Topical comedy has moved into the American mainstream, and comedians have laid claim to cultural spaces once owned by news anchors. Though Jon Stewart may have called himself a “fake newsman,” The Daily Show launched a generation of smart, socially-conscious comedians like Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, and Trevor Noah into the foreground as they critique some of the nation’s most powerful institutions – from the presidency to the media itself. 

Archive Highlights
Archive Highlight | Smothers Brothers

This video features exclusive interviews with Whitney Cummings, Keegan-Michael Key, W. Kamau Bell, Larry Charles, Laraine Newman, Conan O’Brien, Lewis Black, Judd Apatow, Jeff Ross, Elayne Boosler, Sarah Silverman, Jim Jefferies, and Samantha Bee.