Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist: Huddled Lasses Edition

Well, People Magazine and Salon.com both passed up the chance to include Stephen in their “Sexiest Man” round-up – fickle, I’d say, since they both featured Stephen last year. (Though I suspect Joan Walsh still holds a soft spot for him…) AfterElton readers jumped ship as well. But we’re here to list where you can find Stephen in the flotsam of popular culture – your zeitgeist for November 18, 2007.

The Market is still speaking
For the 5th week in a row, I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU!) tops the New York Times best seller list for Hardcover Nonfiction.

The Nation makes national news
The generosity of the Colbert Nation to donorschoose.org hit the wires. And a h/t to friend of the show Craig Newmark who really got the ball rolling.

• Schools benefit from Colbert’s comment – Associated Press (via Yahoo): “The brief comment by the 43-year-old talk-show host — who has since dropped his bid for the White House — raised $59,000 in 10 days and reached 13,000 public school students in South Carolina, said Peter Bloom, the group’s national chairman.”
• Charity for schools makes grade nationally – Charleston Post Courier: “Two minutes after Colbert’s announcement, every server at DonorsChoose went down, said Bloom, the charity’s national chairman, and managing director of investment firm General Atlantic LLC.”
• There are still projects to be funded in Stephen’s name, so click on the link and give a little.

A view from the less rabid fan base…
Does answering “yes” to the question make me an outlier? At least we all agree at the end. But, once again, I have to point out that publishing a piece about Stephen weakens your argument that no one is talking about him.

• I Ain’t Missing You At All – CBS News blog:
  

  Really? Are you spending time pondering Colbert, talking about him and wondering about him?

  Yeah. Me neither.

  Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Stewart and Colbert and miss them now … but the writer’s strike isn’t necessarily making me love them more. (As it turns out, Pac-10 football and Charlie Rose aren’t good substitutes for the comedy duo. Go figure.)

  So while I appreciate the effort to work the “absence makes the heart grow fonder” angle — with the Slate piece (nonsensically) going so far as saying “why you may never watch Jon Stewart live again” — I’ll be a lot happier when I have the satirical combo back.

Deja vu all over again?
Conservative pundit releases book and contemplates candidacy for President? Oh, and he’s a friend of the show!

• Lou Dobbs for president? – The Carpet Bagger Report: “Remember when Stephen Colbert put out a book — and announced he was running for president a week later? It was a stunt, right, by a guy who makes fun of politics, meant (among other things) to get him publicity and sell some books? Well, it just so happens that Dobbs just put out a book, er, a week ago. As is so often the case in politics, life imitates satire.”

Six Degrees of Tek Jansen
What’s up with Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #1 artist Scott Chantler?

• TIKI TIME ALL THE TIME: “HAWAIIAN DICK” RIPS INTO ONGOING – Comic Book Resources: “Filling Griffin’s shoes as the artist on “Hawaiian Dick” is Scott Chantler (“Northwest Passage” and “Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen”). “Scott’s an excellent illustrator and a fantastic cartoonist with a real affinity for the era, and for genre storytelling,” said Moore. “He’s a complete professional and has thrown himself into the book full force. The combination of Chantler and Griffin is unlike anything you’ll see in comics. And that’s a good thing.”"
• And heads up, collectors! Scott’s got some Tek Jansen Original Art on eBay.

Neil deGrasse Tyson talks prepping for the boys
Well, now we know one reason Dr. Tyson is one of Stephen’s favorite interviewees.

• Neil deGrasse Tyson on Framing Science – Framing Science:
  

  For example, if I am invited onto the Colbert Report or the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I am going to study previous episodes of what the dynamics are between the host and the guest and I am going to see what kind of opportunity does the guest have to speak, how many words are likely to come out of my mouth before I am playfully interpreted …because they are comedy shows of course.

  So I will then package the message I want to deliver into the context of that program. That takes effort, I think most people don’t do that and I think it makes for awkward moments.

  I do that willingly because I am visiting them in their medium. If they are going to come to my college class, and they are going to listen to my one hour lecture, I am not going to sound bite it for them at that time. They are visiting me in my habitat.

Gratuitous Name Dropping and Shout-Outs
Hey!

• MoDo’s Inconsistent Mojo – Huffington Post (Melissa Kirch): “But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that her best columns lately have included consultation with experts or been written by Stephen Colbert (whose job it is to be funny; and who, not incidentally actually is funny).”
• Free Sam Zell! – Los Angeles Times: “And at various times throughout the day I’m likely to catch about 10 minutes of CNN (Time Warner) before turning it off in disgust at their inane anchor-banter; watch C-SPAN (God) with the sound off in order to truly appreciate the hand-flapping genius of Robert Byrd, and top it off with the jazz stylings of Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert (Viacom).”

And just because I like the last line
It’s no hungvp158, but it’s worth a giggle.