Jon Stewart Is Beyond Funny: My Interview on the Daily Show

Last night, I appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and one thing struck me above all else. Apart from being insanely funny (so much so that I totally forgot what I wanted to talk about), Jon Stewart does something so valuable for America. Over the past eight years of bitter national politics and now in the deeply divided condition of an election, he takes the very tools of division -- the absurd rhetoric, the fear -- and hate-mongering, the extremism of polarized politics -- and turns them on their head.

So everyday, the forces of evil build walls between us. And every night, Jon Stewart comes on and knocks them down. Of course, my part of the show was the totally unfunny bit where Jon reminds us that amid our laughter we need to stay focused and engaged not just on November 4th but on November 5th and beyond. In any event, I felt lucky to be there.

Comments

[charitabledonation]

This was a great show/interview. I had just finished watching the Zeitgeist flick: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912&hl=en and you seemed to enforce some of the points.

I will be checking out your book. Thanks.

[saami]

Very interesting and important interview. Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddox are all very intelligent, very well read and more valuable to us than any talking heads. Jon has the opportunity to attack our sacred cows through comedy but Keith and Rachel also use humor to get the points across.

[Russycle]

Very good interview, and you made some great points. I dated an Amy Jarecki in high school (a few decades ago), any relation?

[Moka11]

Your appearance on the Daily Show was great and your book is exceptional and a "must read".
I would have lost my mind years ago if not for Jon Stewart and the Daily Show. I almost feel personally depressed when they take time off and a repeat is aired.

[scooterliberal]

I very much enjoyed your interview with Jon Stewart. Good stuff and I was amazed at how much info your were able to cram into just a few short minutes. Well done!

[BertrandRussell]

I watched Eugene last night and thought he did great. Not good, great. Very informative and opened my eyes to an important realization of what our nation has become. Looking forward to reading his book.

[tlgeiger62]

Jon Stewart is heaven sent. Thank God he decided NOT to go on vacation during the 2 weeks leading up to the election as planned.

He is the funniest, smartest, most articulate, most well-read comedian out there and his talents and abilities, along with his extremely talented writing staff, deserve national recognition. Thank you for writing this piece Mr. Jarecki. I saw you and loved the interview.

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are don't miss shows that I watch every night.

[Aramingo]

That was a great interview, Eugene. What your saying needs to be heard, and where else can you hear it but a comedy show? The great thing about TDS is that we can be laughing our asses off one minute (Jason Jones in Wasilla) and then listen something as serious as your subject. Just think about how funny the show could be if it came from the Real America.

[BertrandRussell]

I'm thinking all of us in great vast majority of this country... you know, the fake America... should secede from the real American, annex everything not nailed down to the real America, including the flag, reform the government as a true instrument of the US Constitution, and then invite the old real America to join us in the new real America.

Obama/Biden!

[spartanmom]

I was thinking the same thing while looking at an electoral map. Blue states make an almost contiguous band connecting the coasts. If a couple more purples go blue, we're there.

[nefariouschafe]

Mr. Jarecki, your interview was insightful. And it's gracious of you to give props to Jon Stewart and everyone else over there who drink their "morning cup of sadness" and then get to work distilling the truth for the rest of us.

Too bad New York's not in real America because what the Daily Show does everyday sure seems patriotic.

[deeppeace]

It was a really interesting interview; I'm glad you had as good a time as we did watching. The whole show has the ability to spotlight the absurdities of our daily life. I'm always impressed by how Jon knows when to dip into humor and when his guests' messages are too important to goof around with.

[Bitsko]

You did a great job on the show, and I ordered your book this morning from the library. Sorry, dude, but I am broke.

[BearsLeft]

Damned Socialist! You just want to read books for free, books you can't pay for. In the Real America, everybody pays their own way. If you can't pay, you can't read. Keeps the undesirables in their proper place. Freeloader!

[RStolorow]

Eugene Jarecki's excellent point about how our socio-political system is driven by an illusory quest for perfect safety is right on the mark and highly compatible with the perspective I offer in my two recent blog posts, "Resurrective Ideoloogy in an Age of Trauma" and "Portkeys to 9/11." In these posts I extend my ideas about emotional trauma (RD Stolorow, Trauma and Human Existence, Routledge, 2007) to the collective trauma of 9/11 and its continuing political impact. In horrifyingly demonstrating that America can be assaulted on its native soil, the attack of 9/11 shattered our collective illusions of safety, inviolability, and grandiose invincibility. Bush and now McCain and Palin have tried to keep us terrified and under the spell of what I call their "resurrective ideologies" by exploiting "portkeys" (a term I borrowed from Harry Potter) that send us back to the horror and panic of 9/11.

[Lynne62]

Good job Eugene!

Too bad they didn't give time to really articulate the threat of MIC...
War/massive militrary spending=bankruptcy (moral and financial). It would have been helpful (for our survival) if they gave you a chance to discuss citizen action.

Please take a look at Senator Mike Gravel's book Citizen Power. He knows that our Representatives don't change the system (70% of citizens are against war... Iraq/Vietnam, 70% for Healthcare yet no improvement in 30+years). Chapters 2 and 12 outline citizen empowerment. Real civic engagement happens when Americans have the right to vote on issues.

Women's Right to Vote, Social Security, Civil Service, Campaign Finance Reform all came from the People while our governement of minority/Lobbyist controlled Representatives blockaded these advances.

We can bring in the People as our 4th check in our system of checks and balances. Geogre Washington said it best..." With Initiative and Referenda, there will be no need for further Constitution Conventions. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government."

Check out http://www.vote.org and see what Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky and others say about the National Initiative.

We need something more than just protesting in the streets (remember Reagan vs. the Nuclear Freeze Movement?... We now have more nukes even with all the money , protests and activism). We the People need a real voice in government. http://www.nationalinitiative.us

[the steamer]

That's an awesome insight, that the war machine doesn't care what party is in control. Obama already said he'd fire on Pakistan. I don't have a grasp on his intentions with Iran. I'd hope for a clean break, that someone free from the grip of corporate influences or the military-industrial complex could pull off the kind of changes America needs to achieve some kind of harmony with the world but there is no guarantee. In fact, it doesn't seem very likely at all. Maybe if he brings on Ron Paul as Secretary of State and presses him to pursue his vaunted isolationist agenda.

[Texas Blue]

Mr. Jarecki - You had my undivided attention from beginning to end. I'm ordering your new book tonight - can't wait to read it!
I noticed Jon was equally interested in what you had to say; it's always a kick to see a guest trigger that great intellectual curiosity he possesses. I saw him react that way to Brian Williams, right after Brian returned from Tehran. What was it like, to have him focus like a laser-beam on you?
I, too, am grateful for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show team. I am hopelessly addicted.
Thank you!!