Lisa Rogak - Angry Optimist

“about the movie or about you”: The Daily Show, November 21, 2013.

“might not ask you anything”: Ibid.

“for a four- to six-hour period”: Fresh Air, NPR, September 29, 2010.

“make a better fucking movie”: Sharilyn Johnson, “Jon Stewart Almost Quit Daily Show Over ‘Asshole’ Coworkers.” Third Beat Magazine, December 10, 2012.

“as a straight commentator or orator”: Eric Bates, “Jon Stewart: The Rolling Stone Interview.” Rolling Stone, September 29, 2011.

“singles and doubles in a freshman dorm”: Paul Rogers, “A Bald Liar.” Boston Globe, May 1, 2005.

“overall, it was very loose”: Obrien phone interview, February 3, 2010.

“they’d toss a football back and forth”: Zimmerman phone interview, May 4, 2010.

“they were friendly and laid back”: Ganis phone interview, May 5, 2010.

“they would be mistaken”: Claudia Kawczynska, “The Dogs of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart .” The Bark, June–August 2012.

“grass and squirrels [inside]”: Ibid.

“Dogs are therapeutic”: Ibid.

“shouldn’t take life too seriously”: Ibid.

“have won the dog lottery”: Brian Williams, “Gone to the Dogs: Behind the Scenes at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart .” Rock Center with Brian Williams, NBC, September 28, 2012.

“who runs the show loves Ally”: Ibid.

“at the end of the day”: Claudia Kawczynska, “The Dogs of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart .” The Bark, June–August 2012.

“without these dogs”: Ibid.

“there weren’t dogs walking around”: Ibid.

“they are dealt with the right way”: Suzy Byrne, “Jon Stewart Opens Up on the Joys of Three-Legged Dogs.” Yahoo Canada, June 7, 2013.

“to have them around”: Ibid.

“through laughter and acceptance on stage”: Wiltfong phone interview, May 5, 2010.

“that lends itself toward happiness”: Ibid.

“It’s like a dysfunctional family”: Black phone interview, January 21, 2010.

“what’s going on in the world”: Wiltfong phone interview, May 5, 2010.

“these guys are doing stupid stuff”: Ibid.

“that’s me being that Stephen Colbert guy”: Charlie Rose, December 8, 2006.

“He wants to honestly mock”: Ibid.

“But I have nothing to back it up”: Maureen Dowd, “America’s Anchors.” Rolling Stone, November 16, 2006.

“really just want to get a laugh”: Ibid.

“just get our work done every day”: Charlie Rose, December 8, 2006.

“other correspondents engaged Jon in conversation”: Wiltfong phone interview, May 5, 2010.

“Stephen was one of the few”: Ibid.

“That’s part of the business”: Ibid.

“a good thing to feel as a performer”: Ibid.

“lucky to get a one-year contract”: Irin Carmon, “The Daily Show ’s Woman Problem.” Jezebel, June 23, 2010.

“‘It’s sooo hard to keep women here’”: Lauren Weedman, “A Woman Trapped in a Woman’s Body.” Sasquatch Books, 2007, p. 14.

“that person without some support”: Irin Carmon, “The Daily Show ’s Woman Problem.” Jezebel, June 23, 2010.

“‘Like how you talk to everyone but him’”: Lauren Weedman, “A Woman Trapped in a Woman’s Body.” Sasquatch Books, 2007, p. 20.

“And I knew I’d be fired”: Ibid., p. 10.

“and all the Comedy Central executives”: Ibid., p. 27.

“So it kind of goes both ways”: Irin Carmon, “The Only Women in the Late Night Writers’ Rooms.” Jezebel, May 14, 2010.

“questions like I did yesterday”: Ibid.

“They’re miserable for everyone”: Lynn Harris, “Late Night’s Real Problem.” Salon, January 10, 2010.

“a show that’s all about men”: Ibid.

“is always a dude”: Bill Carter, “Among Late-Night Writers, Few Women in the Room. New York Times, November 11, 2009.

“three or four were from women”: Ibid.

“it’s based in frustration over reality”: Maureen Dowd, “America’s Anchors.” Rolling Stone, November 16, 2006.

“we don’t have to defend anything”: Ibid.

“we very much infuse it with who we are”: Paley Center Daily Show chat , April 19, 2001.

“the actual ethics of real journalism”: John Crook, “Comics Mining Laughs from Presidential Race.” Rocky Mountain News, July 21, 1999.

“that is driving the entire enterprise”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart.

“he’s mad at them for going union”: Ed Brayton, Culture Wars Radio, May 15, 2012.

“But he doesn’t have a mustache”: The Daily Show, January 25, 2005.

“I try not to let him out”: Tom Junod, “Jon Stewart and the Burden of History.” Esquire, October 2011.

“what I’d do if he wasn’t’”: Ibid.

“runs The Daily Show with joyless rage”: Irin Carmon, The Daily Show ’s Woman Problem.” Jezebel, June 23, 2010.

“I didn’t fit the core principle there”: Wiltfong phone interview, May 5, 2010.

“I was getting this angry phone call”: Piers Morgan Live, October 6, 2011.

“haranguing you for mocking him”: Ibid.

“is creatively and physically exhausting”: Louis B. Hobson, “Jon Stewart’s Cookin’ Now.” Calgary Sun, June 26, 1999.

“until something’s desperately wrong”: “Jon Stewart Discusses Politics and Comedy,” Fresh Air, NPR, September 30, 2004.

“but we are”: Daniel Schack, “Jon Stewart Q&A.” The Daily Northwestern, February 19, 2001.

“what our day is like every day”: Chris Smith, “America Is a Joke.” New York magazine, September 20, 2010.

Chapter 9

“this film creaks like a broken-down tractor”: Kevin Smith, “Death by Smoochy .” The Beacon News, April 5, 2002.

“whatever’s on my mind at the time”: Dan Sweeney, “Heeeeere’s Jonny!” New Times, February 27, 2003.

“to connect with the farmers”: Talk of the Nation, NPR, March 1, 2004.

“and don’t want to talk to anybody”: Ibid.

“We never forget that we’re not”: Ibid.

“It’s a Nerf interview”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart.

“the focus of 22 percent of the segments”: “Journalism, Satire or Just Laughs? The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Examined.” Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project Staff, May 8, 2008.

“Bush is a gold mine”: Biography Presents Jon Stewart .

“to be able to honestly mock”: Charlie Rose , December 8, 2006.

“you can pretty much hammer away at anybody”: Marshall Sella, “The Stiff Guy vs. the Dumb Guy.” New York Times Magazine, September 24, 2000.

“some new material and some new challenges”: “Writers Speak: A Potentially Regrettable Evening with the Writers of The Daily Show. ” Paley Center for Media, November 7, 2010.

“it so clearly goes against his constitution”: Larry King Live, CNN, December 8, 2004.

“and show him that I’m an idiot”: Ibid.

“I don’t think that’s anything to honor or enjoy”: Maureen Dowd, “America’s Anchors.” Rolling Stone, November 16, 2006.

“The paradigm has switched”: Larry King Live, CNN, June 25, 2004.

“politics are handled within the media”: Howard Kurtz, “The Campaign of a Comedian; Jon Stewart’s Fake Journalism Enjoys Real Political Impact.” Washington Post, October 23, 2004.

“is that it’s cathartic”: Ibid.