1. Comment #298757 by bewlay_brother on December 8, 2008 at 3:35 pm

bummer. seems we cant play it in the uk.

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2. Comment #298765 by Rawhard Dickins on December 8, 2008 at 3:51 pm

He's a twat anyway

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3. Comment #298778 by bewlay_brother on December 8, 2008 at 4:04 pm

you think. i think he`s a bit funny. mildly amusing.

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4. Comment #298779 by Primate on December 8, 2008 at 4:04 pm

Truly fascinating. I only wish I could hear the man speak in a more serious setting.

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5. Comment #298783 by Librarian on December 8, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Loved the joking about the Mammoth missing out on the ark and the age of the Earth.

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6. Comment #298789 by KRKBAB on December 8, 2008 at 4:13 pm

Okay, before you Brits start with all of the comments- The Colbert Report is total satire. You don't have to like him, but please understand he's not serious with his criticisms. It is dissapointing to have him cut off really intelligent guests in the middle of a sentence, but you have to know ahead of time that's what he does.
Supposedly he's a Catholic, but I'm presuming he's a closet Atheist, with his hand on the doorknob. Wait.....what's that? I can hear the door creaking.....

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7. Comment #298792 by NewEnglandBob on December 8, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Nicholas Wade:

"We are going to get the full genome of the Neanderthal in a few weeks"

fantastic!

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8. Comment #298795 by bewlay_brother on December 8, 2008 at 4:20 pm

krkbab, i know, i get that, and sometimes he`s brilliant, just wish i could actually see this one.

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9. Comment #298801 by Ygern on December 8, 2008 at 4:44 pm

This link works from Ireland so it should work in the UK too.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/212035/december-04-2008/nicholas-wade


But agreed, Colbert is not nearly as funny as he thinks he is.

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10. Comment #298812 by bewlay_brother on December 8, 2008 at 5:00 pm

thanks...ill check that link tomorrow, looks promising.

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11. Comment #298844 by Dhamma on December 8, 2008 at 5:31 pm

I get to dislike him more for each time I see him.

Frankly, I've got no idea why reputable scientists would want to take part of interviews where you're being mocked and don't even get near saying anything of value before the retard forces his shitty jokes down your throat.

Even Dawkins visited him.

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12. Comment #298863 by ovejanegra on December 8, 2008 at 6:03 pm

If you want to see them in serious interviews, all you have to do is wait for them to show up on Point of Inquiry, NPR, or one of a thousand other current events programs or podcasts. Colbert is the wittiest talk show host on TV and TCR is a hilarious, intelligently written program. Kudos to Nicholas Wade for promoting science in such an entertaining way and for having a sense of humor!

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13. Comment #298870 by KRKBAB on December 8, 2008 at 6:17 pm

Ygern- Colbert is not nearly as funny as he thinks he is? Purely subjective, dude. I think he's real funny, although this particular show wasn't that good.

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14. Comment #298879 by debacles on December 8, 2008 at 6:40 pm

I don't get all these people who rip on Colbert for not letting scientists talk and get their points across. Would you expect SNL to change into a documentary if a scientist were to host it?

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15. Comment #298880 by KRKBAB on December 8, 2008 at 6:44 pm

Yeah debacles- I agree. It's not supossed to be a serious show. However, it's pretty cool that he chooses scientists and the like to riff off of. He's obvoisly supporting them. It's called schtick!

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16. Comment #298893 by Eshto on December 8, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Colbert is amazing. And those of you from other countries probably just can't appreciate the catharsis he provides. His character represents a very real, very powerful ideology and segment of our population. When we laugh at him, we laugh at them. And what we're laughing at in particular is that he's not even being ironic - the right wing acts EXACTLY as stupid and crazy as he's acting. Moreso even.

I'm sure you non-Americans have analogous political satirists in your countries whose jokes would fly over my head because I don't live there and I'm not accustomed to your politics. Every culture has their special brand of dangerous idiot, ours is the right wing and Colbert represents them to a tee.

Other than that, he's wildly popular, so it's just good sense to appear on his show to promote yourself.

What worries me is this business about resurrecting neanderthals. Weren't they even dumber and physically stronger than us?

God help us...

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17. Comment #298910 by NewEnglandBob on December 8, 2008 at 8:14 pm

What worries me is this business about resurrecting neanderthals. Weren't they even dumber and physically stronger than us?

Since no one has ever seen one, why don't we find out. The 'dumber' part is most likely speculation. They had culture and tools. We do not know why they went extinct and Homo Sapiens nearly did also.

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18. Comment #298917 by black wolf on December 8, 2008 at 8:27 pm

Wade seems quite certain that it was 'us' who killed off the Neanderthals in an aggressive fashion (at the end of the interview). Maybe he just said it to get a quick statement in without having to explain too much about population dynamics. He also didn't correct Colbert on the 'Neanderthals were our ancestors' remark. Colbert's interview segment is definitely not adequate to address science properly, but I accept that it's very useful to popularize an interest in scientific topics, by at least pointing the viewer in the right direction and sparking an understanding why these questions matter to us.
The thing about culture and tools is difficult to discern, as the time frame within which we can date artifacts is very vague in relation to human development. Generally it is thought that sapiens had better tools and a more creative culture, and that the best things the Neanderthals had were copied or maybe traded. But we can't say that that's strictly true for every region. As modern history shows, just a few hundred years of a lucky (or accelerated development under pressure) head start of invention in one region can change history.

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19. Comment #298919 by Goodwithwood on December 8, 2008 at 8:36 pm

You Brits just don’t get it. Just like I don’t get some of your comedy.
Try this out. It’s an old video of Colbert when he was on the Daily Show making fun of .....well Brits.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=108395&title=Prince-Charles-Scandal

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20. Comment #298923 by flibble on December 8, 2008 at 9:40 pm

Its not that we Brits don't "get" it. Its that we don't "get" it !?!?!

Attempting to view these clips displays a message to say that they are not available here.

The few times I have seen Colbert I have (usually) found him funny - and it goes without saying that I love The Daily Show (we "get" that on the More 4 channel).

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21. Comment #298933 by hayesky on December 8, 2008 at 10:18 pm

I loved Colbert's interview at the Smithsonian when the lady kept telling him the Grand Canyon was formed over "millions of years", and Stephen kept saying "thousands of years" over her. Hilarious. I'm sure people outside of the US could figure out Colbert. You just don't hear all the news if you don't watch The Daily Show, amazing how much is ignored by the major news networks and papers.

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22. Comment #298943 by smokedherb on December 8, 2008 at 10:37 pm

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23. Comment #298945 by Saerain on December 8, 2008 at 11:05 pm

Colbert uses his character to provide his guests with a belligerent opponent to give them the opportunity to argue against every ridiculous point a conservative/Republican/theist might make (in the time allotted). The comedy is supposed to be in the foolishness of Colbert's character, highlighting the foolishness of our worst pundits. His job is to play the so-called 'devil's advocate' throughout every show as sincerely as possible.

If he's not a twat, he's not succeeding.

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24. Comment #298989 by AfraidToDie on December 9, 2008 at 1:30 am

11. Comment #298844 by Dhamma: Frankly, I've got no idea why reputable scientists would want to take part of interviews where you're being mocked and don't even get near saying anything of value before the retard forces his shitty jokes down your throat. Even Dawkins visited him

That’s because even Dawkins understands a) it’s a perfectly legitmate way to mock religion and b) it’s a good way to reach open-minded people to sell your book.

Although we all have different tastes in comedy, there is no doubt Colbert continually mocks religion and right wing politics. He got his start from a feature segment he did on The Daily Show because he appealed to a large subset who Like John Stewart. You don't have to like his schstick, but you must understand he is enjoyed and understood by much of our open minded intelligent youth, as well as some of us liberal old farts as well. And if that isn't enough, the right wing evangelical republicans hate his guts.

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25. Comment #299065 by Apeseed on December 9, 2008 at 4:14 am

I love Colbert and regularly watch. For those here in Britain who want to watch, you can install OpenVPN, which gives you an I.P. address in the U.S. and thus bypass the country restriction.
When streaming video it can be a little disjointed, so the trick is to connect to the network and load the episode you want to watch. Then once you see that the programme is playing, disconnect from the network and it will reload and stream properly.

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26. Comment #299101 by Dhamma on December 9, 2008 at 5:40 am

Afraidtodie wrote:

And if that isn't enough, the right wing evangelical republicans hate his guts.

Well that could be enough :)

I obviously understand people get on the show as a good way to reach a major audience. However, I fear it could be counter-productive when this religious loonie (he is religious) mocks and interrupts them constantly. If you have five minutes to promote your ideas and only get one productive minute and four being mocked at, I'm not sure it helps.

Anyway, I think he's funny too occasionally, it just easily gets too much.

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27. Comment #299111 by Roger Stanyard on December 9, 2008 at 5:52 am

One thing I would love to do is get some satire in Private Eye about the creationists (in particular) and the fundies (in general).

Alas, we were warned off trying some three years ago. The editor is a Christian.

Anyone know of another publication that might be interested?

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28. Comment #299130 by posiedon on December 9, 2008 at 6:27 am

Ian Hyslop is the editor of Private Eye, and his wiki entry states,

In Caroline Chartres' book Why I Am Still an Anglican, Hislop describes himself as an "atheist with doubts: a C of E don't know".

Why don't you give him a go? You might be surprised.

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29. Comment #299132 by Muetze on December 9, 2008 at 6:31 am

I never got why scientists keep coming to Colbert's show. No matter how tongue-in-cheek it is, it must be an ordeal to present one's theories and ideas to somebody who doesn't even give you the chance of making a serious point.

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30. Comment #299142 by Roger Stanyard on December 9, 2008 at 6:44 am

Posiedon - thanks for that tip. One of the members of BCSE used to work for Private Eye. I'll ask her for some help.

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31. Comment #299177 by Styrer- on December 9, 2008 at 7:52 am

Why oh why is it that Colbert is repeatedly granted time here?

Please - admin - stop.

Tedious and unfunny, every time.

Best,
Styrer

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32. Comment #299317 by Peter_on_Sax on December 9, 2008 at 12:19 pm

I don't get this. It's just US of A drivel. I give up on richarddawkins.net. It's so American! Does Dawkins really agree to this shit in his name?

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33. Comment #299319 by Hellene on December 9, 2008 at 12:21 pm

Nicholas Wade seemed to be having a good time.

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34. Comment #299320 by Colwyn Abernathy on December 9, 2008 at 12:23 pm

KRK,

It isn't JUST satire...it's feckin' BRILLIANT satire. His speech at the White House Correspondents' dinner is one that shall live in infamy.

"Wow, what an honor...I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me! You know what, I'm a pretty sound sleeper, that might not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face." -Stephen Colbert

Genius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa-4E8ZDj9s

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35. Comment #299330 by SharonMcT on December 9, 2008 at 12:47 pm

The "Colbert Bump" is real, it seems to me. If Colbert uses his power to get more people interested in science, then I think it's fantastic.

If Colbert deems a scientist, writer, or musician important enough to be a guest on the show, then a lot of his audience will take the time to find out more.

It really can't be a bad thing. No matter if the segment doesn't end up as funny as we would like it to be, in the end, something worth thinking about, reading, or listening to has been promoted.

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36. Comment #299332 by notsobad on December 9, 2008 at 12:48 pm

If you hate the Colbert fictional character, it means he is doing his job right.

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37. Comment #299338 by Alfster on December 9, 2008 at 12:54 pm

Steve Colbert is superb. I am in the UK and I love his humour.

I used to watch his full shows before they locked them out for UK viewing on-line just like The Daily Show.

The White House Correspondents' dinner is amazing. The guy must have had balls of steel to do that.

The character he plays on the Colbert Report is a sort of ironic parody of Bill O'Reilly...although O'Reilly, from what I have seen, does a pretty good pardoy of himself.

And Peter_on_Sax I would have thought someone on this site would have done a little delving into who Colbert is and what the 'drivel' is all about before walking away! Have another look and you will see incredibly sharp satire.

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38. Comment #299417 by bewlay_brother on December 9, 2008 at 4:24 pm

This link works from Ireland so it should work in the UK too.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/212035/december-04-2008/nicholas-wade


But agreed, Colbert is not nearly as funny as he thinks he is.




No i still cant seem to watch it, blocked in uk for some reason. should we all be paranoid?
But actually i do find Colbert funny, most of the time but lose it in some of the references to American politics that im not aware of. Comedic genius, no, but certainly a very funny guy.


edit..i really need to learn the block quote thing...sorry.

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39. Comment #299426 by splink on December 9, 2008 at 5:05 pm

I have to say, unless you have seen Bill O'Reilly's show you probably won't understand how spot on he is at satirizing him. He is absolutely brilliant. It is the best show on television. If he just let them speak then he would not be funny. I'm sorry but I come here for my science news, I go to Colbert for my laughs. He is not obligated to mix the two nor would I want him to.

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40. Comment #299429 by Mayhemm on December 9, 2008 at 5:11 pm

I admire a lot of what Colbert achieves and generally enjoy his work (similar to The Daily Show and Real Time).

It' just that in this specific interview he seemed to be trying a little too hard. You can make satirical jabs at someone without constantly interrupting them.

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41. Comment #299748 by MatthaiNazrani on December 10, 2008 at 10:13 am

I'm not in the US of A (India), and I totally agree with the concept of the Colbert Report. I see nothing wrong about relevant videos from the show being posted here.

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42. Comment #299787 by splink on December 10, 2008 at 11:49 am

Watch the Bill O'Reilly interview with Barack Obama and see how many times the obtuse troglodyte interrupts Obama. Interrupting people so they can't make a point is central to the character.

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43. Comment #299796 by DarwinsPitbull on December 10, 2008 at 12:24 pm

But agreed, Colbert is not nearly as funny as he thinks he is.

Yea I would ahve to agree. I do think he has some funny bits but overall he is really not all that funny. I find him more annoying because he is trying to do a parody, where as someone one like Jon Stewart is being himself and being funny.


splink

Watch the Bill O'Reilly interview with Barack Obama and see how many times the obtuse troglodyte interrupts Obama. Interrupting people so they can't make a point is central to the character.

I watched that interview and he kept interrupting him because Obama would not give a straight answer. O'Reilly will usually let people talk when they are actually answering the question he asks them. But once they start being around the bush or dodging the question, thats when he will interrupt them and go into asshole mode. But its understandable because its annoying when they can't just give a straight answer on a question.

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44. Comment #299797 by mitch_486 on December 10, 2008 at 12:28 pm

I watched that interview and he kept interrupting him because Obama would not give a straight answer. O'Reilly will usually let people talk when they are actually answering the question he asks them. But once they start being around the bush or dodging the question, thats when he will interrupt them and go into asshole mode. But its understandable because its annoying when they can't just give a straight answer on a question.

especially when it's a comment against republicans.......

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45. Comment #299801 by Matt H. on December 10, 2008 at 12:35 pm

To our American members: Not all of us Britons lack a sense of humour. Personally, I love Stephen Colbert (and Jon Stewart, too. But he doesn't know anything about the UK, which makes his segments about our royal family incredibly irritating).

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46. Comment #299839 by Dispiracist on December 10, 2008 at 2:26 pm

I’ve just finished reading Nicholas Wade’s book Before the Dawn.

Anyone interested in the present and continuing evolution of human behaviour really should read this one. It is a jam-packed sampler of interesting theories involving human origins.

Some random things I learned:

1. Evolutionary change in human minds can be very rapid – with significant changes in some reproductively isolated groups suspected to have occurred over as little as 800 years. (Significantly increased intelligence in Ashkenazy Jews.)

2. Domestication of plants and animals may have occurred very rapidly and repeatedly in different locations.

3. Domesticated dogs are critical for enabling civilisation. (I have always been suspicious about people who prefer cats over dogs – this may lead to incriminating evidence that cat lovers really are undermining the very foundations of human civilisation.)

4. Humans are programmed to divide up into groups and wage war on the out groups – dog versus cat lovers, the United Atheist Alliance versus the Allied Atheist Allegiance.

Religion may be the evolved social mechanism which enables our recently acquired tolerance of strangers and family orientation, essential for civilisation, to be suppressed, facilitating our capability for genocide, which is an important aspect of our evolutionary development. (Perhaps this is an underlying genetic driver behind programs like SETI – not just scientific curiosity about intelligent life, but whether it is feasible to undertake a dawn raid on their star system and kill them all in their beds before they do unto us - just like we dealt with those Neanderthal bastards.)

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47. Comment #299980 by splink on December 10, 2008 at 5:52 pm

DarwinsPitbull I gather from past comments that you are somewhat conservative, which is fine but please don't tell me that you consider Bill O'Reilly a reasonable guy. That would be like me calling Keith Obermann a reasonable guy and I can't in good conscience call that bespectacled buffoon likable let alone reasonable. O'Reilly is just as bad only louder and more chinless.

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48. Comment #300277 by Volguus Zildrohar on December 11, 2008 at 10:34 am

Colbert is brilliant; many, many thinking people I know, including some who are comically brilliant themselves, agree.

I think it is a cultural thing. There must be something to the rhythm/aesthetic/flavor/cultural references that (most) brits (here at least) don't get.

It is a uniquely American product, one that regurgitates through a satiric spectrum not just O'Reilly type blowhards, but a whole host of bombastic, anti-intellectual, smug, consumerist, etc, etc, aspects of American society and culture.

I'm SURE there are comedies within the UK that many outside do not get... right.... RIGHT?

edit: the Creo-Catholicism of "Colbert" is nowhere near the progressive Catholicism of Colbert himself. And don't forget his staff is most probably made of secular young people in NYC.

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49. Comment #300279 by Roger Stanyard on December 11, 2008 at 10:40 am

splink - DP thinks Vlad the Impaler is a reasonable guy.

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50. Comment #300280 by DarwinsPitbull on December 11, 2008 at 10:42 am

splink

DarwinsPitbull I gather from past comments that you are somewhat conservative, which is fine but please don't tell me that you consider Bill O'Reilly a reasonable guy. That would be like me calling Keith Obermann a reasonable guy and I can't in good conscience call that bespectacled buffoon likable let alone reasonable. O'Reilly is just as bad only louder and more chinless.

Well he is sometimes. I have watched him sometimes give good interviews where he pounds on the guest until they answer a question. Other times he is just loud and annoying so it depends on who he is talking to and about what.

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