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What Now? With Trevor NoahDwayne “The Rock” Johnson Kicks Off The Podcast! - What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast
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Chapter summaries
Why Hard Conversations Have Become So Difficult
Trevor Noah opens his new podcast by describing how people now hedge their opinions with "I would never say this in public." He compares today's conversations to a minefield and says he wants to discuss uncomfortable topics and understand one another better.
- •People preface opinions with "I would never say this if I was being recorded"
- •Noah compares difficult conversations to a minefield that is dangerous to even discuss
- •He wants each episode to take on uncomfortable topics and the people who make us uncomfortable
- •He remembers a time when friends and married couples could disagree and stay close
Disagreeing with Friends and Online Hate
Noah asks whether people have friends they disagree with, and a speaker says a different politics doesn't make someone a bad person. Noah then tells of DMing a Twitter hater from his early Daily Show days and making a deal with him. He suggests the distance of the screen, like a car on the freeway, makes people crueler, and that this leads into his guest.
- •A speaker says bad politics doesn't make a person bad, and good politics doesn't make someone good
- •Noah DM'd a hater, who admitted he just piled on for fun and bet Noah wouldn't last
- •Noah made a deal with him to watch the show if it lasted six months
- •Noah compares online anger to road rage, which fades face to face
- •He introduces Dwayne Johnson as someone widely seen as friendly who has still noticed rising negativity
Welcome, Work Ethic, and the Taualuga for His Mom
Noah welcomes Johnson as his first guest and praises his work ethic. They talk about Johnson's early gym habit and his mother's 75th birthday, where he threw money during the Samoan Taualuga dance as a sign of reverence.
- •Johnson arrives straight from the gym and likes to get up early before his young children
- •The Taualuga is a Samoan dance where people throw money to show respect
- •Noah notes how cultural norms around gestures vary around the world
- •Johnson says his parents always taught him to be proud of being Black and Samoan
- •He describes the mana felt when newcomers see the dance and cry
Eviction and the Drive Toward Wrestling
Noah asks about Johnson's formative years and why he wanted to be in wrestling. Johnson recalls growing up in the family business and being evicted from their Hawaii apartment at 13 or 14, which made him vow never to feel that again. He turned to football at the University of Miami and then, when the NFL didn't happen, back to wrestling.
- •Johnson grew up around wrestling in the '80s and loved its characters and local stars
- •He watched his dad and grandfather live their passion
- •Being evicted with his mom at 13 or 14 made him determined to change his circumstances
- •He built his body and chased football at the University of Miami
- •When the NFL didn't happen, he took it as a sign to follow his gut toward wrestling
Backlash Over the People's Fund of Maui
Noah asks how Johnson handled criticism after he and Oprah launched a fund for the Maui fires. Johnson says he paused for weeks to separate noise from criticism worth hearing. He eventually realized that asking for money can land badly with people who are struggling, as he once was.
- •Noah was surprised that a call to help fire survivors drew backlash
- •Johnson's grandparents are buried in the islands, and the fund is helping over 8,000 survivors
- •He chose to pause and not respond right away, and stayed focused on the mission
- •A post saying "you're one of us" helped him recall being broke and angry as a kid
- •He understood that being asked for money is the last thing someone living paycheck to paycheck wants
The Presidential Poll and Staying Out of Politics
Noah raises the poll showing large support for Johnson running for president, and Johnson talks about learning not to let ego or judgment block him. He says party representatives approached him in late 2022 but he dislikes much about politics and doesn't want to repeat the time away from family that his wrestling schedule caused.
- •Noah mentions South Africa's rule that your vote is your secret and urges conversations without labels
- •Johnson tries not to let ego, judgment, or early anticipation shape how he receives things
- •He was visited by the parties, who cited the poll and their own research
- •He says he would consider running if that is truly what the people want
- •He doesn't want to miss his young daughters' lives as he did when wrestling 230 dates a year
Being a Girl Dad and the Story of His Father
Noah says Johnson has changed how people see fatherhood and asks how his daughters shaped his view of masculinity. Johnson tells the story of his father, Rocky Johnson, who was thrown out of his home at 13 after knocking out his mother's drunk boyfriend with a shovel. He explains how he took his dad's work ethic and discipline but gives his daughters the affection he missed.
- •Johnson sees himself as his daughters' model of what a man is
- •His father was put out at 13 after the shovel incident in Nova Scotia
- •His dad's love was tough: gym at age five and wrestling matches
- •He learned work ethic, discipline, and pride from his father
- •He knows what it is like not to be hugged, so he lets his daughters paint his face and nails
Speaking Openly About Depression
Noah says many young men feel lost and notes Johnson's openness about depression. Johnson says he didn't think twice about speaking up and describes his first bout at 18 after a shoulder injury at Miami. Noah shares that his own ADHD diagnosis changed how he understood his low moods.
- •Johnson didn't worry about his reputation when he first talked about depression
- •Twenty years ago people thought depression was sadness, a hangover, or a choice
- •His first bout came at the University of Miami after a shoulder injury left him isolated
- •He calls talking about it a superpower and stresses that people aren't alone
- •Noah learned depression was a byproduct of his ADHD and now checks in with himself on sleep, food, and community
Divorce and Building a Business with His Ex-Wife
Noah asks how Johnson works with his ex-wife, Dany, after divorce. Johnson says they decided to stay unattached to the original goal, bring in relationship experts before lawyers, and set an example for their daughter. The work was hard but turned out to be a great decision.
- •Johnson was leaving wrestling and going through a divorce at the same time
- •He worried about who would help raise their young daughter
- •He and Dany asked whether they could keep building the business together
- •They used relationship experts first and kept lawyers to the side
- •The process taught him he wasn't as good at relationships as he thought
Noah's First Night on Stage
Johnson asks Noah about the moment he knew comedy was his calling. Noah explains that stand-up barely existed in South Africa before democracy, then tells how his drunk cousin heckled a comedian at a Newtown bar and dared him to try. He went up, told a story about a Nigerian man fixing a VCR, and connected with the crowd.
- •Stand-up was new in South Africa, as free speech had been illegal
- •Noah's cousin heckled a comic who then challenged Noah to come on stage
- •Noah told the story about the Nigerian guy fixing a VCR and the audience howled
- •He realized he has long wanted to make people feel good after growing up around so much violence and pain
- •He and his school friends imitated Johnson's moves, including the Rock Bottom, in detention
Connection, Sending People Home Happy, and Building New Mountain
Noah says the same thing that connects people in their worst moments can connect them in their best, and Johnson says he wants to send people home happy. Asked "What now?", Johnson says he wants to build new mountain, professionally, spiritually, and emotionally, and bring others with him.
- •Noah argues that people can reach consensus and learn while still disagreeing
- •Johnson's guiding tenet is to send people home happy
- •He feels lucky and credits the angels who guided him along the way
- •He wants to build new mountain rather than stay put, and bring everyone along
- •He says there is much noise and toxicity but also much good out there
Being the First Guest
Noah closes by thanking Johnson for trusting him as his first guest. He recalls that nobody would be his first guest on The Daily Show until Kevin Hart said yes because he remembered being the person nobody gave a shot.
- •Firsts have to trust in what they don't know
- •Few guests would commit to Noah's first Daily Show episode
- •Kevin Hart said yes right away
- •Hart said he wanted to help build Noah's ladder
- •Noah is glad to have Hart and Johnson as his two firsts
