Zen and the Art of Comedy Central
By
It should come as no surprise to readers of this blog that we here at NFZ have been known to spend rather significant amounts of time reading up on all things related to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Well, not surprisingly, we’re not the only ones. Coming this Fall from Blackwell Publishing, the philosophical stylings of the boys from Comedy Central will be the subject of a new book. From the Amazon description:
The Daily Show and Philosophy (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) (Paperback)
Book Description
This book brings together nineteen essays on the many moments of Zen to be found in the artful humor of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Want the real deal on fake news? Want to know how Jon Stewart stacks up against public intellectuals past and present? How The Daily Show hones your critical thinking skills in the war on bad media, bullsh*t, and political spin? Want to know more about The Daily Show’s philosophy of religion? About what “truthiness” really means? Or how far down Stephen Colbert’s irony goes? It ’s all right here. More than just fake news, The Daily Show has achieved an undeniable cultural significance. What better way to plumb its depths than with the razor-sharp, media-savvy minds of our Senior Philosophical Correspondents?
Blackwell Publishing has more, including a full Table of Contents (excerpted here):
Introduction: Great Book, or the Greatest Book?
Segment One: Headlines: Faux News is Good News:
1. Amusing Ourselves to Death with Television News: Jon Stewart, Neil Postman, and the Huxleyan Warning: Gerald J. Erion (Medaille College)
2. The Fake, the False, and the Fictional: The Daily Show as News Source: Michael Gettings (Hollins University)
3. The Fake News as the Fifth Estate: Rachael Sotos (New School for General Studies)
4. The Good, the Bad, and The Daily Show: Jason Zinser (Florida State University). . .
Segment Four: Interview: Religion, God, and Darwin:
13. The Challenge of Religious Diversity in “This Week in God”: Matthew S. Lopresti (Hawaii Pacific University)
14. Contingency, Irony, and “This Week in God”: Brad Frazier (Lee University)
15. Evolution, Schmevolution: Jon Stewart and the Culture Wars: Massimo Pigliucci (Stony Brook University)
Segment Five: Checking in with Stephen Colbert/Your Moment of Zen: Beyond The Daily Show:
16. America (The Book): Textbook Parody and Democratic Theory: Steve Vanderheiden (University of Minnesota Duluth)
17. The Daily Show/Colbert Report Guide to Neologizing: Jason Holt (Acadia University)
18. Truthiness, Self-Deception, and Intuitive Knowledge: Amber L. Griffioen (University of Iowa)
19. Stephen Colbert, Irony, and Speaking Truthiness to Power: Kevin S. Decker (Eastern Washington University)
If you’re looking for something with which to occupy yourself until the release of I Am America (And So Can You!), this could be just the thing.
Thanks to WordsWithGrace for the tip!
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6 Comments
August 5th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Oh wow, definitely.
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August 5th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
This is so freaking awesome. I wonder how the shows will handle this. If at all.
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August 5th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
This is a giant birthday present to both shows, they could have a field day with it. Cool beans!
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August 5th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
This is a Dream Come True. Also, I hope that they do make fun of this, too; the level meta would be awesome.
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August 5th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
So the Daily Show and the Colbert Report weren’t involved in this at all right? I just want to make sure.
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August 22nd, 2007 at 12:48 am
The Daily Show and Colbert Report had nothing to do with this book. I can attest to that. I hope they each have the editor on the show for all the fans though. That would be awesome!
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