Colbert initially asked Swift for her top five, a question he previously asked Dolly Parton, Elton John, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen. However, the 14-time Grammy winner told the late-night host that her rankings are “constantly changing,” and that she would need “a little time” to get back to him on all five.
“I think number one is ‘All Too Well,’ the 10-minute version,” Swift said. “I’m really obsessed with ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ the whole album.”
She continued, “I can’t really do any of the others, except I will say somewhere in the list, I think, is going to be a song called ‘Mirrorball,’ from the ‘Folklore’ album. You know, it came on the other day. A friend sent it to me, and she was talking about it, and I put it on, and then you asked me this question, so I said it.”
Swift assured that at some point, she would give Colbert an “update” after she had sat down and deeply considered her definitive top five favorites.
At the beginning of November, Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” logged its fourth week in a row at No.1 on the Billboard 200. One of Swift’s most popular songs from the record, “The Fate of Ophelia,” also logged four weeks on the Hot 100 last month, making Swift the only artist to debut at No. 1 on both charts simultaneously and hold the spots for a month straight.
Newsom told Colbert he is worried that efforts to manipulate election maps could threaten the fairness of future elections, including the 2028 presidential contest
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
California Gov. Gavin Newsom raised alarm Tuesday night over the integrity of future elections, telling Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, “I Fear We Will Not Have An Election in 2028.”
Newsom criticized President Donald Trump for attempting to “rig the midterm elections,” citing pressure on GOP-led states to redraw congressional districts ahead of 2026. These redistricting efforts are part of a broader strategy to help Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives, Newsom said.
I fear that we will not have an election in 2028 — I really mean that in the core of my soul — unless we wake up to what’s happening in this country. pic.twitter.com/BjPsmw2izX
Newsom signed legislation in August calling for a Nov. 4 special election that would allow Californians to temporarily give lawmakers authority over congressional maps for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections. The measure, called the Election Rigging Response Act, would override the state’s independent redistricting commission, and Newsom hopes it will help counter these risks.
“As the Democratic Party, we have a lot of work to do to make up for our failures in the past,” Newsom said. “We got crushed in this last election.”
This act has received criticism and opposition from many, including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. California should never resort to gerrymandering tactics, Schwarzenegger said.
“I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle.” Schwarzenegger wrote on a post on X while wearing a shirt that read: “F*** the politicians, terminate gerrymandering.”
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However, many House speakers agree with Newsom.
“California will not be a bystander to Trump’s power grab,” Speaker Robert Rivas said. “We are acting to defend our state from his attacks by taking it directly to the voters. Californians believe in democracy and freedom, and we will not stand by while the House is hijacked by authoritarianism.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants Americans to know Canada has more to offer than just “maple syrup and mountains.”
During a Monday night appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Canadian political leader got laughs from the audience as he tried to set Canada apart from the U.S. and boast about what makes the northern nation successful on the world stage.
There were also several more sombre moments from Trudeau’s appearance, with the prime minister noting it’s a “tough time” for many Canadians. Part of the night’s conversation focused on far-right nationalism and growing political division among people in both Canada and the U.S.
Colbert said Trudeau’s main political opponent, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre, has been called “the Trump of Canada.”
In response, Trudeau said Canada is not exempt from extremist rhetoric or xenophobia. He did not cite any specific examples.
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“We’re not some magical place of unicorns and rainbows all the time,” he said. “The things that we’ve managed to do, we’ve had to work really, really hard at.”
Trudeau mentioned universal health care, ongoing efforts against climate change and dental care for low-income Canadians as policies that “we have to fight for” continually.
“There’s a big argument right now about whether dental care even exists,” Trudeau said. “We’ve delivered it to 700,000 people across the country and my opponent is gaslighting us and saying, ‘Dental care doesn’t even exist yet.’”
Conservatives slam Trudeau’s ‘Late Night with Stephen Colbert’ remarks on lumber
Earlier this month, Conservative MP Stephen Ellis said the government has failed in the delivery of subsidized dental care and claimed most Canadians don’t qualify for coverage or must still pay out of pocket for services.
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The Canada Dental Care Plan is accepting applications from people over the age of 65, for children under the age of 18 and those who receive the Disability Tax Credit. Applicants need to be confirmed, and then will be enrolled with Sun Life which manages the means-tested plan, which is open to those whose adjusted family net income is less than $90,000 per year and who don’t have access to dental care programs through employer plans, private coverage, or student or pension benefits.
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Additional eligibility phases will roll out next year.
Trudeau’s appearance comes as he is set to face a vote on a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons, put forward by the Conservatives on Tuesday and coming to a vote on Wednesday. If the vote is lost, Canada could see a snap election, but the NDP and Bloc Quebecois have indicated they will support the Liberals in defeating the motion.
“It’s a really tough time for people in Canada right now,” Trudeau said. “People are hurting. People are having trouble paying for groceries, paying for rent, filling up the tank.”
“People are frustrated and the idea that maybe they want an election now is something that my opponents are trying to bank on because people are taking a lot out on me, for understandable reasons,” he said. “I’ve been here, and I’ve been steering us through all these things and people are sometimes looking at change.”
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The prime minister said he will “keep fighting” to support Canadians and added that “Canada’s the best country in the world.”
Trudeau described the country’s “beautiful” wilderness and scenery, but maintained “Canada is about the people.”
“It’s a range of people from every possible background who come together and — a little different from the melting pot in the United States where everyone gets to be American — we try to celebrate differences, and people keep their cultures and keep their languages.”
Trudeau tells Colbert: ‘Canada’s the best country in the world’
Colbert, while noting that Canada is America’s “closest ally,” asked Trudeau what the two nations fight about.
The prime minister said there are many “small issues that matter” between both countries, but claimed the U.S. pays too much in tariffs on softwood lumber.
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This summer, the U.S. announced a 14.54 per cent duty rate on Canadian softwood lumber imports — an increase from the former 8.05 per cent tariff.
Colbert half-joked that many Americans also cross the U.S.-Canada border to buy cheaper drugs outside of the country.
“We’re happy to try and help you out, but it would be a lot easier if you guys had universal health care,” Trudeau said, earning cheers from the in-studio audience.
In lighter moments from Trudeau’s Late Show appearance, he joked Canadians, despite the stereotype for always saying “sorry,” would not apologize for the nominal differences between bacon and back bacon (or as Americans call it, Canadian bacon).
Trudeau has been Canada’s prime minister since 2015. This week, he travelled to New York City ahead of the 79th United Nations General Assembly. This year marks the UN’s first-ever Summit of the Future, which gathers world leaders to discuss themes including peace and security, sustainable development, climate change and human rights.
Trudeau said attending the General Assembly makes him feel both more and less hopeful about the future.
“You have to be fundamentally hopeful in this job, and particularly in this time where challenges are monumental,” he said of politicians. “But if you don’t believe you can actually work with others and make a positive difference, then you’re not in the right line of work.”
Tower of Terror was changed to Mission: Break Out, Splash Mountain has been upgraded to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and now another Disney Parks attraction is being eyed for some historically accurate updates. Stephen Colbert has pitched some new dialogue to the Hall of Presidents at Disney World after an orange man will be color-clashing in his new uniform. “I used my mushroom penis to have underwhelming sex with a porn star and then committed a bunch of fraud to hide it,” shared Donald Trump’s newly imagined animatronic before teaching the kiddos what it means to be a felon. “I cannot buy a gun, and I cannot travel to Canada. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for my community service.” Thankfully, Disney World has plenty of trash cans.
Fresh from his incandescent performance of “It Never Went Away” at the 96th Academy Awards, the highly acclaimed, multi-talented Jon Batiste heated things up, then tore them down at NYC’s Beacon Theater on Tuesday, March 19th.
The 5-time Grammy and Oscar-winning musician and former bandleader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is in the middle of his first North American headlining tour to promote his latest album, World Music Radio. Jon Batiste’s “Uneasy Tour: Purifying the Airwaves for the People” kicked off on February 16 in Portland, Oregon, will span the US and Canada, and culminate in Miramar Beach, Florida on April 27.
Batiste aims to create unique experiences even in smaller venues. As he recently told USA Today: “We are designing these performances to be catalysts to bring people together, raise awareness for things I care about, and inspire change in this country, and the world.”
These are fine days for Batiste. Last year, he was nominated in six categories for the 2024 Grammy Awards. His nods included Album of the Year for World Music Radio, Record of the Year for “Worship.” His other nominations include Best Jazz Performance for “Movement 18′ (Heroes).” Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for his appearance on Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace,” and Song of the Year for “Butterfly,” (also nominated for Best American Roots Performance).
Sadly, “Butterfly” didn’t win the Grammy but it sure was a winner with the audience.
Jon Batiste – Butterfly | Deezer Sessions, Pariswww.youtube.com
Batiste transfixed the crowd with this heartwarming song of childhood. Almost a lullaby, it’s incantatory. There’s a repeated set of triplets – Oh-oh-oh, whoa-whoa-whoa, oh-oh-oh . . . that Batiste urged the audience to sing together, saying:
“Everybody put your lights in the air. It represents the soul light.”
All around the Beacon Theatre people’s phone lights flickered as they sang along.
“Light that’s been with you since you were a child – Since the day you were born. You can never-ever lose it. All of us have it.”
“We can win, we can win, we can win, we can win.”
“Now you see I composed this melody, this healing melody . . . And the more you sing it with friends and family and complete strangers – The more the healing properties take effect – So sing with me this lullaby, this butterfly-healing-melody – first composed for my beautiful wife, Suleika.”
And, as the audience continued singing, Batiste was joined onstage at the Beacon Theatre by Suleika Jaouad, the author of the New York Times Best Seller Between Two Kingdoms – a chronicle of survivorship (Penguin Random House 2021).
Diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia in 2011, Jaouad was given only a 35% chance of surviving. She survived and has written and spoken extensively about these medical challenges. At the end of 2021, Jaouad announced the recurrence of her cancer.
Batiste and Jaouad have been a couple for a decade, but they officially tied the knot in February of 2022 a day before she underwent a second bone marrow transplant.
In the recent Netflix documentary American Symphony, a doctor advises Jaouad that although she’s technically in remission, chemotherapy might have to continue for the rest of her life.
American Symphony | Official Trailer | Netflixwww.youtube.com
As the audience sang to the couple, showering them with love, There were tears, laughter, joy, and smiles. This was no sentimental wallowing – Batiste achieves what he’s set out to do: encouraging people to seek peace and happiness.
Batiste is worth the attention he’s receiving – as anyone who saw him at the Beacon last night will attest. For the better part of the two-and-a-half-hour show, Batiste was playing and singing – dancing wild and free. Over the course of the evening, he demonstrated his mastery of the piano, melodica, drums, synth, and more.
Truth to tell, when you take an outstanding composer, voice, band, and a packed-out, loving audience then meld it with Batiste’s positive message about the power of humankind to effect change, you leave the venue with the feeling you can change the world.
And who knows? Maybe you can.
Want to catch Jon Batiste in the act? The singer will make stops in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto, New Haven, New York, Dallas, and more, on the 23-date run of shows.
Head to Ticketmaster, but be quick about it – many shows are sold out!
Stephen Colbert unpacked Trump’s claim of passing a brain injury test to reveal that things didn’t go as well as Trump thinks.
Colbert played a clip of Trump saying, “They give you six names in a row. I took a lot of heat on this. They give you six names in a row at the beginning. “Sir, I’m gonna give you six names.” Good. Look at them. A chair, a hat, a badge, a necklace, and a vote.”
The Late Show host responded, “Okay. There’s a lot to unpack there. First of all, those aren’t names. Those are things. Those aren’t names. He also said they give you six names. Chair, hat, badge, necklace, vote — that’s only five things! ‘Cognitive tests are like jazz. It’s about all the names you don’t remember. A-scooba-doo-da-whaaaale.’”
Video:
Trump has been expanding, twisting, turning, and warping the dementia test that he took for years to the point where it has become one of humanity’s great achievements that is right up there with the moon landing.
Trump can’t even get the number of items on the list correct when he is retelling the story about the cognitive test, so there should be serious doubt that he passed the test in the first place.
Donald Trump’s cognitive test was probably to be able to identify how many cans of Diet Coke were on the desk in front of him and a picture of Sean Hannity.
The fact that the former president can’t stop talking about a years-old dementia test suggests that he might need another dementia test.
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Stephen Colbert said Trump should be in prison for being found to have raped E. Jean Carroll during his monologue on The Late Show.
Colbert said:
Of course, Trump loves that all the reports are about this fighting in court. Because it distracts people from what this case is actually about. As Mitt Romney said, “I think a lot of people in this country are out of touch with reality and will accept anything Donald Trump tells them. You had a jury that said that Donald Trump raped a woman. And that doesn’t seem to be moving the needle.”
Well said but to be fair, the jury said it was sexual assault. The judge later clarified the assault would be commonly considered rape. This is the kind of thing that should end with Trump in prison or best case, living alone in a motel by the race track. But every time he gets worse, his poll numbers get better. Which explains his new 2024 slogan “Welcome to hell.”
Now, trump doesn’t believe he should be held accountable for anything. At 2:00 A.M., he scream-posted “A President Of The United States must have full immunity, without which it would be impossible for him/her to properly function.” No, trump doesn’t believe in any accountability. He believes the presidency should be like the movie “The Purge,” which is why he’s always wearing that weird leather pig mask. But it’s nice. It is nice to see him being inclusive. “I believe the president, whether it be him or her, hispanic or her-spanic, should have a private kill squad to take out all those who dare speak against him. Kill-baya, my lord, kill-baya.”
Video of Colbert:
Trump belongs in prison for potentially a lot of reasons, but the fact that he was found guilty of what Judge Kaplan said would be considered rape should not only disqualify Trump from ever being president, but he should be in jail.
The fact that Trump is a rapist might not move the needle with his base in the Republican Party, but it definitely moves the needle for the men and women who are followers of Donald Trump. The E. Jean Carroll rape/assault was able to be proven in civil court, but there are dozens of other allegations that have been made against Trump.
Stephen Colbert is right. Trump should be in jail, and there is no way that he should ever be considered to be the next president.
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We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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“I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week that I just had, last week, being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice,” said Mace, who referred to the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel where an unmarried woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock and wears a scarlet letter as punishment.
“Okay, that’s a no, no, that’s not – the ‘A’ just does not make sense, unless you see the guy she was standing next to,” Colbert quipped as he tossed to an edited image of Mace standing next to someone with a ”-hole” shirt.
He later launched into another dig at Mace, comparing her look to that of one popular musical rodent.
“She looks way less Hester Prynne and way more Alvin Chipmunk,” he joked.
You can catch more of Colbert’s monologue in the clip below.
The stars of “True Detective” might really be related.
On Tuesday night, Woody Harrelson appeared alongside Justin Theroux on Global’s “The Late Show”, and was asked about the theory that Matthew McConaughey is his half-brother.
The speculation first came to light last week, when McConaughey shared on Kelly Ripa’s podcast “Let’s Talk Off Camera” that his mother revealed she knew Harrelson’s dad around the time he was conceived.
“There is some veracity to that thought, because we talked to Ma Mac, Matthew’s legitimate mother,” Harrelson told Stephen Colbert.
“It’s crazy. We were in Greece. We were watching the U.S. team win the World Cup, and I mentioned something about regrets. And I said, ‘It’s odd that my father has no regrets,’” he said. “Now, I’ve known Ma Mac a long time. She goes, ‘I knew… your father.’ And it was the ellipses I found a little troubling, or interesting!”
Asked how he would describe that pause, Harrelson said, “Filled with innuendo.”
“A pregnant pause,” Colbert joked.
Harrelson continued, explaining of the timing, “She was on a sabbatical from her relationship with [McConaughey’s] supposed father.”
The actor added, “We wanna go and test, but for [McConaughey] it’s a much more big deal. I mean, he feels like he’s losing a father. But I’m like, ‘No, you’re gaining a different father, and a brother.’”
“That is wrong,” Colbert said. “If you’re going to show up to my door and intimidate me, at least let me buy a few boxes of Thin Mints.”
Colbert called some of them “cosplay crossing guards” because they wear special vests and carry fake badges. At some homes, they attempted to interrogate the residents about who lived there. And at one residence, they were accused of demanding the location of the family’s daughter.
“Hot tip,” Colbert said. “The good guys usually aren’t the ones banging on your door screaming: ‘Bring out your daughter!’”
Stephen Colbert spotted some alarming news in Michigan, where Republican candidate for governor Tudor Dixon is making book bans a central part of her campaign.
Dixon has issued overblown claims about certain books, calling them “pornographic” and even stating that some school library books were “describing to children how to have sex.”
“She’s right. We looked it up,” Colbert said with as straight a face as possible. “And there are a lot of classic children’s books teaching kids about doin’ it.”
Then, he gave several classic children’s books an X-rated makeover in his Wednesday night monologue.
Warning: you might never look at some of these the same way again.
Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” is off this week, but the Colbert-produced “Tooning Out the News” animated series dropped a wild new segment with an unexpected ― and unwitting ― guest star.
Given the claim, Smartwood decided to call Walker to report a crime.
R.J. Fried, co-creator of the show and the voice of Smartwood, wrote “this is real” on Twitter, and a spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast that the show actually got Walker on the phone.
Fox News has been pumping up West, who changed his name to Ye in 2021, since his interview last week with Tucker Carlson. Then, the rapper posted on social media that he would be “going death con 3” on Jewish people.
As Colbert noted, the hosts of “Fox & Friends” on Sunday defended West after those posts, claiming he was the “target of big tech because he’s too dangerous and too outspoken and too much of a free thinker.”
Then they actually read West’s posts.
“Let’s say I hope they didn’t pull a hammy backpedaling this fast,” Colbert said, as he played comments of the hosts rapidly distancing themselves from West.
But Colbert wouldn’t let them.
“Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh,” he said wagging a finger. “Kanye is your free-thinker! You threw a pity party and invited a guy who always poops in the punch bowl. Now, you’ve gotta drink it. L’chaim!”
