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! This week is the beginning of John Oliver’s run as host of ‘The Daily Show’ while Jon is off filming ‘Rosewater’. So I’m pretty excited for what John has in store for us. If you have any ideas about how John will start his run of the show, please comment below! (Personally, I’m hoping for a Battle Royale fight between the correspondents for who gets to host.) Also this week we’ve got an epic special featuring Paul McCartney on Wednesday, while earlier in the week former guests Dan Savage and Fareed Zakaria show up. So let’s get to our guide!
Don’t forget to vote in our weekly favourite guest poll!!
Monday, June 10th (2013)
Dan Savage (Author: ‘American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love and Politics’)
Dan Savage is a blogger, author, columnist, activist and friend of the show. His columns appear in many newspapers and other types of publications, such as The New York Times, GQ, The Onion and Rolling Stone. Dan is also the creator of the ‘It Gets Better project, a foundation that sets out to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth. He will been on the show this week to talk about his new book, which is a collection of essay about topics ranging from healthcare and gun control to love, sex and religion. Released last month, the book has already been receiving critical acclaim by publications, such as Publisher’s Weekly, Time Out New York and The Washington Post.
Born:October 7, 1964 (Chicago, United States)
Education: Quigley Preparatory Seminary North | University of Illinois
Awards: PEN West Award for Excellence in Creative Nonfiction | Lambda Literary Award | Webby Award for Special Achievement | Anthony Giffard “Make the Change” Award | Bonham Centre Award | 2013 Humanist of the Year
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearances: Interview – August 12, 2011 | November 29, 2010 | December 12, 2006
Follow: Website | @FakeDanSavage | Facebook
Tuesday, June 11th (2013)
Daniel Bergner (Author: ‘What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire’)
Daniel Bergner is an author, contributor and writer for the New York Times Magazine. He will be on the show to discuss his new book ‘What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire’, about female sexuality and trying to understand it better by the knocking down of myths surrounding it, and also looks at the future of female sexuality. It has been critically acclaimed as not only a new perspective on this topic, but as one that will “provide frank, vivid answers” (Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of Love) in “accessible and informative prose” (Publishers Weekly) to “what it means to be a woman today.”(Vogue)
Books: What Do Women Want?, The Other Side of Desire | In the Land of Magic Soldiers | God of the Rodeo
Awards: Overseas Press Club Award for international Reporting | Lettre-Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage | Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
Follow: Website
Wednesday, June 12th (2013)
Paul McCartney (Musician: ‘Out There’ Tour)
Paul McCartney is an iconic musician, having been in the business for nearly 60 years, achieving great success through his works with The Beatles and Wings, and through his solo career. He will be taking time out from the US leg of his ‘Out There’ tour to appear in The Colbert Report’s special hour long epic bonanza of an episode. Previous stops on the tour have been critically hailed as wildly successful, not just for selling out seats, but for the huge amount of fun all – Paul, the band and the audience.
Born: June 18, 1942 (Liverpool, England)
Education: Stockton Wood Road Primary School | Joseph Williams Junior School | Liverpool Institute
Instruments: Vocals | bass guitar | guitar | keyboards | drums
Awards: BRIT Awards | MTV Video Music Awards | Grammy Awards | Q Awards | The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time | American Music Awards | MTV Europe Music Awards | 100 Greatest Singers of All Time
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearance: Better Know A Beatle – Paul McCartney | Better Know A Beatle – Web Exclusive
Follow: Website | @PaulMcCartney
Thursday, June 13th (2013)
Kjerstin Gruys (Author: ‘Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body By Not Looking at It for a Year’)
Kjerstin Gruys is a qualitative sociologist with research interests centering on intersectional approaches to understanding social inequality. Gruys has written a book as part of her PhD, currently undertaken at UCLA, and will be on the show to talk about body image and beauty; two important themes from the book. Critically acclaimed by publications such as Publisher’s Weekly who claim it to be “brave and inspiring”.
Education: Princeton University | University of California
Follow: Website | Blog | @KjerstinGruys | Facebook
And now, let’s check in with our new good friend John Oliver during his first week as host of The Daily Show!
Monday, June 10th (2013)
Seth Rogen (Actor: ‘This Is the End’)
Seth Rogen is an comedian and actor, best known for his works with Judd Appatow who is infamous for working with close friends and the same group of actors, of which Rogen is apart of, on a regular basis. Apatow gave Rogen his first big break in Freaks and Geeks, and made him a household name in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. He will be John Oliver’s first ever guest as host of The Daily Show, and will be on to talk about his new comedy film ‘This Is the End’ which he wrote and co-directed with Evan Goldberg, which centers on a group a celebrities playing fictional versions of themselves in the aftermath of a global apocalypse. While not in cinemas until June 12th, the film has been well received by critics.
Born: April 15, 1982 (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Education Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School | Point Grey Secondary School
Awards: Primetime Emmy Award | MTV Movie Award | Satellite Award | Golden Globe | Teen Choice Award | Kids Choice Award
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance: Interview – September 27, 2011 | March 31, 2009 | August 5, 2008
Follow: @SethRogen | Hilarity for Charity
Tuesday, June 11th (2013)
Armando Iannucci (Creator and Executive Producer: ‘Veep’)
Armando Iannucci is an Oscar-nominated satirist, writer, producer and director. He is best known for The Thick of It about a British Member of Parliament and his staff, and the film In the Loop, which is a bit of an alternate universe version of the television series. He will be on the show to discuss his critically acclaimed show ‘Veep’ (HBO), which manages to be a sort of sister show to The Thick of It. John Oliver lists Armando Iannucci as one of his comedy idols, and was first amongst his dream guests. (I’m personally really excited about this guest if only because both John and him are from the UK and deal with political satire.)
Born: November 28, 1963 (Glasgow, Scotland)
Education: St Peter’s Primary School | St. Aloysius’ College | University of Glasgow | University College, Oxford
Awards: Sony Radio Awards | British Comedy Awards | Writers’ Guild of Britain Award | Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Follow: @Aiannucci
Wednesday, June 12th (2013)
Mavis Staples (Musician: ‘One True Vine’)
Mavis Staples is is a celebrated singer, actress, and civil rights activist, with a career spanning almost 50 years. Her main genres of music were rhythm and blues, soul or gospel, and she first began her career performing with her family’s band “The Staple Singers”. She will be on the show to discuss her new album ‘One True Vine’, which serves as the second of her collaborations she’s with Jeff Tweedy of “Wilco”. The new album will be released at the end of the month, but has already been warmly received by critics.
Born: July 10, 1939 (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Education: Paul Robeson High School
Awards: Grammy Award
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearances: Interview with Jeff Tweedy – October 6, 2010 | Performance – ‘You Are Not Alone’ | ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
Follow: Website | Facebook | Myspace
Thursday, June 13th (2013)
Fareed Zakaria (Host: ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’)
Fareed Zakaria is the editor of TIME Magazine, a columnist for The Washington Post, and serves as the host of international affairs program ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’. Besides working as a host and editor, he is has also authored several books in the past decade, including From Wealth to Power (1998), The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (2003), The Post-American World (2008) and The Post-American World (Release 2.0). A regular on the show to discuss current events and his own show, he will be the closing guest of John’s first week as host, so I am a bit curious as to how this first week will end. .
Born: January 20, 1964 (Bombay, Maharashtra, India)
Education: Cathedral and John Connon School | Yale University | Harvard University
Awards: National Magazine Award | Peabody Award | India Abroad Person of the Year 2008 | Padma Bhushan Award | Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearances: Interview – July 23, 2012 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | July 7, 2011 | July 27, 2010 | May 5, 2009 | January 14, 2009 | May 6, 2008 l| January 14, 2008 | June 20, 2007 | December 12, 2006 | March 28, 2006 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | July 21, 2005 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | January 31, 2005 | October 20, 2004 | April 28, 2004 Interview [Part 1] | [Part 2] | April 24, 2003 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | October 18, 2001 [Part 1] | [Part 2]
Follow: Website | @FareedZakaria
That’s all for this week Hubsters! Please vote below for whichever guest you’re most excited for. Comment on how you think John will do his first week or any suggestions on how to make BKAG even better. Whatever you please. See you next time!
Better Know A Guest: June 10 – 13, 2013
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! This week is the beginning of John Oliver’s run as host of ‘The Daily Show’ while Jon is off filming ‘Rosewater’. So I’m pretty excited for what John has in store for us. If you have any ideas about how John will start his run of the show, please comment below! (Personally, I’m hoping for a Battle Royale fight between the correspondents for who gets to host.) Also this week we’ve got an epic special featuring Paul McCartney on Wednesday, while earlier in the week former guests Dan Savage and Fareed Zakaria show up. So let’s get to our guide!
Don’t forget to vote in our weekly favourite guest poll!!
Monday, June 10th (2013)
Dan Savage (Author: ‘American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love and Politics’)
Dan Savage is a blogger, author, columnist, activist and friend of the show. His columns appear in many newspapers and other types of publications, such as The New York Times, GQ, The Onion and Rolling Stone. Dan is also the creator of the ‘It Gets Better project, a foundation that sets out to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth. He will been on the show this week to talk about his new book, which is a collection of essay about topics ranging from healthcare and gun control to love, sex and religion. Released last month, the book has already been receiving critical acclaim by publications, such as Publisher’s Weekly, Time Out New York and The Washington Post.
Born:October 7, 1964 (Chicago, United States)
Education: Quigley Preparatory Seminary North | University of Illinois
Awards: PEN West Award for Excellence in Creative Nonfiction | Lambda Literary Award | Webby Award for Special Achievement | Anthony Giffard “Make the Change” Award | Bonham Centre Award | 2013 Humanist of the Year
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearances: Interview – August 12, 2011 | November 29, 2010 | December 12, 2006
Follow: Website | @FakeDanSavage | Facebook
Tuesday, June 11th (2013)
Daniel Bergner (Author: ‘What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire’)
Daniel Bergner is an author, contributor and writer for the New York Times Magazine. He will be on the show to discuss his new book ‘What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire’, about female sexuality and trying to understand it better by the knocking down of myths surrounding it, and also looks at the future of female sexuality. It has been critically acclaimed as not only a new perspective on this topic, but as one that will “provide frank, vivid answers” (Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of Love) in “accessible and informative prose” (Publishers Weekly) to “what it means to be a woman today.”(Vogue)
Books: What Do Women Want?, The Other Side of Desire | In the Land of Magic Soldiers | God of the Rodeo
Awards: Overseas Press Club Award for international Reporting | Lettre-Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage | Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
Follow: Website
Wednesday, June 12th (2013)
Paul McCartney (Musician: ‘Out There’ Tour)
Paul McCartney is an iconic musician, having been in the business for nearly 60 years, achieving great success through his works with The Beatles and Wings, and through his solo career. He will be taking time out from the US leg of his ‘Out There’ tour to appear in The Colbert Report’s special hour long epic bonanza of an episode. Previous stops on the tour have been critically hailed as wildly successful, not just for selling out seats, but for the huge amount of fun all – Paul, the band and the audience.
Born: June 18, 1942 (Liverpool, England)
Education: Stockton Wood Road Primary School | Joseph Williams Junior School | Liverpool Institute
Instruments: Vocals | bass guitar | guitar | keyboards | drums
Awards: BRIT Awards | MTV Video Music Awards | Grammy Awards | Q Awards | The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time | American Music Awards | MTV Europe Music Awards | 100 Greatest Singers of All Time
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearance: Better Know A Beatle – Paul McCartney | Better Know A Beatle – Web Exclusive
Follow: Website | @PaulMcCartney
Thursday, June 13th (2013)
Kjerstin Gruys (Author: ‘Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body By Not Looking at It for a Year’)
Kjerstin Gruys is a qualitative sociologist with research interests centering on intersectional approaches to understanding social inequality. Gruys has written a book as part of her PhD, currently undertaken at UCLA, and will be on the show to talk about body image and beauty; two important themes from the book. Critically acclaimed by publications such as Publisher’s Weekly who claim it to be “brave and inspiring”.
Education: Princeton University | University of California
Follow: Website | Blog | @KjerstinGruys | Facebook
And now, let’s check in with our new good friend John Oliver during his first week as host of The Daily Show!
Monday, June 10th (2013)
Seth Rogen (Actor: ‘This Is the End’)
Seth Rogen is an comedian and actor, best known for his works with Judd Appatow who is infamous for working with close friends and the same group of actors, of which Rogen is apart of, on a regular basis. Apatow gave Rogen his first big break in Freaks and Geeks, and made him a household name in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. He will be John Oliver’s first ever guest as host of The Daily Show, and will be on to talk about his new comedy film ‘This Is the End’ which he wrote and co-directed with Evan Goldberg, which centers on a group a celebrities playing fictional versions of themselves in the aftermath of a global apocalypse. While not in cinemas until June 12th, the film has been well received by critics.
Born: April 15, 1982 (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Education Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School | Point Grey Secondary School
Awards: Primetime Emmy Award | MTV Movie Award | Satellite Award | Golden Globe | Teen Choice Award | Kids Choice Award
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance: Interview – September 27, 2011 | March 31, 2009 | August 5, 2008
Follow: @SethRogen | Hilarity for Charity
Tuesday, June 11th (2013)
Armando Iannucci (Creator and Executive Producer: ‘Veep’)
Armando Iannucci is an Oscar-nominated satirist, writer, producer and director. He is best known for The Thick of It about a British Member of Parliament and his staff, and the film In the Loop, which is a bit of an alternate universe version of the television series. He will be on the show to discuss his critically acclaimed show ‘Veep’ (HBO), which manages to be a sort of sister show to The Thick of It. John Oliver lists Armando Iannucci as one of his comedy idols, and was first amongst his dream guests. (I’m personally really excited about this guest if only because both John and him are from the UK and deal with political satire.)
Born: November 28, 1963 (Glasgow, Scotland)
Education: St Peter’s Primary School | St. Aloysius’ College | University of Glasgow | University College, Oxford
Awards: Sony Radio Awards | British Comedy Awards | Writers’ Guild of Britain Award | Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Follow: @Aiannucci
Wednesday, June 12th (2013)
Mavis Staples (Musician: ‘One True Vine’)
Mavis Staples is is a celebrated singer, actress, and civil rights activist, with a career spanning almost 50 years. Her main genres of music were rhythm and blues, soul or gospel, and she first began her career performing with her family’s band “The Staple Singers”. She will be on the show to discuss her new album ‘One True Vine’, which serves as the second of her collaborations she’s with Jeff Tweedy of “Wilco”. The new album will be released at the end of the month, but has already been warmly received by critics.
Born: July 10, 1939 (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Education: Paul Robeson High School
Awards: Grammy Award
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearances: Interview with Jeff Tweedy – October 6, 2010 | Performance – ‘You Are Not Alone’ | ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
Follow: Website | Facebook | Myspace
Thursday, June 13th (2013)
Fareed Zakaria (Host: ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’)
Fareed Zakaria is the editor of TIME Magazine, a columnist for The Washington Post, and serves as the host of international affairs program ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’. Besides working as a host and editor, he is has also authored several books in the past decade, including From Wealth to Power (1998), The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (2003), The Post-American World (2008) and The Post-American World (Release 2.0). A regular on the show to discuss current events and his own show, he will be the closing guest of John’s first week as host, so I am a bit curious as to how this first week will end. .
Born: January 20, 1964 (Bombay, Maharashtra, India)
Education: Cathedral and John Connon School | Yale University | Harvard University
Awards: National Magazine Award | Peabody Award | India Abroad Person of the Year 2008 | Padma Bhushan Award | Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearances: Interview – July 23, 2012 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | July 7, 2011 | July 27, 2010 | May 5, 2009 | January 14, 2009 | May 6, 2008 l| January 14, 2008 | June 20, 2007 | December 12, 2006 | March 28, 2006 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | July 21, 2005 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | January 31, 2005 | October 20, 2004 | April 28, 2004 Interview [Part 1] | [Part 2] | April 24, 2003 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | October 18, 2001 [Part 1] | [Part 2]
Follow: Website | @FareedZakaria
That’s all for this week Hubsters! Please vote below for whichever guest you’re most excited for. Comment on how you think John will do his first week or any suggestions on how to make BKAG even better. Whatever you please. See you next time!