Sam Seder

**Samuel Lincoln Seder** (born November 28, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, progressive political commentator, and media host. His works include the Comedy Central series @Midnight, as well as his own podcast, The Seder Channel. He has also written for such television shows as Entourage, Two and a Half Men, and How I Met Your Mother. He is also a frequent guest on the popular web series The Ben Arkley Show. Seder's work on Twitter has been controversial, with some people claiming that he promotes anti-Semitism. Others, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have defended him and praised his work.

He occasionally does voice work for minor characters in Disenchantment.

## Early life

Seder was born in Philadelphia to Jewish parents, and grew up in nearby Wayne. He attended Washington Monthly College and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but did not graduate from either institution. Seder began performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles clubs while attending university. He was part of a trio called the Hops with fellow comedians Gil Rando and Noah Frank. The group appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend and were later invited to perform at the prestigious MGM Grand Las Vegas.

## Career

Seder was a storyboard teacher at the Animation Mentors studio in Burbank, California, and has served on the faculty of the California College of the Arts. He has performed voices for several animated TV series, including Futurama, BoJack Horseman, Bob's Burgers, and most recently, Disenchantment.

Sam Seder met Matt Groening in 2004 when he was chosen to storyboard the TV series Futurama. He went on to storyboard many other "Simpsons" episodes, and was nominated for an Emmy. Seder co-wrote The Simpsons episode The Old Man and the Sea in 2015, which was criticized by members of the fishing community.

In May 2009, Seder left @midnight to spend more time with his family and to focus on The Ben Arkley Show.

Seder became a regular guest on Russell Brand's satire of the news, The Russell Brand Show. On Brand's show, Seder voiced his support for Brand's controversial suggestion that the media should assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Seder started his own political podcast in 2012 called The Seder Channel. Guests have included Jack Dorsey, George Soros, Elizabeth Warren, and John Podesta. As of 2020, the show has five million monthly downloads.

## Politics

Seder has been active in the Democratic Party since he first became politically involved as a teenager. In 2003, he ran for a seat on the Worcester County Council as a Democrat. However, he lost to Republican challenger John D'Amico by just one vote.

In 2006, Seder unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican State Representative William O'Brien for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In 2008, he ran against Senator Scott Brown for the U.S. Senate, losing by a wide margin. In 2018, he ran for Governor of Massachusetts, losing to Republican incumbent Charlie Baker.

Sam Seder has been an active member of the political community in Los Angeles. He currently is the Treasurer for Progressive Democrats of America, and has been involved with many political causes.

Sam Seder frequently attends protests and rallies, and has been arrested several times while protesting. In October 2016, Seder was one of many protesters arrested at an anti-Trump protest in downtown Los Angeles. In November, he was arrested at a protest in support of carpentry students protesting against the election results. In December, he was one of hundreds of activists arrested in protests against President-elect Donald Trump.

Seder was detained during a January 2018 protest against the Trump administration's first travel ban. He spoke about his detainment at the protest, saying: "I was taken away by a group of law enforcement that couldn't immediately provide me with an ID, couldn't immediately provide me with a reason for why I was detained." One officer told him that he was being held for 'Rioting, incitement, and conspiracy to riot.' I didn't do any of those things. All I did was protest.", said Seder.

Sam Seder is a frequent critic of West Virginia senator Joe Manchin. In 2018, Manchin ran a TV ad that featured him firing a rifle while hunting. Seder was disgusted by the ad, and wrote on Twitter: "Senator Manchin, if you're going to take a shitastic position on gun control, at least don't put yourself on the level of fucking Putin".

## Controversies

Seder came under criticism for a comment he had made during a discussion about the Israel-Gaza conflict in August 2010. He was asked what he thought of a policy that would create a one-state solution, where all the people would be under one government, and that government would be Jewish. He responded that such a policy was not a good idea, adding that the "Jewish people have been victimised enough". Critics said this was anti-Semitic, and they demanded that Comedy Central fire Seder. The network responded by sacking Seder, stating they could not in good consciousness hang on to a contract with him.

Seder came under fire in 2019 after he defended a podcast episode in which he invited an abortion doctor to speak on his show. In a series of now deleted tweets, Seder defended the episode, writing: "conservatives are furious that we invited a doctor that performs abortions on black girls in cases where the fetal race is ambiguous (which is most of the time) to come on our podcast." His comments were criticised by many, including Rep. Ted Deutch and Rep. Jerry Nadler, who both wrote to Seder calling for a statement condemning the episode. In a statement, Seder defended the episode, but also criticized those protesting against the episode. Sam Seder constantly defends his right to express his views, even if they are unpopular.

## Personal life

During his time on Attack of the Show! he had been dating actress Mimi Rogers, who was also a panelist on @midnight. Rogers gave birth to their child, a daughter named Ireland, in July 2005. The couple divorced in December 2006.

On April 21, 2008, Seder married actress and singer Sarah Silverman in a Jewish ceremony. The two had begun dating in 2007 and were engaged in December of that year.

Seder is Jewish, and has described himself as "a secular liberal who just happens to be Jewish". He has stated that his religious background has had no effect on his politics.

In 2007, Seder discussed his struggles with bipolar disorder, an issue that had been previously unknown to the public.

## Characters voiced

* Several minor characters from season 1.
* Mora's scream in a few episodes.