Minnesota Senator Al Frankenand David Lettermandiscuss the immediate threats of climate change and the hulking beauty of the former Late Show hosts beard in new web series Boiling the Frog. The six-part project, created in part with National Geographic docu-seriesYears of Living Dangerously, is available to stream via Funny or Die.
In the first clip, Franken guides viewers through a thought experiment to illustrate the rationale of climate change deniers. Say you go to a doctor and the doctor says, You have got to stop smoking and go on a diet. I see here on your chart that your father died of a heart attack at age 51. This is terrible youve really gotta start exercising.' But the patient, unsatisfied with this news, seeks out 32 more doctors until hearing the result he wanted.
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real, Franken says. What you and I need to do is prove that were organized enough and persistent enough and passionate enough to force Washington to act.
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Letterman, who emerged from retirement last October to visit India for Years of Living Dangerously, joins the senator for the remaining five installments. In the second act, the two comedy legends vent their frustration with Washington inaction, which Franken traces back to the fossil fuel empire of the Koch Brothers.
Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a climate change expert, joins the duo for part three to explain carbon pricing in laymans terms. In a more lighthearted moment, Letterman shares a hilarious anecdote about picking up disturbing trash like urine-filled Gatorade bottles around his neighborhood. [Lettermans son, Harry] invariably will say, Hey look, dad, Gatorade! And I say, Yeah, I wonder what flavor that is! And we both laugh real hard.
In part four, Franken ponders the future, noting that he doesnt want to disappoint his grandchildren by failing to to address the climate change issue. He also bluntly assesses the difference between his and Lettermans comedic talents: I was a satirist, you see. And you, a clown. And you confuse that.
The conversation in part five focuses on job creation. Franken argues that natural gas and automation killed coal jobs in Lettermans home state of Indiana. We need to embrace the future, he says, pointing to China as an example for alternative energy. The former SNL writer also questions Lettermans usage of the word igneous, pondering how often he made up words during his Late Show tenure.
Part six ends on a light note, as Franken marvels over Lettermans massive retirement beard even bringing in a doctor to collect a sample. Franken also claims hes more of an optimist than Letterman on climate change due to advances in alternative energy and progress at the state level.