What Now? With Trevor NoahNYC SESSIONS: Why Thanos Was Right ft. Devin Delliquanti
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Thanos, patriot rituals, and how language reframes morality and history
- Trevor Noah and Devin Delliquanti use the question “Was Thanos right?” as a springboard to examine how wording (“kill” vs. “disappear”) shapes moral judgments.
- They explore how people comply with rituals—real or invented—because challenging them can feel socially costly, illustrated by an unexpected Pledge of Allegiance at Thanksgiving.
- A comedic language critique emerges around why “anniversary” covers both celebrations and tragedies, leading to the proposed alternative term “sadiversary.”
- The conversation turns to civic symbolism and political history, including the Cold War addition of “under God” to the Pledge and how nations revise shared texts to signal identity.
- Trevor references South Africa’s national anthem as an example of reconciliation through combining traditions rather than fully discarding the past.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasThe Thanos debate is really a debate about definitions and moral framing.
They argue over whether the Snap counts as “killing,” with Trevor reframing it as “disappearing” to probe how language affects moral judgment, while Devin insists the outcome (“trillions” gone) makes it morally equivalent.
Social rituals often persist less from belief than from people’s fear of standing out.
They joke about inventing a “family tradition” to see if a guest will comply, then Devin shares a real moment where his in-laws unexpectedly did the Pledge of Allegiance at Thanksgiving—forcing him to navigate social pressure in real time.
Language needs better cues for emotional context—especially around public memory.
Trevor questions why “anniversary” applies to tragedies, proposing “sadiversary” as a clearer linguistic signal so people don’t have to guess whether to celebrate or mourn.
Patriotic texts are political artifacts that get edited to match the anxieties of the era.
They unpack how the Pledge’s phrasing invites scrutiny (Do you need a flag present? Why specify which flag?), then Devin adds historical context: “under God” was inserted during the Cold War to differentiate the U.S. from atheistic communism.
National unity sometimes requires remixing contested symbols instead of replacing them.
Trevor connects the Pledge conversation to South Africa’s post-apartheid nation-building, describing how Mandela favored melding old and new symbols (rather than erasing them) so Afrikaans communities still felt included.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesHe didn't drop a bomb. No, he just- No, no, no, no, no. That's like saying condoms are responsible for mass murder.
— Trevor Noah
And then it's like I'll see that car doing the flip thing, and then when it actually gets delivered to us on the showroom floor, it just, like, farts.
— Trevor Noah
And then you and your family can act like you have a tradition that you don't have.
— Trevor Noah
It's like the most like... This is, like, the social moment of family. I'm like, "No, I, I gotta pledge right now. I, my, I, my, the flag has my allegiance before the turkey dinner."
— Devin Delliquanti
Guys, why do we use anniversary for sad as well? I think that's weird.
— Trevor Noah
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
