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.
Hey there Hubsters! Anything happen over the weekend that you would like to hear Jon and Stephen talk about? I’m sure the Russian Army in Crimea will be an ongoing issue. Let us know what you think about topics and the guests in the comments below!
Stephen’s guests this week include an astrophysicist, a television show host, and two authors.
Jon’s guests this week include two authors, a Fox News analyst, and an actor.
Monday, March 10 (2014)
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Host: “Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey”)
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and popular science educator. He has done a variety of PBS specials on the subject of astrophysics, and is the man who declared Pluto to be a dwarf planet. He is the host of Cosmos: a Space-Time Odyssey, a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, presented by Carl Sagan. The new “Cosmos” updates its predecessor with a blend of spectacular visual effects and the latest astronomical discoveries. U.S. President Barack Obama will kick off the 21st-century reboot of “Cosmos” with a video introduction urging viewers to find their own way to explore the universe around them. The series is produced by Seth MacFarlane and Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan’s widow), and premieres on March 9, 2014 across several Fox networks.
Born: October 5, 1958 (Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States)
Education: Bronx High School of Science | Harvard University | University of Texas at Austin | Columbia University
Books: Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier | The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet | Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries | The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist | Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution | My Favorite Universe | City of Stars: A New Yorker’s Guide to the Cosmos | Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge | One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos | Just Visiting This Planet | Universe Down to Earth | Merlin’s Tour of the Universe
Awards: Medal of Excellence, Columbia University | NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal | Klopsteg Memorial Award | Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award, the Space Foundation | Isaac Asimov Award, American Humanist Association | Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, People Magazine | Asteroid named after him: 13123 Tyson | 50 Most Important African-Americas in Research Science | Harvard 100: Most Influential | Time 100 | 50 Best Brains in Science, Discover Magazine
Previous ’Colbert Report’ Appearance(s): Interview – April 8, 2010 | June 29, 2009 | June 25, 2008 | February 13, 2008 | April 30, 2007 | October 26, 2005
Previous ’Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – March 6, 2013 | February 27, 2012 | January 18, 2011 | March 1, 2010 | January 28, 2009 | July 23, 2007 | January 30, 2007
Follow: Website | @neiltyson | Facebook
Tuesday, March 11 (2014)
Ronan Farrow (Host: “Ronan Farrow Daily”)
Ronan Farrow is an American journalist, lawyer, activist, former U.S. government adviser and host of MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow Daily, weekdays at 1 PM. Newsbusters reports that the show has received poor ratings since its debut, but attribute this in part to its newness. The New York Daily News furthers that while knowledgeable and capable, Farrow doesn’t yet pop off the screen or have as distinct a personality as cable giants Bill O’Reilly or Rachel Maddow. Refreshingly though, Farrow has thus far covered a wide range of topics, many of which are not considered to be for mass-cultural appeal.
Born: December 19, 1987 (New York City, New York, United States)
Education: Bard College | Yale Law School
Awards: New Activist of the Year (New York Magazine) | Up and Coming Politician (Harper’s Bazaar) | 30 Under 30 (Forbes Magazine) | McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, Refugees International | Honorary Doctorate, Dominican University of California
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – February 20, 2014
Follow: @RonanFarrow | Facebook | Instagram
Wednesday, March 12 (2014)
Maria Shriver (Executive Producer: “Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert”)
Maria Shriver is an American journalist and author. She is the executive producer of the new HBO documentary Paycheck to Paycheck, which explores the complex issues of women and poverty in the United States today. The documentary focuses on the year in the life of Katrina Gilbert, a single mother from Chattanooga, Tenn., who raises three children, works a full-time job and lives below the poverty line. She is just one millions of other women and their children living in the US who live below the poverty line.
Born: November 6, 1955 (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Education: Westland Middle School | Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart | Georgetown University
Awards: Emmy Award | Peabody Award | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Award | Pathfinders in Peace Award
Follow: Website | @MariaShriver | Facebook
Thursday, March 13 (2014)
Simon Schama (Presenter: “The Story of the Jews”)
Simon Schama is a British historian who specializes in art and French history, and is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University. He will present the PBS documentary The Story of the Jews, a five-part series that will focus on the history of the Jewish people and their cultural contributions. In an article in USA Today Schama stated that he wanted to make something that looked at the Jewish people beyond the Holocaust, tensions in the Middle East, and the Diaspora. The series first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC in fall 2013, and was acclaimed in the British press as “an astonishing achievement, a TV landmark, idiosyncratic, accessible but always authoritative.” Despite this, activists attacked the series claiming that it should not include Schama’s opinions on the creation of Israel, nor should he be allowed to discuss the Shoah.
Born: February 13, 1945 (London, England, United Kingdom)
Education: Haberdasher’s Aske’s Boys School | Christ’s College, University of Cambridge
Books: Patriots and Liberators | Two Rothschilds and the Land of Israel | The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age | Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution | Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations | Landscapes and Memory | Rembrandt’s Eyes | A History of Britain (Vol. I-III) | Hang Ups: Essays on Art | Rough Crossings | Simon Schama’s Power of Art | The American Future: A History | Scribble, Scribble, Scribble | The Story of the Jews
Documentaries: Landscape and Memory | Rembrandt: The Public Eye and the Private Gaze | A History of Britain by Simon Schama | Simon Schama’s John Donne | Murder at Harvard | Rough Crossings | Simon Schama’s Power of Art | The American Future: A History | Simon Schama’s Shakespeare
Awards: Wolfson History Prize | Leo Gershoy Award | New York Times Bestseller Book of the Year | Lionel Trilling Book Award | WH Smith Literary Award | Broadcasting Press Guild Writer’s Award | National Book Critics Circle Award | Hessell-Tiltman Prize
Follow: @Simon_Schama
And now, let’s check in with our good friend Jon Stewart over at ‘The Daily Show’!
Monday, March 10 (2014)
Paul Taylor (Author: “The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown”)
Paul Taylor is an American author and the executive vice president of special projects at the Pew Research Center. His book The Next America discusses the coming shift in American demographics. He is particularly concerned with generation gaps that have been present in a variety of political issues, and argues that today’s Millennial generation is in danger of having a lower standard of living than their parents, while a large group of Baby Boomers are retiring every year. He shares predictions about future demographic shifts in the US, while advocating more balanced spending to help overcome some of the projected imbalances. The information used to write the book was taken from surveys by the Pew Research Center. The book has received positive reviews from critics, with Kirkus Review calling it “An incisive survey of vast recent changes in American society and the ever-wider generation gap between baby boomers and millennials. In this well-written, data-rich book, Taylor examines the demographic, economic, social, cultural and technological changes that are reshaping the nation ..”
Books: See How They Run | The Old News Versus the New News
Tuesday, March 11 (2014)
Andrew Napolitano (Author: “Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom”)
Andrew Napolitano is an American political personality, former member of the New Jersey Superior Court, and a current senior judicial analyst for Fox News. His book Theodore and Woodrow examines the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. He believes that these two presidents turned America away from it’s original values of personal freedom and small government into the federal government we have today. And that they are the source of America’s “progressive, redistributionist” ethic that many conservatives believe is ruining America.
Born: June 6, 1950 (Newark, New Jersey, United States)
Education: Princeton University | Notre Dame Law School
Books: Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks its Own Laws | The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land | A Nation of Sheep | Dred Scott’s Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America | Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History | It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government it Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom | The Freedom Answer Book: How the Government is Taking Away Your Constitutional Freedoms
Previous ’Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – October 27, 2011 | January 10, 2012 | November 15, 2012
Follow: Website | @JudgeNap
Wednesday, March 12 (2014)
Jason Bateman (Actor: “Bad Words”)
Jason Bateman is an American television and film actor, who directed, co-produced, and stars in the upcoming film Bad Words. In the film Bateman plays Guy Trilby, a middle-aged high school dropout who decides to enter the National Quill Spelling Bee to get revenge by hijacking it. He bonds with reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn), who tries to find his real motivation for entering. Trilby also makes an alliance with and awkward 10-year old student named Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand). The film debuted at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and will be released on March 14, 2014 in the United States. It has received positive reviews, and has a score of 91 on Rotten Tomatoes.
Born: Januar 14, 1969 (Rye, New York, United States)
Filmography: Starsky and Hutch | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | The Break-up | Smokin’ Aces | The Kingdom | Juno | Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium | The Promotion | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Hancock | Tropic Thunder | Up in the Air | Couples Retreat | Identity Thief | Horrible Bosses | Paul
Television: It’s Your Move | The Hogan Family | Bates Motel | Simon | Arrested Development | King of the Hill | Scrubs
Awards: TV Land Award | Golden Globe Award | Satellite Award
Previous ’Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – April 8, 2004 | August 10, 2010 | August 2, 2011
Follow: @BatemanJason
Thursday, March 13 (2014)
Anita Hill (Subject: “Anita”)
Anita Hill is an American attorney and academic, who is best known for her testimony on Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. She formally accused Thomas of unwanted sexual advances in 1991. The documentary Anita follows her story and the national discourse that it sparked on race, sexual harassment, power, and politics which we deal with today. It is a dramatic look at what happens when a citizen stands up against a powerful public figure. Anita also discusses what happened in her life after the event and what it means for women in similar situations today.
Born: July 30, 1956 (Lone Tree, Oklahoma, United States)
Education: Morris High School | Oklahoma State University | Yale Law School
Awards: Fletcher Foundation Fellow | Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award
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: March 10 – 13, 2014
Hey there Hubsters! Anything happen over the weekend that you would like to hear Jon and Stephen talk about? I’m sure the Russian Army in Crimea will be an ongoing issue. Let us know what you think about topics and the guests in the comments below!
Stephen’s guests this week include an astrophysicist, a television show host, and two authors.
Jon’s guests this week include two authors, a Fox News analyst, and an actor.
Monday, March 10 (2014)
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Host: “Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey”)
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and popular science educator. He has done a variety of PBS specials on the subject of astrophysics, and is the man who declared Pluto to be a dwarf planet. He is the host of Cosmos: a Space-Time Odyssey, a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, presented by Carl Sagan. The new “Cosmos” updates its predecessor with a blend of spectacular visual effects and the latest astronomical discoveries. U.S. President Barack Obama will kick off the 21st-century reboot of “Cosmos” with a video introduction urging viewers to find their own way to explore the universe around them. The series is produced by Seth MacFarlane and Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan’s widow), and premieres on March 9, 2014 across several Fox networks.
Born: October 5, 1958 (Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States)
Education: Bronx High School of Science | Harvard University | University of Texas at Austin | Columbia University
Books: Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier | The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet | Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries | The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist | Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution | My Favorite Universe | City of Stars: A New Yorker’s Guide to the Cosmos | Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge | One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos | Just Visiting This Planet | Universe Down to Earth | Merlin’s Tour of the Universe
Awards: Medal of Excellence, Columbia University | NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal | Klopsteg Memorial Award | Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award, the Space Foundation | Isaac Asimov Award, American Humanist Association | Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, People Magazine | Asteroid named after him: 13123 Tyson | 50 Most Important African-Americas in Research Science | Harvard 100: Most Influential | Time 100 | 50 Best Brains in Science, Discover Magazine
Previous ’Colbert Report’ Appearance(s): Interview – April 8, 2010 | June 29, 2009 | June 25, 2008 | February 13, 2008 | April 30, 2007 | October 26, 2005
Previous ’Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – March 6, 2013 | February 27, 2012 | January 18, 2011 | March 1, 2010 | January 28, 2009 | July 23, 2007 | January 30, 2007
Follow: Website | @neiltyson | Facebook
Tuesday, March 11 (2014)
Ronan Farrow (Host: “Ronan Farrow Daily”)
Ronan Farrow is an American journalist, lawyer, activist, former U.S. government adviser and host of MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow Daily, weekdays at 1 PM. Newsbusters reports that the show has received poor ratings since its debut, but attribute this in part to its newness. The New York Daily News furthers that while knowledgeable and capable, Farrow doesn’t yet pop off the screen or have as distinct a personality as cable giants Bill O’Reilly or Rachel Maddow. Refreshingly though, Farrow has thus far covered a wide range of topics, many of which are not considered to be for mass-cultural appeal.
Born: December 19, 1987 (New York City, New York, United States)
Education: Bard College | Yale Law School
Awards: New Activist of the Year (New York Magazine) | Up and Coming Politician (Harper’s Bazaar) | 30 Under 30 (Forbes Magazine) | McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, Refugees International | Honorary Doctorate, Dominican University of California
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – February 20, 2014
Follow: @RonanFarrow | Facebook | Instagram
Wednesday, March 12 (2014)
Maria Shriver (Executive Producer: “Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert”)
Maria Shriver is an American journalist and author. She is the executive producer of the new HBO documentary Paycheck to Paycheck, which explores the complex issues of women and poverty in the United States today. The documentary focuses on the year in the life of Katrina Gilbert, a single mother from Chattanooga, Tenn., who raises three children, works a full-time job and lives below the poverty line. She is just one millions of other women and their children living in the US who live below the poverty line.
Born: November 6, 1955 (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Education: Westland Middle School | Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart | Georgetown University
Awards: Emmy Award | Peabody Award | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Award | Pathfinders in Peace Award
Follow: Website | @MariaShriver | Facebook
Thursday, March 13 (2014)
Simon Schama (Presenter: “The Story of the Jews”)
Simon Schama is a British historian who specializes in art and French history, and is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University. He will present the PBS documentary The Story of the Jews, a five-part series that will focus on the history of the Jewish people and their cultural contributions. In an article in USA Today Schama stated that he wanted to make something that looked at the Jewish people beyond the Holocaust, tensions in the Middle East, and the Diaspora. The series first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC in fall 2013, and was acclaimed in the British press as “an astonishing achievement, a TV landmark, idiosyncratic, accessible but always authoritative.” Despite this, activists attacked the series claiming that it should not include Schama’s opinions on the creation of Israel, nor should he be allowed to discuss the Shoah.
Born: February 13, 1945 (London, England, United Kingdom)
Education: Haberdasher’s Aske’s Boys School | Christ’s College, University of Cambridge
Books: Patriots and Liberators | Two Rothschilds and the Land of Israel | The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age | Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution | Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations | Landscapes and Memory | Rembrandt’s Eyes | A History of Britain (Vol. I-III) | Hang Ups: Essays on Art | Rough Crossings | Simon Schama’s Power of Art | The American Future: A History | Scribble, Scribble, Scribble | The Story of the Jews
Documentaries: Landscape and Memory | Rembrandt: The Public Eye and the Private Gaze | A History of Britain by Simon Schama | Simon Schama’s John Donne | Murder at Harvard | Rough Crossings | Simon Schama’s Power of Art | The American Future: A History | Simon Schama’s Shakespeare
Awards: Wolfson History Prize | Leo Gershoy Award | New York Times Bestseller Book of the Year | Lionel Trilling Book Award | WH Smith Literary Award | Broadcasting Press Guild Writer’s Award | National Book Critics Circle Award | Hessell-Tiltman Prize
Follow: @Simon_Schama
And now, let’s check in with our good friend Jon Stewart over at ‘The Daily Show’!
Monday, March 10 (2014)
Paul Taylor (Author: “The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown”)
Paul Taylor is an American author and the executive vice president of special projects at the Pew Research Center. His book The Next America discusses the coming shift in American demographics. He is particularly concerned with generation gaps that have been present in a variety of political issues, and argues that today’s Millennial generation is in danger of having a lower standard of living than their parents, while a large group of Baby Boomers are retiring every year. He shares predictions about future demographic shifts in the US, while advocating more balanced spending to help overcome some of the projected imbalances. The information used to write the book was taken from surveys by the Pew Research Center. The book has received positive reviews from critics, with Kirkus Review calling it “An incisive survey of vast recent changes in American society and the ever-wider generation gap between baby boomers and millennials. In this well-written, data-rich book, Taylor examines the demographic, economic, social, cultural and technological changes that are reshaping the nation ..”
Books: See How They Run | The Old News Versus the New News
Tuesday, March 11 (2014)
Andrew Napolitano (Author: “Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom”)
Andrew Napolitano is an American political personality, former member of the New Jersey Superior Court, and a current senior judicial analyst for Fox News. His book Theodore and Woodrow examines the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. He believes that these two presidents turned America away from it’s original values of personal freedom and small government into the federal government we have today. And that they are the source of America’s “progressive, redistributionist” ethic that many conservatives believe is ruining America.
Born: June 6, 1950 (Newark, New Jersey, United States)
Education: Princeton University | Notre Dame Law School
Books: Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks its Own Laws | The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land | A Nation of Sheep | Dred Scott’s Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America | Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History | It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government it Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom | The Freedom Answer Book: How the Government is Taking Away Your Constitutional Freedoms
Previous ’Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – October 27, 2011 | January 10, 2012 | November 15, 2012
Follow: Website | @JudgeNap
Wednesday, March 12 (2014)
Jason Bateman (Actor: “Bad Words”)
Jason Bateman is an American television and film actor, who directed, co-produced, and stars in the upcoming film Bad Words. In the film Bateman plays Guy Trilby, a middle-aged high school dropout who decides to enter the National Quill Spelling Bee to get revenge by hijacking it. He bonds with reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn), who tries to find his real motivation for entering. Trilby also makes an alliance with and awkward 10-year old student named Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand). The film debuted at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and will be released on March 14, 2014 in the United States. It has received positive reviews, and has a score of 91 on Rotten Tomatoes.
Born: Januar 14, 1969 (Rye, New York, United States)
Filmography: Starsky and Hutch | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | The Break-up | Smokin’ Aces | The Kingdom | Juno | Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium | The Promotion | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Hancock | Tropic Thunder | Up in the Air | Couples Retreat | Identity Thief | Horrible Bosses | Paul
Television: It’s Your Move | The Hogan Family | Bates Motel | Simon | Arrested Development | King of the Hill | Scrubs
Awards: TV Land Award | Golden Globe Award | Satellite Award
Previous ’Daily Show’ Appearance(s): Interview – April 8, 2004 | August 10, 2010 | August 2, 2011
Follow: @BatemanJason
Thursday, March 13 (2014)
Anita Hill (Subject: “Anita”)
Anita Hill is an American attorney and academic, who is best known for her testimony on Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. She formally accused Thomas of unwanted sexual advances in 1991. The documentary Anita follows her story and the national discourse that it sparked on race, sexual harassment, power, and politics which we deal with today. It is a dramatic look at what happens when a citizen stands up against a powerful public figure. Anita also discusses what happened in her life after the event and what it means for women in similar situations today.
Born: July 30, 1956 (Lone Tree, Oklahoma, United States)
Education: Morris High School | Oklahoma State University | Yale Law School
Awards: Fletcher Foundation Fellow | Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award
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!