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.
Hello, everyone,
This is going to be a relatively short one, I’m afraid—I’ve been besieged with work and freelance writing and, just tonight, attended a memorial for a beloved former professor who died this past summer. I’m feeling a bit somber and sad at the moment.
But the week ahead looks fine and extremely diverse. There’s a historian, a comedian, a priest, and once again, a musical guest. I’m personally thrilled music is becoming a regular part of the show.
Onward … let’s meet the guests!
Monday 11/7: Niall Ferguson
For hundreds of years, the West colonized the world, spreading its culture throughout the globe. Even as empire dimmed, and countries achieved their freedom, Western influence still reigned supreme. How did that happen? And is there a change in the air? Niall Ferguson’s new book, Civilization: The West and the Rest, examines this phenomenon, attributing our success to six factors: competition, science, the rule of law, consumerism, modern medicine, and the work ethic. Now, he feels we’re losing our edge and forgetting what made up great. I’m interested in seeing his argument, because I personally think that some of the ways we consolidated power and achieved that top position was immoral—especially since he’s looking back to the 1500s, when you have such lovely (*sarcasm*) things as slavery, forced religious conversions, and stolen wealth from the New World.
The Glasgow-born Ferguson is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, which would be a sufficient academic credential for some people. Not him: he’s also a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. That means he’s in some way associated with three of the world’s most renowned institutions. His many books include The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World; Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power; and Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Given those topics, it looks as if Ferguson has been planning for this volume for a while. In the past two years, he has also interviewed and filmed Henry Kissinger on his travels, which resulted in an award-winning documentary. Several of his books have become PBS or Channel 4 series, and Ferguson also writes for such publications as The Economist and Newsweek.
Here’s an interview with him in The Guardian. He certainly seems like a provocateur. One line that interested me: “Ferguson’s politics don’t appear to rest on semantic definitions of rightwing, so much as a refusal to recognise the validity – or even possibility – of any alternative way of looking at the world.” How perfect is that for the Colbertian treatment? *Rubbing hands*
Ferguson has appeared on The Colbert Report before, back in January 2009.
Tuesday 11/8: Seth Meyers
This should be fun: the snarky faux newsman from SNL meets faux newsman Colbert. Meyers, of course, hosts “Weekend Update” and he is also the show’s head writer now that Tiny Fey is gone. What’s particularly interesting is that he and Stephen seem to have quite a bit in common. For example, Meyers recently appeared at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinners—the same one where Stephen caused a firestorm. Meyers also graduated from Northwestern, just like Stephen. (But rather than Second City, he worked with three other improv groups in his early career: Mee-Ow, Preponderate, and Boom Chicago.) Meyers also occasionally acts, and was most recently in I Don’t Know How She Does It, (starring Sarah Jessica Parker.
Listen to Meyers’s performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. How would you compare it to Stephen’s?
Wednesday, 11/9: Father Jim Martin
Are you in need of a little spiritual counsel? Is Stephen? Perhaps, because Father Jim Martin—friend of the show and The Colbert Report chaplain–is stopping by for a visit. Father Jim Martin has a new book out, Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life. It follows in the wake of his other bestsellers, including My Life with the Saints and The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything. Frankly, I’m all for anyone who feels worship includes music, dance, and plenty of giggling.
Martin is a most unique character: a Jesuit priest who also performs with the LAByrinth Theater Company, along with such esteemed actors as Philip Seymour Hoffman. (One of his other books is the well-reviewed A Jesuit Off-Broadway.) He also serves as the cultural editor for the Jesuit journal America and writes prolifically for many journals and newspapers.
Before finding his priestly calling, Martin actually got his MBA from the esteemed Wharton School of Finance and worked in corporate finance. Now, he seems to have renounced those policies in favor of bolstering social justice. He did put those Wharton-learned skills to good use, though, while working in Kenya, where he helped refugees establish small businesses to support themselves. Martin has also ministered in jails and to urban street gangs. The church where he regularly preaches is St. Ignatius Loyola right here in New York City.
Watch some of his earlier appearances on The Colbert Report.
Here’s his first visit, and then another in 2008. And this is one of my favorites: a Glenn Beck savage-fest.
Read a TIME magazine article on Martin and his role as Colbert chaplain.
Thursday, 11/10: Brian Eno
I couldn’t resist using an old photo here–so when you see Brian Eno on TCR, he won’t look like this anymore. But it evoked the glitter/glam period when he emerged (the 70s), and I liked that. Eno has long been one of the most innovative musicians and producers in the industry. He first made his name playing keyboards in the early 70s with the glam-rock British band Roxy Music, fronted by Bryan Ferry. After leaving the group, he recorded a number of solo albums and also moved on to producing, where he became hugely influential. Eno specialized in the creation of heavily elecronic “ambient” music or sonic landscapes, which he applied to such groundbreaking projects as Genesis’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. (That was the Peter Gabriel-led Genesis.) The list of people he worked with reads like a Who’s Who of rock and experimental music: David Bowie (Berlin Trilogy), Devo, David Byrne and Talking Heads, U2 (including The Joshua Tree), Laurie Anderson, Coldplay, and Paul Simon. In 2011 Eno released Drums Between the Bells, a collaboration with poet Rick Holland, and now he has a new CD that emerged from that same project: Panic of Looking. This words here are more spoken than sung, and the melodies and musical textures dreamy.
In addition to being a musician, Eno is a trained artist who also creates installations for galleries and museums.
And now, let’s check in with our good friend, Jon Stewart! Let’s give Jon a hand–he’s had some amazing shows lately. (And a thank you to the brilliant Aasif Mandvi who rocked it last week.) What a guest list this is. And we start with a star to eclipse all (living) stars.
Monday, 11/7: Clint Eastwood
He’s the Man with No Name, the Pale Rider, the Unforgiven, and I know he’s going to make my day on The Daily Show. Clint Eastwood has grown from a (quite delicious) spaghetti western cowboy to a fine Oscar®-winning director–not to mention a skilled composer and musician. No one could have imagined it back when Sergio Leone first cast him in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (insert whistling music), but he has persisted in doing what he wants, how he wants, and it’s paid off both commercially and artistically. He’s taciturn, but can be funny, so let’s see if Jon brings it out. His newest film, J. Edgar stars Leonardo diCaprio and it’s about one of the vilest men on the planet: longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Quite a shift from Eastwood’s last film, Hereafter, which delved into the possibility of an afterlife. (I actually would have liked to hear him speak with Stephen about that.)
The question is: how much will Eastwood portray Hoover’s alleged homosexuality and dress-wearing proclivities? (Not that I care about that–but he persecuted gays, and I hate hypocrisy.) And yeah, guys, this article IS actually from Fox News Entertainment.
Take a look at Eastwood on his last visit to TDS.
Tuesday, 11/8: Bill Clinton
Remember, “It’s the economy, stupid?” William Jefferson Clinton knows how true it is, and oh, sometimes I just wish he were still president. Maybe he does, too, because I’m sure he’d love to try and implement the ideas he puts forth in his newest book, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy, which releases this very day. As the title hints, Clinton suggests that it’s important for government to have a firm hand in solving this economic crisis, working with industry rather than leaving businesses to come up with their own solution. (Which they clearly won’t.) Love him or loathe him–people usually do one or the other–he’s always a witty, smooth talker who can hold his own with Jon.
Most of the time these days, he’s involved with the Clinton Global Initiative, which seeks to improve lives across the globe. It’s done loads to help Haiti post-earthquake and to fight the battle against AIDS.
He did a two-parter on The Daily Show: here’s Part 1 and Part 2
Wednesday, 11/9: Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Well, well, well. She tells everyone not to talk to Stephen, but she decides to visit Jon. SCAREDY CAT! Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, represents California’s 8th District. She remains the Democratic leader, and it is her main mission to help get President Obama’s jobs bill passed. Pelosi also has her hands full dealing with the right wing effort to restrict abortion and other reproductive rights.
Pelosi is the author of Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters.
She has appeared on The Daily Show before.
Thursday, 11/10: Adam Sandler
Stephen’s got Seth; Jon has Seth’s former SNL compatriot Adam Sander. Sander has a new film coming out, Jack and Jill, in which he plays dual roles: BOTH title characters, brother-and-sister twins. If you’ve seen the movie poster, he’s actually pretty effective as a female … if not necessarily the most attractive woman you’ve ever seen. The movie comes out November 11th.
See Adam Sandler on his last visit with Jon.
That’s it for this week! Let me know which guest you’re most looking forward too.
Cheers!
Better Know a Guest: November 7 – 10, 2011
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.
Hello, everyone,
This is going to be a relatively short one, I’m afraid—I’ve been besieged with work and freelance writing and, just tonight, attended a memorial for a beloved former professor who died this past summer. I’m feeling a bit somber and sad at the moment.
But the week ahead looks fine and extremely diverse. There’s a historian, a comedian, a priest, and once again, a musical guest. I’m personally thrilled music is becoming a regular part of the show.
Onward … let’s meet the guests!
Monday 11/7: Niall Ferguson
For hundreds of years, the West colonized the world, spreading its culture throughout the globe. Even as empire dimmed, and countries achieved their freedom, Western influence still reigned supreme. How did that happen? And is there a change in the air? Niall Ferguson’s new book, Civilization: The West and the Rest, examines this phenomenon, attributing our success to six factors: competition, science, the rule of law, consumerism, modern medicine, and the work ethic. Now, he feels we’re losing our edge and forgetting what made up great. I’m interested in seeing his argument, because I personally think that some of the ways we consolidated power and achieved that top position was immoral—especially since he’s looking back to the 1500s, when you have such lovely (*sarcasm*) things as slavery, forced religious conversions, and stolen wealth from the New World.
The Glasgow-born Ferguson is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, which would be a sufficient academic credential for some people. Not him: he’s also a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. That means he’s in some way associated with three of the world’s most renowned institutions. His many books include The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World; Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power; and Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Given those topics, it looks as if Ferguson has been planning for this volume for a while. In the past two years, he has also interviewed and filmed Henry Kissinger on his travels, which resulted in an award-winning documentary. Several of his books have become PBS or Channel 4 series, and Ferguson also writes for such publications as The Economist and Newsweek.
Here’s an interview with him in The Guardian. He certainly seems like a provocateur. One line that interested me: “Ferguson’s politics don’t appear to rest on semantic definitions of rightwing, so much as a refusal to recognise the validity – or even possibility – of any alternative way of looking at the world.” How perfect is that for the Colbertian treatment? *Rubbing hands*
Ferguson has appeared on The Colbert Report before, back in January 2009.
Tuesday 11/8: Seth Meyers
This should be fun: the snarky faux newsman from SNL meets faux newsman Colbert. Meyers, of course, hosts “Weekend Update” and he is also the show’s head writer now that Tiny Fey is gone. What’s particularly interesting is that he and Stephen seem to have quite a bit in common. For example, Meyers recently appeared at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinners—the same one where Stephen caused a firestorm. Meyers also graduated from Northwestern, just like Stephen. (But rather than Second City, he worked with three other improv groups in his early career: Mee-Ow, Preponderate, and Boom Chicago.) Meyers also occasionally acts, and was most recently in I Don’t Know How She Does It, (starring Sarah Jessica Parker.
Listen to Meyers’s performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. How would you compare it to Stephen’s?
Wednesday, 11/9: Father Jim Martin
Are you in need of a little spiritual counsel? Is Stephen? Perhaps, because Father Jim Martin—friend of the show and The Colbert Report chaplain–is stopping by for a visit. Father Jim Martin has a new book out, Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life. It follows in the wake of his other bestsellers, including My Life with the Saints and The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything. Frankly, I’m all for anyone who feels worship includes music, dance, and plenty of giggling.
Martin is a most unique character: a Jesuit priest who also performs with the LAByrinth Theater Company, along with such esteemed actors as Philip Seymour Hoffman. (One of his other books is the well-reviewed A Jesuit Off-Broadway.) He also serves as the cultural editor for the Jesuit journal America and writes prolifically for many journals and newspapers.
Before finding his priestly calling, Martin actually got his MBA from the esteemed Wharton School of Finance and worked in corporate finance. Now, he seems to have renounced those policies in favor of bolstering social justice. He did put those Wharton-learned skills to good use, though, while working in Kenya, where he helped refugees establish small businesses to support themselves. Martin has also ministered in jails and to urban street gangs. The church where he regularly preaches is St. Ignatius Loyola right here in New York City.
Watch some of his earlier appearances on The Colbert Report.
Here’s his first visit, and then another in 2008. And this is one of my favorites: a Glenn Beck savage-fest.
Read a TIME magazine article on Martin and his role as Colbert chaplain.
Thursday, 11/10: Brian Eno
I couldn’t resist using an old photo here–so when you see Brian Eno on TCR, he won’t look like this anymore. But it evoked the glitter/glam period when he emerged (the 70s), and I liked that. Eno has long been one of the most innovative musicians and producers in the industry. He first made his name playing keyboards in the early 70s with the glam-rock British band Roxy Music, fronted by Bryan Ferry. After leaving the group, he recorded a number of solo albums and also moved on to producing, where he became hugely influential. Eno specialized in the creation of heavily elecronic “ambient” music or sonic landscapes, which he applied to such groundbreaking projects as Genesis’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. (That was the Peter Gabriel-led Genesis.) The list of people he worked with reads like a Who’s Who of rock and experimental music: David Bowie (Berlin Trilogy), Devo, David Byrne and Talking Heads, U2 (including The Joshua Tree), Laurie Anderson, Coldplay, and Paul Simon. In 2011 Eno released Drums Between the Bells, a collaboration with poet Rick Holland, and now he has a new CD that emerged from that same project: Panic of Looking. This words here are more spoken than sung, and the melodies and musical textures dreamy.
In addition to being a musician, Eno is a trained artist who also creates installations for galleries and museums.
And now, let’s check in with our good friend, Jon Stewart! Let’s give Jon a hand–he’s had some amazing shows lately. (And a thank you to the brilliant Aasif Mandvi who rocked it last week.) What a guest list this is. And we start with a star to eclipse all (living) stars.
Monday, 11/7: Clint Eastwood
He’s the Man with No Name, the Pale Rider, the Unforgiven, and I know he’s going to make my day on The Daily Show. Clint Eastwood has grown from a (quite delicious) spaghetti western cowboy to a fine Oscar®-winning director–not to mention a skilled composer and musician. No one could have imagined it back when Sergio Leone first cast him in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (insert whistling music), but he has persisted in doing what he wants, how he wants, and it’s paid off both commercially and artistically. He’s taciturn, but can be funny, so let’s see if Jon brings it out. His newest film, J. Edgar stars Leonardo diCaprio and it’s about one of the vilest men on the planet: longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Quite a shift from Eastwood’s last film, Hereafter, which delved into the possibility of an afterlife. (I actually would have liked to hear him speak with Stephen about that.)
The question is: how much will Eastwood portray Hoover’s alleged homosexuality and dress-wearing proclivities? (Not that I care about that–but he persecuted gays, and I hate hypocrisy.) And yeah, guys, this article IS actually from Fox News Entertainment.
Take a look at Eastwood on his last visit to TDS.
Tuesday, 11/8: Bill Clinton
Remember, “It’s the economy, stupid?” William Jefferson Clinton knows how true it is, and oh, sometimes I just wish he were still president. Maybe he does, too, because I’m sure he’d love to try and implement the ideas he puts forth in his newest book, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy, which releases this very day. As the title hints, Clinton suggests that it’s important for government to have a firm hand in solving this economic crisis, working with industry rather than leaving businesses to come up with their own solution. (Which they clearly won’t.) Love him or loathe him–people usually do one or the other–he’s always a witty, smooth talker who can hold his own with Jon.
Most of the time these days, he’s involved with the Clinton Global Initiative, which seeks to improve lives across the globe. It’s done loads to help Haiti post-earthquake and to fight the battle against AIDS.
He did a two-parter on The Daily Show: here’s Part 1 and Part 2
Wednesday, 11/9: Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Well, well, well. She tells everyone not to talk to Stephen, but she decides to visit Jon. SCAREDY CAT! Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, represents California’s 8th District. She remains the Democratic leader, and it is her main mission to help get President Obama’s jobs bill passed. Pelosi also has her hands full dealing with the right wing effort to restrict abortion and other reproductive rights.
Pelosi is the author of Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters.
She has appeared on The Daily Show before.
Thursday, 11/10: Adam Sandler
Stephen’s got Seth; Jon has Seth’s former SNL compatriot Adam Sander. Sander has a new film coming out, Jack and Jill, in which he plays dual roles: BOTH title characters, brother-and-sister twins. If you’ve seen the movie poster, he’s actually pretty effective as a female … if not necessarily the most attractive woman you’ve ever seen. The movie comes out November 11th.
See Adam Sandler on his last visit with Jon.
That’s it for this week! Let me know which guest you’re most looking forward too.
Cheers!