An entertaining and insightful examination of the Emmy-award winning American satirical news show, broadcast on Comedy Central in the US, and (in an edited edition) on More4 in the UK and CNN International around the world. Includes discussion of both The Daily Show and its spin-off show, The Colbert Report. Showcases philosophers at their best, discussing truth, knowledge, reality and the American Way. Highlights the razor sharp critical skills of Jon Stewart and his colleagues. Faces tough and surprisingly funny questions about politics, religion, and power head on.
Amusing ourselves to death with television news : Jon Stewart, Neil Postman, and the Huxleyan warning / Gerald J. Erion -- The fake, the false, and the fictional : The daily show as news source / Michael Gettings -- The fake news as the fifth estate / Rachael Sotos -- The good, the bad, and The daily show / Jason Zinser -- Jon Stewart and the new public intellectual / Terrance MacMullan -- Stewart and Socrates : speaking truth to power / Judith Barad -- Can The daily show save democracy? Jon Stewart as the gadfly of Gotham / Steven Michels and Michael Ventimiglia -- Jon the cynic : dog philosophy 101 / Alejandro Bárcenas -- Public discourse and the Stewart model of critical thinking / Roben Torosyan -- The Daily Show's exposé of political rhetoric / Liam P. Dempsey -- Bullshit and political spin : is the medium the massage? / Kimberly A. Blessing and Joseph J. Marren -- Bullshitting bullshitters and the bullshit they say / Andrew Sneddon -- The challenge of religious diversity in "This week in God " / Matthew S. Lopresti -- Contingency, irony, and "This week in God"? / Brad Frazier -- Evolution, schmevolution : Jon Stewart and the culture wars / Massimo Pigliucci -- America (the book) : textbook parody and democratic theory / Steve Vanderheiden -- The daily show/Colbert report guide to neologizing / Jason Holt -- Truthiness, self-deception, and intuitive knowledge / Amber L. Griffioen -- Stephen Colbert, irony, and speaking truthiness to power / Kevin S. Decker.