Steve Almond on the Post-Jon Stewart Era

When Jon Stewart recently announced his plan to leave the Daily Show – the fake news show that has steadily become the go-to news-source for millions of Americans – one fan of the show, Steve Almond, chose to see it as a positive development. Almond, a humorist and author of popular books such as Candyfreak, Against Football, and Rock ‘n Roll Will Save Your Life, believes that Americans have come to lean on savvy, insightful comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report as a sort of crutch, an all-too-often substitute for getting off the couch and making an actual difference in the real world. This week on Sea Change Radio, Steve Almond and I discuss what Jon Stewart’s absence from our nightly routine might mean for the environmental movement, and whether screens in general help or hinder activism and systemic change.