried to be a good faith actor, even when I'm doing a tough topic, that people I know are gonna disagree with me.

• 7:26Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I feel that. I feel that. And how do you prepare yourself for that potential backlash, or that potential criticism that naturally comes? And I know you've talked about it before, but how are you like, mentally prepared for it?

• 7:37Speaker 02

  Uh...

• 7:38Jay Shetty?

  Ready for it? Because I love that, because what you're saying is, hey, I'm gonna prepare and put my best foot forward. I'm gonna show you that I've done the research.

• 7:46Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:46Jay Shetty?

  We've done the fact-taking. I'm not just trying to say something because it sounds good.

• 7:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:50Jay Shetty?

  So you've done all that. So that's kind of where your confidence comes from. But how do you prepare for the backlash? Or is that it?

• 7:54Speaker 02

  Uh, I, look, I think I've just gotten better and better about it over time. Being at The Daily Show, I saw John deal with it head-on. Then when Trevor became the host, I saw Trevor deal with it head-on. So, you know, I had courtside seats to see really great people be in the eye of the storm. And so, over time, things, I've just gotten better and better at it. And I've been able to take criticism, I think, a little bit better now, because we've now established a body of work.

• 8:26Jay Shetty?

  Mm-hmm.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  So at some point, people might be upset that I'm attacking something that is sacred to them. But if you look at the 30 other topics that we've done, people are totally cool with it.

• 8:41Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 8:41Speaker 02

  And the longer we do the show, you can clearly see that, like, I don't have a specific agenda. Like, I'm an equal opportunity person who's gonna go at the, whether it's a big politician, a political leader, or a corporate institution.

• 8:59Jay Shetty?

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• 9:42Jay Shetty?

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• 11:11Jay Shetty?

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• 11:18Jay Shetty?

  I love that about you, man. And I think you do it really, really well. Honestly speaking, like, I think it's it's rare to find someone who can do it so effectively and articulately. So thank you for doing that, man. I appreciate it. I mean that, I mean that genuinely. I think it's awesome. Tell me about, I wanna go a bit into like, your father wanting you to go to law school.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  Uh, yes.

• 11:36Jay Shetty?

  Right?

• 11:36Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 11:37Jay Shetty?

  Tell us about what would have happened in Hassan's life if he followed through on his father and parents' path and what they thought of what you ended up doing.

• 11:44Speaker 02

  Well, dude, I got fired from every other job I had. So like, you know, I worked at Safeway, I got fired.

• 11:50Jay Shetty?

  This was Safeway here too?

• 11:51Speaker 02

  Oh, the grocery store?

• 11:53Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 11:53Speaker 02

  Not, not here on the East Coast. It's, it's

• 11:55Jay Shetty?

  I worked at Safeway too.

• 11:57Speaker 02

  You worked at Safeway? You're what, London?

• 11:58Jay Shetty?

  In England, yeah, in London.

• 12:00Speaker 02

  They have Safeway?

• 12:01Jay Shetty?

  We had Safeway. That's why when you said it, I was like, what?

• 12:03Speaker 02

  No, I bagged groceries at

• 12:04Jay Shetty?

  So did I.

• 12:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:05Jay Shetty?

  Okay, crazy.

• 12:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's, there's a grocery store called Safeway. And they also used to have this thing called plastic bags. And baggers would put groceries in plastic bags.

• 12:15Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I used to do that too. But yeah, sorry, Karen, you got fired from every job?

• 12:18Speaker 02

  I got fired from pretty much every job that I had.

• 12:20Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 12:20Speaker 02

  So, you know, Safeway, Office Max, wherever I was working. And generally, when I got fired, like, the, the manager would, would call me in. And they would, they liked me. They'd be like, hey, look, Hassan, you're a nice enough guy. But we gotta let you go. Like, it just seems like you don't wanna be here.

• 12:38Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 12:39Speaker 02

  And I remember, like, every time they would fire me, they'd be like, is there somewhere else you would rather be? Cause you seem very disinterested here at Del Taco.

• 12:46Jay Shetty?

  And what would be your answer?

• 12:47Speaker 02

  Well, I'd be like, I could, I'll tell you exactly where I wanna be. What's crazy is every time they would fire me, I actually did have the answer of exactly what I'd wanna be doing and where I'd wanna be. Yeah, I wanted to be performing. I wanted to be doing stand-up, but I had to shift that night. You know? So I'm very lucky, man. I'm lucky. Like, I am extremely lucky that I, I knew what I wanted to do. Like, I, I found something that I was passionate about.

• 13:11Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. And was that the same intention that when you decided to study political science? Were you that clear that you're like, I wanna study this so that I can be factual and have history? And like, what, what was that intention like when you were setting yourself up?

• 13:22Speaker 02

  I mean, it's just like I was too dumb for pre-med. And, and I just had a natural inclination for like, kinda politics, rhetoric, uh, speech and debate. Like, those were my things that I was really into. And so

• 13:35Jay Shetty?

  Where did that come from?

• 13:39Speaker 02

  Well, in high school, I was a big sort of public speaking, speech and debate kid, right? I did, I did public speaking and all that stuff. And then, um, in terms of just politics, my dad was actually pretty political and stuff like that. Yeah, yes. Was, had a lot of opinions. There was a lot of sort of shouting at the TV and, and he was one of the first people that I could kind of see, like, looking at an issue, having a take or perspective, like cracking jokes. And I just kind of, you know, sometimes I try to think I'm trying to live out Najmi's legacy and be like, I want to take that living room raw and do it on, you know, the biggest stage I possibly can.

• 14:18Jay Shetty?

  That's beautiful, man. I love, I love hearing that because I think it's so different. Like, yeah, I always joke that I, I grew up and my parents' three options were the doctor, a lawyer, or a failure. Like, those are my three options growing up. And, and you know, you, you think about that as well. Like, why do we get fascinated with certain things? And like, for me, it wasn't politics, but for me, it was like spirituality and philosophy. Like, that's what I got fascinated by.

• 14:39Speaker 02

  But how? How would you, who gets, like, as a kid, who gets into philosophy?

• 14:42Jay Shetty?

  Well, I feel the same way about politics.

• 14:43Speaker 02

  Oh, come on. Don't, Jay, when you're 10, your dad isn't being like, oh, this is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. You see, this is Letters to Seneca. You're not doing, you're playing Sega. No, you're not. You're not caring about that.

• 14:56Jay Shetty?

  My dad started to read a lot of that when I was young.

• 14:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, but as a 10-year-old, I'd refuse to believe that you read that.

• 15:01Jay Shetty?

  No, I wasn't as a 10-year-old. So you have it right there.

• 15:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, you like football, proper football.

• 15:06Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, proper, yeah, real football. Thank you. Thank you so much. Real football. Yes, real football. Anyway, but spirituality became more and more relevant just because I started asking more and more questions. And when I was looking for the answers that I was asking, like, you know, like, why do bad things happen to really good people? Why am I losing people? Why do people die early? All of these kind of questions. I was finding it there. So for me, for me, that's kind of where it went for me.

• 15:27Speaker 02

  Now, you grew up, did you grow up as a Buddhist, Christian?

• 15:31Jay Shetty?

  I grew up as a Hindu. So I grew up in a Hindu family. And, and my practices now were like very universal. You'd find them in Hinduism and in Buddhism. So you'd see them in multiple places. But, but I've really looked for, and my personal journey's been about looking for the universal aspects that everyone can connect with. Because for me, that's kind of what, what excites me about philosophy and spirituality. So I'm always looking for where we agree.

• 15:52Speaker 02

  There we go. There we go.

• 15:54Jay Shetty?

  But, but yeah, anyway, back to you, back to you. One of the things I look at in your life, which I think you're so great at doing is, is introspecting. Right, like I see you do a lot on this show. You're always introspecting, you're always reflecting. How have you built that habit to be able to do that regularly with your own beliefs? Because you don't sound like someone who's like, this is my belief and this is just the way it is. You sound like you think through your belief often and regularly. I feel that way.

• 16:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, and kind of question it. You know, there's this great documentary with the late comedian Gary Shandling. And he talks about, in this doc, and you know, Judd Apatow directed and produced it. It's really excellent, but he talked about the art form of comedy really being not a, not a way to become more famous or to stand on stage and have people clap and applaud you and, and sort of give you validation. But it's, it's an art form of self-exploration and to like figure things out, like, why do I believe what I believe? Why do I feel this way? And I think much like music, if you treat comedy like an art form, which I believe it is, it really is much like music or writing or poetry. It's an exploration of who you are as a person and why you do what you do.

• 17:04Jay Shetty?

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• 18:43Speaker 03

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• 18:47Speaker 04

  On October 2nd.

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• 19:07Speaker 05

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• 19:14Jay Shetty?

  And what's a belief that you had that through that exploration changed recently? Or that you've seen change the most? Like something that you held true and then it's kind of evolved and you're like, oh wow, like I never thought I'd think that way about that. Is there anything like that? And take a moment, I know.

• 19:27Speaker 02

  No, I can't think of anything like that, like off the top of my head. But, um, but there'll, there'll always be something that I'm sort of like, I'll currently be processing and then just trying to figure it out through, through my work. And, um, yeah, yeah.

• 19:49Jay Shetty?

  What, what are parts of your journey that no one sees like that? You know, parts of your journey, we all see like, you know, we see, we see the shows, we see this incredible Homecoming King, we see, you know, Patriot Act, we see the 2019 time, you know, most 100 influential people. It's an amazing honor, man, and you deserve it. And it's like, you see all of that. What's the parts that we haven't seen that you'd, you'd like people to be aware of? Into what it's taken, like what are, what are the sacrifices, the missed points that we don't see? And I'm not asking you to be egotistic because I know you're not. But like, I want to hear that because I feel like it's so important for people to hear that.

• 20:23Speaker 02

  The stuff that people don't see, I don't think a lot of times people see that, um, how much especially.

• 20:31Speaker 02

  You know, in a collaborative, creative effort, you're really relying on a core group of people. There's like Jedi that I work with. And I would say it's Prashant, Steve Bodo, Jim Margolis, the people that are around me, all the writers, the news team. Upstairs, you know, we're in our production office, but upstairs. I mean, upstairs, that's where we're having a lot of these like heated discussions and battles a little bit. And I don't think people see, they think that I'm just doing this off the top of the dome and like, no, no, no. I'm very much a studio rapper. I'm not a freestyle rapper. Like I go in and we really try to tweak and finesse and just like really focus on every, every little detail.

• 21:14Speaker 02

  And I think, and I think that's what people, um, I think, I wish more people, uh, knew. Because I think because of Twitter and Instagram and social media, um, we live in a very much a hot take society. And we got to beat everybody to the next hot take. And, um, I wish, I don't, I don't know how both of these things happen where you have like a hyper reactive society. How do you get people to also see the beauty and like introspection and finessing and refining what you're working on? You know what I mean?

• 21:50Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 21:50Speaker 02

  Don't you, don't you find it kind of like, don't you ever feel guilty kind of doing what you're doing where you're trying to make spirituality go viral? But like the whole thing with spirituality is a little bit of disconnecting from the likes and the subscribe button.

• 22:03Jay Shetty?

  Yes. Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely.

• 22:04Speaker 02

  It's the same thing I feel with commerce and art. No. Art in and of itself, you know, when you put commerce into it, it gets a little ugly.

• 22:11Jay Shetty?

  Yes, yes, I agree. I agree. And it's the paradox that I find interesting to navigate. Like I like that paradox. Like I like the oxymoron of like, how does this, how do you balance these two things? Because I'm like, if I was just gonna go and sit on a mountain top and be spiritual, I think overall I'd be like, ah, but. I need to give this to someone or I'd get bored or it wouldn't even even the revelation wouldn't go as deep. Because I feel like there's so much in experimenting with it. And if I was just on the other side of like, oh yeah, let's just go get likes and let's go get followers, then it's like, that's definitely, we both know that doesn't satisfy you. So it's kind of like that paradox and I feel like that's what keeps me on my edge.

• 22:48Speaker 02

  Got it.

• 22:49Jay Shetty?

  That I'm.

• 22:49Speaker 02

  You're walking that fine line.

• 22:50Jay Shetty?

  Correct, and I'm always one step away from my foot falling into either side. And I enjoy that because I think it keeps me in the middle. But but that's just kind of like my personal process of enjoying things that don't quite fit.

• 23:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:02Jay Shetty?

  Uh, and but I think that's a really valuable point and I love hearing you say that because I think what you're encouraging is also that. I think we live in a world today where it's always about growing yourself. And what you're actually saying that you're getting more from collaborating, debating, discussing, breaking it down behind the scenes.

• 23:17Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 23:17Jay Shetty?

  And often off camera, that's happening off camera for you, but in most of our lives, we're not even doing that. Right? Most of our lives are like, okay, let me build my own platform.

• 23:26Speaker 02

  Really?

• 23:27Jay Shetty?

  Well, yeah, I I just feel like for a lot of people who are trying to build their own platform. It's not necessarily like, oh, let's all collaborate and grow. So I saw comedians do this really well. I remember a lot of my friends who are comedians on Instagram and YouTube, they all got together and they collaborated and their brands just grew. But a lot of people just try to grow their lane and their brand without the collaboration and they didn't grow.

• 23:45Speaker 02

  God.

• 23:46Jay Shetty?

  And so it's nice to hear you.

• 23:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:47Jay Shetty?

  Give a shout out to everyone that you're working with.

• 23:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, man, they're incredible.

• 23:51Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 23:51Speaker 02

  And and I certainly hope much the way the way Jon Stewart opened this door and we all bear his fingerprints. I hope maybe one day I can I can hopefully do that for other people too.

• 24:00Jay Shetty?

  What was the best thing you learned from observing Jon Stewart? Like, what was that one moment where you're just like this? Or was it every day?

• 24:05Speaker 02

  You know, he's he's not a note guy. Like, I always wanted Jewish Yoda to give me these notes. Like, tell me what to do. Like, I just want you to tell me how to be funny. He kind of was like Master Shifu, like it was always within you this entire time. He kind of just wants you to like, you know, what, why, why does this make you upset? Why do you find this so funny? And he just kind of tries to pull that out of you.

• 24:29Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 24:29Speaker 02

  But um, he really taught me, I think him and and I would say Colbert. And even now, like I see with with with Oliver is is really how to be like,

• 24:41Speaker 02

  to bring a level of decency and to be a good faith actor. Cause there's a lot of clapping back in what we do. You're calling a lot of things out, but um, I think Steven, Stewart, Oliver, even Trevor, there's a level of um sophistication and and.

• 24:58Speaker 02

  Again, just like a good faith effort. Like, I'm not here, I'm not trying to just bury you.

• 25:04Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 25:05Speaker 02

  And eviscerate you just for the sake of doing that. Like, I really want to do this in a really, sort of...

• 25:14Jay Shetty?

  Spiritual.

• 25:15Speaker 02

  Not spiritual, but...

• 25:16Jay Shetty?

  It's very compassionate.

• 25:17Speaker 02

  No.

• 25:18Jay Shetty?

  Empathetic.

• 25:18Speaker 02

  Sure, sure, but just like be a decent human being about it, you know? And I've seen people enter the lines then with both Trevor and Steven, and they'll both handle it really, really well. They won't like have the audience just gang up on them, Jerry Springer style. And so one of the best things that I sort of learned from them is to be, you know, when you're saying something, or if you're gonna poke at something, is to be like really specific in what you're saying. Instead of like punching every which way.

• 25:48Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 25:48Speaker 02

  It's almost to just be like, it's like a sniper shot. And like, and this is the thing I'm trying to say. Or like, this is the thing that I, that we need to sort of assess and analyze.

• 25:58Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love the humanity in there. I feel like that's off the mist, because I feel like when you're making people laugh, it's so easy for the audience member to just assume that you kind of just went for the easiest shot or whatever it is, right? Like, it's easy for the audience to...

• 26:11Speaker 02

  Oh, sure, sure, sure.

• 26:12Jay Shetty?

  It's not that you're doing that.

• 26:13Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 26:13Jay Shetty?

  It's easy for the audience to just feel like, oh yeah, like this is hilarious and I'm laughing. But I feel like we don't hear the humanity. And I think almost as an audience, we need to raise our game.

• 26:23Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 26:23Jay Shetty?

  So that we recognize that actually, oh, let's, let's look at the depth of this argument.

• 26:27Speaker 02

  The word, yeah, the word I was looking for is be surgical.

• 26:31Jay Shetty?

  Yes, wow, yeah.

• 26:32Speaker 02

  And like, in the, in, when I saw John after the, do a monologue after the Sandy Hook shooting. He was surgical in his analysis of the way America is dealing with guns. You know?

• 26:47Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 26:47Speaker 02

  Like... He's not just like screaming out hyperbole for the sake of the-

• 26:54Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, it's not a spray your own approach, yeah.

• 26:56Speaker 02

  Totally. It's like that right there. And then he would build the act around that. Just me watching that was like, wow. And I think that lasts the test of time. You're gonna take less L's when you're really specific about what are you critiquing here?

• 27:10Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 27:10Speaker 02

  And then you kind of become better about like, yeah, I know there's gonna be blowback, but that's fine.

• 27:14Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  I've like come to terms with this because I've closed all the other doors.

• 27:18Jay Shetty?

  Yes.

• 27:19Speaker 02

  And I sort of picked the highest hanging fruit.

• 27:21Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 27:22Speaker 02

  To take.

• 27:23Jay Shetty?

  I love that. That's just great advice for all of us in conflict. Like, that's just a great, like, that message and lesson you've just taught us there, like, that's perfect for, like, workplace issues, relationship issues, like, that can be applied anywhere.

• 27:34Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:34Jay Shetty?

  Like, not just to your work. It's such a great principle of like, if you are going to debate, discuss, or argue on something.

• 27:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:41Jay Shetty?

  Make sure it's done in this way.

• 27:42Speaker 02

  Sure, like, I can make fun of the shoes, the clothes, the this, the that, the way you look, your hair, like, no, we're not gonna do that.

• 27:48Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, it's too easy.

• 27:49Speaker 02

  I'm gonna be surgical about this specific choice.

• 27:52Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 27:53Speaker 02

  That I feel is hypocritical and speaks to a larger issue.

• 27:56Jay Shetty?

  Yes.

• 27:57Speaker 02

  Then you're kind of like, oh shit, alright, like, this dude has come to play.

• 28:00Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 28:01Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? Like, alright.

• 28:02Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the other person also can't run away from it and use all the other stuff. So, no, I love that, man. That's awesome. What is, what is, uh, being a father, how's that changed your view on life?

• 28:13Speaker 02

  Uh.

• 28:13Jay Shetty?

  How old's your daughter now?

• 28:14Speaker 02

  My daughter's now nineteen months.

• 28:16Jay Shetty?

  Wow, nineteen?

• 28:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:17Jay Shetty?

  Amazing.

• 28:18Speaker 02

  You know, one of the cool things that a friend of mine told me that I didn't really realize, well, Jahat Ali, he told me that like, when you have, uh, kids, and I, and he's a little bit older than me, but he told me it's the first time you start praying for other people than yourself. Like, everything I pray for is for her.

• 28:36Jay Shetty?

  Yes.

• 28:36Speaker 02

  And I'm not even like, when I'm asking God, like, I'm not even asking for me. It's kind of crazy. I mean, I know you, with God, you get like unlimited asks, but I'm just like, I'm like, I know you don't got time, so let me just like, I know you got like a quick sec, just like, can you just throw a blessing her away?

• 28:51Jay Shetty?

  I love that, man.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? And like, and I'm happy. Like, that's like me getting- Jordans.

• 28:56Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 28:56Speaker 02

  I want her to get Jordans, you know?

• 28:58Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 28:59Speaker 02

  My god, just like, please hook it up for her.

• 29:01Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 29:01Speaker 02

  And I don't even, I don't even care that like it went to even ask for myself.

• 29:06Jay Shetty?

  Isn't that amazing?

• 29:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:07Jay Shetty?

  Isn't that an unbelievable feeling to believe that's even possible?

• 29:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, but then the thing that messes with me is also why like when I go take her to say Gymboree or like watch her play with other kids, I could give a fuck about any of the other kids. How messed up is that?

• 29:21Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 29:22Speaker 02

  Like, oh, I'm so selfless. I care about this, like, I care about this creature. No, no, I care about my creature.

• 29:29Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 29:29Speaker 02

  So that, that's also like, dude, you're not as woke as you think you are. You're not as deep as you think you are. Like, I'm, I'm at Gymboree, there's like nineteen other like kids with boogers. I'm like, yo, keep the boogers away.

• 29:39Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 29:39Speaker 02

  So it's cool and it's also, you know, it also has made me like check myself too in interesting weird ways. And that's an example of something that I'm trying to be introspective of and like through comedy.

• 29:50Jay Shetty?

  Yes.

• 29:51Speaker 02

  Like, that's a common take that I hear. Now that you're a father, you must be so selfless. I'm like, parents were pretty selfish.

• 29:57Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no, I get that. See, mine's the other way around. So, so when I lived as a monk, so much of our focus was on building that love and service attitude towards everyone.

• 30:08Speaker 02

  That's great.

• 30:08Jay Shetty?

  So it was like, a monk becomes a monk because the whole world becomes your family. Because now you don't have a biological family of your own. And so this mindset is trained, but then when I came back, I realized that I started treating my own family as, as less than and all the same as everyone else.

• 30:25Speaker 02

  Oh, interesting.

• 30:26Jay Shetty?

  And then my family took offense to that too, because then they were just kind of like, oh, but we're your family, you know? So then it was that way around. I was like, oh, this is a complicated one.

• 30:33Speaker 02

  Gotcha. But you're like, no, Safeway is my family.

• 30:35Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Safeway, like everyone that I meet and everyone that I see. And I've, I've loved that attitude towards it, but, but I get you. And for me, I think, I do believe in us going above and beyond and stretching that definition of family. Because as soon as you start doing that, you know this, I mean, I think, and I think you are to some degree. I think you are to some degree because I guess. You're, I mean, would you describe that the work you're doing is also to change the world that your daughter grows up in? Do you feel that way? Do you feel that responsibility? Or no, not really? That's, that's not really where it goes.

• 31:07Speaker 02

  No, I'm just trying to do the best possible work that I can. I think that like if I, if I put that assignment.

• 31:12Jay Shetty?

  It's too big.

• 31:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, I got, oh, I gotta change the world vis a vis my show? That's, I mean, come on, man. It's just like, this is, this is my journey while, you know, hopefully I'm, I'm on this earth that I do sort of significant, meaningful work that I feel is challenging. And I empty the tank, that's really it. And so I'm just holding myself accountable. Is that the best joke you could really do? Is that the best show you could put together?

• 31:33Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 31:34Speaker 02

  Like, come on.

• 31:35Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what's the, what's the metric of that question? Like, is that a self-imposed metric of like?

• 31:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, when I go, when I go to sleep at night, I know what it is.

• 31:43Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, right, okay.

• 31:44Speaker 02

  You know what it is, like, you know, when you phoned it in, you know, when you didn't.

• 31:47Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 31:47Speaker 02

  And like, the way you go to sleep, you can really tell.

• 31:50Jay Shetty?

  Dude, how, how can people build that as, as a way of living? Cause I love that and, and I agree with you. I think that the most purposeful, meaningful, fulfillment-driven people in the world measure things by how they feel when they go to sleep at night. But I think sometimes we get lost in measuring ourselves by how everyone else sleeps at night, almost.

• 32:08Speaker 02

  Oh, interesting.

• 32:09Jay Shetty?

  Like, like, I, I don't think that that's, what you've just said is not very common. Like, I don't hear many people say that. Like, there's such an intuition there, right? Your, your intuition is so strong, like, you're so aware of like, I feel happy tonight, like, I feel that I've done enough tonight, feel like I've done my best. How, how, how do you think? And I, and I'm, and I'm asking you to unpack it. As my, I'm not expecting you to be like, this is my three-step method.

• 32:29Speaker 02

  Look, I just, I just, you know, like, I don't know what, what put it inside of me to wanna try. My dad tells me this all the time. He's like, you know, cause I have, me and my, my sister, he's like, you've just been different. You've always sort of tried at things and, um, he was clowning me the other day. It was like, you've also publicly failed a lot, but I don't understand why you sort of put yourself through that. And I was like, what, what do you mean, dad? He's like, I remember I used to take you to soccer games. You were really bad at soccer. People would make fun of you, you were slow. Like, he was just roasting me. But he's like, you would try really hard. He's like, I kept taking you to basketball tryouts. You would get cut every year, but you'd show up. Like, I don't understand why you would do that. But I remember like, Even early on in comedy, still, you know, when I'm trying to do stuff in show business,

• 33:11Speaker 02

  I'm just failing. I think it's just like you, you reach this moment where like you, you, you interviewed for that job and you know that like you took that shower, you brushed, you flossed and you use mouthwash, like you tied your shoes the right way, you pulled up your socks the right way, you were prepared, you went through all the talking points that, you know, your manager is going to ask you about. And if it still doesn't go your way, you're, you're just kind of like, what more can I do? I'm at that age now where it's like, I also can't debate, I can't wish that I could be someone else. Like the verdict is out. I'll never be able to dunk. I'll never be able to rap. I'll never be able to like, it's, it's a rap. Hussam Minhaj, God didn't give me that gift. And it was just by virtue

• 33:54Speaker 02

  of trying all those different things, failing. And you can just kind of come be at, be at peace with it. Absolutely. You're just like, I did it. I tried. I was not good at those things. Yeah. I love the roast you got from your father about Shah Rukh Khan. Yeah. That was good. Yeah. It was really good. That was great. That was great. I love that. That's brilliant. Yeah. But I, you know, I like, I really love him because of that. Like you don't have to take yourself that seriously. Like, you know what I mean? And there's a lot of like, you gotta take yourself very seriously. And I just think that like, we all have flaws and pimples and just kind of laugh at it. And I think it's, that's more endearing than being like, I'm the, I'm the fucking best. Yeah, of course. Yeah. No, but there's a lot of like, everybody's trying to be like an NFL wide receiver where they're just like out of their mind and like, do you know who I am? You know how blue check

• 34:38Speaker 02

  verified I am? You're like, relax, man. Yeah. No, I'm with you. I'm with you. I agree with that. I, I'm with you. I think that from what I'm hearing you say, what, what gets me thinking is just like, you're not living to prove yourself to anyone. And that's when things get really serious and thick, whether it's your parents, or whether it's society or friends or whatever it is. And that's when it kind of gets scary to fail, or it gets scary to mess up because now you're constantly like, what will people say? How will people think? How will they react? To me, it's always been about like the fuel. So when you got the chip on your shoulder, which is great, like it's like espresso in the morning, you got that chip on your shoulder where you want to prove someone wrong, like, oh, man, this guy was, was hating on me. This dude said something about me on Twitter.

• 35:20Speaker 02

  Oh, this, this producer wants to keep me out of this project. Yeah, like, like hatred and vengeance is a pretty good fuel. The problem is it doesn't burn very efficiently.

• 35:32Jay Shetty?

  Correct, yeah.

• 35:33Speaker 02

  Like, uh, it it it just kind of tapers off. It's just not a good energy source.

• 35:38Jay Shetty?

  Can get you ignited.

• 35:39Speaker 02

  Correct, correct, correct. Whereas like when you're trying to prove it to yourself every day, the way that the sort of like that plays out over time, it just plays out a little bit better.

• 35:50Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 35:51Speaker 02

  You know, it doesn't taper off after like three days or, you know.

• 35:54Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. Tell me about, this is one thing that I've been wanting to ask you for a while, like, how do you go about, and we've talked a lot about, I think, you know, in this podcast already, we've talked a lot about like, conflict, debate, discussion, how to manage that. How do you go about connecting with someone who's already made their mind up about something?

• 36:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:13Jay Shetty?

  And trying to take them to the other side or a deeper side? Like, what's your vision with that? When you're speaking to a group of people, if I put you right now in a room of people who completely disagreed with you.

• 36:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:23Jay Shetty?

  What would Hussam Inaj do?

• 36:25Speaker 02

  Well, I I've I've sort of kind of terms of two realities, like,

• 36:29Speaker 02

  number one, just accepting and believing the truth is the truth. Even if like people don't want to go there, the truth is still objectively the truth, right? And then number two,

• 36:40Speaker 02

  like, my job really isn't to convince you, because people ask me this all the time. They're like, man, you did that big episode on blah, blah, blah. But what if people on the other side of the aisle disagree with you? I got that. That's not the point of even if even creating the thing to begin with.

• 36:55Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 36:55Speaker 02

  It's just to present it. And um, if you come along, great. If you don't, again, the truth is still the truth.

• 37:04Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 37:04Speaker 02

  Like, it doesn't negate.

• 37:06Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 37:07Speaker 02

  You know?

• 37:08Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love that. See, see, the message I get when I'm listening to you today, and I felt I knew this today, I felt I knew this by observing you, but obviously getting to know you a bit better today, like. There is just so much satisfaction and contentment in doing the work. Like when I'm hearing you speak, what I mean by that is you have so much satisfaction and contentment in just doing what you believe is right, doing what you believe is the best, trying to find the truth and presenting that as it is. And that's where you get your satisfaction.

• 37:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:34Jay Shetty?

  And that is such a great place to get your satisfaction.

• 37:36Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 37:36Jay Shetty?

  Because no one can ever take that away from you.

• 37:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:38Jay Shetty?

  Right? Like, no one can ever take that away from you. And that applies to everyone who's listening and watching right now. It's like, when you get your satisfaction from the deep work, the creativity, the research, the reflection, the introspection, that's something you can do time and time and time and time again. But when you're waiting for that one person to agree or people to shift their minds and be like, oh, because of you, I suddenly changed my mind.

• 37:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, they're not, yeah. I have like people that I love, people I grew up with, that, that still like completely disagree with me, that some of them didn't think I was doing the right things in terms of like personal choices I've made, professional choices I've made. That's okay. And I think if I, if, if anybody could see this from my work, I certainly hope, or I would just like to add this to the conversation. You can still disagree with people and love them very much.

• 38:23Jay Shetty?

  Hundred percent.

• 38:24Speaker 02

  But that is not a, that is not a common reality that's happening right now in discourse. Like, if you're Democrat or if you're Republican or if you're this or if you're that, you have to be canceled. Like, we've had some tough episodes on this show. We do this whole thing about policing. I'm leaving the studio. All the people that are, that do security for our show are former policemen. That's a tough conversation, man. Like, you know what I'm saying? I've been in so many of the belly of those, those sort of beasts where, oh, man, you are criticizing tech companies and you're doing it in front of tech executives. And then you guys have-

• 39:04Jay Shetty?

  On a big tech platform.

• 39:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, on a big tech platform. And then you have to go to the bar and talk to each other. But I think- Just I think all I wanna try to show through my work is we can still disagree and I can still like love you and see the humanity in you. And that's all I can control.

• 39:22Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love that, man. Yeah, I'm with you. I, I, I think that's such a great place to just leave it all out on the table and you're discussing truth, discuss truth.

• 39:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:30Jay Shetty?

  But then not, not take it. And I, I think that's the challenge, right? Like what you're saying, like right now, the holidays are coming up.

• 39:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:35Jay Shetty?

  And I know I usually get like the number one question I get asked.

• 39:38Speaker 02

  How do we talk about this at Thanksgiving?

• 39:39Jay Shetty?

  The number, yeah, number one question, yeah, Thanksgiving, Christmas coming up, like, Jay, I'm gonna have to manage, like, I probably get very different questions to you about the same thing.

• 39:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:47Jay Shetty?

  Like for me, it's not like, how do I have a question about this specific issue? For me, it's always like, oh, Jay, like, I know this person's gonna bring this up and it's gonna get real negative and toxic quick. Like, how do I deal with that?

• 39:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, and what are you talking?

• 39:58Jay Shetty?

  Uh, well, I think what you just said right now is, is a great answer. What I'm saying is you've given the answer, like.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  Oh, wow.

• 40:04Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm, I'm saying you've given the answer. Like, I love that. I, I think you're making the point that I think we have to separate people's humanity from their views and we have to respect them on a humanity level and the fact that we all bleed the same blood and, you know, ha- have that connection and.

• 40:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:19Jay Shetty?

  And, and that ideas and beliefs do form us to some degree, but not the whole of us.

• 40:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:26Jay Shetty?

  And, and being able to make that, make that distinction is so important.

• 40:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:29Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. How do you go about encouraging people to make that distinction further?

• 40:32Speaker 02

  I don't know.

• 40:33Jay Shetty?

  Cause you've achieved it.

• 40:33Speaker 02

  There's just been moments where I've seen it in their eyes, like, I'd be like, I completely disagree with what you have to say about that issue. Like, I, I a hundred thousand percent, percent disagree.

• 40:42Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 40:42Speaker 02

  However, I, I think you're a beautiful person and I love you. And they'll be like, oh, so you just don't wanna kill me? You don't wanna cancel me? You don't wanna like ridicule me in front of everybody on the internet? I'm like, no, I just, I just, I'm telling you, you're.

• 40:54Jay Shetty?

  You're wrong.

• 40:54Speaker 02

  You're wrong about that. Like, your jeans are too tight, but I love you.

• 40:59Jay Shetty?

  Are you telling me that right now?

• 40:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, like I'm saying, I think that they're a little too tight.

• 41:01Jay Shetty?

  You think they're too tight?

• 41:02Speaker 02

  But I think.

• 41:02Jay Shetty?

  Oh, thanks.

• 41:03Speaker 02

  Despite that, I love you. So you could be like, I, I disagree with your position on, you know, this prime minister, however.

• 41:12Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 41:13Speaker 02

  I think like you're still my grandmother and I love you.

• 41:16Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 41:16Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? I don't think Brexit was a good decision, but I love you, Grandma.

• 41:20Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I don't take responsibility for that.

• 41:21Speaker 02

  Yeah. But do you get what I'm saying?

• 41:23Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, of course.

• 41:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, and they're just like, look, like.

• 41:26Jay Shetty?

  Because I think the point being that there is always gonna be someone disagreeing with you about something, small or big. And so none of us are living lives where every decision we made was perfect.

• 41:34Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:35Jay Shetty?

  So, yeah, no, I love that. I love that viewpoint, man. That's awesome. I'm gonna shift forward because we only got a few moments left. I wanna shift forward to we end every interview with a final five. And I've still got a million questions for you, but we're gonna have to do this again.

• 41:48Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 41:48Jay Shetty?

  We're gonna have to do this again.

• 41:49Speaker 02

  Let's do a part two.

• 41:49Jay Shetty?

  Uh, yeah, we will definitely do a part two because there is so much that we've, we've just skimmed over today and there's so much we can go through.

• 41:55Speaker 02

  I hope this was valuable in some capacity.

• 41:57Jay Shetty?

  Very valuable. I think, you know, for me, it's like, like I said to you before when we did the Kobe interview, it's like, there are plenty of people who can have a great political discussion with you. That was not my intention today.

• 42:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:07Jay Shetty?

  There's great people who'll be able to talk about issues with you. It's not me, it's not my strength, you know? But today, I, my goal, my intention was simply for people to see the humanity, the intention, the purpose that goes into your work. And I think we've done that. Like, I think people will be able to listen to this and be like, "Oh, I understand how Hassan thinks about life, humanity, and how he constructs this work. It's not just", you know? So if we've been able to do that, then that's a win for me.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  That's great.

• 42:34Jay Shetty?

  Um, but yeah, man. Okay, we're gonna do the final five. These are answered in one word to one sentence maximum.

• 42:40Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 42:40Jay Shetty?

  You will probably be too deep for me, so I'll have to let you share more. So I will let you go there. But, uh, the first question is, what's one thing you're currently learning right now?

• 42:50Speaker 02

  Patience.

• 42:51Jay Shetty?

  Oh, okay. Where's the, where, what's testing your patience and in what area of life?

• 42:55Speaker 02

  I think, I think both, like, at work, trying to line up that interview or trying to line up that piece, or why isn't the script where it needs to be? It's understanding that like, hey, man, close your eyes, it'll be a week from now and it'll probably be better, or the verdict will be out.

• 43:09Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 43:10Speaker 02

  Like, oh, that piece isn't gonna work. Oh, that interview just isn't going to happen.

• 43:14Jay Shetty?

  So true.

• 43:15Speaker 02

  Like, for better or for worse, the answer will be there.

• 43:18Jay Shetty?

  Yes.

• 43:18Speaker 02

  Like, it will either live or die.

• 43:20Jay Shetty?

  Hundred percent.

• 43:20Speaker 02

  And you'll have come to terms with both realities.

• 43:23Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 43:23Speaker 02

  So just like, just be okay. You don't have to get turned about it today.

• 43:28Jay Shetty?

  I love that. So true. I would a hundred percent agree with that. Okay, question number two. If you lost everything and had to start over, what's the first thing you'd do?

• 43:35Speaker 02

  If I lost everything and I had to start over, what's the first thing I would do?

• 43:38Jay Shetty?

  Yes.

• 43:42Speaker 02

  Practically, I would probably learn the technical aspects of all this stuff now because like all these like sort of digital revolution realities are now very real now. And I think this is the new way we communicate. So that's like from a very pragmatic perspective, like learn to program, learn like learn the language of all this new technology as like the the medium and water and through which we communicate. But I think the thing I would probably tell myself is that like, it'll be all right, man. Yeah. Yeah. You did it before. You'll be able to do it again. You'll be all right.

• 44:14Jay Shetty?

  Strong advice. Awesome. Number three, the number one trait you love in your wife.

• 44:18Speaker 02

  The number one trait?

• 44:19Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 44:20Speaker 02

  I love.

• 44:20Jay Shetty?

  Quality.

• 44:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, the quality, selflessness.

• 44:23Jay Shetty?

  Wow.

• 44:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:24Jay Shetty?

  Okay. When did you start seeing that?

• 44:26Speaker 02

  The moment I've known her since college.

• 44:28Jay Shetty?

  I know. I remember you told your proposal story.

• 44:31Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, so I was, yeah, I saw it since college.

• 44:34Jay Shetty?

  Okay.

• 44:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:35Jay Shetty?

  Wow. What was it in college that she showed that? Like, how did she show you that in college?

• 44:39Speaker 02

  She would make all the people in our dorm floor quesadillas.

• 44:42Jay Shetty?

  Oh, wow.

• 44:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:43Jay Shetty?

  That's impressive.

• 44:44Speaker 02

  And even people that were like assholes. I'm like, don't give them a quesadilla.

• 44:48Jay Shetty?

  And she did it. Wow.

• 44:49Speaker 02

  I was like, let them starve.

• 44:50Jay Shetty?

  That's awesome.

• 44:51Speaker 02

  And she's like, no, I can't. And people love her. Like, people genuinely love her.

• 44:54Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 44:55Speaker 02

  Yeah. And she does it like with or without props. There's it's not being like it's not an Instagram stories or anything like that. It's like.

• 45:03Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I remember that day because I got I was late on my flight and I came in late.

• 45:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:07Jay Shetty?

  And you guys had saved like the cold leftovers, but then she ordered me fresh food.

• 45:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:12Jay Shetty?

  And I got that.

• 45:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:13Jay Shetty?

  And I was just like, wow. And that was the first time I met her.

• 45:14Speaker 02

  And she didn't even know who Jay Shetty was.

• 45:16Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, it was the first time I met.

• 45:17Speaker 02

  This guy's late. And I go, you don't know? He's making spirituality viral. And she's like, I don't care. He deserves hot food.

• 45:25Jay Shetty?

  No, she was.

• 45:26Speaker 02

  She was beautiful. It was really beautiful.

• 45:28Jay Shetty?

  No, I really appreciate it. I remember that.

• 45:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:30Jay Shetty?

  Like, I remember that. I was like, wow, like, she really.

• 45:32Speaker 02

  And I was like, did you do that because he's friends with Alan? And she's like, no, it has nothing to do with anything. That, that to me is what I love most about her. Like, that's really dope.

• 45:41Jay Shetty?

  I love that. Question number four. What's a non-negotiable for you in life? Like, what's something you don't negotiate on?

• 45:47Speaker 02

  Non-negotiable?

• 45:48Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, for yourself.

• 45:50Speaker 02

  I, I gotta do and pursue what I love. I just have to. I can't. If I do anything else, I'm gonna die. I just, I just can't.

• 45:59Jay Shetty?

  Do you think you'd be a bad person if you weren't able to?

• 46:01Speaker 02

  I would have been a very angry person.

• 46:03Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, me too.

• 46:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I just don't, I just don't wanna do that. You know what I mean? I gotta say what I gotta say. I gotta express myself.

• 46:09Jay Shetty?

  I always say that, yeah. I, I feel the same way. I always tell people, I'm like, if, if I wasn't doing what I loved every day, it wouldn't have been, it wouldn't have been great. Like, yeah, you, the, the part of you that would come out wouldn't be the best.

• 46:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:19Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love that. Okay, and fifth and final question. What's one moment in your life you wish could have lasted forever?

• 46:26Speaker 02

  One moment in my life?

• 46:28Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 46:30Speaker 02

  Uh, probably, my daughter's really into balloons. But the first time I sort of, I, like, this is like even just a couple of weeks ago, I blew up a balloon in front of her and she was laughing really, really hard. That's it. I, I, like, there was this big blue balloon.

• 46:45Jay Shetty?

  And it blew up?

• 46:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I, I just blew it up and then like tapped it against her head and she thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

• 46:50Jay Shetty?

  I love that.

• 46:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I was like, tap, tap. She was dying. Tap, tap. She's like exploding with laughter. Yeah, that, if I could just boomerang that.

• 46:59Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  For the rest.

• 47:00Jay Shetty?

  Boomerang that forever?

• 47:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 47:02Jay Shetty?

  I'm actually, I've never done this before, but I'm gonna ask you because I think, if you could give everyone something that they had to do daily, what would you ask people to do? If you could give everyone in the world a practice that they had to do daily for the next thirty days, what would you want them to do?

• 47:16Speaker 02

  Okay, what is the hardest thing that you can do today? Just write it down and try to do it.

• 47:21Jay Shetty?

  Okay.

• 47:21Speaker 02

  What's the hardest task that you can do today? It can't be like one of those things where it's just like, "I'm gonna start the company." It's not that. It's like, what's the hardest task that you can do today? It can only be accomplished 24 hours. Do that.

• 47:33Jay Shetty?

  I love that. That is a great answer.

• 47:35Speaker 02

  So if it's like, "I gotta, I have to, I have to sit down and write three pages, free write, after write, free write three pages." That's gonna be really hard for me. Or like, "I, I gotta, I gotta run one mile on incline." Five on the treadmill. That's gonna be really hard for, but it's like you can do it in one day. So it has to be the hardest task of that day. I'm gonna take a cold shower. Whatever that thing is, has to be the hardest task that you can do in one calendar day.

• 47:58Jay Shetty?

  I love that. That is gonna stick with me for a long time. I love that, man. Awesome, Minhaj. Thank you so much, bro. You're amazing. Please, please, please, let's do a part two. Because there are so many things you can talk about. Yes.

• 48:07Speaker 02

  You really wanna do a part two?

• 48:08Jay Shetty?

  I hundred percent wanna do a part two.

• 48:10Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 48:10Jay Shetty?

  I'm gonna wear lucid trousers.

• 48:11Speaker 02

  I'm just, I'm gonna, I'm gonna. Look how tight mine are.

• 48:14Jay Shetty?

  No, no, messing around. Thank you, man. Thank you so much for doing this. That was amazing. Honestly, that was so, so great.

• 48:19Speaker 02

  Thanks, Jeff.

• 48:19Jay Shetty?

  Hope it was good for you.

• 48:20Speaker 02

  It was good.

• 48:31Speaker 06

  Now, more than ever, we need someone on our side. But Rob Whitman? Whitman's votes drove up costs, cut Medicaid, and risked 350,000 Virginians' healthcare to pay for tax breaks for himself and his donors. He's not on our side. Shannon Taylor will fight corruption, cut taxes, and bring down costs. This November, vote for Shannon Taylor. She's for us. Paid for by HMP, the HouseMajorityPact.com, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

• 49:00Speaker 03

  Mr. President, my company tore me of the explosion on our rig.

• 49:03Speaker 04

  On October 2nd.

• 49:05Speaker 03

  Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 49:09Speaker 04

  Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess, and Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and The Ravenette.

• 49:17Speaker 05

  What would happen if I stopped moving? You're stalled. You're freezing there. That's what.

• 49:21Speaker 04

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 49:24Speaker 05

  I'm not the first nanny.

• 49:25Speaker 04

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a minute without parent.

• 49:30Speaker 07

  Espolone Tequila. Balanced, delicious. 100% agave, 0% ego. Just add ice, lime, and your mouth. For real, Margarita. Ride the rooster.

• 49:40Speaker 03

  Espolone Tequila, 40% alcohol by volume, 80% proof. Copyright 2026, Campali America, New York, New York. Drink responsibly.