Jon Stewart enters a comedy pantheon of sorts this weekend when he will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center. The accolade has prompted some in-depth profiles, including at the Washington Post and the Atlantic. Both trace the 59-year-old's career, including his recent return with an Apple TV Plus show and podcast. (The show's ratings are not spectacular so far.) And both recall his famous 2004 takedown of Tucker Carlson, when he accused Tucker of "partisan hackery" and said his CNN show was hurting America. Carlson's show was canceled a few months later. Today, of course, Carlson is the ratings king of cable news on Fox, and both pieces question whether Stewart's public criticism might have actually helped launch what the Atlantic calls the "origin story of Tucker Carlson 2.0."
After all, "humiliation is a powerful motivator," notes the Atlantic. Stewart, however, doesn't think so:
- “There’s mythologizing as far as, like, a villain origin story,” Stewart tells the Post. “Not even close. Like that dude has been that dude forever and just found his place. It’s not that the crystal found the right home and suddenly the Fortress of Solitude was built. I don’t think he’s any different than he’s ever been.”
The profiles' headlines provide a sense of what readers can expect: "Jon Stewart cares less about his legacy than you do," declares the
Post, and "What Happened to Jon Stewart?" asks the
Atlantic. One unexpected nugget: In addition to running an animal sanctuary with wife, Tracey, Stewart has taken up drumming. "The fact that he drums for an hour or hours a day and didn’t mention it to you is a little bit odd,” Jimmy Kimmel tells the
Post. (More
Jon Stewart stories.)
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