Jon Stewart


I really like Jon Stewart’s Daily Show. He manages to combine incisive political commentary with comedy. There was a really good episode a couple of days ago on the media and the financial bailout in the US which you can catch here:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=220250

But my all-time favourite video is of Stewart on the US debate show called Crossfire. Anyone on the left who has ever had to deal with the right-wing media on TV or radio knows how hard it is to unhinge the whole set-up. Everything is stacked against you (right down to the fact that they can cut your mike if they want) – which is what is so brilliant about Stewart’s performance here. Where most of us might buy into the terms of the show, he just refuses to, and is able to control the terms of the debate from the start (see how he takes control from the first moment and holds on for almost the whole thing). It’s from some years ago, but I could watch it again and again. Check it out:

Rjurik Davidson

Rjurik Davidson is a writer, editor and speaker. Rjurik’s novel, The Stars Askew was released in 2016. Rjurik is a former associate editor of Overland magazine. He can be found at rjurik.com and tweets as @rjurikdavidson.

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