Top Three Questions about my interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show

Jennifer Burns is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia.

Top Three Questions about my interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show

Sunday, 18 October 2009 10:44

1. Is Jon Stewart as short as they say? I met Jon a few minutes before the show started in the “Green Room,” which is where guests wait before going on air. Basically, so many people told me he was so short that I was expecting a midget to walk in the door. Compared to that preconception, Stewart is not that short! I certainly think I’m taller than him, but his stature didn’t really make an impression. What struck me instead was how quick and smart he is, with an immediate rapid fire patter and stream of jokes. I was also surprised at how he looked different in real life than on TV. There are subtle distortions to the face on camera and in person he was leaner with more defined features. He has mesmerizing blue eyes which I focused on during the interview so I could keep up with what he was saying!

2. What does Jon Stewart say to you after the interview is over and the cameras are still rolling? I wish I could remember! I have no recollection of our last exchange, it was probably some basic thank you’s or pleasantry, and I think he probably helped me step off the stage. By the time I exited the set, I had completely forgotten what we talked about – it must have been a psychological reaction to the high pressure of the situation. Our conversation came back to me in great detail when I watched the show later that evening.

3. Are you mad he plumped the books of two Daily Show staffers at the end of the show? Not at all! It was a huge honor to be chosen for the show and has exposed my book to a wide and enthusiastic audience who might not have heard of it otherwise. There’s nothing like TV for legitimating intellectual production! Seriously, I appreciate that Jon Stewart is both a consummate entertainer and a really smart guy who values books and ideas, and I think his ability to blend humor and serious discussion is a great gift to contemporary America.

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Comments (13)

|2009-10-18 19:35:18 Andrew - That's just offensive (above comment)

Just watched the interview online, and found it enjoyable, if more serious than the usual Daily Show interview. Don't really see the connection with the right as quite so clear cut - but still an interesting line of thought.

Also, to the above commentator: Constructive criticism would probably be better than crude remarks and idiocy about hell. Furthermore, I rather seriously doubt you've read the book.

Jennifer, I seriously wondered about what Jon says and the end, of there interviews, I always kind of assumed it was just meaningless pleasantries, and I guess it really is! Enjoyed the interview. Thanks

|2009-10-26 16:29:29 Joshua Lipana - Wonderful.

I watched this on TV a few weeks ago. This was a wonderful interview! I was expecting something enraging since Mr. Stewart, though I like his humor, usually leans left. So I was pleasantly surprised on how great he did on this interview considering the subject. He was remarkably respectful and knew a lot more about Ayn Rand than I had expected.

You did a superb job as well Ms. Burns! And if I may just compliment you on how you looked here; you looked remarkably pretty.

|2009-10-29 10:44:28 Erin - Great interview!

Hi Ms. Burns,

I really enjoyed your interview on the Daily Show and I plan to buy your book ASAP. I fell in love with Ayn Rand's novels as a teenager so I wasn't quite old enough to understand the breadth of her philosophical and political ideals. I look forward to reading your work - I'm sure it will be enlightening!

Congratulations on everything you have accomplished so far in your career. You are certainly an inspiration.

Sincerely,
Erin

|2009-11-04 05:08:46 Anonymous

Jon Stewart seemed surprised by the irony that today's conservatives are "using" Ayn Rand's as inspiration despite the fact that she was an atheist? I wish you would have pointed out to him the similar irony (as you did in your spring 2006 berkeley history course) that many progressive (today's "liberal") ideals were actually founded by and evolved from religious-based movements and religion funded organizations started the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Liberals are as adept as Conservatives about "forgetting" certain details.

|2009-11-08 19:01:26 mike mcglynn - Cato Institute Q & A - another

As a followup to the question about Rand not being taught by women studies courses -

What are the possible reasons educational institutions have not made room for Rand's concepts in either Economics or most important in Philosophy courses?

33 years ago as a college freshman I asked a Philosophy professor directly "What about Ayn Rand and Objectivism? and was rebuked - so I never took a Philosophy Department course.

|2009-11-15 12:04:18 Jennifer Burns - Rand in academia

Mike -- did you get to the part in my book where I talk about how much contemporary professors hated Rand? (ch 7) You were certainly not alone in having this reaction! I think she will find her way into the curricula, and is already, and I very much hope my book will be used in college courses -- perhaps even in women's studies!

|2009-11-18 19:32:31 Annie - Ayn Rand Fan

I expected the "Jon" interview to be funny and silly. I was pleasantly surprised it was not about Jon, but about your book. I felt he gave you the respect you deserve for a job well done. Congratulations.

|2009-12-13 10:14:18 jeff - Universal appeal

I am a liberal and I loved reading Rand as a young man. She inspires individual action and personal responsibility. These ideals are not apparent (to me) in the present conservative wing. She goes too far in my opinion, however she warns against the worst consequences of the left. My suggestion to readers is to follow Ayn Rand with Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath." Thank you for your work. I look forwared to reading your book.

|2010-01-06 05:25:54 Helen

link:http://rapid4me.com

|2010-01-10 03:04:58 David - Rand Clarifications

For a non-intellectual comedy show, Stewart interview was better than normal. You are lovely, and did a terrific job! But there is confusion about Rand. She was NOT elitist, she admired anyone who achieved their own individual potential. Her philosophy defines the proper moral role of govt -- which advocates individual rights and banning initiation of physical force. Other than her minor personal human flaws, her philosophical contributions are enormously valuable to freedom and American future.

|2010-06-26 23:14:00 Brianna - Sorry, had to laugh

"I very much hope my book will be used in college courses -- perhaps even in women's studies!"

I'm sorry, I simply could not refrain from commenting on the idea of Rand being taught in a women's studies course. Remember we are talking about a woman who called herself a male chauvinist, and who explicitly stated that she would not vote for a woman president because she didn't think any woman who wanted the job would be psychologically fit for it (read her essay, "On a Woman President"). Combine that with her views on modern feminism, and any professor who taught a woman's studies course would probably have her head explode if she tried to discuss Ayn Rand in it in a positive light.

|2010-07-17 11:57:06 Jennifer - Rand and women's studies

Brianna -- there is at least one women's studies professor writing on Rand, and many feminists are interested in her, precisely because of her views on gender. As I write in my book, a number of leading feminists attacked Rand in the 1970s because of her chauvinism. To be taught in a college course is not the same thing as being endorsed by the professor, and I think that over time Rand will find her way into the curricula of many disciplines. -Jennifer Burns

|2011-04-12 18:09:57 Kate - The Viewer Brings Himself to Art

I am a lefty whose mother insisted upon our reading of Ayn Rand before we went to college (and, I believe, were indoctrinated into the cult of socialism - or worse). I found her books very entertaining and engaging. I also thought they were about how all had special gifts, and those who allowed those gifts to be perverted away from the benefit of all who did not share in them was selfish.

I found out later than I had apparently missed her point. I had come to the table from my own world view (one I still strongly prefer). Seeing film of Rand on C-SPAN many years later, I realized that she did not see the world the way I did AT ALL.

It makes me wonder what lens others view her work through...