One of my favorite things about The Colbert Report and The Daily Show is that they encourage me to seek out the news a lot more. I get the jokes better if I already know the story they’re commenting on, and if they point out a story I haven’t heard anything about, I go searching for it. Case in point, the lead-off story tonight about Goldman-Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein calling himself a “blue collar guy” and insisting that they are “doing God’s work.” It sent me scurrying for the article referenced in an attempt to know more. If you’re as flabbergasted as I am, have a look at the full article in the Sunday Times.

There were some great solid laughs, particularly in the Sesame Street segment. I adore Stephen’s vision of Pox News, featuring Glenn Beak, Sean Hammity, Bull O’Reilly and Mitt Romney (snerk). Now that’s a news channel I would watch. Likewise, hearing Stephen riff on George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic was a treat, and you could tell he was enjoying himself.

Speaking of which, a couple of fun character breaks tonight. What on earth was in that burger? It looked like he took a really small bite, but he was chewing forever (I liked the little glance at his watch — and a little plug for Sierra Mist too). And Stephen was clearly tickled by his introduction to Christopher Caldwell and the line about nut-hugger jeans.

What was your favorite part about the episode? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to vote in the poll!

• The Dollar’s been slapped around so hard, it’s asked the Euro for a safe word.
• Despite collecting the highest salary on Wall St, at $68,000,000 a year, Blankfein never forgets that he is, quote, “a blue collar guy.” I believe he’s referring to the sapphire choker he wears on Casual Fridays. That’s a good look.
• Not only is Cookie Monster a friend of the show, he’s the only one teaching kids to consume like an American.
• A marriage is between a man and a woman. Not a man and a man, or a man and a monster, or a monster and the other head on the same monster.
• Oh! Oh! I know a seed you’d like to plant! An ACORN.
• And nothing says parental authority like propping your kids in front of the TV so you can blog about how TV is undermining your authority.
• In a nice side gesture, they’ve also provided their employees with glossy pink slips. The tears just wick right off.
• Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, what the funk are you talking about?
• Without free access to “Bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yea,” how am I supposed to answer the phone?
• I wonder what Muslim law says about men wearing bright red nut-hugger jeans?
• I’m known for my distinctions.
• It’s the Crusades in reverse. Isn’t it? Just say yes and we’ll move on.
• It was sneaky, wasn’t it? It was unexpected and it was sneaky? I’m trying to sell books here, sir.
• There’s no Muslim Pope? Well, then, we’ve got them on that!
• I believe Islam is a great and true religion as revealed by the final and greatest prophet Mohammed, blessings and peace be upon him… I don’t actually have a question, I just wanted to get that out there.
• You’re saying that we should French fry the Imams. You just said that.

• Episode 5144 (11/10/2009)
• Episode 5143 (11/09/2009)
• Episode 5142 (11/05/2009)
• Episode 5141 (11/04/2009)

Springsteen flushed
Last Updated: 9:52 AM, November 6, 2009
Posted: 1:05 AM, November 6, 2009

Bob Woodruff was interviewing Bruce Springsteen backstage at the Stand Up for Heroes benefit Wednesday, but made the mistake of taping it too near a bathroom. A spy reports, “Every time Springsteen started speaking, the toilet began flushing. They restarted the interview, but the loud flushing continued.” Turned out Stephen Colbert was sabotaging the audio on purpose — to much amusement. The event raised more than $1.3 million for the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

I mention it here because some video from just after that incident has turned up. Delightful!

• Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – November 10, 2009
• Klassic Kolbert – The devil bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat
• Stand Up For Heroes Report
• VIDEO: Stephen Colbert outside the RNC, Philadelphia (2000)

You know how you intend to get up early when you have something important to do in the morning, only you’re having a dream about Stephen Colbert for only the second time ever and when the alarm goes off you start whimpering because you want the dream to keep going even though it’s kind of bizarre but still, it’s Stephen, and why would you interrupt a dream like that just to get up early and do something important, so you roll over and go back to sleep for twenty minutes but you can’t recapture the dream so you get up and now you’re sort of cranky and late? Yeah. That was my morning. Luckily there was a funny show to watch to make the cranky disappear, but I’ll probably be running twenty minutes late all day.

The news coming out of Iran fascinates me in the same way that the fall of the Berlin Wall did twenty years ago. There’s a strong sense that I’m watching history happening, and it makes me anxious for the Iranian people at the same time that I want to see what will happen next. The fact that one courageous math geek could confront Ayatollah Khameini and ask why no criticism of the supreme leader is permitted would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

Oh heavens, that interview. Battle of the ice creams! Stephen and Maria Shriver feeding each other ice cream! That was so much better than my strange interrupted dream from this morning. Stephen kind of lost control of the interview, but I don’t care. It was a great interview. And I hope that Governor Schwarzenegger takes Stephen up on his offer to appear on the show and arm wrestle. That would be epic.

Let us know your favorite parts of the show in the comments, and be sure to vote for your favorite segment in the poll!

• I had no idea they had policemen in Maine. I thought they just deputized lobsters.
• Just because he authored a bill to legalize medical marijuana, why do people assume Frank would recognize a pot plant? Or drug paraphernalia? I’m sure he just thought his partner was playing the smokey water flute.
• Besides, Frank’s famously unobservant of things going on around him. I discovered that four years ago.
• Death to Russia?! Hey, whose ‘Death to’ day is this? Hello, ‘Great Satan’! You’re making me feel like the Good Beelzebub.
• It was a heady time when we believed that right could overcome might, and that Twitter actually mattered.
• Because wherever people fight for freedom, that’s where American’s attention is… until “Glee” started. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. AM I RIGHT? OH MY GOD.
• Why can’t these protestors move on? President Obama has. Now he’s negotiating with Mahmoud Ahma-little-teapot-short-and-stout-ijad.
• The difference between American nerds and Iranian nerds? The revenge of their nerds involves bombing Israel.
• Evidently Mr. Math never heard the equation Criticism + Ayatollah = U divided by 2.
• Remember, it’s “feed a cold, tase a stutter.”
• The police went on to cite Barrett with misconduct at an emergency, but excellent conduct of electricity.
• I love skeet shooting. And now I can go skeet tasing. See you at the firing range, Skeet Ulrich.
• Haha, character break!
• Does this look like the breakfast of a man who is taking his state’s financial crisis seriously? (Hah, how funny that they revisited the oatmeal smiley face pic!)
• Arnold, your wife is feeding me ice cream! What are you gonna do about that, old man?
• This one tastes like I’m making a profit off of it.
• Don’t spank my… ice cream!

• Episode 5143 (11/09/2009)
• Episode 5142 (11/05/2009)
• Episode 5141 (11/04/2009)
• Episode 5140 (11/03/2009)

Muppets, however, are an entirely different story. Muppets totally rock. I seriously love Muppets. Maybe not Elmo so much, but Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Waldorf and Statler (and Waldorf’s Muppet-wife, Astoria!), Kermit and his little nephew Robin, those crazy alien things that come down from space and say, “Ohhh, yip-yip yip-yip. Brrrr-ring!” and such … yeah, those things are awesome. DB and I had a fun little descent into nostalgia talking about Piggy and Kermit, et al, when Google started in on its Sesame Street-themed search pages last week.

So, to honor the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, here are just a few clips from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report featuring those lovable Jim Henson creations:

“C” is for Chubby

Stephen’s Missing Peabody

And here are a few with Jon Stewart interviewing Miss Piggy and Kermit, and a final, adorable toss to Stephen. Enjoy!

• VIDEO: Stephen Colbert outside the RNC, Philadelphia (2000)
• EXCLUSIVE! No Fact Zone interview with John Oliver
• Klassic Kolbert
• Klassic Kolbert – Daily Show Edition: Afghanistan

The panel started with a montage of recent clips from the Colbert Report, including some Words and headline pieces on healthcare reform. The panel itself was moderated by Zachary Kanin from the New Yorker and former editor of the Harvard Lampoon. He started with two Lightning Round questions, going down the line of writers with each of them giving one- or two-word responses (usually). The first question was who the writer thought the hunkiest guy was (not an audience question, perhaps surprisingly). Head writer Barry Julien was immediately to the moderator’s right and went first, saying, “Stephen Colbert!” One of the other writer’s informed him that that was two words and so “Colbert” was automatically his answer to whatever the next question was. The rest of the answers ran the gamut from “George Clooney” to “Jon Stewart” to “my dad” (said by Michael Brumm) to “Michael Brumm’s dad” (said by the writer sitting next to Michael). The next question from the host was what they would title their autobiography, which garnered puzzled looks but funny quips. Barry Julien’s title was, “Why Are You Reading This?”

When asked if the writing staff at The Daily Show and The Colbert Report communicated to make sure their topics didn’t overlap, Julien said they didn’t talk about that and that the shows each had a different enough voice that they naturally focused on different topics. What little overlap did occur seemed natural and didn’t bother him. When asked if they ever pranked The Daily Show writing staff, one of the writers explained that the studios are four blocks apart which is “just long enough a walk to make it not worth it.” Another writer pointed it that The Daily Show writing staff punked them by winning Emmys. Julien did mention “sending the TDS staff a cake and one hundred dollars-worth of Nerf Guns” after their last Emmy win and receiving a note back saying that every single Nerf gun worked. No mention of the shape of said cake… Meredith Scardino said that even though the staffs didn’t see each other often because they had the same work schedules, but she had heard that the interns were quite competitive about their baseball games and that Jon Stewart supposedly brings in ringers leading the TCR team to get pounded at their last game 19-0.

Julien mentioned that one of his favorite things about Drysdale’s apartment was that when you walk in the door there’s a small table (”smaller than these,” gesturing to the tiny podiums holding the water glasses) holding all of his Emmys and Peabodys. Then Meredith asked, “Didn’t you put them away in a box because they were too much pressure or something?” Eric replied that he did because they were blocking his laundry hamper and that one of the Emmys fell and the wings broke. The audience made a surprised sound causing one of the writers exclaim, “Did you hear that gasp?!”

When someone asked how to become a writer on the show, Scardino (who was hired at TCR in 2008) said that she watched the show and then wrote a Threatdown and two Words. If, after doing that, you hear there’s an opening or you have an agent (or even without an agent if you can get your packet into the right hands) then you can submit your work. She also said if you want to be a writer to be ready to be unemployed; Opus Moreschi helpfully pointed out that “unemployed” currently described 10% of the US population. The writers stressed how important it was to keep writing. Julien said he wrote for anything they would let him write for in Canada, where he’s from. In the lobby after the panel I actually saw an audience member talking to a writer and giving him a manilla folder of papers: good luck!

Another audience member asked how the Colbert Report compared to working at other television shows and it became clear that most of the writers hadn’t worked at other television show staffs before Colbert (e.g., Julien came from a stand-up background, one writer worked in “unpublished written work, like diaries and journals”). Peter Gwinn said his current job was a lot like when he worked at Starbucks. Moreschi agreed saying there were “a lot of rewrites” especially if you didn’t spell customer’s name on the side of the cup correctly.

During the Q&A with the audience someone asked whether the writers specifically set out to plan and coordinate interaction with the fans, citing specifically the Green Screen Challenge, naming things after Stephen and the Twitter feed. The writers responded that while they all write for the Twitter feed, most of the audience interaction was started by the audience bringing things to their attention (like the Hungarian bridge). They did laugh about doing web searches for naming things after the ball had gotten rolling and finding the Canadian junior hockey team. Then Frank Lesser, who I believe had said he’d started out at the website, said the original Colbert Report website was set up as a joke; as in, “What if we had fans?” Then a fan website came up that was better and faster with content than the official website (I believe Peter Gwinn piped up with “The No Fact Zone!”) and they realized they had to make the official website better in order to keep up with NFZ.

My favorite question came from a younger member of the audience who asked how the staff managed tough topics from the news that didn’t automatically seem like a good set-up for humor, specifically mentioning torture and the KBR-built electrified showers. Julien said they borrowed a rule from The Daily Show, which was “no human tragedy.” With the example of the KBR story (which he briefly summarized), there was enough legitimate anger at the company to work with without putting any focus on the victims, which they would never do. It also helped that the company was a large entity. Apparently a story that there was some dispute over was one about balding bears, because the balding was cause by a disease (though Meredith Scaradino passionately and hilariously defended the balding bear story since the disease didn’t hurt the bears, it just made them bald. An audience member who agreed with her mentioned it again in the lobby after the panel and she continued to defend the story, which was awesome).

After the inevitable “people get their news from you” question, Julien pointed out that they could do a much better job of the satire they were known for and were good at when the audience came to the show informed from a wide variety of news souces. Peter Gwinn talked about how some subjects were harder to setup than others. While Donald Trump needed no setup (”Hair! Crazy! Tie! You’re Fired!”), when writing jokes about the Afghanistan elections he would have to first setup who Abdullah Abdullah was and that his brother was an opium trader before even getting to the joke.

After the panel was over and the writers were photographed in front of a Paley Center backdrop, Meredith Scaradino generously approached me (I get shy sometimes) and signed my sketchbook (after exclaiming, “I don’t know why you want this!”) and even called over Eric Drysdale to sign it too. Tip of the hat and one million points for Scardino.

All the writers were funny and informative, the audience members were appreciative and engaged, and the Paley Center looks great since it’s update after changing its name from The Museum of Television and Radio. It was a pleasure to attend and get some insights into the work the writers do. Thanks everyone!

• Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – September 27, 2009
• Belated welcome to new ‘Colbert Report’ writer Max Werner

I’ve missed the ‘Better Know a District’ series ever so. I found the whole joke arc with the cockblocking and chicken marriage to be absolutely hysterical. Between the chicken talk and the Florence Henderson “scandal” talk, that has got to be some of the most bizarre lines of questioning of any BKAD. I think that Congressman Castle held his own while still allowing Stephen to flail in absurdity.

It makes me so happy to see that the Colbert Nation has raised $202,000 so far for US Speedskating. I’m glad that the Nation is coming through, and that the sport is getting lots of publicity from both the blogosphere and the mainstream media over this story. I also find it funny that the same day that Go Fug Yourself mentions their desire to see Stephen Colbert wear the speedskating unitard that this graphic comes up … so close … so close.

There are certain quirky elements of Stephen’s character that never fail to amuse me – Stephen’s fascination with mustaches, his search engine history of tall women lifting heavy things, and his latent homosexual tendancies. But I don’t think anything amuses me more than Stephen’s penchant for licking things. Of course, I now see Stephen’s use of the phrase “If they like it, they should lick it” as being the catalyst of some very awkward Q&A sessions before tapings.

What did you all think of the episode today?

• The Republicans cannot get enough of black comedians. That’s why they hired Michael Steel.
• Just when I thought C-Span couldn’t get any more exciting, wait until you watch Joe Lieberman read the phone book. It’s better than Shark Week, it’s Jowl Week.
• Folks, you know I love being first. That’s why the legal name of this show is AAAAThe Colbert Report.
• 59th installment of my 434 part series, Better Know a District – Deleware’s At-Large District.
• Due to its favorable tax laws, Delaware is the legal home to 2/3 of the Fortune 500 companies. In fact, 1209 N. Orange St., seen here in Wilmington, is the registered office of over 200,000 different companies, leading to some particularly heated arguments as to whose yogurt that is in the staff fridge.
• This is like interviewing a panda.
• At what point do you stop asking Delaware, Congressman, and ask Dela-why?
• I’m something of a cock-thusiast, are you?
• So you are going to cockblock Delaware.
• Crazy people are still Americans.
• You don’t believe Delaware should allow people to marry chickens. You’re burning bridges in every direction.
• You’re implying that I’d consummate my relationship with the chicken. That’s an offensive idea.
• Mike Castle: I would strongly recommend that you rethink your marriage with the chicken.
• All of them had hair of gold like their mother, did the carpet match the drapes?
• We are all going to the Olympics as our own country. Next stop – G20. Thanks for keeping our chair warm, Turkey, you can go now.
• LOOK AT HIS THIGH! LOOK AT HIS THIGH!
• It was the biggest upset for Koreans since they lost on Iron Chef Pickled Cabbage.
• I have not been that wrapped around a woman’s thigh since I went to the Halloween party and dressed as a spaniel. My apologies to Christiana Amanpour.
• If we all pitch in, we can take this formerly obscure sport and raise it to the level of Ontario junior league hockey.
• Have you ever said, I’m the director, I’m going to lick something? … I’ve licked a few things there. I’m not recommending that you do or anyone else do, but I’ve licked a few things there. And I want to tell you, the Vermeers taste terrible.
• If they like it, they should lick it.

• Episode 5144 (11/10/2009)
• Episode 5142 (11/05/2009)
• Episode 5141 (11/04/2009)
• Episode 5140 (11/03/2009)

U.S. Speedskating

Oh yeah, the ripples from this one will be continuing for a while yet. Here are the latest tidbits related to the Colbert Nation sponsorship story.

• Colbert’s attack on Olympic ice access brushed off – CBC News

  Vancouver Olympic officials are defending themselves after an attack by U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert, who accused Canadians of cheating by preventing U.S. athletes from getting enough ice time on the Richmond, B.C., speedskating oval.

  VANOC’s Renee Smith-Valade said she gets the jokes, but the American team and all other international teams are being treated fairly. “He’s just trying to push our buttons. I like Stephen Colbert, I think he’s funny,” said Smith-Valade.

• Sponsorship: Putting the firm in a positive light – New Brunswick Business Journal

  When comedian and news satirist Stephen Colbert announced on his show, The Colbert Report, Monday night that his fan club is sponsoring the U.S. Olympic speed skating team, he made a move that will gain exposure for the show and engage his audience, some marketers say…

  “Is it going to do more than $300,000 worth of marketing for the show? Yes,” says leading Canadian marketer Mitch Joel, president of Montreal-based Twist Image. He says the sponsorship is a “feel-good” campaign that will benefit everyone involved from the athletes, to the show and its fans. “You’re not just supporting the U.S. speed skating team, but you’re supporting America and you’re supporting Stephen Colbert,” Joel says.

• This short blurb from Go Fug Yourself offers a suggestion for one way to raise more money faster: Stephen Colbert wants to save the U.S. Olympic Speed Skating team by raising enough cash to sponsor it… We love you, Stephen. Also, you’d raise a lot more money if you promised to wear the unitard on-air. Trust us. We’re fashion bloggers.

And in non-speedskating news…

• Slide Show: A Room with a View – The New Yorker

  In Matteo Pericoli’s new book, The City Out My Window, he has sketched the views from the windows of sixty-three New Yorkers, including Stephen Colbert. Stephen’s view is #4 in the slide show, with this caption: “Because my studio is directly across from a windowless telecommunications skyscraper whose peak bristles with microwave transmitters, when I think of my view mostly I think about cancer, so I try not to think about it at all.”

• Springsteen flushed – New York Post (Ms I linked to this story in the comments for DB’s post of the backstage video from Stand Up for Heroes, but I thought it was worth highlighting here in case you missed it.)

  Bob Woodruff was interviewing Bruce Springsteen backstage at the Stand Up for Heroes benefit Wednesday, but made the mistake of taking it too near a bathroom. A spy reports, “Every time Springsteen started speaking, the toilet began flushing. They restarted the interview, but the loud flushing continued.” Turned out Stephen Colbert was sabotaging the audio on purpose — to much amusement.

• Scenes from a book tour – ESPN.com: Recent TCR guest Bill Simmons offered this comment on his appearance, in with notes from the tour to promote The Book of Basketball: the NBA According to the Sports Guy: While I was waiting in the green room at “The Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert popped in to say hello and said, “It’s nice to finally meet you!” I had to remind him that I had appeared on his show in 2005. In his defense, I was so forgettable that I would have forgotten me, too. This time went better. There’s a 53 percent chance he will remember me the next time.
• Another recent TCR guest, physicist Brian Cox, tweeted/twittered/twatted (pick the verb of your choice) his reaction to the interview on Oct. 28th: Got to say that my interview on Colbert was the most enjoyable I’ve ever done. I have honestly never been asked such intelligent questions!

Bonus picture!

I came across this little gem and couldn’t remember where or even if I’d seen the photo on the left before. Maybe one of you younger Zoners with a better memory than mine will recall it? From FunnyJunk.com, a “then vs. now” comparison of Stephen Colbert:

(h/t DB, Ms I, Katt, and Twitterer @hellocontrol for the link to the Room with a View slideshow)

• Video: Backstage with Stephen Colbert and Bruce Springsteen
• Colbert Nation sponsored US Speedskater wins World Cup event
• VIDEO: Stephen Colbert outside the RNC, Philadelphia (2000)
• More on Colbert Nation’s sponsorship of the US Speedskating team

• Fantasy Colbert League Weekly: Week of October 26th
• Episode 5135 (October 26, 2009) – Cornel West
• Episode 5136 (October 27, 2009) – Rev. Randall Balmer, Gail Collins
• Episode 5137 (October 28, 2009) – Brian Cox
• Episode 5138 (October 29, 2009) – Rosanne Cash, Bill Simmons
• Fantasy Colbert League Weekly – Week of November 2
• Episode 5139 (November 2, 2009) – Dan Jansen, Nicholas Thompson
• Episode 5140 (November 3, 2009) – Andrew Sullivan
• Episode 5141 (November 4, 2009) – Al Gore, Harold Evans
• Episode 5142 (November 5, 2009) – Joey Cheek, Chief William Bratton

No Fact Zone features:

• Apopcalypse for the week of November 2.
• The Daily Show Toss Recap for the week of October 26, 2009.
• The Daily Show Toss Recap for the week of November 2, 2009: SUCKA!!!
• Fangirl Suit Report: Week of October 12: Hi Jordan!
• Fangirl Suit Report: Week of October 26: Did Monday’s screencap make anyone else think of The Lumberjack Song?
• Fangirl Suit Report: Week of November 2: Ahhh! Big snake!
• Eye Candy: A whole bunch of awesome pictures came out over these two weeks including Speed Racer gorgeousness, Stephen wearing an awesome jacket, Stephen showing off his leet quarterbacking skills, and some really lucky Zoners.

The Colbert Report sponsors US Speedskating!

• Here’s the official AP article on the Report becoming an official sponsor.
• Numerous articles have since then appeared about the Report’s sponsorship.
• Since then, Stephen’s used numerous techniques to get the Nation to donate money. This tweet might be my favorite.
• In addition, Joey Cheek was the first of what are sure to be numerous appearances by various US speedskaters leading up to the Olympics.
• Yay, we’ve already won a gold medal!

Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist:

• Zeitgeist post for October 24, 2009.
• Zeitgeist post for October 30, 2009.
• Stephen talks to NJ.com in a mild-mannered way.
• The UK iTunes Store now carries The Colbert Report.
• Bobby returns!!! YAY BOBBY!!!!!!!

Six Degrees of Stephen Colbert:

• John Oliver exclusive here! Go read it now! Read it again if you have already, because it’s just that awesome!
• Good news: Both Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert are confirmed to attend the 50th anniversary of Second City.
• Six Degrees: Samantha Bee, Larry Wilmore, and more!
• Mark Malkoff’s Key Quest is going strong. His latest video shows him in Tennessee. Check it out!

Klassic Kolbert:

• Stephen can tie a bow tie! Watch it here!
• Klassic Kolbert: Stephen’s parents gave out little bags of applesauce for Halloween.
• Footage from the 2000 Republican National Convention has popped up on the webz. I love his hair in this video.

We call it the Joy Machine:

• Check out what Ann G had to say about Stephen’s appearance at the Two Rivers Theater. So lucky!
• Zoner Em found another instance of copycatting the Colbert Report!

• All You Need to Know – 10/18/09 Edition
• All You Need to Know – 10/11/09 Edition
• All You Need to Know: 10/4/09 edition
• All You Need to Know: 4/05/09 Edition

Tom Campbell became the director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) at the beginning of 2009. Campbell was born and raised in Cambridge, England, and attended the University of Oxford where he received his B.A. in English language and literature. After receiving his Master’s, he began to create the Franses Tapestry Archive in London which is the most extensive resource on European tapestries and figurative textiles. In 1999, he received his Ph.D. from the Courtauld Institute on the art and culture of Henry VIII’s court. He became a curator at MMA in 2003 after working there for some years before. He organized tapestry exhibitions entitled, Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence and Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor. The former won exhibition of the year by Apollo Magazine.

Fract: If you like alliterative nicknames, then you’ll love Mr. Campbell’s. It’s “Tapestry Tom”.

Tuesday, November 10: Maria Shriver

As if being a part of the Kennedy dynastry weren’t enough, Maria Shriver is married to Arnold Schwarzenegger too. This can be tough since both sides are affiliated with different political parties, but Maria has been able to create her own image. She is a well-respected journalist with a degree in American Studies from Georgetown University, working at NBC from 1985-2004 once Arnold became the governor. She appeared on The Colbert Report back in 2008 to promote her book, Just Who Will You Be?. Although her husband is a Republican, Shriver announced her support for Barack Obama in the 2008 election, and along with Stephen, Shriver has won Peabody and Emmy awards for her work. She did announce that she would not return to the news after the intense media coverage following Anna Nicole Smith’s death.

You can also follow Maria Shriver on Twitter.

Fract: At the Saint John’s Health Center, a hospital in Santa Monica, there is a nursery named after Ms. Shriver.

Wednesday, November 11: Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell is a journalist and senior editor for The Weekly Standard. His new book, Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West, which is about the Muslim immigration into Europe, discusses the social, political, and cultural impact that such immigration will have over time. Caldwell also regularly contributes to the Financial Times and Slate. His work appears in The Wall Street Journal and the magazine edition of The New York Times. Christopher is a Harvard graduate of English literature, and also co-wrote the book Left Hooks, Right Crosses: A Decade of Political Writing. You can check out some of his work for the Financial Times here.

Fract: Caldwell, a journalist himself, married Robert Novak’s daughter, Zelda.

Thursday, November 12: Woody Harrelson

Woody, an actor, is just another one of those “Hollywood elite” who is famous for many roles. His breakthrough role was as Woody Boyd on Cheers, and he has guest starred on Frasier and Will and Grace. His movie career spans many years, but some of his more famous roles have been as the magazine publisher Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt, a bounty hunter in No Country for Old Men, and a folk-singer in A Prairie Home Companion. Harrelson has performed on Broadway and on the West End in London. He will be on the show to promote his new movie, The Messenger, about a soldier facing an ethical dilemma. Outside of acting, Harrelson actively supports the legalization of marijuana, and was arrested for planting hemp seeds in Kentucky. He nows lives in a mostly self-sustained community in Hawaii.

Fract: In 1985, Harrelson married Nancy Simon, the daughter of playwright Neil Simon. They only intended to stay married for a day, but when the divorce parlor was closed, they stayed married for 10 months.

That’s what we got for the week! Enjoy the show!

• Fantasy Colbert League: November 2-November 5

• Video: Backstage with Stephen Colbert and Bruce Springsteen
• VIDEO: Stephen Colbert outside the RNC, Philadelphia (2000)
• The Daily Show Toss Recap – Week of 11/2/2009
• CC Insider presents backstage video of Stand Up For Heroes event