Hello, Hubsters!
Welcome back! While a heat wave swept the country, our TV has been a cold, cold place without Stephen. Well, time for things to warm way up, because the boys are back in town. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! She chortled in her joy.
So much has happened during their two-week absence, as you might expect. Romney has addressed the NAACP to resounding boos; there’s also his “retroactive resignation” from Bain Capital. The House has repealed health care. States all across the nation are demanding an ID to vote, thus disenfranchising thousands of citizens, particularly African-Americans. (South Carolina governor and TCR guest Nikki Haley is among those supporting such a law. She has also vetoed the HPV vaccine and gutted the state’s arts budget. Stephen, you were too soft on her.) And then, if they’ll dare to touch it, there’s the disgusting Daniel Tosh incident. Let’s just say, Stephen and Jon won’t be scrounging to find good material. Their most difficult job will be determining what to eliminate in the comic bounty.
Monday, 7/16: Anne-Marie Slaughter
This should be VERY interesting. At the risk of giving away my age, I’m going to tell you a story. Once upon a time, many years ago, when cigarette ads still appeared on TV, a brand called Virginia Slims had a little jingle that went like this: “I can bring home the bacon; fry it up in a pan, and never, ever let you forget you’re a man.” The actress in the commercial looked sexy yet professional in her business suit and, if I remember correctly, held a baby in one hand and a frying pan in the other. The implication: we (as in those of us of the female persuasion) can do and have it all. Well, Anne-Marie Slaughter begs to differ. She wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All,” that went viral and inspired a plethora of responses across the internet and in print. Actually, the title doesn’t quite capture her point of view: “I still strongly believe that women can ‘have it all’ (and that men can too),” she writes. “I believe that we can ‘have it all at the same time.’ But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured.”
Slaughter, a political scientist, is the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton and was the first woman to serve as Director of Policy Planning for the State Department. Her books include The Idea that Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World, and the highly acclaimed and much-honored A New World Order. She has also written more than 100 articles. And yes, in case you haven’t read the article yet, she IS married and the mother of two boys.
Follow her on Twitter.
Slate had a chat about the article.
Here’s another take on the piece by a Washington Post columnist. Here’s my favorite line: “Whew. Just reading about Slaughter’s pared-down, family-friendlier schedule left me exhausted.”
Slaughter spoke on NPR.
And here she is with Katie Couric on FORA TV.
Subscribe to her Facebook page.
Tuesday, 7/17: Nas
It’s rap night at the Report! Life is Good for rapper/hip-hop artist Nas—at least, according to the title of his tenth and newest album, which is set for release this very day. (It’s available in a special boxed set, too, complete with a deluxe version of the CD, a t-shirt, and a notebook. If you’re lucky, and you buy this, you’ll be one of the randomly selected 500 people whose notebook is autographed.) The CD includes a duet Nas did with the late Amy Winehouse, although sadly the track he recorded with Frank Ocean, provocatively titled “There’s No Such Thing as a White Jesus,” was lost by the producer.
Native New Yorker Nasir Jones came by his musical talent naturally: he’s the son of jazz great Olu Dara, a trumpeter and singer from Mississippi. Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Nas moved with his family to the Queensbridge Projects, where he first encountered hip-hop. Dropping out of school in the ninth grade, he continued to pursue music and in 1994 he made his debut with the spectacularly successful and critically acclaimed Illimatic. (His father played on the disc.) His follow-up, It Was Written, flew to the top of the Billboard charts, solidifying Nas’s place as one of the most powerful voices in rap. Nas also worked with Damian Marley, son of reggae great Bob, on a joint CD called Distant Relatives, with the profits all donated to African-based charities. (Watch a video of the two of them here.)
He’s also been embroiled in a number of controversies, including a years-long feud with Jay-Z (now resolved, and the two artists have worked together) and most pointedly over an album he intended to title with the N-word. Activists such a Jesse Jackson demanded Nas change the name; he ultimately released it without any title at all, but accompanied by denunciations of Jackson. And of course, there was a biggie with “Papa Bear” Bill O’Reilly, over Nas’s appearance at a rally in honor of the slain students at Virginia Tech, which led to Nas’s last appearance the Report with “gangsta host” Stephen in 2008. (Unfortunately, part 2, Nas’s actual performance, is no longer available on Colbert Nation. Sad about that.)
Visit his website for news, photos, videos, and more.
The Guardian reviewed Life Is Good.
Like him on Facebook.
Follow him on Twitter.
Want to buy his music or just learn more? Go to his iTunes page, which has everything.
This video was released before Illimatic, his first CD. It’s a short documentary on Nas.
Listen to this interview with Nas about Life Is Good.
Wednesday, 7/18: Mayor Annise D. Parker
Meet the mayor of Houston, Texas! Like many native Texans, Annise D. Parker spent many years working for the oil and gas industries, analyzing software—although she has come strongly out for reducing energy use and carbon emissions in recent years. She shifted gears, becoming first the City Controller, then a member of the City Council, and in 2010, mayor. Interestingly, because of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, she’s extremely supportive of NASA, so perhaps she and Stephen will have a discussion on future space travel.
Oh, and something else: she’s gay. Openly. Houston must be a little less conservative than some of the rest of Texas. Actually, no: a pastor asked her to step down, and he’s not the only one.
Parker spent part of her childhood growing up in Germany, at an army base (her father worked for the Red Cross), and later went on to earn a National Merit Scholarship. No slacker she, Parker graduated from Rice University as triple threat, with a degree in anthropology, psychology and sociology. Now the former candy striper (which my spell check wanted to change to “stripper”– oy) serves on numerous boards including Houston’s Holocaust Museum and the city’s zoo.
Follow her on Twitter.
Here’s a site from when she last ran for re-election at the end of 2011, and though it’s outdated, it does have some interesting links.
In Huffington Post, she talks about Obama and gay marriage; this was prior to Obama’s more recent vocal support. (She has been with her partner for over 20 years, and they have two adopted children and a foster child.)
She’s been highly critical of the Republicans’ position on the Violence Against Women Act.
Listen to her ideas in this video. She’s a good speaker and I think she’ll be fun with Stephen.
Like her on Facebook.
Thursday, 7/19: James Fallows
We all know Stephen always like to talk about China and the threat it poses to the US. Now, he can worry about danger from the sky. James Fallows’s glowingly reviewed new book, China Airborne, examines the country’s aviation industry, which seems to be on the rise—although not quite risen yet. It’s apparently one where there are plenty of airports but few commercial planes and the military has tight control of flight. Obviously, China would like that situation to change, so they can produce planes to rival the biggest world manufacturers (like Boeing). Will they do it?
James Fallows has been a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly since the 1970s, does stories for NPR’s All Things Considered, and was a speechwriter for President Carter. He also contributes articles to Slate, the New York Times Book Review, and US News & World Report. In 1983, he won the National Book Award for his work, National Defense. In addition to his writing, he’s a visiting professor in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre at University of Sydney. And for good measure—because those aren’t enough accomplishments, I guess—he’s also won an Emmy® for hosting a documentary called Doing Business in China.
Fallows appeared on TCR in 2007. A vocal opponent of the Iraq War, he discussed his book Blind into Baghdad.
Follow him on Twitter.
Visit his page at the Atlantic. There’s also a special page there dedicated to China Airborne.
Kirkus Reviews reviewed the book.
Read an article he wrote on China’s low wages for the New York Times.
The Economist also reviewed the book.
Visit his NPR page.
And now, let’s check in with our good friend Jon Stewart!
This will be very short for now, but I’ll try to fill in more. Only three guests are currently listed on The Daily Show site.
Monday, July 16: Louis CK
I personally don’t know how I feel about Louis CK after his defense of Tosh. Well, yes, I do, and it’s very, very negative. His show, Louie, is about to begin another season.
Visit his website.
Watch a clip of his last appearance on The Daily Show, slightly more than a year ago. Other clips of him with Jon are available on the show’s guest page.
Tuesday, July 17: Victor Cruz
This will make sports fan Jon happy! Victor Cruz is a wide receiver for the New York Giants and a top player who scored at the Super Bowl. He has a new book called Out of the Blue, co-written with Pete Schrager, and its an inspiring story about his rise from poverty to success. For those of you who don’t know, the Giants are referred to as “Big Blue.”
Like him on Facebook.
Read his interview in New York magazine. I like a man who likes Entenmann’s doughnuts!
Wednesday, July 18: Sigourney Weaver
I love Sigourney Weaver, and though I haven’t caught up with her in her new TV show, I’m sure she’ll be great. In Political Animals, Weaver plays a character inspired by Hilary Clinton–a woman candidate for President who loses an election she was expected to win…and ends up as Secretary of State. Remember I said inspiration, not imitation! Weaver has said she is NOT playing Clinton.
The show has its own Twitter account.
She last appeared on The Daily Show in 2010.
That’s all everyone! Be sure to let me know who you’re most looking forward to seeing! And have a GREAT week. (How can you not, with new shows to see?)
Cheers!
Better Know a Guest: July 16 — 19, 2012
Hello, Hubsters!
Welcome back! While a heat wave swept the country, our TV has been a cold, cold place without Stephen. Well, time for things to warm way up, because the boys are back in town. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! She chortled in her joy.
So much has happened during their two-week absence, as you might expect. Romney has addressed the NAACP to resounding boos; there’s also his “retroactive resignation” from Bain Capital. The House has repealed health care. States all across the nation are demanding an ID to vote, thus disenfranchising thousands of citizens, particularly African-Americans. (South Carolina governor and TCR guest Nikki Haley is among those supporting such a law. She has also vetoed the HPV vaccine and gutted the state’s arts budget. Stephen, you were too soft on her.) And then, if they’ll dare to touch it, there’s the disgusting Daniel Tosh incident. Let’s just say, Stephen and Jon won’t be scrounging to find good material. Their most difficult job will be determining what to eliminate in the comic bounty.
Monday, 7/16: Anne-Marie Slaughter
This should be VERY interesting. At the risk of giving away my age, I’m going to tell you a story. Once upon a time, many years ago, when cigarette ads still appeared on TV, a brand called Virginia Slims had a little jingle that went like this: “I can bring home the bacon; fry it up in a pan, and never, ever let you forget you’re a man.” The actress in the commercial looked sexy yet professional in her business suit and, if I remember correctly, held a baby in one hand and a frying pan in the other. The implication: we (as in those of us of the female persuasion) can do and have it all. Well, Anne-Marie Slaughter begs to differ. She wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All,” that went viral and inspired a plethora of responses across the internet and in print. Actually, the title doesn’t quite capture her point of view: “I still strongly believe that women can ‘have it all’ (and that men can too),” she writes. “I believe that we can ‘have it all at the same time.’ But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured.”
Slaughter, a political scientist, is the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton and was the first woman to serve as Director of Policy Planning for the State Department. Her books include The Idea that Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World, and the highly acclaimed and much-honored A New World Order. She has also written more than 100 articles. And yes, in case you haven’t read the article yet, she IS married and the mother of two boys.
Follow her on Twitter.
Slate had a chat about the article.
Here’s another take on the piece by a Washington Post columnist. Here’s my favorite line: “Whew. Just reading about Slaughter’s pared-down, family-friendlier schedule left me exhausted.”
Slaughter spoke on NPR.
And here she is with Katie Couric on FORA TV.
Subscribe to her Facebook page.
Tuesday, 7/17: Nas
It’s rap night at the Report! Life is Good for rapper/hip-hop artist Nas—at least, according to the title of his tenth and newest album, which is set for release this very day. (It’s available in a special boxed set, too, complete with a deluxe version of the CD, a t-shirt, and a notebook. If you’re lucky, and you buy this, you’ll be one of the randomly selected 500 people whose notebook is autographed.) The CD includes a duet Nas did with the late Amy Winehouse, although sadly the track he recorded with Frank Ocean, provocatively titled “There’s No Such Thing as a White Jesus,” was lost by the producer.
Native New Yorker Nasir Jones came by his musical talent naturally: he’s the son of jazz great Olu Dara, a trumpeter and singer from Mississippi. Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Nas moved with his family to the Queensbridge Projects, where he first encountered hip-hop. Dropping out of school in the ninth grade, he continued to pursue music and in 1994 he made his debut with the spectacularly successful and critically acclaimed Illimatic. (His father played on the disc.) His follow-up, It Was Written, flew to the top of the Billboard charts, solidifying Nas’s place as one of the most powerful voices in rap. Nas also worked with Damian Marley, son of reggae great Bob, on a joint CD called Distant Relatives, with the profits all donated to African-based charities. (Watch a video of the two of them here.)
He’s also been embroiled in a number of controversies, including a years-long feud with Jay-Z (now resolved, and the two artists have worked together) and most pointedly over an album he intended to title with the N-word. Activists such a Jesse Jackson demanded Nas change the name; he ultimately released it without any title at all, but accompanied by denunciations of Jackson. And of course, there was a biggie with “Papa Bear” Bill O’Reilly, over Nas’s appearance at a rally in honor of the slain students at Virginia Tech, which led to Nas’s last appearance the Report with “gangsta host” Stephen in 2008. (Unfortunately, part 2, Nas’s actual performance, is no longer available on Colbert Nation. Sad about that.)
Visit his website for news, photos, videos, and more.
The Guardian reviewed Life Is Good.
Like him on Facebook.
Follow him on Twitter.
Want to buy his music or just learn more? Go to his iTunes page, which has everything.
This video was released before Illimatic, his first CD. It’s a short documentary on Nas.
Listen to this interview with Nas about Life Is Good.
Wednesday, 7/18: Mayor Annise D. Parker
Meet the mayor of Houston, Texas! Like many native Texans, Annise D. Parker spent many years working for the oil and gas industries, analyzing software—although she has come strongly out for reducing energy use and carbon emissions in recent years. She shifted gears, becoming first the City Controller, then a member of the City Council, and in 2010, mayor. Interestingly, because of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, she’s extremely supportive of NASA, so perhaps she and Stephen will have a discussion on future space travel.
Oh, and something else: she’s gay. Openly. Houston must be a little less conservative than some of the rest of Texas. Actually, no: a pastor asked her to step down, and he’s not the only one.
Parker spent part of her childhood growing up in Germany, at an army base (her father worked for the Red Cross), and later went on to earn a National Merit Scholarship. No slacker she, Parker graduated from Rice University as triple threat, with a degree in anthropology, psychology and sociology. Now the former candy striper (which my spell check wanted to change to “stripper”– oy) serves on numerous boards including Houston’s Holocaust Museum and the city’s zoo.
Follow her on Twitter.
Here’s a site from when she last ran for re-election at the end of 2011, and though it’s outdated, it does have some interesting links.
In Huffington Post, she talks about Obama and gay marriage; this was prior to Obama’s more recent vocal support. (She has been with her partner for over 20 years, and they have two adopted children and a foster child.)
She’s been highly critical of the Republicans’ position on the Violence Against Women Act.
Listen to her ideas in this video. She’s a good speaker and I think she’ll be fun with Stephen.
Like her on Facebook.
Thursday, 7/19:
James FallowsWe all know Stephen always like to talk about China and the threat it poses to the US. Now, he can worry about danger from the sky. James Fallows’s glowingly reviewed new book, China Airborne, examines the country’s aviation industry, which seems to be on the rise—although not quite risen yet. It’s apparently one where there are plenty of airports but few commercial planes and the military has tight control of flight. Obviously, China would like that situation to change, so they can produce planes to rival the biggest world manufacturers (like Boeing). Will they do it?
James Fallows has been a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly since the 1970s, does stories for NPR’s All Things Considered, and was a speechwriter for President Carter. He also contributes articles to Slate, the New York Times Book Review, and US News & World Report. In 1983, he won the National Book Award for his work, National Defense. In addition to his writing, he’s a visiting professor in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre at University of Sydney. And for good measure—because those aren’t enough accomplishments, I guess—he’s also won an Emmy® for hosting a documentary called Doing Business in China.
Fallows appeared on TCR in 2007. A vocal opponent of the Iraq War, he discussed his book Blind into Baghdad.
Follow him on Twitter.
Visit his page at the Atlantic. There’s also a special page there dedicated to China Airborne.
Kirkus Reviews reviewed the book.
Read an article he wrote on China’s low wages for the New York Times.
The Economist also reviewed the book.
Visit his NPR page.
And now, let’s check in with our good friend Jon Stewart!
This will be very short for now, but I’ll try to fill in more. Only three guests are currently listed on The Daily Show site.
Monday, July 16: Louis CK
I personally don’t know how I feel about Louis CK after his defense of Tosh. Well, yes, I do, and it’s very, very negative. His show, Louie, is about to begin another season.
Visit his website.
Watch a clip of his last appearance on The Daily Show, slightly more than a year ago. Other clips of him with Jon are available on the show’s guest page.
Tuesday, July 17: Victor Cruz
This will make sports fan Jon happy! Victor Cruz is a wide receiver for the New York Giants and a top player who scored at the Super Bowl. He has a new book called Out of the Blue, co-written with Pete Schrager, and its an inspiring story about his rise from poverty to success. For those of you who don’t know, the Giants are referred to as “Big Blue.”
Like him on Facebook.
Read his interview in New York magazine. I like a man who likes Entenmann’s doughnuts!
Wednesday, July 18: Sigourney Weaver
I love Sigourney Weaver, and though I haven’t caught up with her in her new TV show, I’m sure she’ll be great. In Political Animals, Weaver plays a character inspired by Hilary Clinton–a woman candidate for President who loses an election she was expected to win…and ends up as Secretary of State. Remember I said inspiration, not imitation! Weaver has said she is NOT playing Clinton.
The show has its own Twitter account.
She last appeared on The Daily Show in 2010.
That’s all everyone! Be sure to let me know who you’re most looking forward to seeing! And have a GREAT week. (How can you not, with new shows to see?)
Cheers!