The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy: More Moments of Zen, More Indecision Theory

Does fake news give us the real story? Is Jon Stewart a philosopher? Can watching The Daily Show make you smarter? Should The Daily Show play such a prominent role in our news culture? Where does "Stephen Colbert" end and Stephen Colbert begin? Looking for the real deal on “fake” news? Want to know how Jon Stewart stacks up against today’s brightest public intellectuals? Or how far down Stephen Colbert’s irony goes? Perhaps you’re curious about how The Daily Show hones your critical thinking skills against bad media, bullshit, and political spin. If so, good news, because here’s The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy : revised, expanded, and updated to probe deeper than ever before the philosophical significance of the quintessential “fake” news show of the 21st century. The Daily Show is much more than hilarious faux news: along with its successful spin–off, The Colbert Report , The Daily Show ’s surging popularity is claiming an increasingly significant role in contemporary American culture. What better way to plumb its comedic depths than with the razor–sharp, media–savvy minds of our Senior Philosophical Correspondents? With moments of Zen–like clarity, The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy represents the most philosophically astute observations regarding the premier American satirical news show available anywhere.

Acknowledgments xi Introduction: From Wiley–Blackwell’s World Philosophy Headquarters in Malden 1 Segment 1 Headlines: Faux News Is Good News 5 1 Rallying Against the Conflictinator: Jon Stewart, Neil Postman, and Entertainment Bias 7 Gerald J. Erion 2 The Fake, the False, and the Fictional: The Daily Show as News Source 23 Michael Gettings 3 The Daily Show: An Ethos for the Fifth Estate 38 Rachael Sotos 4 Seriously Funny: Mockery as a Political Weapon 56 Greg Littmann 5 Keeping It (Hyper) Real: Anchoring in the Age of Fake News 69 Kellie Bean Segment 2 Live Report: Jon Stewart (Not Mill) as Philosopher, Sort of 83 6 Jon Stewart: The New and Improved Public Intellectual 85 Terrance MacMullan 7 Stewart and Socrates: Speaking Truth to Power 102 Judith Barad 8 Jon the Cynic: Dog Philosophy 101 114 Alejandro Bárcenas 9 “Jews! Camera 3”: How Jon Stewart Echoes Martin Buber 125 Joseph A. Edelheit Segment 3 Field Report: Politics and Critical Thinking 137 10 More Bullshit: Political Spin and the PR–ization of Media 139 Kimberly Blessing and Joseph Marren 11 The Senior Black Correspondent: Saying What Needs to Be Said 155 John Scott Gray 12 The Daily Show’s Exposé of Political Rhetoric 167 Liam P. Dempsey 13 The Daily Show Way: Critical Thinking, Civic Discourse, and Postmodern Consciousness 181 Roben Torosyan Segment 4 Interview: Religion and Culture 197 14 GOP Almighty: When God Tells Me (and My Opponents) to Run for President 199 Roberto Sirvent and Neil Baker 15 Profaning the Sacred: The Challenge of Religious Diversity in “This Week in God” 211 Matthew S. LoPresti 16 Jon Stewart and the Fictional War on Christmas 231 David Kyle Johnson 17 Evolution, Schmevolution: Jon Stewart and the Culture Wars 247 Massimo Pigliucci Segment 5 Your Moment of Zen: Beyond The Daily Show 265 18 America (The Book): Textbook Parody and Democratic Theory 267 Steve Vanderheiden 19 A Tea Party for Me the People: The Living Revolution Meets the Originalists 281 Rachael Sotos 20 Neologization à la Stewart and Colbert 298 Jason Holt 21 Irrationality and “Gut” Reasoning: Two Kinds of Truthiness 309 Amber L. Griffioen 22 Thank God It’s Stephen Colbert! The Rally to Restore Irony on The Colbert Report 326 Kevin S. Decker Senior Philosophical Correspondents 341 Index 348

Jason Holt is Associate Professor at Acadia University. He is author of Blindsight and the Nature of Consciousness , co–author of Flexibility: A Concise Guide , and editor of The Daily Show and Philosophy and a forthcoming anthology in philosophy of sport. William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at King’s College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles including Superman and Philosophy , Black Sabbath and Philosophy, and Spider–Man and Philosophy .