Coming To Comedy Central,
Week of Jan. 5
Jon Stewart returns from the holiday hiatus this week, with two shows featuring authors:
America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System, Steven Brill, (Random House)
As we noted earlier, Brill’s book is an expansion of Brill’s award-winning Time magazine story. Brill is scheduled for appearances on CBS This Morning and on NPR’s Fresh Air.
Tuesday, Jan. 6, Cass Sunstein
Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter, Cass R. Sunstein, Reid Hastie, (Harvard Business Review Press, 12/23/14)
Sunstein’s philosophy of “libertarian paternalism” has caused Glenn Beck to call him “the most dangerous guy out there.” Considered a major influence on President Obama’s political thinking, The Washington Post reports that, as the administration’s former “regulatory czar,” he “become a symbol of a central contradiction of Obama’s White House. In seeking bipartisan common ground, the administration has often embraced policies that disappointed its friends — without disarming its enemies.” He has written several other books including Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Penguin, Rev. Ed., 2009).
No Colbert Report
Sadly, the other Comedy Central show that has been very good for books, The Colbert Report, will not be returning. Host Stephen Colbert is headed to a new gig, replacing David Letterman on CBS’s The Late Show. We won’t know until he begins in May whether he will revolutionize late-night network TV by including authors.
Replacing Colbert is The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, hosted by the Daily Shows‘s former “senior black correspondent.” Debuting on January 19, it is created by book lover Jon Stewart, so we can hope Wilmore will also include regular appearances by authors.