Lisa Rogak - Angry Optimist

“find themselves caught in Yidlock”: Curt Schleier, “Timing Is Everything.” The Jewish Week, October 9, 1998.

“a guy in the audience yelled, “You suck!”: Martha Frankel, “Cosmo Q&A.” Cosmopolitan, January 1999.

“never to go near a stage again”: Paul Colby, The Bitter End . Cooper Square Press, 2002, pp. 143–4.

“better than anything else”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“I have no regrets about it”: Gail Shister, “Jon Stewart Says His Late-Night Show Is a Bit More Casual Than Others.” Knight Ridder Tribune News Service, October 11, 1994.

“some leftover resentment at my family”: Tad Friend, “Is It Funny Yet? Jon Stewart and the Comedy of Crisis.” The New Yorker, February 11, 2002.

“did whatever popped into my head”: Martha Frankel, Cosmo Q&A. Cosmopolitan, January 1999.

“write my first forty-five minutes”: Fresh Air, NPR, September 29, 2010.

“success on Adam, even back then”: Cindy Pearlman, “Must Be Moving On.” Chicago Sun-Times, June 20, 1999.

“It’s almost self-medication”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“working for falafel money”: Tara McKelvey, “Jon Stewart’s Dirty Laundry.” Mademoiselle, August 1994.

“open mikes for a plate of falafel”: Theresa Bradley, “Solidly Stewart.” ABCNews.com, November 14, 2002.

“it didn’t actually make sense”: Ibid.

“what to proceed with”: Ben Domenech, “Jon Stewart: The SIN Interview.” Student Information Network (William & Mary), April 26, 2002.

“In some ways, it’s gladiatorial”: Dennis McLellan, “He Has Faith in His Jokes.” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1993.

“And not in a happy way”: Jim Sullivan, “Jon Stewart: Growing Up on MTV.” Boston Globe, May 6, 1994.

“and what am I doing?”: Chauncé Hayden, “Jon Stewart.” Steppin’ Out, December 23, 1993.

“for the first four years”: Steve Kroft, “Jon Stewart’s Rise to Stardom.” 60 Minutes, April 22, 2001.

“Chuckle Hutch and everybody’s hammered”: Chauncé Hayden, “Jon Stewart.” Steppin’ Out, December 23, 1993.

“he was heading for something bigger”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart.

“I just kept working at it”: Chris Smith, “America Is a Joke.” New York magazine, September 20, 2010.

“just stay in the game”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart.

“you have this weird thing about mopping”: John Sellers, “Gimme Stewart.” TimeOut New York, December 10, 1998.

“a guy talking about his grandmother”: Chauncé Hayden, “Jon Stewart.” Steppin’ Out, December 23, 1993.

“staying in my room and drinking’”: “America’s Anchors.” Rolling Stone, November 16, 2006.

“pleasant a time as he’d expected”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“pretty low common denominator”: Noel Holston, “Comic Is Casting about for a New Gig.” Minnesota Star-Tribune, June 16, 1995.

“my girlfriend who was living there”: Larry Getlen, “Our Possible Future Mayor… Maybe.” CityScoopsNY.com, May 19, 2009.

“it was an actual job”: Don Steinberg, “Laughing in the Streets.” Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2013.

“a superhero with a cape”: Jordan Zakarin, “Louis C.K.’s Home Turf.” The Hollywood Reporter, November 8, 2012.

“a reality-based show and a sketch show”: Dennis McLellan, “He Has Faith in His Jokes.” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1993.

“but she was right”: Tom Phalen, “Endearing Jon Stewart Has Hit the Mainstream after MTV.” Seattle Times, March 23, 1995.

“people vomiting on animals”: Sheila Anne Feeney, “Heeeeeeere’s Jon: MTV’s New Talker.” Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1993.

“quiet here if I don’t talk”: Chris Smith, “The Man Who Should Be Conan.” New York magazine, January 10, 1994.

“like an audience with the pope”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“and you become a bigger star”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart .

“no such thing as ‘made it’”: Ibid.

“they picked more experienced people”: Sheila Anne Feeney, “Heeeeeeere’s Jon: MTV’s New Talker.” Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1993.

“That can really demoralize you”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart.

Chapter 4

“we can take in that environment”: Dennis McLellan, “He Has Faith in His Jokes.” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1993.

“he’s also very sweet”: Jill Gerston, “MTV Has a Hit with Words by Jon Stewart.” New York Times, March 13, 1994.

“than what you could have planned”: Michael Kaplan, “New York’s Mr. Schmooze.” TV Guide, February 29, 1994.

“Beavis, Butt-Head and me”: Jim Sullivan, “Jon Stewart: Growing Up on MTV.” Boston Globe, May 6, 1994.

“of course, that I’m miked”: Cathy Hainer, “Jon Stewart, MTV’s New Host with the Most.” USA Today, December 21, 1993.

“just being happy to be here”: Gail Shister, “Jon Stewart Says His Late-Night Show Is a Bit More Casual Than Others.” Knight Ridder Tribune News Service, October 11, 1994.

“cat litter that needs to be changed”: John Hughes, “X-Man.” Sun-Sentinel, March 15, 1994.

“without being too MTV.” Dennis McLellan, “He Has Faith in His Jokes.” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1993.

“seven minutes at a time”: Alyssa Lustigman, “Jon Stewart Jimmies His Way into the TV Talk Show Door.” INsider Magazine, Winter 1994.

“off the air in six weeks”: Jacob Hoye, MTV Uncensored. Pocket Books, August 2001, p. 136.

“He was off me”: Ibid.

“to be hip and ironic”: Susan Howard, “Nighttime Talk, MTV Style.” The Record, 1994.

“a half-hour of my show”: Manuel Mendoza, “Just Call Him the Un-Conan.” Dallas Morning News, March 22, 1994.

“that the MTV audience recognized”: Chris Smith, “The Man Who Should Be Conan.” New York magazine, January 10, 1994.

“‘Are you gonna finish that?’”: Michael Rubiner, “Jon Stewart.” Rolling Stone, January 26, 1995.

“we thought would work didn’t”: Steve Hall, “Jon Stewart Warms Up for Late-Night TV.” Indianapolis Star, December 16, 1998.

“she was a little fresher”: Jacob Hoye, MTV Uncensored. Pocket Books, August 2001, p. 136.

“it really blew me away”: Jill Gerston, “MTV Has a Hit with Words by Jon Stewart.” New York Times, March 13, 1994.

“never love or be loved”: David Rensin, “Jon Stewart: The Playboy Interview.” Playboy, March 2000.

“this really is a lot of fun”: Jill Gerston, “MTV Has a Hit with Words by Jon Stewart.” New York Times, March 13, 1994.

“into the walls, poor guy”: Tom Phalen, “Endearing Jon Stewart Has Hit the Mainstream after MTV.” Seattle Times, March 23, 1995.

“a big construction worker–looking guy”: Lea Saslav, “Stewart Joins Late-Night Gabfest.” Orlando Sentinel, September 13, 1994.

“have that much time”: Michael Rubiner, “Jon Stewart.” Rolling Stone, January 26, 1995.

“And it’s sort of boring”: Lea Saslav, “Stewart Joins Late-Night Gabfest.” Orlando Sentinel , September 13, 1994.