“The Daily Show” has always prided itself on being topical. After all, it’s right there in the name. But Desi Lydic’s “Foxsplains” has taken that immediacy to the next level, explaining outlandish theories and trying to “out crazy the crazy” at the speed of the internet’s attention span.
The idea for her recurring “Daily Show” segment originally came from the series’ digital team. Though Fox is in the title, “Foxsplains” isn’t just limited to Fox News. Any moral panic or conspiracy theory that dominates the discourse on Fox News, Newsmax, One America News Network or the rightwing internet in general is fair game. Whether she’s talking about Bad Bunny’s “un-American” Super Bowl halftime show or New York mayor “Zoltar Mommydaddy,” Lydic approaches each topic in the same way — wide-eyed and ranting directly to camera in an unmarked room. By mirroring the intensity of extreme right-wing handwringing, Lydic expertly satirizes it.
“There are these paper-thin conspiracy theories aimed at the left, and Fox News will blow them up into wall-to-wall coverage for a period of time,” Lydic said. “So we have a limited window of time to pounce on those and get them written and produced. It will often happen within the course of one day.”
The key for the digital series’ fast turnaround comes from its team, which excels at making strong choices quickly. It’s all about writing a solid script before the discourse disappears or becomes stale.
“Those pieces are a great lesson in not being so precious and not sitting on something for too long,” she said. “You have to give it your all. You do it 200%, and you get it out there as quickly as possible. I’m always so blown away at how the team is able to produce those and do them so well.”
That speed has paid off. The segment won Lydic two Emmy wins last year as well as a 2026 PGA Awards nomination. But even though Lydic has found her groove with the critically-acclaimed and award-winning segment, that doesn’t mean it’s gotten any easier.
“The bar has gotten higher and higher in terms of what is permissible on those networks, so it’s an ongoing challenge,” Lydic said. “At some point, I don’t know if we’re going to be able to out crazy it. My goal is that we run out of material and can no longer do ‘Foxsplains’ because there is such a thing as a true, fair and balanced media ecosystem. I will be a happy gal.
“Until then, I’m gonna try to find the humor in it all in the meantime,” Lydic added.
In some ways, “Foxsplains” is a return to Lydic’s days as a “Daily Show” correspondent. Much like the character she plays on her digital series, correspondents are often deliberately extreme.
“We’re playing and embodying a character with a ridiculous point of view, kind of the overly-confident, under-informed buffoon of a correspondent,” Lydic said.
But when she first sat down to properly host “The Daily Show,” Lydic feared she was in over her head. Unlike her colleagues Michael Kosta and Ronny Chieng, Lydic didn’t come from the world of standup comedy, a medium that requires its artists to have a distinct point of view. Instead, Lydic’s background is in improv, a far more collaborative comedy form.
“Sitting at the desk, being myself and trusting that I would know what I want to say, that I could be funny as myself, was a bit of a leap of faith for me because I hadn’t proved it before. But I knew that I could trust the incredible team of writers and producers that we have,” Lydic said. “I had to jump and trust that my instincts would kick in.”
To make that leap, Lydic leaned heavily on what she thought was funniest while working as a “Daily Show” correspondent over the course of 10 years. She also called upon what she learned from Trevor Noah and Jon Stewart, two comedians who have taught a “master class” in hosting through their work.
“My instincts would kick in more than I anticipated, but it’s still a learning process,” Lydic said. “Every time I host, I come back and go, ‘OK, this works really well. This is something I want to improve the next time.’”
When asked how she’s dealing with this rapid-fire news cycle, Lydic admitted that it’s “a lot.” But she’s finding comfort and joy in being able to cover it through comedy.
“To be able to sit in a room with your funniest friends and people who are the smartest people you know and to get to find the funny together feels incredibly cathartic,” she said.
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