Politics Is a Joke!: How TV Comedians Are Remaking Political Life

Does late night political humor matter? Are late-night comedians merely entertaining, or do they have the power to influence the way we think about politics and politicians? Politics Is a Joke! situates late night comedy in the historical context of political humor and demonstrates how the public turn to this venue for political information, and are in turn affected by it.

Using exclusive data collected by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, the authors conduct a detailed and exhaustive...