EPISODE NUMBER: 6035 (March 10, 2010)
GUESTS: Charlie Cook, Sean Carroll
SEGMENTS: Health Care Reconciliation discussion, Glenn Beck’s new sponsor – Nonhybrid seeds
VIDEOS: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Interesting new intro this morning, although I gotta say that the touch screen isn’t the same without a drawing of Snoopy. It was a good change of pace, though, a palette cleanser of sorts. I have to say, I don’t appreciate the fact that Eric Massa put the thought of my mind about himself naked in the shower with Rahm Emmanuel. *shudder* Also, while I was working on a screencap of this episode, I noticed there was a shot where Stephen’s face seemed to be overlayed over the Statue of Liberty behind him. It was one of those moments that made me seriously appreciate the new set.
When Stephen highlights the ridiculousness of commercials on Glenn Beck’s show, I often wonder, do these ads really work? Do Glenn Beck watchers actually believe this horse hockey? Would people actually pay $150 for seeds? And the reporting analyst in me loved the line about being scared from the graph with no data points done in Microsoft Paint. I actually own a book called How to Lie With Charts, and I’m pretty sure it’s required reading for all people in the graphics department at Fox News.
The interview with Sean Carroll was interesting mostly because it was quite interesting watching Stephen try to simultaneously grasp the concepts that Carroll was talking about while also making a funny quip about it.
Don’t forget to take the poll over at ColbertNation.com for tonight’s episode, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say in the comments!
- Fine, here are the dots. Let’s connect them. [I'M GAY]
- It’s like jazz, baby. It’s like the sense they don’t make.
- Folks, I hear the victim was literally asking for it.
- I’m going to grope you, but it’s not going to be sexual, it’s just going to be fun, okay?
- You can’t spell scare without care.
- So instead of blue dogs, they’re blue pussies?
- I’ve interviewed a few of them, I think they could.
- Oh my God! That chart with no numbers or data points is right! That green line is clearly being driven up by market forces, not just by some guy with Microsoft Paint.
- When the end time comes and you’re tilling the earth with a human femur while the sky is raining fire, you’re going to want a reliable supply of radicchio and mini-squash.
- Try to pass off hybrid seeds and you will be raped by a mole man.
- Next year?! This site was registered almost two years ago which means next year was last year. We’ve been dead for almost 2 1/2 months!
- I’ve got a question for you – why didn’t the movie “Benjamin Button” really work?
- In these other universes, is it possible that my show is on at 11:00 and Jon Stewart’s show is on at 11:30?
The intro was a trip!
strange
U
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I really didn’t know what to vote for, finally settling on the Glenn Beck seed commercial but it was really hard. I love the kind of depressing intro and the whole rest of the show was solid all the way through. I miss Snoopy though. 100,000 dollars should always get us a snoopy. :) The poll was hilarious, by the the way. I can’t wait to see what they are going to do with it tonight.
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The poll is awesome. The option to identify with the political affiliation of ‘T-Pain’ cracked me up.
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What a weird show. Maybe the intro just threw me off. Or maybe it’s that he didn’t really smile at all. Or maybe the groping? I don’t know, it just seemed strange to me. I do like the poll, though, and hope they do more of them :)
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my voice is going to be altered – very cool! :D
I was confused about the intro a bit…was he trying to imitate someone or just being rather boisterous?
I don’t really like the screen. it is not smooth like an iPhone screen. it always makes me nervous like it’s going to break or something. I know that’s being picky.
it was odd of that guy to say we need people with normal chromosomal alignment. so people with monosomy or trisomy of sex chromosomes aren’t qualified to hold office? I know that’s being picky.
I wish they had explained what was wrong with non-hybrid seeds. like…I really can’t think of why they would be a problem. less likely to successfully reproduce, especially sexually? the only explanations I can find online are totally not scientific. (like that poll, even though I voted that it was.)
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I think it was an imitation of Glenn Beck but I dunno.
hm
U
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The emphasis on “non-hybrid” sounds like an offer for “eugenically pure” seeds. While there may be reasons for using non-hybrids in certain situations, I couldn’t help but think that for FOX viewers, “non-hybrid” triggers all sorts of positive associations that have nothing to do with food.
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You have no idea how excruciating is for me to acknowledge this, but there is a kernel (har, har!) of validity to desireability of non-hybrid seeds. Almost all the seeds that we buy for home gardens and for large scale agriculture are produced by hybridizing two lines. The hybrid plants that result have a combination of desireable traits from both parent lines, and they produce those desireable combinations very reliably the first generation. But the seeds that are produced by that first generation are now a total mish mash of traits from the two original parents, and that second generation of seeds will produce a huge array of types of plants, only a very few of which will be as productive as the first generation hybrids. This isn’t a problem as long as we buy a new batch of hybrid seeds from our friendly agribusiness monopoly each year. But, if we want to propagate our own seeds, and thereby reduce our dependence on agribusiness monopolies we need to start with non-hybrid seeds. We also need to start with non-hybrid seeds if we live in a developing country, and we don’t have a lot of capital and would like to save some of our crop each year as a seed source, rather than having to purchase new seeds from the friendly US based agribusiness monopoly. Or, if the end-times come, and all we have stockpiled are hybrid seeds, we’re screwed. I don’t stay awake at night worrying about the latter scenario, but the first two really are valid reasons to support sources of non-hybrid seeds. Just not sources that sponsor Glenn Beck.
ReCAPTCHA: tweaked production
Yeah, recaptcha’s got the basic idea
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thanks very much for the explanation! I am usually quite up on biology things, but I had pollination on the brain instead of genetics. it makes perfect sense to me now.
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The interview reminded me of a Postmodernism class I enrolled in during my Masters Program. [It was so long ago the class is probably just a Modernism class!] :) We had to apply order and chaos theories concerning the universe to another medium [I chose television. Unfortunately it was before TCR!] I couldn’t believe I understood Carroll’s references. Crazy how knowledge is stored and triggered!
Was Stephen’s walk over the interview table weird and did his questions magically appear in his hands as he approached the camera? I was very confused by that- not sure why.
Poor Jay the Intern…he’s the new Meg!
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I knew that the Massa thing would get closeted “Stephen” to veer from the straight and narrow!
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Stephen’s walk was filmed backwards the played forward, hence the oddness, also the music was played backwards by the sounds of it. I think it had something to do with guest’s topic (which I am just about to watch).
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Oh wow! He did it really well then, because it didn’t even occur to me! I just thought he was walking strangely. Or maybe I’m especially unobservant today. I just went and watched it again like four times :)
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Awesome! I watched it once and it was almost midnight so I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or not! Makes perfect sense! Thanks! :)
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I did NOT understand that when I watched it! makes a whole lot more sense now.
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I will be charitable and say that Charlie Cook appeared confused. It has got me curious enough to research how well his past predictions have done.
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my fav line:
“its like jazz! … its about the sense you’re not making” hahaha…
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I heart Jay Katsir. Anyone know who the “lawyer” was? He’s pretty cute too.
I also think he was trying to imitate Glen Beck in the intro? Not sure though.
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That was staff writer Max Werner. He appeared in a similar role back in July 2009.
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That poll is absolutely hilarious. Decided to check it out and I was not disappointed! Thought for a minute it was going to be “serious,” but I should have known better! So funny! :P
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Sean Carroll’s write up of the interview is available here:http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2010/03/10/report-from-colbert/
Commentary by a scientist who disagrees with Sean Carroll’s science but agrees that Stephen is smart is available here: http://motls.blogspot.com/2010/03/time-stephen-colbert-smarter-than-sean.html. On the science, does any zoner know whether a) there is a serious scientific controversy or b) one side of the argument has about as much credibility as creationism?
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Thanks for that link to Carroll’s write-up of the interview! I especially like this part: “I shouldn’t end without including some good words about the bag of swag. Not only does every guest get a goodie bag that includes a bottle of excellent tequila, it also includes a $100 gift certificate for Donors Choose. How awesome is that?”
A $100 gift certificate for Donors Choose? AWESOME indeed. :D
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I love how the only question in the poll with remotely serious answers was the first one, if you don’t count being able to identify yourself with T-Pain, ha! All of the questions were hilarious.
I love how after every time Stephen uses the HD screen, he mentions that it cost $100,000…though I did still want him to draw Snoopy.
It’s so fantastic that Beck’s interview with Massa blew up in his face. That seed commercial is incredibly frustrating to me. Stephen’s mentioned it before, but I hate how Beck continues to take the people’s legitimate fears and manipulate them, making it seem like we’re living in some apocalyptic state where we will soon need to barter our first-born children for food. Stephen’s barb-wire herb garden (for garnishing!) was a perfect satirical response.
The interview with Sean Carroll was confusing, but in a good way, because it was also very fascinating to me. Oh! And I loved Stephen’s Glenn Beck impersonation in the intro! :)
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I agree with you about Beck. Just when I think he can’t go any further with his myopic world view, he “discovers” something else & is off to the races again!
Having said that, your line “will soon need to barter our first-born children for food” is a classic! :)
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Yes, that was definitely Glenn Beck in the intro. I’m sorry to say I’ve seen enough of his show to recognize those mannerisms. Plus the “I hope I don’t waste your time” remark was a reference to Beck’s Massa interview.
The groping bit with Jay the intern cracked me up. I wonder what ever became of Meg?
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This was a brilliantly silly episode! from the mysterious “where’s my chair?” opening, the groping of Jay the intern to the backwards intro to the interview, I loved every second of it. Looks like Stephen’s gunna have fun with the pollster 2moro =D
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I’m the author of How to Lie with Charts, and I’m pleased to see the mention, although not so jazzed to hear that anyone might be abusing the information. The book’s intent, of course, is not only how *not* to lie with charts, but also understanding that you probably already are misleading people — especially if you just use whatever your computer generates.
So it’s more like “How Not to Lie Unintentionally with Charts Your Computer Makes.” But any marketing person will tell you that’s just too honest to make a good title.
Oh and there is a Second Edition, also available on Amazon. Your link points to an older version that has some (embarrassing) errors!
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I have actually owned the book for years, first edition. And I really have used a lot of the information contained when doing reports. I found it to be both a bit amusing and informative about both how charts can work, as well as how charts can be quite misleading if you let them. I’ll have to go hunt down the second edition now, too!
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I just noticed that in the screencap it looks like Stephen’s wearing the crown of Lady Liberty. And I must say, I love it every time the Technical Difficulties graphic comes up :)
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