September 8, 2024 • 12 mins
Actor, writer, producer, and former Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms joins Michael Kosta to discuss the new season of his podcast SNAFU, which recounts the FBI break-in that exposed the FBI’s excessive surveillance tactics.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hey, there's NOI Chang. The Daily Show is off this week,
but don't worry. We put together some of our favorite
moments from the show in case you miss them. We'll
be back with brand new shows on September tenth. Until then,
enjoyed today's episode.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome Back to Russia.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
My guest tonight was an actor, writer, producer who hosts
a podcast about history's greatest screw ups called Snaffu.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Please welcome back, Ed Helms. All right, all right, I.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Have to say, John Stewart, you looking crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Thank you very much for that. I'll think it's a compliment.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, because I watched John Stewart my whole life, and
now I'm sitting in the chair that he sits on
occasionally on Mondays. Yeah, let's talk about your podcast and
then we'll get into the Daily Show cause I got
to ask you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
About working here at the Daily Show.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
But your podcast second season is called snaff Fou. Yes,
and it's about the break in of the FBI offices. Yes,
and the Washington reporter who reported on it. Yes, what
the are you doing? I thought I thought you worked
in comedy.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
I just say yes, Yes, that's all I do in interviews. Yes, so, okay,
it is a podcast about it's called Snafoo.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
It's about history's greatest screw ups. Yeah. Season one we
talked about.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
This incredible story about a NATO military exercise that almost
in nineteen eighty three that almost turned into a nuclear holocaust, a.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Big deal.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
And it's really kind of actually darkly funny. Season two
that's out now, we talk about these incredible actctivists in
nineteen seventy one who felt like the FBI was getting
a little out of hand and starting to harass people
and surveyal people. And they were right, but they didn't
have any way to prove it. So they broke into
(02:12):
an office, an FBI office. They just broke into the FBI,
and it's as hard as it sounds, and they stole
a bunch of documents and then they started to leak
them to a reporter at the Washington Post named Betty Metzger,
who was very courageous and published them.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And then years later.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
By the way, this all led to lots of fallout
the Church Committee hearings, which then led to congressional oversight
of the FBI and the CIA in the NSA and
all these things. So it's a very very big deal
what these people did. It's largely forgotten, sadly. But Betty
Metzger then wrote a book in twenty fourteen and that's
(02:56):
what that is the Burglary, and it's an incredible story.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Forty percent of the case files that the Crew stole
dealt with surveillance of legal political activity.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
One percent covered organized crime. Right, It's like, what I
don't and by the way, I don't. I don't really know,
but I feel like that could also pertain to today's date.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Well, it's just it's like that was when Jager can't read.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
You another one, even though it's your podcast.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yes, my boy.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
The document revealed that every black student at Swarthmore College
was under FBI surveillance.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I mean, what the is going on? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Basically, if if jaigar Hoover thought that you were like
some hooligan, which was anyone who opposed the Vietnam War,
anyone involved in the Civil rights movement, and anyone with long.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Hair, Yeah, that one I get sure.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Of course, if Jayed gar Hoover thought you were like
a problem for society, he was going to surveil and
harass you, and the entire FBI apparatus was going to
do that too, and thankfully these burglars proved that was happening,
and it was fixed for a little while, and then
(04:14):
there was the Patriot Act and all kinds of the
Cold War and lots of other complicating factors. But it
is still it's a it's an important question to always
be asking, like, are we protecting our civil civil liberties enough?
Does law enforcement have enough power?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Probably? What is the where's the line? But ed? But ed,
I don't do anything wrong. I don't care if they
tap into my computer. Same here ahead, Ed, what's the
big d you put.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
A piece of scotch tape over my webcam when I'm masturbated?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
It doesn't matter. What does it matter you masturbate? Oh
my gosh, let's talk about this. I'm just I'm just doing.
I'm just doing.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
First of all, I want to go on the record
and say I do not masturbate, and that was but.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
That is a kickback response.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I can envision someone saying, I don't have anything to
hide with the big deal about So what is the
big deal about?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Surveill?
Speaker 4 (05:13):
And you're right, I think a lot of people ask
that with it, just when it comes up, when law
enforcement power comes up, like, yeah, I'm not doing anything wrong,
But what the problem with surveillance? When it's done on
such a huge scale and you're surveilling people who are
not doing anything wrong, it then becomes leverage over you
(05:35):
that you have no control over it. And so if
for any reason, the FBI or some institution wants to
implicate you, for any reason, they suddenly have the leverage
to do so, whether or not you've done something wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And that's very scary and it's not okay talk about
because this was fascinating to me. They burglarized the FBI
office and they sent these copies of files out to
a lot of different people, but only one of them,
this woman was courageous enough to report.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I mean, what was that like for her? That's a
great question.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
So Betty Medsker was a very young reporter at the
Washington Post. She receives this envelope, It's full of FBI files.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
She's like, what the hell with this?
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Meanwhile, the burglars also sent copies of the files, as
you mentioned, to some senators and some other reporters. The
senators immediately turned them over to the FBI. The other
reporters chickened out, but Betty Medsker and the sort of
brass at the Washington Post which later, of course, you know,
(06:44):
Woodward Burnstein, Watergate and and the Pentagon papers that all
came after this. But but they they were courageous enough
to put this out here. And I'm really and really
Betty Medsker is a force of nature. She's in the
podcast she she worked with us to tell.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
This stories great. In the podcast, she tells the story of.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
After this this got published, the article, not the book.
She picked up the phone to call her friend, and
the FBI is just on the line, say what are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Yeah, so that's okay. This is this is exactly what
the burglars were trying.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
This is why I put scotch tape on my computer?
Is this why you master?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
No?
Speaker 4 (07:27):
They so they yeah, So she put this article gets
published in the New York Times.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
She picks up her phone like the next day, and
so there's a voice on her phone that says, who
are you trying to call?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So messed up? What?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, it's great, it's a great. Listen, it's fun. You're
somehow funny in it even though it's a serious topic.
Thank you, so good job. Speaking of funny, the office,
the hangover, the daily show, what is that?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
What is what is that evoke? What is that evoke?
Those images?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Oh my gosh, do you remember the State the Los
Angeles green screen?
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Well, sorry, I mean on location. I was in a
cocaine fever dream the whole time. I don't know I
have It's so fun to come back here. I just
love I have such fond memories. It's been like eighteen
years since I worked here, which is incredible. But I
have to say I've watched the show ever since I left.
(08:37):
I still love it. And you guys, this crop of correspondence,
you guys are crushing it.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
It is if you, if you had to pick one. Oftentimes,
when I'm out in the field doing something that is hard,
(09:09):
doing a piece on the desk, being here, I always
wondering is this helping me somehow? Is this gonna help
me later? And should I be focused in the present moment? Yes, sure,
But you come to me from the future, yes, right,
And you've gone on to do all these great comedy
things and now this season two of the podcast. But
what has helped you from the Daily Show as you moved.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
On nothing nothing.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
I will say I have a good answer to that
quod answer, and it is the The Daily Show is
was my first like real comedy job, and it taught
me really through through John's example, like the discipline and
the focus and the hard work that it takes and
and some of the like the real like sweat that
(09:58):
it takes to create good comedy or just good product,
like it's hard work and that I've carried that with
me for for years since since then, and uh, this.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Is where I started. Here we are. That's great, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Are there any are there any field pieces you did
that now would be considered an HR nightmare?
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Is there anything that anything that comes to mind? Yes,
an HR nightmare?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I think, yeah, well we actually have HR different, we
actually have HR now, Okay, well there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Yeah, there were no HR nightmares twenty years ago because
of you.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah, the reason that they have. But yeah, what comes
to mind? Anything that's like, you know, conventions?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Should I should I create a fresh HR nightmare? But no,
I have Gosh, I have so many great memories. I
really loved going to the conventions, right, the are you
guys headed to this? We are We're going to cargo
so exciting, and I had, like, we had real press credentials.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I remember, this is this is this is really funny.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
We got to the the Republican Convention, which was at
Madison Square Garden just down the street, and we get
to the security checkpoint and Rob Quadrey forgot his driver's
license and everyone had to have a picture.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I D.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
So we're like, oh god, and then he looks up
and Rob goes, does that count as a picture?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I D?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And Comedy Central had bought a giant billboard with all
over our faces and our names right next to Madison
Square Garden. It was the Indecision two thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Or four or whatever.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
And the security guard was like, yeah, yeah, I guess
that's it at different times.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
That's amazing that Comedy Central bought a billboard.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yes, thank you for sitting down with it. This is
You're one of my favorites. That's right, Eye welcome bat
On Slapool. New episodes of SNAPO members air weekly. I
Mean iHeartRadio app and Everyone podcast I Heard at Helm
Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by
searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts. Watch
The Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central on Comedy Central,
(12:22):
and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus Paramount Podcasts
You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hey, there's NOI Chang. The Daily Show is off this week,
but don't worry. We put together some of our favorite
moments from the show in case you miss them. We'll
be back with brand new shows on September tenth. Until then,
enjoyed today's episode.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome Back to Russia.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
My guest tonight was an actor, writer, producer who hosts
a podcast about history's greatest screw ups called Snaffu.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Please welcome back, Ed Helms. All right, all right, I.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Have to say, John Stewart, you looking crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Thank you very much for that. I'll think it's a compliment.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, because I watched John Stewart my whole life, and
now I'm sitting in the chair that he sits on
occasionally on Mondays. Yeah, let's talk about your podcast and
then we'll get into the Daily Show cause I got
to ask you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
About working here at the Daily Show.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
But your podcast second season is called snaff Fou. Yes,
and it's about the break in of the FBI offices. Yes,
and the Washington reporter who reported on it. Yes, what
the are you doing? I thought I thought you worked
in comedy.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
I just say yes, Yes, that's all I do in interviews. Yes, so, okay,
it is a podcast about it's called Snafoo.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
It's about history's greatest screw ups. Yeah. Season one we
talked about.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
This incredible story about a NATO military exercise that almost
in nineteen eighty three that almost turned into a nuclear holocaust, a.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Big deal.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
And it's really kind of actually darkly funny. Season two
that's out now, we talk about these incredible actctivists in
nineteen seventy one who felt like the FBI was getting
a little out of hand and starting to harass people
and surveyal people. And they were right, but they didn't
have any way to prove it. So they broke into
(02:12):
an office, an FBI office. They just broke into the FBI,
and it's as hard as it sounds, and they stole
a bunch of documents and then they started to leak
them to a reporter at the Washington Post named Betty Metzger,
who was very courageous and published them.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And then years later.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
By the way, this all led to lots of fallout
the Church Committee hearings, which then led to congressional oversight
of the FBI and the CIA in the NSA and
all these things. So it's a very very big deal
what these people did. It's largely forgotten, sadly. But Betty
Metzger then wrote a book in twenty fourteen and that's
(02:56):
what that is the Burglary, and it's an incredible story.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Forty percent of the case files that the Crew stole
dealt with surveillance of legal political activity.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
One percent covered organized crime. Right, It's like, what I
don't and by the way, I don't. I don't really know,
but I feel like that could also pertain to today's date.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Well, it's just it's like that was when Jager can't read.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
You another one, even though it's your podcast.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yes, my boy.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
The document revealed that every black student at Swarthmore College
was under FBI surveillance.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I mean, what the is going on? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Basically, if if jaigar Hoover thought that you were like
some hooligan, which was anyone who opposed the Vietnam War,
anyone involved in the Civil rights movement, and anyone with long.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Hair, Yeah, that one I get sure.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Of course, if Jayed gar Hoover thought you were like
a problem for society, he was going to surveil and
harass you, and the entire FBI apparatus was going to
do that too, and thankfully these burglars proved that was happening,
and it was fixed for a little while, and then
(04:14):
there was the Patriot Act and all kinds of the
Cold War and lots of other complicating factors. But it
is still it's a it's an important question to always
be asking, like, are we protecting our civil civil liberties enough?
Does law enforcement have enough power?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Probably? What is the where's the line? But ed? But ed,
I don't do anything wrong. I don't care if they
tap into my computer. Same here ahead, Ed, what's the
big d you put.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
A piece of scotch tape over my webcam when I'm masturbated?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
It doesn't matter. What does it matter you masturbate? Oh
my gosh, let's talk about this. I'm just I'm just doing.
I'm just doing.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
First of all, I want to go on the record
and say I do not masturbate, and that was but.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
That is a kickback response.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I can envision someone saying, I don't have anything to
hide with the big deal about So what is the
big deal about?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Surveill?
Speaker 4 (05:13):
And you're right, I think a lot of people ask
that with it, just when it comes up, when law
enforcement power comes up, like, yeah, I'm not doing anything wrong,
But what the problem with surveillance? When it's done on
such a huge scale and you're surveilling people who are
not doing anything wrong, it then becomes leverage over you
(05:35):
that you have no control over it. And so if
for any reason, the FBI or some institution wants to
implicate you, for any reason, they suddenly have the leverage
to do so, whether or not you've done something wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And that's very scary and it's not okay talk about
because this was fascinating to me. They burglarized the FBI
office and they sent these copies of files out to
a lot of different people, but only one of them,
this woman was courageous enough to report.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I mean, what was that like for her? That's a
great question.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
So Betty Medsker was a very young reporter at the
Washington Post. She receives this envelope, It's full of FBI files.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
She's like, what the hell with this?
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Meanwhile, the burglars also sent copies of the files, as
you mentioned, to some senators and some other reporters. The
senators immediately turned them over to the FBI. The other
reporters chickened out, but Betty Medsker and the sort of
brass at the Washington Post which later, of course, you know,
(06:44):
Woodward Burnstein, Watergate and and the Pentagon papers that all
came after this. But but they they were courageous enough
to put this out here. And I'm really and really
Betty Medsker is a force of nature. She's in the
podcast she she worked with us to tell.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
This stories great. In the podcast, she tells the story of.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
After this this got published, the article, not the book.
She picked up the phone to call her friend, and
the FBI is just on the line, say what are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Yeah, so that's okay. This is this is exactly what
the burglars were trying.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
This is why I put scotch tape on my computer?
Is this why you master?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
No?
Speaker 4 (07:27):
They so they yeah, So she put this article gets
published in the New York Times.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
She picks up her phone like the next day, and
so there's a voice on her phone that says, who
are you trying to call?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So messed up? What?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, it's great, it's a great. Listen, it's fun. You're
somehow funny in it even though it's a serious topic.
Thank you, so good job. Speaking of funny, the office,
the hangover, the daily show, what is that?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
What is what is that evoke? What is that evoke?
Those images?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Oh my gosh, do you remember the State the Los
Angeles green screen?
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Well, sorry, I mean on location. I was in a
cocaine fever dream the whole time. I don't know I
have It's so fun to come back here. I just
love I have such fond memories. It's been like eighteen
years since I worked here, which is incredible. But I
have to say I've watched the show ever since I left.
(08:37):
I still love it. And you guys, this crop of correspondence,
you guys are crushing it.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
It is if you, if you had to pick one. Oftentimes,
when I'm out in the field doing something that is hard,
(09:09):
doing a piece on the desk, being here, I always
wondering is this helping me somehow? Is this gonna help
me later? And should I be focused in the present moment? Yes, sure,
But you come to me from the future, yes, right,
And you've gone on to do all these great comedy
things and now this season two of the podcast. But
what has helped you from the Daily Show as you moved.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
On nothing nothing.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
I will say I have a good answer to that
quod answer, and it is the The Daily Show is
was my first like real comedy job, and it taught
me really through through John's example, like the discipline and
the focus and the hard work that it takes and
and some of the like the real like sweat that
(09:58):
it takes to create good comedy or just good product,
like it's hard work and that I've carried that with
me for for years since since then, and uh, this.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Is where I started. Here we are. That's great, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Are there any are there any field pieces you did
that now would be considered an HR nightmare?
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Is there anything that anything that comes to mind? Yes,
an HR nightmare?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I think, yeah, well we actually have HR different, we
actually have HR now, Okay, well there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Yeah, there were no HR nightmares twenty years ago because
of you.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah, the reason that they have. But yeah, what comes
to mind? Anything that's like, you know, conventions?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Should I should I create a fresh HR nightmare? But no,
I have Gosh, I have so many great memories. I
really loved going to the conventions, right, the are you
guys headed to this? We are We're going to cargo
so exciting, and I had, like, we had real press credentials.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I remember, this is this is this is really funny.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
We got to the the Republican Convention, which was at
Madison Square Garden just down the street, and we get
to the security checkpoint and Rob Quadrey forgot his driver's
license and everyone had to have a picture.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I D.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
So we're like, oh god, and then he looks up
and Rob goes, does that count as a picture?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I D?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And Comedy Central had bought a giant billboard with all
over our faces and our names right next to Madison
Square Garden. It was the Indecision two thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Or four or whatever.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
And the security guard was like, yeah, yeah, I guess
that's it at different times.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
That's amazing that Comedy Central bought a billboard.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yes, thank you for sitting down with it. This is
You're one of my favorites. That's right, Eye welcome bat
On Slapool. New episodes of SNAPO members air weekly. I
Mean iHeartRadio app and Everyone podcast I Heard at Helm
Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by
searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts. Watch
The Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central on Comedy Central,
(12:22):
and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus Paramount Podcasts
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