When Ronny Chieng got a job as a correspondent and then anchor at The Daily Show, he kept the news to himself. "I didn't want to brag," the Malaysia-born comic says. "I just wanted to do the work." Chieng now costars in the series Interior Chinatown, and has a new Netflix comedy special, Love to Hate It. Also, Ken Tucker reflects on the best pop music of 2024. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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I'm Terry Gross.
My guest is comic, actor and political satirist Ronny Chang.
He became a correspondent for the satirical news show the daily show in 2015 after Trevor Noah asked him to aud.
Now Chang is one of the rotating correspondents who anchor the show.
He also co stars in the new Hulu series Interior Chinatown.
He had a memorable funny scene in Crazy Rich Asians as a wealthy investment banker in Singapore.
Ronny Chiang has a new Netflix comedy special called Love to Hate it, which starts streaming tomorrow.
He brings an international perspective to his comedy.
He was born in Malaysia, where his grandparents emigrated from China.
From age 3 to 7, he lived in Manchester, New Hampshire, where his parents attended college.
Then the family returned to Malaysia, which is basically across the bridge from Singapore.
So he spent a lot of time there.
He attended college in Australia where he got his BA in finance and his law degree while also doing standup comedy.
Let's start with a clip from his new comedy special.