Lisa Rogak - Angry Optimist

“‘I can’t complain’”: Curt Schleier, “Timing Is Everything.” The Jewish Week, October 9, 1998.

“helped me have big friends”: Jeremy Gillick, “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz [AKA Jon Stewart].” Moment magazine, November/December 2008.

“made sense to me”: Curt Schleier, “Timing Is Everything.” The Jewish Week , October 9, 1998.

“make me recite prayers”: Jeremy Gillick, “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz [AKA Jon Stewart].” Moment magazine, November/December 2008.

“‘a pussy can I be?’”: Tad Friend, “Is it Funny Yet? Jon Stewart and the Comedy of Crisis.” The New Yorker, February 11, 2002.

“memories of breaking into showbiz”: Ed Condran, “Stand-up Comedy Lifts Jon Stewart out of His Daily Show Seat.” The Morning Call, November 26, 1999.

“she had to fend for herself”: Fresh Air, NPR, September 29, 2010.

“go to Long Beach Island”: Ed Condran, “Stand-up Comedy Lifts Jon Stewart out of His Daily Show Seat.” The Morning Call, November 26, 1999.

“I was a weirdo”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“smart-ass versus smart”: Robert Strauss, “Jon Stewart: You Know, That Guy on the Tube.” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1994.

“as the bell was ringing”: Jeremy Gillick, “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz [AKA Jon Stewart].” Moment magazine, November/December 2008.

“Jews had to live alphabetically”: Ibid.

“running around like idiots”: Marshall Owens, “Jon Stewart Recalls Life as a Local Boy.” The Daily Princetonian, March 23, 2000.

“very dogged when I’m unsuccessful”: Brian Kilmeade, The Games Do Count . New York: HarperCollins, 2008.

“the mall bathroom that day”: Cindy Pearlman, “Must Be Moving On.” Chicago Sun-Times, June 20, 1999.

“everybody making fun of me”: David Wallis, “Man of Style.” InStyle, February 1999.

“the late seventies dug that, man”: Fresh Air, NPR, September 29, 2010.

“to get my friends into fights”: Dennis McLellan, “He Has Faith in His Jokes.” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1993.

“going to make sports my life”: David Wallis, “Man of Style.” InStyle, February 1999.

“ability to make people laugh”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart.

“tend not to go into comedy”: Ibid.

“eleven o’clock at night”: Jim Sullivan, “Jon Stewart: Growing Up on MTV.” Boston Globe, May 6, 1994.

“‘If I spit from here…’”: Allison Adato, “Anchor Astray.” George magazine, May 2000.

“defend my increased military spending”: Ibid.

“that I want to be”: Jon Stewart, “Bruce Springsteen’s State of the Union.” Rolling Stone, March 29, 2012.

Chapter 2

“not what I thought it meant”: Commencement Address, College of William & Mary, May 20, 2004.

“who just went by ‘Trip’”: J. D. Heiman, “Jon Stewart, The Comeback Comic.” New York Now, December 13, 1998.

“best of my college experience”: Al Albert, William and Mary Men’s Soccer . Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

“I developed my humor”: Meghan Williams, “Comedian, Alumnus Returns to College for Q&A Session.” The Flat Hat, November 1, 2002.

“a very funny guy”: Ibid.

“he was so quick-witted”: Jeremy Gillick, “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz [AKA Jon Stewart].” Moment magazine, November/December 2008.

“as you write five pages”: Steve Kroft, “Jon Stewart’s Rise to Stardom.” 60 Minutes, April 22, 2001.

“chances are you get a B”: Ben Domenech, “Jon Stewart: The SIN Interview.” Student Information Network (William & Mary), April 26, 2002.

“to discuss a toga party”: Meghan Williams, “Comedian, Alumnus Returns to College for Q&A Session.” The Flat Hat, November 1, 2002.

“Don’t touch the carpet”: “Nightline Up Close: Jon Stewart.” ABCNews.com, November 12, 2002.

“some very attractive women in college”: Jeremy Gillick, “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz [AKA Jon Stewart].” Moment magazine, November/December 2008.

“didn’t let it bother him”: Ibid.

“the most of the talent he had”: Chris Weidman, “WM’s Most Famous Alum, Jon Stewart, Spun Soccer into Success.” WY Daily, October 25, 2010.

“they no longer called us gringos”: Jeremy Gillick, “Meet Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz [AKA Jon Stewart].” Moment magazine, November/December 2008.

“that in itself was probably annoying”: Ben Domenech, “Jon Stewart: The SIN Interview.” Student Information Network (William & Mary), April 26, 2002.

“The entire place is an elective”: Commencement Address, College of William and Mary, May 20, 2004.

“an amazing amount of [lousy] jobs”: Sheila Anne Feeney, “Heeeeeeere’s Jon: MTV’s New Talker.” Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1993.

“store proprietor, and window cleaner”: Megan Smolenyak, “Hey, Jon Stewart, Your Roots Are Showing.” Huffington Post, February 25, 2013.

“the Pine Barrens would be there”: Robert Strauss, “Jon Stewart: You Know, That Guy on the Tube.” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1994.

“through the fan and get trapped”: “Nightline Up Close: Jon Stewart.” ABCNews.com, November 12, 2002.

“It was insane.” Robert Strauss, “Jon Stewart: You Know, That Guy on the Tube Television.” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1994.

“tell me to clean them out”: Michael Kaplan, “New York’s Mr. Schmooze.” TV Guide, February 29, 1994.

“who couldn’t commit to a relationship”: Chris Smith, “The Man Who Should Be Conan.” New York magazine, January 10, 1994.

“to create something I felt part of”: “Oprah Talks to Jon Stewart.” The Oprah Magazine, June 1, 2005.

“fuck this. I need stand-up”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“all on the same day”: “Oprah Talks to Jon Stewart.” The Oprah Magazine , June 1, 2005.

“you’re not getting up the stairs”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“for the next seventy years?”: Tad Friend, “Is It Funny Yet? Jon Stewart and the Comedy of Crisis.” The New Yorker, February 11, 2002.

“the guy organizing the team”: Robert Strauss, “Jon Stewart: You Know, That Guy on the Tube.” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1994.

“won’t save a seat for me”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“too young for a dental plan”: Alyssa Lustigman, “Jon Stewart Jimmies His Way into the TV Talk Show Door.” INsider Magazine, Winter 1994.

“it was like a bombshell”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“the person to discourage him”: Trenton Times, 2006.

“on a six-week lease”: Alyssa Lustigman, “Jon Stewart Jimmies His Way into the TV Talk Show Door.” INsider Magazine, Winter 1994.

“through the Holland Tunnel”: Interview with Bruce Springsteen, The Daily Show, March 19, 2009.

Chapter 3

“balls to go up on stage”: Lee Breslouer, “Giving Everyone His Daily Dose.” University of Delaware Review, September 1999.

“this is who my parents are’”: Jon Stewart, “Bruce Springsteen’s State of the Union.” Rolling Stone, March 29, 2012.