The Daily Show, April 23, 2026 - Ben McKenzie

Happy one-monthiversary of the Iran war! With the Strait of Hormuz still closed, Jon Stewart examines how global shortages are hitting everything from grain to helium to pickleballs. Meanwhile, Americans flood the streets for the No Kings protests. Attorney Cindy Cohn talks to Jon Stewart about her new book, "Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance".

esi Lydic dives into Lindsey Graham's wartime day off at Disney World, Pete Hegseth's poetic take on the Iran War, Trump's flailing on the Strait of Hormuz as gas prices reach over $4 a gallon, and the leaked sexcapades of Kristi Noem's husband that make her f**k plane look tame.Award-winning filmmaker and comedian, Julio Torres guests.

Desi Lydic tackles Trump's attendance at Supreme Court oral arguments on birthright citizenship as he pushes to end the constitutional right for "billionaires," and his insistence on continuing construction on the White House ballroom despite a federal judge's ruling to halt it. Plus, Trump unveils plans for a presidential hotel-brary. Board-certified OB/GYN and founder of The 'Pause Life, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, joins Desi to discuss her new book, The New Perimenopause.

Jon Stewart dives into the backlash over Trump Jesus-ifying himself with AI, the president claiming he was just depicting himself as a "doctor" (treating a bedridden Jon Stewart?), and Trump starting an Easter beef with Pope Leo. Plus, JD Vance fails to secure a deal with Iran while ALSO failing to get Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban reelected.

Ronny Chieng dives into JD Vance's ill-prepared excuse for Trump's Jesus AI, the VP telling Pope Leo how to pope, RFK Jr. utilizing his best asset for podcasting, and Trump saying he'll "look into" FEMA head Gregg Phillips's Waffle House teleportation claims.[!CR!]In this installment of In My Opinion, Nick Offerman sounds off on how Trump is injecting his self-aggrandizing jackassery into America's 250th birthday - from slapping his John Hancock onto U.S. currency to staging a UFC battle at the White House - and calls on citizens to find their own way to patriotically party down.[!CR!]Acclaimed filmmaker Bao Nguyen sits down with Ronny to discuss his latest documentary, "BTS: The Return." They talk about following BTS's creative process as a fly on the wall, the big reunion after the band completed their national military service, the documentary narrative around honesty rather than facts, and the band's vulnerable moments when living out their normal lives.

JD Vance continues his apology tour on Trump's behalf at a TPUSA event, begging Gen Z not to leave MAGA over Iran and Epstein frustrations, and Ronny Chieng tries to make sense of Trump's "Diet Coke is healthy" logic. Plus, since Trump's Jesus AI images won't stop, Grace Kuhlenschmidt steps in as a fully supportive, temporary "war pope."[!CR!]Professional naming expert Marco Glennwald III is losing his mind over the president's insistence on naming every goddamn thing after himself.[!CR!]Filmmaker and actor Zoe Lister-Jones sits down with Ronny to discuss starring in the Peacock series, "The Miniature Wife." They talk about co-starring as a billionaire and an evil scientist, portraying power dynamics in relationships through a fantastical lens, being exposed to feminist filmmaking from her video artist mother, and giving her TV series "Slip" - which she wrote, directed, and starred in - a new life on Peacock.

Ronny Chieng plunges into America's evolving war with Iran, how global fuel shortages are making Thai news anchors sweaty, whether Iran's AI video of Jesus casting Trump into hell falls under Hegseth's "patriotic" label, and how all this chaos is somehow improving the U.S. stock market. Plus, Iran's stream of "slopaganda" is inspiring Michael Kosta to do his part in the emerging meme war. Writer and director Lee Sung Jin guests

Jon Stewart breaks down Trump's "Art of the Deal" strategy in Iran, following the threats, consequences, and concessions the president has made to win... nothing. Plus, Republicans celebrate the president's self-proclaimed victory as "a brilliant day for the world," and Trump signs a bill to fast-track the psychedelic drug ibogaine while bragging, "You think Biden could do that?"[!CR!]The President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock sits down with Jon and breaks down the challenges facing the United Nations in a rapidly shifting global order. From tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz to the limits of the UN Security Council's veto system, Baerbock explains why diplomacy is becoming more difficult and more necessary than ever. Baerbock also discusses overseeing the process of selecting the next U.N. Secretary General, and whether Member States will vote for a woman to lead the organization in its 80-year history.

The Trump administration gets in trouble for partying too hard, with FBI chief Kash Patel suing The Atlantic for putting his alleged drinking on blast, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigning over allegations of affairs and strip club trips, and her husband getting banned from department headquarters over reports of sexual misconduct. Plus, Michael Kosta gets the scoop on the Department of Labor's updated HR training video.[!CR!]In the midst of an unpopular war with Iran and a heated pope fight, Jordan Klepper went to a TPUSA event in Phoenix to see if the MAGA crowd was still on board the Trump train.[!CR!]Writer, director, and award-winning star of the HBO Max series "The Pitt," Noah Wyle joins Michael to discuss how Season 2 examines mental health issues through his character, Dr. Robinavitch, and how the show manages to strike a balance between tragedy and hope. He also compares the ways audiences consume "The Pitt" to the ways they consumed the first medical drama he starred in, "ER".

FBI Director Kash Patel's job might be like his drinks: on the rocks. Plus, as oil prices skyrocket and Trump shows no sign of being able to end the war with Iran or open the Strait of Hormuz, Michael Kosta gives the president an Earth Day shoutout for showing the world what happens when you don't invest in renewable resources.[!CR!]With the 2026 midterms fast approaching, Ronny Chieng sifts through the record number of D-list celebrities and influencer freaks announcing their candidacies, including reality TV bad boy Spencer Pratt, former "Teen Mom" star Farrah Abraham, and manosphere antisemite Dan Bilzerian.[!CR!]Five-time Grand Slam tennis champion, investor, and bestselling author, Maria Sharapova, sits down with Michael to discuss her new Vox Media podcast, "Pretty Tough." They talk about adapting the "Pretty Tough" mentality from her youth into in-depth conversations with high-achieving women, taking on the manosphere in podcasting to make more room for women in the sandbox.

Michael Kosta dives into America's naval blockade of Iranian ports to pressure Iran as the U.S. Navy quietly falls apart on the home front. After Pete Hegseth's firing of Navy Secretary John Phelan, Trump replaces the unqualified rich guy with the technically more qualified Hung Cao, who is famous for his hatred of witches and calls for more "alpha males and alpha females" in the military.[!CR!]Ben McKenzie, actor, author, and director of the new documentary "Everyone Is Lying to You for Money," talks to Michael about the ugly truths of cryptocurrency. He explains why crypto is not real money, how celebrity advertisements and lack of transparency mislead people on the risk level of their investments, and how criminals permeate the crypto industry, starting with Jeffrey Epstein.

Jon Stewart dives into the chaos at the White House Correspondents' Dinner: After a shooter interrupted mentalist Oz Pearlman revealing Karoline Leavitt's baby name, cabinet members abandoned their wives to rush to safety, Wolf Blitzer reported on the scene without a shoe, and Trump insisted none of this would've happened in his larger, more secure, East Wing ballroom. Plus, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog recounts his traumatic night of dodging bullets while trying to avoid having his carcass eaten by RFK Jr.[!CR!]Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jodi Kantor sits down with Jon to discuss The New York Times' Supreme Court coverage and her latest book, "How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work". They talk about getting a behind-the-scenes look at the Supreme Court's internal documents and private correspondence that detail the expansion of shadow docket cases.