But why choose Jon Stewart? Why turn to a man for information about the world who is so laid back that the only thing more frequent than his weed jokes are his fart jokes; a man so self-deprecating that he enjoys declaring to his audience that his show follows a show about muppets?
There are many reasons. For starters, he is smart. He can process and distill a vast, complex knowledge base into manageable, crystal-clear chunks, and can simultaneously juggle big picture with nuanced picture. And yet…lots of people have impressive cognitive capacities and eloquence, and I routinely dismiss or distrust them.
Psychology Today: The Psychology of Jon Stewart
Ryan Sproull is mimetic engineer currently employed by Shift,
a champagne anarchist, was editor of Craccum in '06, and is really quite an awful fellow. He can be contacted on editor @ SH1. 