by Lisa Rogak
childhood and
College of William and Mary and
jokes about
Leibowitz family and
Princeton, NJ area and
“The Tribe” and
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jiong Situ
Jobs, variety of
Jolie, Angelina
The Jon Stewart Show
beginnings of
dropping ratings and
Paramount and
success of
Jon Stewart: Unleavened
Jones, Jason
Journalism. See Media (traditional)
Junod, Tom
K
Kandahar
Karlin, Ben
on being fake news
The Colbert Report and
as executive producer
on guest selection
hiring of
humor style of
on motivations of Stewart
on story selection
on Truman comment
on writing
Katz, Eileen
Kerry, John
Kids on the Block
Kilborn, Craig
Kimmel, Jimmy
King, Larry
Kissinger, Henry
Kitaen, Tawny
Koppel, Ted
Kun, Hillary
Kutner, Rob
L
Lake, Ricki
Larry King Live
The Larry Sanders Show
Laskin, Fannie (grandmother)
Laskin, Marian (mother)
Laskin, Nathan (grandfather)
The Late Late Show
Late Night with David Letterman
Laughing
Lawrence, Jennifer
Lawrence, Vicki
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Lawrenceville High School
Leary, Denis
Leibowitz, Donald (father)
Leibowitz, Jonathan Stuart, as birth name
Leibowitz, Larry (brother)
Leibowitz, Marian (mother)
Leno, Jay
Letterman, David. See also Late Night with David Letterman; Worldwide Pants
Lint, comparison to
Litowitz, Selma
Little Dipper (dog)
Littleford, Beth
Los Angeles, move to
Lotus 1-2-3
Louis C.K.
Love life. See also McShane, Tracey
M
Maddow, Rachel
Maher, Bill
Makeup
Manchurian Fur Trading Company
Manson, Marilyn
March to Keep Fear Alive rally
Martin, Steve
Maslin, Janet
Mason, Dave
McCain, John
McFarlane, Seth
McShane, Tracey (wife)
at Academy Awards
initial meeting with
marriage to
Moomah and
parenthood and
privacy and
proposing to
time in Los Angeles and
Media (traditional). See also Specific outlets
Crossfire interview and
hostility towards
view of Daily Show by
Miller, Dennis
Miramax Films
Moderation
Moomah
Morgan, Piers
Mosquitoes
Motels
Movies. See also Rosewater
Moyers, Bill
MTV
Munn, Olivia
Muppets
Murphy, Eddie
Murrow, Edward J.
Murrow School of Communication (Washington State University)
Musharraf, Pervez
Music
comparison of comedy to
The Jon Stewart Show and
love of
N
Naked Pictures of Famous People (Sandler)
Name
at birth
changing of
legally changing
The Nanny
Nastiness. See Anger
Neuwirth, Bebe
New Jersey Pine Barrens
New Jersey Training School
New York City
decision to remain in
leaving for Hollywood
move to
New York Times crossword puzzle
NewsRadio
Newsweek
Nice, Chuck
Nichol, Larry
Nixon, Richard M.
Nok Hockey table
Norley, Kate
Norton, Ed
O
Obama, Barack
“Obama Kills a Fly” piece
O’Brien, Conan
Obrien, John
The Office
Olbermann, Keith
Oliver, John
One-to-one feature
Optimism
O’Reilly, Bill. See also The Bill O’Reilly Show
Osbourne, Ozzy
Oscars, hosting of
P
The Pajama Game (musical)
Palin, Sarah
Pan American Maccabi Games (1983)
Paramount
Peabody Award
Perseverance
Pets. See Cats; Dogs
Pi Kappa Alpha
Pine Barrens. See New Jersey Pine Barrens
Playing by Heart
Politically Incorrect
Politicians as guests
Politics. See also Elections
The Daily Show and
earliest interest in
lack of plans to run for office and
Preparation, lack of
Pressure
The Price Is Right studio
Princeton University
Pritzker, Gigi
Privacy
Private Parts (Stern)
Production of The Daily Show
Proposal
Psychology
Publisher’s Weekly
Puppendential debate
Puppet show
Q
Quaker Bridge Mall
Question and answer session
R
Raimondo, Justin
Rallies
Rally to Restore Sanity
Ramadan
Ramone, Joey
Rasnic, John
Rather, Dan
Reagan, Ronald
Recognition, public
Religion. See also Jewish faith
Republican Party
Reruns
Resnick, Adam
“Restoring Honor” event
“Road to the Doghouse” debate
Rock, Chris
Romano, Ray
Rosborough, Patty
Rosen, Neil
Rosewater
Ross, Jason
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
Royalties
Rudin, Scott
Rushdie, Salman
Ryan, Paul
S
Sanchez, Rick
Sandler, Adam
The Satanic Verses (Rushdie)
Saturday Night Live
Schiavelli, Vincent
Schieffer, Bob
Schumer, Chuck
“Seat of Heat” segment
Secularism
Seinfeld, Jerry
September 11 terrorist attacks
Sesame Street
Shales, Tom
Shamsky (dog)
Shamsky Monkey Trust
Shandling, Garry
Sharpton, Al
Shatner, William
Short Attention Span Theater
Shortz, Will
Sickness
Since You’ve Been Gone
Sklar, Rachel
Smith, Anna Nicole
Smithberg, Madeline
Smoking
Smolenyak, Megan
Snyder, Tom
Soccer
College of William and Mary and
current
success and
high school and
U.S. soccer team and
South Street Seaport
“Special Comments” segment
Spinney, Craig
Sports. See also Soccer
Springsteen, Bruce
Stand Up for Sanity tour
Stand-up work
acting vs.
after The Jon Stewart Show
appeal of
broadcast by HBO
early days of
recent
Stand Up for Sanity tour and
Stanley (cat)
Stature
Stern, Howard
Stevens, Cat
Stewart, Maggie Rose (daughter)
Stewart, Nathan Thomas (son)
Stewart, Tracey (wife)
at Academy Awards
initial meeting with
marriage to
Moomah and
parenthood and
privacy and
proposing to
time in Los Angeles and
Stiller, Ben
Stress
Susman, Gary
Sweet, Rachel
The Sweet Life
Syndication
T
Teasing
Tennant, Thomas
Textbooks
Then They Came for Me (Bahari)
Thompson, Robert
Today show
Tomlin, Lily
Tomorrow with Tom Snyder
The Tonight Show
Torn, Rip
Touring
Tragedies
“The Tribe”
Tribeca loft
Trouble
Truman, Harry
Trumpet
Trust for the National Mall
20/20
U
Unger, Brian
Unions
Usher
V
Viacom
Vonnegut, Kurt
W
Wall, Wendy
Waller, Ali
Walmart
Walters, Barbara
War criminals
Weedman, Lauren
Weinberg, Steve
Weiner, Anthony
A Whack in the Head (drink)
White, Betty
“Who’s Next” prize
William and Mary
Williams, Brian
Williams, Robin
Wiltfong, Bob
on Colbert
on lack of interference from Comedy Central
on motivations of Stewart
on relationship between Stewart and Colbert
Winfrey, Oprah
Winstead, Lizz
Wishful Thinking
Women
World Maccabiah Games
World Trade Center bombing
Worldwide Pants
“Worst Person in the World” segment
Writers Guild of America
Writing/writers
for Caroline’s Comedy Hour
Colbert and
disagreements with
enjoyment of
in production process
strike and
Y
Yearbook photos
You Wrote It, You Watch It
“Your Moment of Zen” segment
Youssef, Bassem
Z
Zimmerman, Seth
Zucker, Jeff
ALSO BY LISA ROGAK
One Big Happy Family: Heartwarming Stories of Animals Caring for One Another
Dan Brown: The Unauthorized Biography
Dogs of Courage: The Heroism and Heart of Working Dogs Around the World
The Dogs of War: The Courage, Love, and Loyalty of Military Working Dogs
And Nothing but the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise) of Stephen Colbert
Michelle Obama in Her Own Words: The Views and Values of America’s First Lady
Barack Obama: In His Own Words
Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King
A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LISA ROGAK is the author of more than forty books, including the biographies And Nothing But the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise) of Stephen Colbert and the Edgar- and Anthony-nominated Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King. She is the editor of the New York Times bestselling book Barack Obama: In His Own Words. Learn more at www.LisaRogak.com.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
ANGRY OPTIMIST. Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Rogak. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Young Jin Lim
Cover photograph by Peter Kramer/Associated Press
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Rogak, Lisa, 1962–
Angry optimist : the life and times of Jon Stewart / by Lisa Rogak.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-250-01444-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-4106-2 (e-book)
1. Stewart, Jon, 1962– 2. Comedians—United States—Biography. 3. Television personalities—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.S683R66 2014
792.7'6028092—dc23
[B]
2014016493
e-ISBN 9781466841062
First Edition: September 2014