Welcome to ‘Better Know a Guest’, your weekly guide to the wonderful and diverse array of personalities appearing on The Colbert Report and The Daily Show each week.
Hi there Hubsters, it’s Lindsey again! Here’s a riddle for you all: what do two politicians, an actor, and a college president have in common? Surprise, surprise, it’s that they’re all guests on The Colbert Report this week! (Also acceptable: none of them have exclusive appearance agreements with MTV.) Interviewees joining Stephen in the studio this week are Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. John Lewis, Kevin Spacey, and Richard Brodhead.
Monday, August 12 (2013)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (Senator: Rhode Island [D])
Sheldon Whitehouse is an American Democratic politician and the junior United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving since 2007. He was previously a United State Attorney from 1993-1998, and the Attorney General of Rhode Island from 1999-2003. The senator supports abortion rights, LGBT rights and gay marriage, affirmative action, gun control, and stem cell research. He also supports a more progressive tax system, a dedication to renewable energy, and is committed to fair trade. Whitehouse has also been very vocal in his disapproval of the Bush administration’s use of torture; he currently supports a commission to investigate the use of torture in interrogation. In 2007, he was one of several senators who pressured Bush’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign after the dismissal of US Attorneys controversy. Since becoming a junior senator, Whitehouse has opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Budget Control Act. On The Colbert Report, Whitehouse will be reflecting on the current state of the US government.
Born: October 20, 1955 (New York City, New York, United States)
Education: St. Paul’s School │ Yale University │ University of Virginia Law School
Committee Assignment(s): Budget │ Environment and Public Works │ Judiciary │ Intelligence │ Ageing
Follow: Website │ @SenWhitehouse │ Facebook │ YouTube
Tuesday, August 13 (2013)
Rep. John Lewis (Representative: Georgia [D] and Author: “March Book 1″)
John Lewis is an American politician and civil rights leader. He is the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, serving since 1987, and is the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. He was a member of a group of leaders — nicknamed the “Big Six” — in the American Civil Rights Movement and chaired the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The organization is generally considered to be one of the leaders of the American Civil Rights movement. Lewis recently appeared at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con to promote his new graphic novel March Book One. Co-authored by Andrew Ayden and illustrated by Richard Powell, the book is inspired by the 1958 comic book “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story”, and chronicles Lewis’s struggles in life as he fought for civil rights. The first installment of the series features moments in his life like meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, the formation of the Nashville Student Movement, and his participation in various peaceful protest sit-ins. Critics applaud the book for bringing the real-life events of the American Civil Rights movement to a new generation, calling it “a powerful tale of courage and principle igniting sweeping social change, told by a strong-minded, uniquely qualified eyewitness … the heroism of those who sat and marched … comes through with vivid, inspiring clarity” (Kirkus Reviews).
Born: February 21, 1940 (Troy, Alabama, United States)
Education: Pike County Training High School │ American Baptist Theological Seminary, Fisk University
Committee Assignment(s): Ways and Means
Caucus Membership: Congressional Black Caucus │ Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease │ Congressional Progressive Caucus │ Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety.
Awards: Wallenberg Medal │ Profile in Courage Award │ Spingarn Medal │ John Heinz Award │ Dole Leadership Prize │ Liberty and Justice for All Award │ Presidential Medal of Freedom
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearance(s): Interview – June 4th, 2012
Follow: Wesbite │ @repjohnlewis │ Facebook │ YouTube
Wednesday, August 14 (2013)
Kevin Spacey (Actor: “House of Cards”)
Kevin Spacey, CBE, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. From stage roles and television roles in the 1980s, Spacey first rose to fame during the 1990’s when he appeared in The Usual Suspects and American Beauty which garnered him Academy Awards for both ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Actor’, respectively. Since then, he has continued on to do many film roles — often to critical acclaim. Some of his most famous movies include Pay it Forward, Beyond the Sea, and Glengary Glenn Ross. Spacey spends time in the UK as well, and is actively involved in its theatre culture. In 2003, he announced that he would become the artistic director of the The Old Vic Theatre Company in London, England. To date he has performed in and directed several plays, and was awarded an honorary CBE by Prince Charles on behalf of the Queen for his services to drama. Currently, Spacey appears in the Netflix original series House of Cards, where he plays Frank Underwood, a Democratic politician who plans to get even with treasonous colleagues after he is passed over for Secretary of State.
Born: July 26, 1959 (South Orange, New Jersey, United States)
Education: Northridge Military Academy │ Canoga Park High School │ Chatsworth High School │ Julliard School
Filmography: The Usual Suspects │ Outbreak │ American Beauty │ Pay it Forward │ K-Pax │ Beyond the Sea │ Superman Returns │ Men Who Stare at Goats │ Horrible Bosses
Other Work: The Iceman Cometh (play) │ Richard III (play) │ Inherit the Wind (play) │ Beyond the Sea (soundtrack)
Awards: Academy Award │ Golden Globe Award │ BAFTA Award │ Empire Award │ SAG Award
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearance(s): Interview – January 13th, 2011
Follow: Tigger Street │ @KevinSpacey │ Facebook
Thursday, August 15 (2013)
Richard Brodhead (President: Duke University)
Richard Brodhead is a scholar of 19th century American literature, and currently serves as the ninth and current president of Duke University. Before Duke, he had been chair of the Yale University English department and later the Dean of the university. While at Yale he was embroiled in a controversy involving graduate students who wished to unionise, and was accused of blacklisting some of the students. He left New Haven in 2004 to become the president of Duke University. Much of his work as president has focused on improving the undergraduate experience and increasing the university’s endowment to make a Duke education more accessible. In 2006, members of the Duke Men’s Lacrosse team falsely accused of raping a stripper who had been hired for an off-campus party. While Brodhead insisted that the public view the students as innocent until proven otherwise, he still cancelled the remainder of the Duke Lacrosse season after Duke’s Lacrosse coach was fired. The players accused of the crime were later cleared of charges and Brodhead apologized in a public forum. However, Brodhead and other individuals were the defendants in a lawsuit filed by other members of the Lacrosse team.
Born: April 1947 (Dayton, Ohio, United States)
Education: Phillips Academy │ Yale College
Board Member: Carnegie Corporation of New York │ Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Security Higher Education Advisory Board
Follow: Website
And now, let’s check in with our good friend John Oliver over at ’The Daily Show!’
Monday, August 12 (2013)
Sen. Rand Paul (Senator: Kentucky [R])
Rand Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party, and the son of former U.S. Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas. Paul first came to prominence campaigning for his father’s bid for the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. He is a supporter of the American Tea Party movement, and has advocated term limits, a balanced budget amendment, reducing the amount of federal spending, and the Read the Bills Act. Paul is also known for his independent views, having taken stances on issues that have upset both Democrats and Republicans alike. In 2013, he filibustered the nomination of John O. Brennan as Director of the CIA by questioning the legality of using drones to kill non-combatants on US soil. He held the floor for 12 hours and 52 seconds. His second book on American politics, Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds, was published in 2012.
Born: January 7, 1963 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States)
Education: Brazoswood High School │ Baylor University │ Duke University
Written Works: The Tea Party Goes to Washington
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – October 3rd, 2012 │March 7th, 2011
Follow: Website │ @SenRandPaul │ Facebook
Tuesday, August 13 (2013)
Joshua Oppeneheimer (Director: “The Act of Killing”)
Joshua Oppenheimer is an American documentary film maker whose works explore violence and political conflict. His latest documentary ‘The Act of Killing’, premièred at the Telluride Film Festival and has won prizes world-wide. It chronicles Oppenheimer’s meetings with the gangster Anwar Congo, who led the death squad that took part in the Indonesian killings of 1965-1966. Oppenheimer had Anwar and his friends re-enact the killings for the camera. Over time, Anwar and his friends form different opinions for their past actions. Some feel that the massacres were wrong, others worry about the effect the project will have on their image, and some become even more boastful of their violence. Oppenheimer’s other documentaries include ‘The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase’ and “’The Globalization Tapes’.
Born: September 23, 1974 (Texas, United States)
Education: Harvard University │ Central Saint Martin College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London
Filmography: The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase │ The Globalization Tapes
Awards: Gold Hugo │ Panorama Audience Award Prize of the Ecumenical Jury │ Robert Award │ Aung San Suu Kyi Award
Follow: @JoshuaOppenheim
Wednesday, August 14 (2013)
Regis Philbin (Host: Crowd Goes Wild)
Regis Philbin is an American TV personality and performer, having hosted many shows and guest starred on many more in a career that spans nearly five decades. He began as a page on ‘The Tonight Show’; with his hosting credit now include the American game shows ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’, ‘The Million-Dollar Question’, ‘America’s Got Talent’, and ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’. His array of guest appearances include shows such as ‘Spin City’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘Mad About You’, ‘Hope & Faith’, ‘Seinfeld’, and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. Philbin took an absence from television after his final episode of ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’ in 2011, but announced in 2013, that he would return to TV as the host of the new FOX 1 show ‘Crowd Goes Wild’ premièring on August 19th.
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – July 22nd, 2002
Born: August 25, 1931 (Bronx, New York, United States
Education: Our Lady of Solace Grammar School │ Cardinal Hayes High School │ University of Notre Dame
Discography: It’s Time For Regis! │ When You’re Smiling │ The Regis Philbin Christmas Album
Awards: Daytime Emmy Awards │ Walter Camp Distinguished American Award │ Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame │ Guinness World Record for “Most Hours on Camera”
Thursday, August 15 (2013)
Simon Pegg (Actor: “The World’s End”)
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. Pegg worked in radio and television for the BBC, strengthening his credits as a comedic writer, before his breakthrough role as Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, which he also co-wrote. The first of ‘The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy’— which he and writing partner Edgar Wright devised — it was followed by Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. Pegg also has roles in two popular franchises, as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in Star Trek and Star Trek: Into the Darkness and Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible II and Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol. His latest film The World’s End features a group of friends who try to top their pub crawl from 20 years ago, but find themselves as humankind’s only hope for survival.
Born: February 14, 1970 (Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England)
Education: Castle Hill Primary School │ Brockworth Comprehensive Secondary School │ The King’s School, Gloucester │ Stratford-Upon-Avon College │ University of Bristol
Filmography: Shaun of the Dead │Hot Fuzz │ Mission: Impossible III │ Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol │ Star Trek │ Star Trek: Into the Darkness
Follow: Website │ @simonpegg
Please remember to vote in our weekly favourite guests polls, and don’t forget to let us know which guests you’re looking forward to! Also please try to comment with any tips or suggestions that you have for this post. Thanks! Here’s to a great week of shows! That’s all for this week Hubsters! See you next time!
Better Know A Guest: August 12 – 15, 2013
Hi there Hubsters, it’s Lindsey again! Here’s a riddle for you all: what do two politicians, an actor, and a college president have in common? Surprise, surprise, it’s that they’re all guests on The Colbert Report this week! (Also acceptable: none of them have exclusive appearance agreements with MTV.) Interviewees joining Stephen in the studio this week are Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. John Lewis, Kevin Spacey, and Richard Brodhead.
Monday, August 12 (2013)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (Senator: Rhode Island [D])
Sheldon Whitehouse is an American Democratic politician and the junior United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving since 2007. He was previously a United State Attorney from 1993-1998, and the Attorney General of Rhode Island from 1999-2003. The senator supports abortion rights, LGBT rights and gay marriage, affirmative action, gun control, and stem cell research. He also supports a more progressive tax system, a dedication to renewable energy, and is committed to fair trade. Whitehouse has also been very vocal in his disapproval of the Bush administration’s use of torture; he currently supports a commission to investigate the use of torture in interrogation. In 2007, he was one of several senators who pressured Bush’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign after the dismissal of US Attorneys controversy. Since becoming a junior senator, Whitehouse has opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Budget Control Act. On The Colbert Report, Whitehouse will be reflecting on the current state of the US government.
Born: October 20, 1955 (New York City, New York, United States)
Education: St. Paul’s School │ Yale University │ University of Virginia Law School
Committee Assignment(s): Budget │ Environment and Public Works │ Judiciary │ Intelligence │ Ageing
Follow: Website │ @SenWhitehouse │ Facebook │ YouTube
Tuesday, August 13 (2013)
Rep. John Lewis (Representative: Georgia [D] and Author: “March Book 1″)
John Lewis is an American politician and civil rights leader. He is the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, serving since 1987, and is the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. He was a member of a group of leaders — nicknamed the “Big Six” — in the American Civil Rights Movement and chaired the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The organization is generally considered to be one of the leaders of the American Civil Rights movement. Lewis recently appeared at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con to promote his new graphic novel March Book One. Co-authored by Andrew Ayden and illustrated by Richard Powell, the book is inspired by the 1958 comic book “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story”, and chronicles Lewis’s struggles in life as he fought for civil rights. The first installment of the series features moments in his life like meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, the formation of the Nashville Student Movement, and his participation in various peaceful protest sit-ins. Critics applaud the book for bringing the real-life events of the American Civil Rights movement to a new generation, calling it “a powerful tale of courage and principle igniting sweeping social change, told by a strong-minded, uniquely qualified eyewitness … the heroism of those who sat and marched … comes through with vivid, inspiring clarity” (Kirkus Reviews).
Born: February 21, 1940 (Troy, Alabama, United States)
Education: Pike County Training High School │ American Baptist Theological Seminary, Fisk University
Committee Assignment(s): Ways and Means
Caucus Membership: Congressional Black Caucus │ Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease │ Congressional Progressive Caucus │ Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety.
Awards: Wallenberg Medal │ Profile in Courage Award │ Spingarn Medal │ John Heinz Award │ Dole Leadership Prize │ Liberty and Justice for All Award │ Presidential Medal of Freedom
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearance(s): Interview – June 4th, 2012
Follow: Wesbite │ @repjohnlewis │ Facebook │ YouTube
Wednesday, August 14 (2013)
Kevin Spacey (Actor: “House of Cards”)
Kevin Spacey, CBE, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. From stage roles and television roles in the 1980s, Spacey first rose to fame during the 1990’s when he appeared in The Usual Suspects and American Beauty which garnered him Academy Awards for both ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Actor’, respectively. Since then, he has continued on to do many film roles — often to critical acclaim. Some of his most famous movies include Pay it Forward, Beyond the Sea, and Glengary Glenn Ross. Spacey spends time in the UK as well, and is actively involved in its theatre culture. In 2003, he announced that he would become the artistic director of the The Old Vic Theatre Company in London, England. To date he has performed in and directed several plays, and was awarded an honorary CBE by Prince Charles on behalf of the Queen for his services to drama. Currently, Spacey appears in the Netflix original series House of Cards, where he plays Frank Underwood, a Democratic politician who plans to get even with treasonous colleagues after he is passed over for Secretary of State.
Born: July 26, 1959 (South Orange, New Jersey, United States)
Education: Northridge Military Academy │ Canoga Park High School │ Chatsworth High School │ Julliard School
Filmography: The Usual Suspects │ Outbreak │ American Beauty │ Pay it Forward │ K-Pax │ Beyond the Sea │ Superman Returns │ Men Who Stare at Goats │ Horrible Bosses
Other Work: The Iceman Cometh (play) │ Richard III (play) │ Inherit the Wind (play) │ Beyond the Sea (soundtrack)
Awards: Academy Award │ Golden Globe Award │ BAFTA Award │ Empire Award │ SAG Award
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearance(s): Interview – January 13th, 2011
Follow: Tigger Street │ @KevinSpacey │ Facebook
Thursday, August 15 (2013)
Richard Brodhead (President: Duke University)
Richard Brodhead is a scholar of 19th century American literature, and currently serves as the ninth and current president of Duke University. Before Duke, he had been chair of the Yale University English department and later the Dean of the university. While at Yale he was embroiled in a controversy involving graduate students who wished to unionise, and was accused of blacklisting some of the students. He left New Haven in 2004 to become the president of Duke University. Much of his work as president has focused on improving the undergraduate experience and increasing the university’s endowment to make a Duke education more accessible. In 2006, members of the Duke Men’s Lacrosse team falsely accused of raping a stripper who had been hired for an off-campus party. While Brodhead insisted that the public view the students as innocent until proven otherwise, he still cancelled the remainder of the Duke Lacrosse season after Duke’s Lacrosse coach was fired. The players accused of the crime were later cleared of charges and Brodhead apologized in a public forum. However, Brodhead and other individuals were the defendants in a lawsuit filed by other members of the Lacrosse team.
Born: April 1947 (Dayton, Ohio, United States)
Education: Phillips Academy │ Yale College
Board Member: Carnegie Corporation of New York │ Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Security Higher Education Advisory Board
Follow: Website
And now, let’s check in with our good friend John Oliver over at ’The Daily Show!’
Monday, August 12 (2013)
Sen. Rand Paul (Senator: Kentucky [R])
Rand Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party, and the son of former U.S. Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas. Paul first came to prominence campaigning for his father’s bid for the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. He is a supporter of the American Tea Party movement, and has advocated term limits, a balanced budget amendment, reducing the amount of federal spending, and the Read the Bills Act. Paul is also known for his independent views, having taken stances on issues that have upset both Democrats and Republicans alike. In 2013, he filibustered the nomination of John O. Brennan as Director of the CIA by questioning the legality of using drones to kill non-combatants on US soil. He held the floor for 12 hours and 52 seconds. His second book on American politics, Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds, was published in 2012.
Born: January 7, 1963 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States)
Education: Brazoswood High School │ Baylor University │ Duke University
Written Works: The Tea Party Goes to Washington
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – October 3rd, 2012 │March 7th, 2011
Follow: Website │ @SenRandPaul │ Facebook
Tuesday, August 13 (2013)
Joshua Oppeneheimer (Director: “The Act of Killing”)
Joshua Oppenheimer is an American documentary film maker whose works explore violence and political conflict. His latest documentary ‘The Act of Killing’, premièred at the Telluride Film Festival and has won prizes world-wide. It chronicles Oppenheimer’s meetings with the gangster Anwar Congo, who led the death squad that took part in the Indonesian killings of 1965-1966. Oppenheimer had Anwar and his friends re-enact the killings for the camera. Over time, Anwar and his friends form different opinions for their past actions. Some feel that the massacres were wrong, others worry about the effect the project will have on their image, and some become even more boastful of their violence. Oppenheimer’s other documentaries include ‘The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase’ and “’The Globalization Tapes’.
Born: September 23, 1974 (Texas, United States)
Education: Harvard University │ Central Saint Martin College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London
Filmography: The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase │ The Globalization Tapes
Awards: Gold Hugo │ Panorama Audience Award Prize of the Ecumenical Jury │ Robert Award │ Aung San Suu Kyi Award
Follow: @JoshuaOppenheim
Wednesday, August 14 (2013)
Regis Philbin (Host: Crowd Goes Wild)
Regis Philbin is an American TV personality and performer, having hosted many shows and guest starred on many more in a career that spans nearly five decades. He began as a page on ‘The Tonight Show’; with his hosting credit now include the American game shows ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’, ‘The Million-Dollar Question’, ‘America’s Got Talent’, and ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’. His array of guest appearances include shows such as ‘Spin City’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘Mad About You’, ‘Hope & Faith’, ‘Seinfeld’, and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. Philbin took an absence from television after his final episode of ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’ in 2011, but announced in 2013, that he would return to TV as the host of the new FOX 1 show ‘Crowd Goes Wild’ premièring on August 19th.
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – July 22nd, 2002
Born: August 25, 1931 (Bronx, New York, United States
Education: Our Lady of Solace Grammar School │ Cardinal Hayes High School │ University of Notre Dame
Discography: It’s Time For Regis! │ When You’re Smiling │ The Regis Philbin Christmas Album
Awards: Daytime Emmy Awards │ Walter Camp Distinguished American Award │ Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame │ Guinness World Record for “Most Hours on Camera”
Thursday, August 15 (2013)
Simon Pegg (Actor: “The World’s End”)
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. Pegg worked in radio and television for the BBC, strengthening his credits as a comedic writer, before his breakthrough role as Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, which he also co-wrote. The first of ‘The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy’— which he and writing partner Edgar Wright devised — it was followed by Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. Pegg also has roles in two popular franchises, as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in Star Trek and Star Trek: Into the Darkness and Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible II and Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol. His latest film The World’s End features a group of friends who try to top their pub crawl from 20 years ago, but find themselves as humankind’s only hope for survival.
Born: February 14, 1970 (Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England)
Education: Castle Hill Primary School │ Brockworth Comprehensive Secondary School │ The King’s School, Gloucester │ Stratford-Upon-Avon College │ University of Bristol
Filmography: Shaun of the Dead │Hot Fuzz │ Mission: Impossible III │ Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol │ Star Trek │ Star Trek: Into the Darkness
Follow: Website │ @simonpegg
Please remember to vote in our weekly favourite guests polls, and don’t forget to let us know which guests you’re looking forward to! Also please try to comment with any tips or suggestions that you have for this post. Thanks! Here’s to a great week of shows! That’s all for this week Hubsters! See you next time!