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, Colbert News Hub! I don’t know about you, but I badly need my Late Night fix this week. We’ve got loads of depressing news to deal with – panic over Ebola, ISIS torturing and killing hostages, creepy and confusing news from North Korea as people theorize over the disappearance of Kim Jong Un. But on the positive, there are talks between North and South Korea (we don’t know what about), and Kim Jong Un is at least out of sight (maybe in a cheese coma somewhere). And, Cheerios put out an adorable ad telling the story of a gay couple and their adopted daughter. It airs in Canada. “Stephen” will hate it.
Stephen’s guests this week are two authors, an actress, and a musician. Jon’s are an author, a pundit, the former Secretary of Defense, and an actor. Let us know which stories you hope to see covered this week, and which guests you’re most looking forward to!
Monday, October 6 (2014)
James McPherson (Author, “Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief”)
James McPherson is a civil war historian and author. His most famous book is Battle Cry of Freedom, which is one of the best selling Civil War books ever written. Battle Cry of Freedom sold over 700,000 copies in its first year and spent 16 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, despite being 900+ pages and full of footnotes, because it followed a story in a flow more like a novel than like a textbook. McPherson is very interested in education and the preservation of historic sites; he has expressed a belief that it is important for all Americans to know about the Civil War to understand our country today. To this end, McPherson taught history at Princeton for a large part of his career, and in 2002 he published a Civil War book for children called Fields of Fury. He was also appointed to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commision, a group dedicated to preserving battle sites. McPherson’s new book about Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president during the Civil War, aims to understand the man and his motivations, somewhat objectively. It will be released on October 7th.
Born: October 11, 1936 (Valley City, ND)
Education: Gustavus Adolphus College | Johns Hopkins University
Books: The Struggle for Equality | The Negro’s Civil War | Marching Toward Freedom | The Abolitionist Legacy | Ordeal by Fire | Lincoln and the Strategy of Unconditional Surrender | How Lincoln Won the War with Metaphors | Battle Cry of Freedom | Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution | What They Fought For | Drawn with the Sword | For Cause and Comrades | Is Blood Thicker Than Water? | Crossroads of Freedom | The Boys in Blue and Gray | Hallowed Ground | This Mighty Scourge | Tried by War | Abraham Lincoln | War on the Waters | Embattled Rebel
Awards: Pulitzer | Anisfield-Wolf Award | Lincoln Prize | Pritzker Military LIbrary Literature Award
Tuesday, October 7 (2014)
Leon Wieseltier (Author, “Insurrections of the Mind: 100 Years of Politics and Culture in America”)
Leon Wieseltier is a writer and the literary editor of The New Republic, where he has worked since the mid-80s. He writes on politics and culture, and is known both as a liberal academic (The New Republic is a historically progressive magazine) and as a military conservative who is outspoken about the need for American intervention around the world. Wieseltier has been critical of the Obama administration for not getting involved in Syria sooner and for delaying action on ISIS. He was a member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, an NGO focused on ousting Saddam Hussein (it has since disbanded). He is the son of two Holocaust survivors and is active in the Jewish community, and has been a strong advocate for Israel when it comes to foreign policy. This week Wieseltier visits The Colbert Report to promote Insurrections of the Mind, a collection of more than 50 essays arranged chronologically in order to celebrate The New Republic’s 100th anniversary.
Born: June 14, 1952
Education: Columbia University | Oxford University | Harvard University
Books: Power, Politics and Culture | Kaddish | Nuclear War, Nuclear Peace | Against Identity | Tolstoy: Late Writings
Awards: National Jewish Book Award for Fiction | Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities | Dan David Prize
Wednesday, October 8 (2014)
Carol Burnett (Actress, “Love Letters”)
Carol Burnett is an actress and singer, best known for the late 60s-70s variety show The Carol Burnett Show. Her first breakout role was as Princess Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress on Broadway. After that performance Burnett quickly began earning roles in television and film, as well as appearing on Broadway. She was a frequent variety show guest on The Garry Moore Show before moving to Los Angeles and getting her own variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, which was on the air for 11 years. Burnett was the first woman to have her own variety show, and it was a huge success. The show included sketches, music, and dance, and often parodied movies and television programs. While filming The Carol Burnett Show, Burnett also had time for a varied television and movie career that included, among other things, appearing on the first ever episode of Sesame Street. Burnett was nominated for a Grammy earlier this year, only to be beat by Stephen’s audiobook (she beat him at sarcasm, though.) Burnett now stars in the Broadway play Love Letters, in which actors read the story of a couple’s relationship off of scripts on stage.
Born: April 26, 1933 (San Antonio, TX)
Education: University of California Los Angeles
Filmography (selected): The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show | The Garry Moore Show | Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall | Calamity Jane | Once Upon a Mattress | The Entertainers | Carol +2 | The Carol Burnett Show | Sesame Street | All My Children | Carol Burnett & Company | Mama’s Family | Julie & Carol: Together Again | Mad About You | Who’s Been Sleeping in my Bed | Annie | Pete ‘n’ Tillie | A Wedding | HealtH | The Four Seasons | Chu Chu and the Philly Flash | Noises Off | Horton Hears a Who! | Post Grad
Books: One More Time | This Time Together
Awards: Emmys | Golden Globes | Peabody | Kennedy Center Honors | Presidential Medal of Freedom | Mark Twain Prize for American Humor | Women in Film Lucy Award | Women in Film Crystal Award
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ appearances: Satellite – January 16, 2014
Thursday, October 9 (2014)
Robert Plant (Musician, “Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar”)
Robert Plant is a british musician best known for his tenure as the lead singer for ’70s rock band Led Zeppelin. Plant is also a lyricist, and he famously wrote most of the lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven.” Notably for the Report, Plant also included Tolkien references in some of his songs like “Ramble On”: “T’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.” After Zeppelin broke up, Plant embarked on a successful solo and collaborative career, releasing 14 albums since 1982 and recently winning five Grammys with Alison Krauss for their Americana album Raising Sand in 2009. His newest album – with band the Sensational Space Shifters – is “lullaby and the ceaseless roar”. This record is a mix of many styles, with elements of blues and country and something Rolling Stone calls “African space-funk”, with band members playing electronic keyboard, banjo, guitar, and even West African fiddle. Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters will be touring North America for two weeks beginning September 25, followed by a UK & Ireland tour in November.
Born: August 20, 1948 (West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, UK)
Education: King Edward VI Grammar School
Discography: Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin II | Led Zeppelin III | Led Zeppelin IV | Houses of the Holy | Physical Graffiti | Presence | In Through the Out Door | Coda | Pictures at Eleven 1982 | The Principle of Moments 1983 | The Honeydrippers: Volume One 1984 | Shaken ‘n’ Stirred 1985 | Now and Zen 1988 | Manic Nirvana 1990 | Fate of Nations 1993 | No Quarter 1994| Walking into Clarksdale 1998 | Dreamland 2002 | Mighty ReArranger 2005 | Raising Sand 2007 | Band of Joy 2010 | Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar 2014 |
Awards: NME Awards | Silver Clef Award | Grammy Awards | Country Music Association award | Q award | Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
And now, let’s check in with our good friend Jon Stewart over at the Daily Show!
Monday, October 6 (2014)
Atul Gawande (Author, “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”)
Atul Gawande is a surgeon, public health researcher, and author. He is currently a practicing surgeon at Brigham & Women’s hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. Gawande has written four books about medicine and has won a Lewis Thomas award for science writing, and also works as a contributor for The New Yorker. Gawande’s writing focuses on medicine, science, and innovation; he recently wrote a piece for The New Yorker about how hospitals are handling Ebola and what they need to do to keep the epidemic contained. His new book, Being Mortal, focuses on end-of-life care, and explores what needs to change in our healthcare system to let dying people lead the best possible lives up until the end.
Born: November 5, 1965 (Brooklyn, New York, United States)
Education: Stanford University | Balliol College, Oxford | Harvard Medical School | Harvard School of Public Health
Written Work: Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science | Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance | The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right | Being Mortal: Medicine and What matters in the End
Awards: Rhodes Scholar | MacArthur Fellowship | Hasting Center Fellowship | Lewis Thomas Award
Previous ‘Daily Show’ appearances: Interview – February 3, 2010
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ appearances: Interviews – January 5, 2011 | July 30, 2013
Follow:| @Atul_Gawande | Website
Tuesday, October 7 (2014)
Bill O’Reilly (Author, “Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General”)
Bill O’Reilly is a political pundit, author, and host of The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News. He is best known for his angry delivery of conservative views on The O’Reilly Factor (although he labels himself as a “traditionalist”), his historical writing, and his shameless self-promotion. Opinionated, loud, smart, and controversial, O’Reilly has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show and was one of the main inspirations for The Colbert Report. He has been a consistently wonderful source of material for Comedy Central and a worthy debate partner for Jon Stewart (before the 2012 election, O’Reilly and Stewart debated for an hour and a half and sold the live stream as “The Rumble In An Air-Conditioned Auditorium.”) O’Reilly has written many political and historical nonfiction books and one work of fiction, a revenge fantasy about killing network executives called Those Who Trespass. His new book, Killing Patton, is the latest in his “killing” series, which profile historical figures.
Born: September 10, 1949
Education: Marist College | Boston University | Harvard University
Books: Those Who Trespass | The O’Reilly Factor | The No Spin Zone | Who’s Looking Out For You? | The O’Reilly Factor For Kids | Culture Warrior | Kids Are Americans Too | A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity | Pinheads and Patriots | Killing Lincoln | Lincoln’s Last Days | Killing Kennedy | Kennedy’s Last Days | Keep It Pithy | Killing Jesus | The Last Days of Jesus | Killing Patton
Awards: National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Governors’ Award
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearances: Interviews – October 4, 2012 | September 28, 2011 | September 27, 2010 | November, 13, 2008 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | October 15, 2005 | October 7, 2004 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | March 14, 2002 | January 22, 2001
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearances: January 18, 2007
Follow: Website | @O’ReillyFactor
Wednesday, October 8 (2014)
Leon Panetta (Author, “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace”)
Leon Panetta is the former US secretary of defense in the Obama administration. He also served as the Director of the CIA under President Obama, Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration. Before joining the Executive Branch, Panetta had been a member of the House of Representatives for 16 years. Panetta began his career in the government by joining the Army after graduating from college, and after his discharge he began working in congress as a legislative assistant. He was originally a Republican, but switched parties in 1971. He was elected to congress as a representative for California’s 16tth in 1976, and he served nine terms before joining the Clinton administration in 1993. He rose quickly through the ranks of the White House to become Clinton’s Chief of Staff, Director of the CIA, and eventually Secretary of Defense. As secretary of defense, Panetta was instrumental in axing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and in opening all military combat positions to women. His new memoir, Worthy Fights, will be released on Tuesday.
Born: June 28, 1938 (Monterey, CA)
Education: Santa Clara University
Books: Justice For All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made | Eisenhower: The White House Years | Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace
Awards: Army Commendation Medal
Thursday, October 9 (2014)
Jeremy Renner (Actor, “Kill the Messenger”)
Jeremy Renner is an actor, best known for his breakout role in The Hurt Locker and his Oscar-nominated performance in The Town. Renner performed in many indie films in the 2000s, often to critical acclaim, before landing the role of Sgt. William James in The Hurt Locker. Now he is an action star, appearing in popular movies such as Thor, The Town, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Avengers, and The Bourne Legacy. He is slated to appear in the next Bourne film, and in The Avengers 2. He produces and stars in a new action film Kill the Messenger, which will be released on Friday.
Born: January 7, 1971 (Modesto, CA)
Education: Fred C. Beyer High School
Filmography: National Lampoon’s Senior Trip | Fish in a Barrel | Dahmer | Monkey Love | S.W.A.T. | The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things | A Little Trip to Heaven | North Country | 12 and Holding | Neo Ned | Love Comes to the Executioner | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | 28 Weeks Later | Take | The Hurt Locker | Ingenious | The Town | Thor | Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol | The Avengers | The Bourne Legacy | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | The Immigrant | American Hustle | Kill the Messenger
Awards: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award | SAG award | MTV Movie Award
Follow: @Renner4Real | Instagram | Facebook
Better Know A Guest, October 6 – October 9, 2014
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, Colbert News Hub! I don’t know about you, but I badly need my Late Night fix this week. We’ve got loads of depressing news to deal with – panic over Ebola, ISIS torturing and killing hostages, creepy and confusing news from North Korea as people theorize over the disappearance of Kim Jong Un. But on the positive, there are talks between North and South Korea (we don’t know what about), and Kim Jong Un is at least out of sight (maybe in a cheese coma somewhere). And, Cheerios put out an adorable ad telling the story of a gay couple and their adopted daughter. It airs in Canada. “Stephen” will hate it.
Stephen’s guests this week are two authors, an actress, and a musician. Jon’s are an author, a pundit, the former Secretary of Defense, and an actor. Let us know which stories you hope to see covered this week, and which guests you’re most looking forward to!
Monday, October 6 (2014)
James McPherson (Author, “Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief”)
James McPherson is a civil war historian and author. His most famous book is Battle Cry of Freedom, which is one of the best selling Civil War books ever written. Battle Cry of Freedom sold over 700,000 copies in its first year and spent 16 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, despite being 900+ pages and full of footnotes, because it followed a story in a flow more like a novel than like a textbook. McPherson is very interested in education and the preservation of historic sites; he has expressed a belief that it is important for all Americans to know about the Civil War to understand our country today. To this end, McPherson taught history at Princeton for a large part of his career, and in 2002 he published a Civil War book for children called Fields of Fury. He was also appointed to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commision, a group dedicated to preserving battle sites. McPherson’s new book about Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president during the Civil War, aims to understand the man and his motivations, somewhat objectively. It will be released on October 7th.
Born: October 11, 1936 (Valley City, ND)
Education: Gustavus Adolphus College | Johns Hopkins University
Books: The Struggle for Equality | The Negro’s Civil War | Marching Toward Freedom | The Abolitionist Legacy | Ordeal by Fire | Lincoln and the Strategy of Unconditional Surrender | How Lincoln Won the War with Metaphors | Battle Cry of Freedom | Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution | What They Fought For | Drawn with the Sword | For Cause and Comrades | Is Blood Thicker Than Water? | Crossroads of Freedom | The Boys in Blue and Gray | Hallowed Ground | This Mighty Scourge | Tried by War | Abraham Lincoln | War on the Waters | Embattled Rebel
Awards: Pulitzer | Anisfield-Wolf Award | Lincoln Prize | Pritzker Military LIbrary Literature Award
Tuesday, October 7 (2014)
Leon Wieseltier (Author, “Insurrections of the Mind: 100 Years of Politics and Culture in America”)
Leon Wieseltier is a writer and the literary editor of The New Republic, where he has worked since the mid-80s. He writes on politics and culture, and is known both as a liberal academic (The New Republic is a historically progressive magazine) and as a military conservative who is outspoken about the need for American intervention around the world. Wieseltier has been critical of the Obama administration for not getting involved in Syria sooner and for delaying action on ISIS. He was a member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, an NGO focused on ousting Saddam Hussein (it has since disbanded). He is the son of two Holocaust survivors and is active in the Jewish community, and has been a strong advocate for Israel when it comes to foreign policy. This week Wieseltier visits The Colbert Report to promote Insurrections of the Mind, a collection of more than 50 essays arranged chronologically in order to celebrate The New Republic’s 100th anniversary.
Born: June 14, 1952
Education: Columbia University | Oxford University | Harvard University
Books: Power, Politics and Culture | Kaddish | Nuclear War, Nuclear Peace | Against Identity | Tolstoy: Late Writings
Awards: National Jewish Book Award for Fiction | Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities | Dan David Prize
Wednesday, October 8 (2014)
Carol Burnett (Actress, “Love Letters”)
Carol Burnett is an actress and singer, best known for the late 60s-70s variety show The Carol Burnett Show. Her first breakout role was as Princess Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress on Broadway. After that performance Burnett quickly began earning roles in television and film, as well as appearing on Broadway. She was a frequent variety show guest on The Garry Moore Show before moving to Los Angeles and getting her own variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, which was on the air for 11 years. Burnett was the first woman to have her own variety show, and it was a huge success. The show included sketches, music, and dance, and often parodied movies and television programs. While filming The Carol Burnett Show, Burnett also had time for a varied television and movie career that included, among other things, appearing on the first ever episode of Sesame Street. Burnett was nominated for a Grammy earlier this year, only to be beat by Stephen’s audiobook (she beat him at sarcasm, though.) Burnett now stars in the Broadway play Love Letters, in which actors read the story of a couple’s relationship off of scripts on stage.
Born: April 26, 1933 (San Antonio, TX)
Education: University of California Los Angeles
Filmography (selected): The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show | The Garry Moore Show | Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall | Calamity Jane | Once Upon a Mattress | The Entertainers | Carol +2 | The Carol Burnett Show | Sesame Street | All My Children | Carol Burnett & Company | Mama’s Family | Julie & Carol: Together Again | Mad About You | Who’s Been Sleeping in my Bed | Annie | Pete ‘n’ Tillie | A Wedding | HealtH | The Four Seasons | Chu Chu and the Philly Flash | Noises Off | Horton Hears a Who! | Post Grad
Books: One More Time | This Time Together
Awards: Emmys | Golden Globes | Peabody | Kennedy Center Honors | Presidential Medal of Freedom | Mark Twain Prize for American Humor | Women in Film Lucy Award | Women in Film Crystal Award
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ appearances: Satellite – January 16, 2014
Thursday, October 9 (2014)
Robert Plant (Musician, “Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar”)
Robert Plant is a british musician best known for his tenure as the lead singer for ’70s rock band Led Zeppelin. Plant is also a lyricist, and he famously wrote most of the lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven.” Notably for the Report, Plant also included Tolkien references in some of his songs like “Ramble On”: “T’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.” After Zeppelin broke up, Plant embarked on a successful solo and collaborative career, releasing 14 albums since 1982 and recently winning five Grammys with Alison Krauss for their Americana album Raising Sand in 2009. His newest album – with band the Sensational Space Shifters – is “lullaby and the ceaseless roar”. This record is a mix of many styles, with elements of blues and country and something Rolling Stone calls “African space-funk”, with band members playing electronic keyboard, banjo, guitar, and even West African fiddle. Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters will be touring North America for two weeks beginning September 25, followed by a UK & Ireland tour in November.
Born: August 20, 1948 (West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, UK)
Education: King Edward VI Grammar School
Discography: Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin II | Led Zeppelin III | Led Zeppelin IV | Houses of the Holy | Physical Graffiti | Presence | In Through the Out Door | Coda | Pictures at Eleven 1982 | The Principle of Moments 1983 | The Honeydrippers: Volume One 1984 | Shaken ‘n’ Stirred 1985 | Now and Zen 1988 | Manic Nirvana 1990 | Fate of Nations 1993 | No Quarter 1994| Walking into Clarksdale 1998 | Dreamland 2002 | Mighty ReArranger 2005 | Raising Sand 2007 | Band of Joy 2010 | Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar 2014 |
Awards: NME Awards | Silver Clef Award | Grammy Awards | Country Music Association award | Q award | Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
And now, let’s check in with our good friend Jon Stewart over at the Daily Show!
Monday, October 6 (2014)
Atul Gawande (Author, “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”)
Atul Gawande is a surgeon, public health researcher, and author. He is currently a practicing surgeon at Brigham & Women’s hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. Gawande has written four books about medicine and has won a Lewis Thomas award for science writing, and also works as a contributor for The New Yorker. Gawande’s writing focuses on medicine, science, and innovation; he recently wrote a piece for The New Yorker about how hospitals are handling Ebola and what they need to do to keep the epidemic contained. His new book, Being Mortal, focuses on end-of-life care, and explores what needs to change in our healthcare system to let dying people lead the best possible lives up until the end.
Born: November 5, 1965 (Brooklyn, New York, United States)
Education: Stanford University | Balliol College, Oxford | Harvard Medical School | Harvard School of Public Health
Written Work: Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science | Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance | The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right | Being Mortal: Medicine and What matters in the End
Awards: Rhodes Scholar | MacArthur Fellowship | Hasting Center Fellowship | Lewis Thomas Award
Previous ‘Daily Show’ appearances: Interview – February 3, 2010
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ appearances: Interviews – January 5, 2011 | July 30, 2013
Follow:| @Atul_Gawande | Website
Tuesday, October 7 (2014)
Bill O’Reilly (Author, “Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General”)
Bill O’Reilly is a political pundit, author, and host of The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News. He is best known for his angry delivery of conservative views on The O’Reilly Factor (although he labels himself as a “traditionalist”), his historical writing, and his shameless self-promotion. Opinionated, loud, smart, and controversial, O’Reilly has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show and was one of the main inspirations for The Colbert Report. He has been a consistently wonderful source of material for Comedy Central and a worthy debate partner for Jon Stewart (before the 2012 election, O’Reilly and Stewart debated for an hour and a half and sold the live stream as “The Rumble In An Air-Conditioned Auditorium.”) O’Reilly has written many political and historical nonfiction books and one work of fiction, a revenge fantasy about killing network executives called Those Who Trespass. His new book, Killing Patton, is the latest in his “killing” series, which profile historical figures.
Born: September 10, 1949
Education: Marist College | Boston University | Harvard University
Books: Those Who Trespass | The O’Reilly Factor | The No Spin Zone | Who’s Looking Out For You? | The O’Reilly Factor For Kids | Culture Warrior | Kids Are Americans Too | A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity | Pinheads and Patriots | Killing Lincoln | Lincoln’s Last Days | Killing Kennedy | Kennedy’s Last Days | Keep It Pithy | Killing Jesus | The Last Days of Jesus | Killing Patton
Awards: National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Governors’ Award
Previous ‘Daily Show’ Appearances: Interviews – October 4, 2012 | September 28, 2011 | September 27, 2010 | November, 13, 2008 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | October 15, 2005 | October 7, 2004 [Part 1] | [Part 2] | March 14, 2002 | January 22, 2001
Previous ‘Colbert Report’ Appearances: January 18, 2007
Follow: Website | @O’ReillyFactor
Wednesday, October 8 (2014)
Leon Panetta (Author, “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace”)
Leon Panetta is the former US secretary of defense in the Obama administration. He also served as the Director of the CIA under President Obama, Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration. Before joining the Executive Branch, Panetta had been a member of the House of Representatives for 16 years. Panetta began his career in the government by joining the Army after graduating from college, and after his discharge he began working in congress as a legislative assistant. He was originally a Republican, but switched parties in 1971. He was elected to congress as a representative for California’s 16tth in 1976, and he served nine terms before joining the Clinton administration in 1993. He rose quickly through the ranks of the White House to become Clinton’s Chief of Staff, Director of the CIA, and eventually Secretary of Defense. As secretary of defense, Panetta was instrumental in axing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and in opening all military combat positions to women. His new memoir, Worthy Fights, will be released on Tuesday.
Born: June 28, 1938 (Monterey, CA)
Education: Santa Clara University
Books: Justice For All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made | Eisenhower: The White House Years | Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace
Awards: Army Commendation Medal
Thursday, October 9 (2014)
Jeremy Renner (Actor, “Kill the Messenger”)
Jeremy Renner is an actor, best known for his breakout role in The Hurt Locker and his Oscar-nominated performance in The Town. Renner performed in many indie films in the 2000s, often to critical acclaim, before landing the role of Sgt. William James in The Hurt Locker. Now he is an action star, appearing in popular movies such as Thor, The Town, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Avengers, and The Bourne Legacy. He is slated to appear in the next Bourne film, and in The Avengers 2. He produces and stars in a new action film Kill the Messenger, which will be released on Friday.
Born: January 7, 1971 (Modesto, CA)
Education: Fred C. Beyer High School
Filmography: National Lampoon’s Senior Trip | Fish in a Barrel | Dahmer | Monkey Love | S.W.A.T. | The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things | A Little Trip to Heaven | North Country | 12 and Holding | Neo Ned | Love Comes to the Executioner | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | 28 Weeks Later | Take | The Hurt Locker | Ingenious | The Town | Thor | Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol | The Avengers | The Bourne Legacy | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | The Immigrant | American Hustle | Kill the Messenger
Awards: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award | SAG award | MTV Movie Award
Follow: @Renner4Real | Instagram | Facebook