By Jennifer Burns
How does being a guest on The Colbert Report compare to being a guest on The Daily Show? Here’s a breakdown!
More Face Time with Everyone: Backstage at The Daily Show was a blur; I had no sooner arrived than I was in make-up, met Jon, and was heading out into the lights. By contrast, I had lots of time at The Colbert Report to see the stage, meet the producers, and chat with sundry tech people. And I got way more face time with Stephen Colbert! “I’m not my character!” was pretty much the first thing he said to me. He explained that he would feign willful ignorance and my job was to educate him and the audience. And of course we talked about Ayn Rand. Colbert told me he read Anthem in a Christian ethics class in college, and then while backpacking in Europe traded somebody for Atlas Shrugged. But he only made it to the scene where Dagny discovers world renowned philosopher Dr. Hugh Akston flipping burgers at a roadside diner and recognizes his genius by the way he handled a spatula — this stretched credulity for Colbert and he gave up on reading the rest!
The Audience: The audience was a much more intimate part of The Colbert Report than The Daily Show, where guests make a grand entrance and can’t even see the audience because of the blinding lights. This time, I was seated on the set for about a minute beforehand in full view of the audience, and their laughter and response seemed a bigger part of the interview. While I was waiting to go on, I could hear everyone laughing uproariously, clearly having a great time, and that made me feel excited and ready.
The Host: The biggest difference, of course, is Jon vs. Stephen, but I had an unexpected reaction. Where most people seem to think Stephen Colbert would be a more difficult interview, I actually found him to be personally warmer and easier to talk to than Jon Stewart. Some of this was because I felt more confident the second time around. But the interview itself was also less serious and more of a performance, whereas on The Daily Show I felt I was being grilled by a formidable intellect. Before The Daily Show interview, the producer told me it would be extemporaneous, and that Jon didn’t have notes. But as I was waiting for my interview with Colbert to start, I was told he was finalizing his jokes. When I was seated on the set, I could see a detailed note card on Stephen’s side of the table. I’m pretty sure we veered off the script, but that level of planning was reassuring. The Colbert producer also did a great job of helping me understand what would create a good interview. Her top piece of advice (which I also heard at The Daily Show): “Don’t be funny!”
Author Jennifer Burns on The Colbert Report
Author Jennifer Burns on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Jennifer Burns is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University and the author of Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. A nationally recognized authority on Rand and conservative thought, she has discussed her work on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Book TV, and has been interviewed on numerous radio programs. Read her previous blog post: “Top Three Questions About My Interview On The Daily Show”
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[Editor's Note: A chronological list of AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies classes at Tucson Unified School District is here.] Dear Board Members of the Tucson Unified School District:
What happened to last night's board meeting? In the last few days, reports from people in Tucson indicated you planned to vote on an initiative to set up a multicultural program to replace the Mexican American Studies classes that you shut down based on a racist and politically driven anti-Indigenous agenda.
This morning, I read that you had a very short meeting. One of those 60 second kind of meetings that allow you to conform to your own bylaws about holding regularly scheduled meetings. Why did you do that?
Was it because of Michael Hicks' appearance on The Daily Show? Are you in some intense behind-the-scenes damage control?
This morning I ran a search on Twitter using "Tucson" as the search term, and guess what? The top twitter story on Tucson is about the Daily Show episode. I grabbed this image around 6:30 AM, Central Time, on April 4th, 2012:
For the sake of the citizens of Tucson, I hope you're figuring out how to get rid of Hicks, and, I hope you're also trying to figure out how you're going to withdraw your letter to Sean Arce telling him his contract is not being renewed. Sean Arce, the man who directed the Mexican American Studies Department for the last several years... You know Arce just received
a national award from a highly regarded organization, right?
Come on, TUSD board members! All of this attention can not be good for anyone in Tucson. How many people are choosing not to move to Tucson based on what they're learning about TUSD?
And I've got a question for Mark Stegeman, too. Are you defending Hicks? I've been following your defense of him on Facebook, on Curtis Dutiel's wall (note: the thread below started on Monday, April 2nd, after the Daily Show episode aired):
It looks to me like you (Stegeman) are trying to defend Hicks. In the Facebook comments, Hicks tell us he went to Rusk's class. When he was on the Daily Show, did Hicks forget he'd been to Rusk's class? Why are you talking about THAT?! Is it because you---like the rest of America---are shocked at the rest of what Hicks said and prefer not to address Hicks' ignorance?
When will you just admit that Hicks is not qualified to be on the board and ask him to step down? Is that what is going on right now, behind the scenes? I hope so.
For information about Sean Arce's award, see
Zinn Education Project Honors Sean Arce at the Zinn Education Project website.
Last night, The Daily Show with John Stewart aired a segment on the shut down of Mexican American Studies classes in the Tucson Unified School District. Most of it was an interview of TUSD school board member, Michael Hicks.
I wonder if Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal or Arizona's Attorney General, Tom Horne watched it? Or Mark Stegeman, the president of TUSD's governing board?
Thanks to The Daily Show, millions of people saw Michael Hicks embarrass the district and the state, too.
Citizens of Tucson: It is not in your best interest to have Hicks on the school board. I think you should sign the petitions to have him recalled. Learn more about Hicks from TUSD's Hicks Recall Effort Begins Sunday. and from David Safier's blog post, Michael Hicks' letter to UA Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Below is my transcript of the Daily Show segment. Beneath it is a response from Michael Hicks. Beneath his response is a post to Mark Stegeman's Facebook wall. As more responses appear, I'll add them.
Stewart introducessegment on Mexican American Studies
John Stewart (Daily Show): Your children’s education… Nothing is more important! You want them tolearn enough to do well in the world, but not so much that they can winarguments with you.
But, what are they really learning in school? Al Madrigalfollowed this eye-opening story.
Madrigal introducesthe law
Al Madrigal (Daily Show): Across the country public educationis failing, but in Arizona, lawmakers have found a solution to the biggestproblem facing their schools.
CNN TV news: Arizona’s governor Jan Brewer just approved abill banning ethnic studies classes in public schools.
Al Madrigal (Daily Show): And using this new law, the TucsonSchool Board banned the K-12 Mexican American Studies program. School boardmember, Michael Hicks:
Madrigal’s interviewof Michael Hicks
Michael Hicks (TUSD school board member): My concern was alot of the
By: rjeffrey,
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We’re always pleased when people choose to help support our mission at First Book, especially when those donations help advance the cause of literacy. So we were excited to hear glad that award-winning authors Kevin Guilfoile and Jonathan Eig have decided to donate $2 for First Book for every copy of their books sold in March, as part of The Morning News Tournament of Books.
Guilefoile’s novel, The Thousand, has received glowing reviews from across the literary spectrum – from Entertainment Weekly to the New York Times. Guilefoile is a long-time supporter of First Book, and enlisted his friend Jonathan Eig in the donation effort.
Eig’s book, Get Capone, based on newly-released IRS records and Justice Dept. files on the notorious gangster, has also garnered critical praise. Eig recently appeared on the Daily Show to discuss his book and research.
Pick up your copies of these great books and help these generous authors support First Book!
Learn more at Gapers Block.
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Last night, Jon Stewart & The Daily Show writers won the Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Award for Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race. Julie Andrews and her daughter (Emma Walton Hamilton) won the Best Spoken Word Album for Children award for the poetry collection, Julie Andrews’ Collection Of Poems, Songs, And Lullabies.
In the video embedded above, Andrews reads a poem. Andrews also won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In her acceptance speech earlier this month, the actress talked about her work as a children’s author.
When Stewart read at a New York City Barnes & Noble, he explained the book’s premise: “This is the entirety of the human experience. How we got here, what we did while we were here, and obviously, how we’re leaving. We’ll tell you, it’s really quite funny.”
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, eight out of the top ten titles on college campuses are nonfiction books. Decision Points by George W. Bush topped the list.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson were the only fiction books on the list. Life by Keith Richards and The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 by Mark Twain joined Bush’s memoir on the list. Humor titles by Jon Stewart and Tucker Max also made the cut.
What titles did you read while you were in college? The magazine surveyed university bookstores across the country for the list. Follow this link for the complete list of participating bookstores.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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Last week Jennifer Burns, author of Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, appeared on The Daily Show. Below you can watch her interview with Jon Stewart. Then scroll down and read the top three questions everyone has been asking her since her appearance.
1. Is Jon Stewart as short as they say? I met Jon a few minutes before the show started in the “Green Room,” which is where guests wait before going on air. Basically, so many people told me he was so short that I was expecting a midget to walk in the door. Compared to that preconception, Stewart is not that short! I certainly think I’m taller than him, but his stature didn’t really make an impression. What struck me instead was how quick and smart he is, with an immediate rapid fire patter and stream of jokes. I was also surprised at how he looked different in real life than on TV. There are subtle distortions to the face on camera and in person he was leaner with more defined features. He has mesmerizing blue eyes which I focused on during the interview so I could keep up with what he was saying!
2. What does Jon Stewart say to you after the interview is over and the cameras are still rolling? I wish I could remember! I have no recollection of our last exchange, it was probably some basic thank you’s or pleasantry, and I think he probably helped me step off the stage. By the time I exited the set, I had completely forgotten what we talked about – it must have been a psychological reaction to the high pressure of the situation. Our conversation came back to me in great detail when I watched the show later that evening.
3. Are you mad he plumped the books of two Daily Show staffers at the end of the show? Not at all! It was a huge honor to be chosen for the show and has exposed my book to a wide and enthusiastic audience who might not have heard of it otherwise. There’s nothing like TV for legitimating intellectual production! Seriously, I appreciate that Jon Stewart is both a consummate entertainer and a really smart guy who values books and ideas, and I think his ability to blend humor and serious discussion is a great gift to contemporary America.
There's another man recently indicted in the on-going Abramoff investigations. Wendy has a good post with some great links about the recent indictment of Todd Boulanger.
For another look at Todd Boulanger, you can also watch this hilarious video from The Daily Show.
It makes a great point, not directly related to the matter of corruption. But where corruption attempts to distort the political system with gifts and kickbacks, the use of these political pundits distorts it in a just as insidious manner.
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Can't decide whether the cosmic serpent had spots or not.
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The pharaoh grew a parsnip nose.
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From lifeclass last Friday.
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I've patented a new board game called "Intestinal Parasite". Available in all good toy stores next year.
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Card no.8 in the current series.
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Four kings and a royal barge.
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I think I've solved it.
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A variant on previous post, trying different materials.
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Old King Clone fell off his throne.
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Card no.7 in a series of 78.
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In the absence of knowledge of physical and cultural clues, communication between two species can be almost impossible.
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This is the new form of musical notation I invented last Wednesday.
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I'm developing my own system of divination.
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Dying from stroke and Parkinson's Disease.
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Difficult choices to be made.
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Piazza della Repubblica, Florence
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He prefers to go by hearsay when cutting out the Mexican American studies, and doesn't cut out any other ethnic studies. Really?? This is censorship - and without the courtesy of visiting a class for himself. At least in cases of censorship in libraries, there is a process in which the complainant makes note of which pages he or she found inappropriate, i.e. they have actually read the book, and don't try to say "my neighbor said it was bad." Thanks for sharing this, Debbie.
I live in NM, so I had never heard of Michael Hicks until I saw him on this morning's rerun of The Daily Show. I was so astonished I tried to find out a little more about him on the internet. Amazingly, his performance on the show was apparently no fluke! E.g., I read his "raciest" Facebook post... I just don't see how this guy could be a professor (BTW, see http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=975445) AND on the school board! According to the Tucson Citizen, "That may explain why he got into the school board race. He said that one day he was watching a news report on the future demographics of America (aka the 'browning' of America) and it scared the bejeezus out of him... so he decided at that moment he would get involved to 'stop it.'" (http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/tag/michael-hicks/). This is just one more of so many things lately that make Arizona look to the rest of us like the most awful state in the U.S.
His grammar and spelling are atrocious! Did I read in a post that he is a professor? You must be kidding? Arizona is a joke of a state! First the Governor shows she has no manners and quite possibly no brains, you have a sheriff being investigated and now this man is elected to to a school board? Time for some house cleaning!