Colbert’s Former Writers Launch “Jokes on News” Podcast to Skewer Trump

When “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert signed off in May, a handful of its veteran writers didn’t exactly pack up and go home.

Instead, Emmy‑winning humorists Eliana Kwartler, Michael Cruz Kayne, Asher Perlman and Steve Waltien slipped behind a microphone and birthed “Jokes on News,” a weekly podcast that feels like late‑night meets current‑affairs, but with a lot more snark aimed at former president Donald Trump.

“If you love watching late‑night and want to laugh at the absurdity of what’s happening, or if you just need a news source that sounds like three men and a baby,” Kwartler jokes in the intro, “you’ve come to the right place.”

Since the final episode aired in May, the quartet has been anything but idle. They wrote for the Emmy Awards, performed at a Los Angeles restaurant that proudly displays the Late Show’s neon sign, and even called out CBS for bowing to Trump’s pressure and cancelling their segment.

Now, with “Jokes on News,” they’ve taken that same razor‑sharp commentary out of the writers’ room and onto a platform where anyone with headphones can hear it. The first episode dives straight into the far‑canny spectacle of Trump’s makeshift Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, a two‑night shindig that the ex‑president billed as a “massive success” despite empty seats, a sparsely‑filled speaker lineup and the conspicuous absence of most competitive House Republicans.

Kwartler quips, “Apparently, two nights before Thanksgiving, Trump called Speaker Mike Johnson and said, ‘Mike, we’ve got to do a midterm convention.’ Johnson replied, ‘That’s not a thing.’ Trump replied, ‘Make it a thing.’” She pauses, laughs, and adds, “Honestly, we’ve all gotten high with our cousins in the garage and thought that was a great idea.”

The hosts also rag on Trump’s oddly backhanded endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Perlman deadpans, “This is the best endorsement I’ve ever heard,” before playing a clip where Trump says, “I don’t like the way Ken dresses… I don’t really like the way he talks… but you know what I do like? He was the greatest attorney general in the history of Texas.” Cruz Kayne follows up, “It’s funny to say that about someone before you actually endorse them—‘He’s stupid, he smells bad, he shot his…’” The sarcasm lands with a thud that feels intentional.

Later in the show, Waltien riffs on Trump’s new construction obsession in Washington, D.C., joking that the president is treating the White House like a private‑sector building project. “It’d be like Jimmy Carter walking in and announcing, ‘Day one: I’m making a saltier, crunchier peanut and using every government resource to perfect it,’” he muses, “and we’re like, ‘Buddy, we hired you for a different job.’”

Each episode wraps with a casual thank‑you to listeners, a promise of more jokes, and a feeling that the comedy will keep pushing boundaries as long as the news keep giving them material.

Fans of late‑night satire can subscribe on all major platforms, and the writers say they’ll keep the “three‑men‑and‑a‑baby” vibe alive, no matter how many conventions Trump tries to resurrect.