When is Comedy Central’s biggest fake news program not a fake news program? When host Jon Stewart engages in a serious, nearly joke-free debate with one of his guests. These discussions aren’t as rare as one might expect them to be, given The Daily Show‘s status as a comedy program — and that’s a good thing, since watching one sort of feels like eating a meaty entree after sampling some delicious but light appetizers.
Last night, The Daily Show welcomed controversial Christian advocate David Barton. Ostensibly, Barton was there to plug a new book about Thomas Jefferson. But after his guest explained the tome’s basic premise — contrary to one popular belief, our third president was a religious man rather than a secularist –the discussion soon veered off in a different direction. Stewart began asking Barton why modern Christians often feel as though they’re being persecuted, despite the fact that the U.S. is still an overwhelmingly Christian country.
From there, Barton began talking about the work he’s done with Christians who have been targeted for what he calls exercising their free speech — things like handing out bibles and, in the case of one five-year-old kid, praying over his lunch at school. READ FULL STORY »
Tonight marks President Barack Obama’s first appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, but it’s not the first time POTUS has made stops on the late-night circuit. Until former actor Ronald Reagan moved into the Oval Office, it was unheard of for the president to debase his political capital by visiting the same talk shows that trade in celebrities and animal segments. These days, it’s a required a stop on the campaign trail and an extension of the State of the Union address (minus the drinking games).
Testifying before the U.K. Parliament today, Russell Brand talked about his 12 arrests and quoted 
James Lipton, eat your heart out. John Oliver took his new assignment to host The Daily Show‘s “Inside the Political Curtain” segment very seriously. Perhaps more seriously than first guest Herman Cain took his own announcement to run for President of the United States in February 2011. Or, indeed, his entire campaign. For the record, Cain still doesn’t know the president of Beki-Beki-Bekistan’s name. Watch the clip below. 
Sean Hannity may have started a segment on Monday night’s edition of Hannity by tossing the football around, but by the end of the block, he found himself playing referee. Hannity was caught off-guard after a heated debate between Fox News contributor and former Democratic strategist Bob Beckel and Tea Party activist Jennifer Stefano ended with Beckel dropping the F-bomb on live TV.
