the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
Porta Alchemica is the only survivor of the five gates of the Palombara villa, there was an lost door on the opposite side enabling to give it a date of 1680, there were also four other inscriptions lost on the walls of the mansion inside the villa.
According to a legend dated 1802 sent us by the scholar Francesco Girolamo Cancellieri , a pilgrim "stibeum" (from Latin: stibium = antimony) was hosted in the villa for a night.
The "pellegrino", identifiable with the alchemist Giustiniani Bono, stayed for a night in the gardens of the villa in search of a mysterious herb capable of producing gold, the next morning he was seen disappearing forever through the door, but left behind a few flakes of gold fruit of a successful alchemical transmutation, and a mysterious paper full of puzzles and magic symbols that would contain the secret of the Philosopher's Stone.
The interest of the Marquis Palombara for alchemy was born probably on his attendance since 1656, at the roman court of queen Christina of Sweden, at Riario palace (today Palazzo Corsini) on the slopes of the Gianicolo hill.
After the queen converted to Catholicism, she abdicated the throne of Sweden and he spent much of the rest of his life exiled in Rome from 1655 until her death in 1689.
Queen Christina had an alchemical laboratory in Riario palace attended by people like the esotericists Giuseppe Francesco Borri, and the learned Athanasius Kircher possessor of the mysterious Voynich manuscript of enigmatic scripture full of magic symbols.
According to a legend the same Porta Alchemica was built in 1680 as a celebration of a successful alchemical transmutation occurred in Riario laboratory.
Between 1678 and 1680 Borri aka Giustiniani Bono, collaborated with Athanasius Kircher for construction of Porta Alchemica in Palombara villa.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, famous architect and Kircher friend, designed the door.
On the door was transcribed the secret formula for producing gold discovery in those years in alchemical laboratory of queen Christina.
Because of this revelation the Marquis Palombara, Bernini and Athanasius Kircher were murdered by poison at 28 November 1680, probably by the same Borri.
The secret of the Philosopher's Stone was lost forever, or perhaps continued to be used by Borri. (
It's amazing the similarity between portraits of Borri and the mysterious Count of St. Germain).
A mysterious symbol
The particular drawing on the pediment of Porta Alchemica, with the two triangles overlap and inscriptions in Latin, appears almost exactly the same on the title of the book alchemical Aureum Seculum Redivivum of Henricus Madatanus aka Adrian von Mynsicht (1603-1638).
The title page of the original of 1621 is very different, because the design that was inspired the Marquis Palombara appears exactly only in the posthumous edition of 1677.
The same drawing appears in a bookmark possessed by Berenger Saunière, who became the parish priest at Rennes-le-Château in 1885.
The motto Aureum Seculum Redivivum recalled this Novus Ordo Seclorum in the Great Seal of the United States, motto also of the Bavarian Illuminati heirs of the 17th century Rosicrucianism.
Springfield is a city in Massachusetts, United States.
In the year 2010, 153,084 people lived in the city and 700,000 people live in Metropolitan Springfield.
Springfield is the largest city on the Connecticut River.
It is at a natural crossroads where three rivers flow into the Connecticut River.
The sport of basketball was invented in Springfield in 1892.
The James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is there.
The American car was invented there in 1893.
The American motorcycle was invented in Springfield in 1901.
The modern fire engine was invented there in 1905.
The commercial radio station was invented there in 1920.
The UHF TV station was invented in Springfield in 1950.
Springfield is near Hartford, Connecticut.
The two cities are only 24 miles (38 km) apart.
Airline service to Springfield and Hartford is provided from Bradley International Airport.
Bradley is 12 miles (19 km) away from Springfield, and 12 miles (19 km) away from Hartford.
Many famous people are from Springfield: Dr. Seuss, the author, is from there.
John Brown, the abolitionist, started his abolitionism here.
James MacNeill Whistler, the famous painter, lived there too.
Timothy Leary, the LSD activist was born there.
Milton Bradley, the game-maker made his games, like "The Game of Life," and "Chutes and Ladders" there.
Charles Goodyear, the man who invented vulcanized rubber, first made it in Springfield.
Springfield has two professional sports teams, the Springfield Falcons AHL ice hockey team, and the Springfield Armor NBA D-League basketball team.
Both teams play home games at the MassMutual Center on Main Street in Springfield.
Many trains and buses meet in Springfield, because it is close to big cities like New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Albany.
It is also next to New England's largest river, the Connecticut River.
Springfield has always been a city that has welcomed immigrants.
If you visit Springfield, you can go to the Basketball Hall of Fame, or The Quadrangle museums - a group of art, science, and history museums around the Dr. Seuss sculptures.
You could go to the Club Quarter, where there are many restaurants, bars, and discos.
You could go to Forest Park, where there is a zoo, different sports fields, and a lake.
Global apartheid is a term used to mean the worldwide control of resources, the economy, and government by an ethnic minority.
The term comes from apartheid, a governmental system that ruled South Africa in which the Afrikaners, or "whites", controlled most of the resources and where non-whites were denied access to these resources.
Apartheid or 'separate development' was introduced by the National Party after the 1948 election to protect European interests and identity by enforcing separation between the 'races'.
The term is often used to describe the gap between whites and nonwhites, and global socioeconomic inequality, the existence of which has been proven by statistics.
As in South Africa, there is a hierarchy of group rights in the world:
citizens of the USA, UK and France, with veto powers in the Security Council, NATO and IMF, World Bank and global economic regimes;
OECD and Western Alliance, who have the vote, access to courts and Western solidarity;
other independent states represented on a regional basis and party to human rights conventions
independent states which do not adhere to human rights conventions;
occupied territories and peoples without states;
refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless person.
Although not explicitly classified by race, this hierarchy is banded by colour.
Nationality laws of most countries, and the European Union, explicitly enshrine this ‘classification'.
European countries control most of the world's technology and weapons, and 20% of the global population, the richest percentage, take in 71.3% of income.
Although most people of the world are not white, thereby making whites a minority, this minority often holds power in society.
Most Western countries have laws against racial discrimination and active anti-racist movements, however much Western thought, law and action are exclusive, operating through institutional and indirect discrimination rather than overt racism.
Their system of exclusion are more sophisticated, this prevents the West from exercising unconditional power in international affairs.
The term apartheid was famously used by Thabo Mbeki, the then-President of South Africa, in a 2002 speech, drawing comparisons the modern-day status of the world's people, economy, and access to natural resources to the apartheid era.
Mbeki got the term from the book Unravelling Global Apartheid (1996) by Titus Alexander, initiator of Charter 99, a campaign for global democracy, who was present at the UN Millennium Summit.
Baccara was a Spanish pop group.
They were formed in 1977.
It had two members: Mayte Mateos and María Mendiola.
They were successful with their first song, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie.
Baccara represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1978.
They performed Parlez-vous français?.
In 1981, Baccara split.
Both Mateos and Mendiola then began work on music by themselves.
1981 disestablishments
Musical groups disestablished in 1981
Spanish musical groups
1977 establishments in Europe
1970s establishments in Spain
1980s disestablishments in Europe
The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom.
It was created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.
It was first shown on CBS on September 24, 2007.
The show starts by being centred on two male Caltech scientists who share an apartment in Pasadena, California.
They are in their twenties and are both single for the first two seasons.
One is an experimental physicist from New Jersey (Leonard Hofstadter).
The other is a theoretical physicist from Texas (Sheldon Cooper).
Sheldon has Asperger syndrome and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and has a very low sex drive.
They live across the hall from an attractive, bottle-blonde waitress from Nebraska (Penny).
She is single and lives on her own for most of the show's run.
She tried to become an actress, but only got a role in a television advertisement and a role in a B-movie called Serial Apeist as well as its sequel.
Leonard and Sheldon's geekiness and intellect are contrasted with Penny's social skills, popularity and lively sex life for comedic effect.
Two equally geeky, single friends of Sheldon and Leonard's, Jewish Howard and Indian Rajesh, are also main characters.
Howard lived with his mother during the first few seasons.
Raj lives on his own.
The show is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions.
In March 2014, it was announced that The Big Bang Theory would continue for at least three more seasons on CBS.
The show began as a sitcom about four geeky, male scientists and their fun-loving, under-educated, socially successful waitress neighbour.
Much of the humor revolved around the differences between scientists and the rest of the characters, especially Penny.
From season 3 onwards, the show changed greatly into being a show about couples and families.
Bernadette Rostenkowski was brought in during season 3 and started a relationship with Howard.
The couple later married and had a daughter.
Amy Farrah-Fowler was also brought in during season 3 and started a relationship with Sheldon; they later got engaged.
Leonard and Penny became a couple and married.
The show frequently shuffles between romantic comedy and relationship drama.
Eleven seasons have been shown.
The show's twelfth season was its last.
A prequel series, Young Sheldon, began in 2017.
Johnny Galecki as Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D.
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D.
Kaley Cuoco as Penny
Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz, M.Eng.
Kunal Nayyar as Rajesh Koothrappali, Ph.D.
Kevin Sussman as Stuart
John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke
Melissa Rauch as Bernadette Rostenkowski
Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah-Fowler
Minor/guest
Deborah "Debbie" Wolowitz (voiced by Carol Ann Susi (seasons 1-8 (2007-2014)))
Leslie Winkle (played by Sara Gilbert (seasons 1 (2007-2008) and 3 (2009-2010)))
Production history
The show was first developed for the 2006-2007 television season.
At that time, it was very different from the show that was later broadcast.
Only Jim Parsons & Johnny Galecki were part of the original pilot.
The character now played by Kaley Cuoco was much meaner to the geeks.
CBS did not pick the show up, but gave Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre a second chance.
They brought in Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar.
They retooled the show.
The second pilot of The Big Bang Theory was directed by award-winning television directing veteran James Burrows.
He decided not to stay with the show.
This reworked pilot led to a 13-episode order by CBS on May 14, 2007.
Before its airing on CBS, the pilot episode was distributed on iTunes free of charge.
The show premiered September 24, 2007.
It was picked up for a full 22-episode season order on October 19, 2007.
Production on the show was halted on November 6, 2007 by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.
When the strike ended, the show was picked up for a second season for the 2008-2009 television season.
The show returned on March 17, 2008 .
It had an earlier time slot and nine new episodes.
The second season premiered, in the same slot, on September 22, 2008.
During that season, the show's ratings grew.
That led to a
David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, checks scripts and provides dialogue, math equations and diagrams used as props.
He says he is more consultant than contributor.
Executive producer/co-creator Bill Prady said, "In fact, we're working on giving Sheldon an actual problem that he's going to be working on throughout the [first] season so there's actual progress to the boards ... We worked hard to get all the science right."
Barenaked Ladies wrote and recorded the theme song, which describes developments the universe has undergone since the dawn of time.
On October 9, 2007, a full-length (1 minute and 45 second) version of the song was released.
DVD/Blu-ray releases
Despite the third and fourth seasons receiving Blu-ray releases with their DVD releases, the first and second seasons were only available on DVD when they were released.
Warner Bros. has then released the first two seasons on Blu-ray/DVD combo packs with UltraViolet downloads on July 10, 2012.
All of the episodes from seasons 1 & 2 on Blu-ray received newly edited surround-sound audio, with the first season including a never-before-seen gag reel, which was not included during the initial first season DVD release.
U.S. standard ratings
In the following summary, "rating" is the percentage of all households with televisions that tuned to the show, and "share" is the percentage of all televisions in use at that time that are tuned in. "
18-49" is the percentage of all adults aged 18–49 tuned into the show. "
Viewers" is the number of viewers, in millions, watching at the time. "
Rank" is how well the show did compared to other TV shows aired that week.
Seasonal ratings
Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of The Big Bang Theory on CBS:
UK distribution and ratings
The show made its UK debut on Channel 4 on February 14, 2008 bringing in an average audience of 1.0 million viewers.
The second episode, shown the following week, also received 1.0 million.
For the third episode an average of 1.1 million tuned in.
The show is also shown as a 'first-look' on Channel 4's digital offshoot E4 the preceding evening, and brings in 400,000 viewers on average.
The 5th episode received 880,000 viewers.
After the first 5 episodes, the average number of viewers continues to hover around the 1 million mark.
Episode 13 was watched by 1.3 million viewers and was the most watched episode.
International broadcast
— Digi+ (since April 19, 2009)
— Warner Channel (since November, 2007)
— Nine Network (Originally broadcast Early 2008 during the rating season, however due to low viewership the show was put on hiatus to be broadcast in the off season starting of November 19, 2008)
— La Une (since August 31, 2008)
- Nova Television (since November 5, 2008)
— CTV (2008–present), A (2007–2008)
— Warner Channel
- LTV
— Prima COOL (since April 7, 2009)
— 6'eren (Since January, 2009)
- Mai TV
— Sub (since September 8, 2008)
— TPS Star (since October 18, 2008)
— ProSieben (since 2009)
— Canal 5
— ATV World (2011)
— Stöð 2 (since August 19, 2008)
— Zee Cafe, Star World India
— RTÉ Two (since July 11, 2008)
— yes stars Comedy (since July, 2008)
— Steel (since January 19, 2008).
The show received a lot of criticism due to the poor quality of dubbing, which allegedly "dumbed down" most of the nerdy-geeky jokes.
Latin America — Warner Channel
— ntv7
— Veronica (since March 2, 2009)
— TV2 (since September 17, 2008)
— TVNorge
— Zee Cafe
— Jack TV C/S 9
— TVN Siedem (since November 20, 2008) as 'Teoria wielkiego wybuchu' poprawione przez Dr.Lesiu
— SET and RTP2 (since July 14, 2008)
— Paramount Comedy Russia
— Kanal A (since February 23, 2009) as Veliki pokovci (The Big Bangers)
— M-Net
— Antena.neox (since June 12, 2008)
— Kanal 5
— True Series (since May 26, 2008)
— TV6 (since 2008)
— CNBC-e (since September 9, 2008)
- Inter channel
— Channel 4, E4
The Big Bang Theory  on CBS.com
Official Site for The Big Bang Theory on DVD
Vanity Cards Archive for The Big Bang Theory
Autism in fiction
Smilodon was a genus of saber-toothed cat.
There were three species.
Smilodon gracilis (or S. fragilis) was the ancestral, smaller, species (2.5 to 0.5 million years ago).
Smilodon populator (1 mya to 10 kya) was a large, heavy species from eastern South America.
It was 1.2 m high at the shoulder, 2.1 m (83 in) long on average.
With an estimated weight of 220 to 400 kg, it was among the heaviest known felids.
Its upper canines reached 28 cm (11 in) and protruded up to 17 cm (6.7 in) out of the upper jaw.
Smilodon fatalis (or S. californicus; 1.6 mya to 10,000 years ago) was the famous cat known from the Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles.
The tar, a bit like asphalt, has yielded about a million bones of late Pleistocene mammals, of which 162,000 bones are from Smilodon, representing perhaps 1200 individuals.
The cat was about the size of a female lion, but weighed more, perhaps 200 kg.
It was about 1 metre tall at the shoulders.
Teeth and jaws
Smilodon is most famous for its relatively long canines, which are the longest  found in the saber-toothed cats, at about  long in the largest species Smilodon populator.
Those of S. fatalis reached their full size in 18 months at a growth rate of 7 mm/month.
These canine teeth were slender and had fine serrations.
They were fragile and could not have bitten into bone.
Therefore, the cats did not use their long teeth to take down prey.
Only when their prey was subdued did they use their teeth.
Method of attack
The front limbs on these cats were longer and stronger than modern cats, and from that, and its teeth, its method of attack must have been different.
An educated guess would be: they were ambush predators, which clung on round the neck of their prey, and slashed at the underside of the throat.
This contrasts with the method of the modern lion, which brings down its prey by weight of numbers, and clamps its jaws over the prey's nose and mouth.
The prey dies of suffocation.
Smilodon&apos;s gape could have reached almost 120 degrees, while that of the modern lion reaches 65 degrees.
This makes the gape wide enough to allow Smilodon to slash the throats of their victims without closing their jaws in a bite.
Smilodon'''s niche was closer to a leopard's, which is also an ambush predator.
They both need cover to get close to prey.
Smilodon had relatively short legs and a short, bobbed tail.
Its front legs were especially powerful.
Its body was adapted for springing onto prey, but it was not a very fast runner.
Fauna and flora in the Smilodon's environment
During the last ice age, there were many possible prey species from the La Brea location: mammoths, bison, horse, camel, ground sloth, pronghorn, tapir, deer,(elk and others).
Most of these were extinct by 5 to 10,000 years ago.
The pressures of a major climate change and human hunting were thought to be the main causes.
There was more plant cover at that time.
Juniper, oaks, ragweeds, cedars, redwoods, sagebrush, sycamore, thistle and walnut grew in the environs.
Smilodon'' survived so long as its prey had vegetation.
Machairodonts
Sabretooth cats
The Clash is the first album-length recording made by the English punk band The Clash.
It was released twice.
Both releases are still in print: the original version in 1977 and the changed U.S. version in 1979 (with several post-1977 single sides added to the album).
"Janie Jones" – 2:08
"Remote Control " – 3:03
"I'm So Bored with the USA" – 2:24
"White Riot" – 1:56
"Hate and War" – 2:06
"What's My Name?" (
Jones, Keith Levine, Strummer) – 1:41
"Deny" – 3:06
"London's Burning" – 2:12
Tracks 1, 3–4, 6–8 are sung by Joe Strummer.
Tracks 2 and 5 are sung by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones.
"Career Opportunities" – 1:54
"Cheat" – 2:06
"Protex Blue" – 1:47
"Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin, Lee "Scratch" Perry) – 6:03
"48 Hours" – 1:36
"Garageland" – 3:12
The Clash albums
Give 'Em Enough Rope is the second album by The Clash.
It was released in 1978.
In the United States, this was their first official album because it was released before the U.S. version of The Clash.
The album was well liked and got to number 2 in the UK chart, and number 128 in the U.S.
All songs were written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, except where noted.
All songs were arranged by The Clash.
All lead vocals were by Strummer, except "Stay Free" by Jones.
"Safe European Home" – 3:50
"English Civil War" – 2:35
"Tommy Gun" – 3:17
"Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" – 3:03
"Last Gang in Town" – 5:14
"Guns on the Roof" (Strummer, Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon) – 3:15
"Drug-Stabbing Time" – 3:43
"Stay Free" – 3:40
"Cheapskates" – 3:25
"All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)" – 4:55
The Daily Show (known currently as The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Jon Stewart was the host from 1999-2015 and Craig Kilborn from 1996-1998) is an Emmy Award winning news parody television program.
It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States.
The half-hour long program was first shown on Monday, July 22, 1996.
It was first hosted by Craig Kilborn.
Kilborn acted as its anchorman until December 1998.
Jon Stewart took over as host in January 1999.
Many changes were made to the program at that time.
Stewart retired in 2015.
The show will be hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah in September 2015.
Under Stewart, The Daily Show has become more strongly focused around politics and the national media.
It is much different to the more character-driven comedy which was shown more during Kilborn's time on the program.
Stewart's final broadcast aired on August 6, 2015.
There have been many other on-air contributors to The Daily Show with some called "correspondents", including Dave Attell, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry, Susie Essman, Olivia Munn, Buck Henry, Lewis Black, Kristen Schaal, Larry Wilmore, and John Oliver.
Opening segment
Each episode begins with announcer Drew Birns announcing the date and the introduction, "From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah".
Previously, the introduction was "This is The Daily Show, the most important television program, ever."
The host then opens the show with a monologue drawing from current news stories and issues.
Previously, the show had divided its news commentary into sections known as "Headlines", "Other News", and "This Just In"; these titles were dropped from regular use on October 28, 2002, and were last used on March 6, 2003.
Some episodes will begin with a 1–3 minute intro on a small story (or small set of stories) before fully transitioning into the main story of the night.
Correspondent segments
The monologue segment is often followed by a segment featuring an exchange with a correspondent, either at the anchor desk with the host or reporting from a false location in front of a greenscreen showing stock footage.
They typically present absurd or humorously exaggerated takes on current events against the host's straight man.
Some correspondent segments involve the show's members travelling to different locations to file comedic reports on current news stories and conduct interviews with people related to the featured issue.
Correspondents are typically introduced as the show's "senior" specialist in the story's subject, and can range from relatively general (such as Senior Political Analyst) to absurdly specific (such as Senior Religious Registry Correspondent).
The cast of correspondents is quite diverse, and many often sarcastically portray extreme stereotypes of themselves to poke fun at a news story, such as "Senior Latino Correspondent", "Senior Youth Correspondent" or "Senior Black Correspondent".
While correspondents stated to be reporting abroad are usually performing in-studio in front of a greenscreen background, on rare occasions, cast members have recorded pieces on location.
For instance, during the week of August 20, 2007, the show aired a series of segments called "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq" in which correspondent Rob Riggle reported from Iraq.
In August 2008, Riggle traveled to China for a series of segments titled "Rob Riggle: Chasing the Dragon", which focused on the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Jason Jones traveled to Iran in early June 2009 to report on the Iranian elections, and John Oliver traveled to South Africa for the series of segments "Into Africa" to report on the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In March 2012, Oliver traveled to Gabon, on the west African coast, to report on the Gabonese government's decision to donate $2 million to UNESCO after the United States cut its funding for UNESCO earlier that year.
On July 19, 2016, Roy Wood Jr. reported live from the Republican National Convention and talked about Donald Trump's African-American support.
Topics have varied widely; during the early years of the show, they tended toward character-driven human interest stories such as Bigfoot enthusiasts.
Since Stewart began hosting in 1999, the focus of the show has become more political and the field pieces have come to more closely reflect current issues and debates.
Under Kilborn and the early years of Stewart, most interviewees were either unaware or not entirely aware of the comedic nature of The Daily Show.
However, as the show began to gain popularity—particularly following its coverage of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections—most of the subjects now interviewed are aware of the comedic element.
Main article: List of The Daily Show recurring segments
Some segments have recurred periodically throughout different tenures, such as "Back in Black" (segments hosted by comedian Lewis Black) & "Your Moment of Zen".
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a common segment of the show has been dubbed "Mess O' Potamia", focusing on the United States' policies in the Middle East, especially Iraq.
Elections in the United States were a prominent focus in the show's "Indecision" coverage throughout Stewart & Noah's time as host (the title "InDecision" is a parody of NBC News' "Decision" segment).
Since 2000, under Stewart's tenure, the show went on the road to record week-long specials from the cities hosting the Democratic and Republican National Convention.
For the 2006 U.S. midterm elections, a week of episodes was recorded in the contested state of Ohio.
The "Indecision" & "Democalypse" coverage of the 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 elections all culminated in live Election Night specials.
With Noah as host, one new recurring segment has been "What the Actual Fact", with correspondent Desi Lydic examining statements made by political figures during speeches or events.
Under Noah, the continuation of "Democalypse" and "Indecision" also took place with live shows after the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention.
For the first time, under Noah, the show also went live after all three U.S. presidential debates in 2016.
In the show's third act, the host conducts an interview with a celebrity guest.
Guests come from a wide range of cultural sources, and include actors, musicians, authors, athletes, pundits, policy experts and political figures.
During Stewart's tenure, the show's guests tended away from celebrities and more towards non-fiction authors and political pundits, as well as many prominent elected officials.
In the show's earlier years it struggled to book high-profile politicians. (
In 1999, for an Indecision 2000 segment, Steve Carell struggled to talk his way off Republican candidate John McCain's press overflow bus and onto the Straight Talk Express).[citation needed] However its rise in popularity, particularly following the show's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 elections, made Stewart according to a Rolling Stone (2006) article, "the hot destination for anyone who wants to sell books or seem hip, from presidential candidates to military dictators".
Newsweek labeled it "the coolest pit stop on television".
Prominent political guests have included U.S. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Mexican President Vicente Fox.
The show has played host to former and current members of the Administration and Cabinet as well as members of Congress.
Numerous presidential candidates have appeared on the show during their campaigns, including John McCain, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Closing segment
In a closing segment, there is a brief segue to the closing credits in the form of the host introducing "Your Moment of Zen", a humorous piece of video footage without commentary that has been part of the show's wrap-up since the series began in 1996.
The segment often relates to a story covered earlier in the episode, but occasionally is merely a humorous or ridiculous clip.
Occasionally, the segment is used as a tribute to someone who has died.
Sometimes, before the "Your Moment of Zen", this segment is used for quick promotions.
The host might promote the show that follows right after their broadcast, such as promoting the show @midnight.
This time has also been used to promote films, books or stand-up specials that are affiliated with the host.
In October 2005, following The Colbert Report's premiere, a new feature (sometimes referred to as the toss) was added to the closing segment in which Stewart would have a short exchange with "our good friend, Stephen Colbert at The Colbert Report", which aired immediately after.
In 2007, the "toss" was cut back to twice per week, and by 2009 was once a week before gradually being phased out.
It was used on the 2014 mid-term election night and again just before the final episode of The Colbert Report on December 18, 2014, and returned upon the premiere of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.
Stewart then regularly tossed to Wilmore at the end of his Monday night episodes.
Under Noah, the "toss" has been used for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper and Lights Out with David Spade.
The host sits at his desk on the elevated island stage in the style of a traditional news show.
The show relocated from its original New York studio in late-1998 to NEP Studio 54 in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, where it remained until 2005, when the studio was claimed by The Colbert Report.
On July 11, 2005, the show premiered in its new studio, NEP Studio 52, at 733 11th Avenue, a few blocks west of its former location.
The set of the new studio was given a sleeker, more formal look, including a backdrop of three large projection screens.
The traditional guests' couch, which had been a part of the set since the show's premiere, was done away with in favor of simple upright chairs.
The change was initially not well-received, spawning a backlash among some fans and prompting a "Bring Back the Couch" campaign.
The campaign was mentioned on subsequent shows by Stewart and supported by Daily Show contributor Bob Wiltfong.
The couch was eventually featured in a sweepstakes in which the winner received the couch, round-trip tickets to New York, tickets to the show, and a small sum of money.
On April 9, 2007, the show debuted a new set.
The projection screens were revamped (with one large screen behind Stewart, while the smaller one behind the interview subject remained the same), a large, global map directly behind Stewart, a more open studio floor, and a J-shaped desk supported at one end by a globe.
The intro was also updated; the graphics, display names, dates, and logos were all changed.
On September 28, 2015, the show debuted a new set alongside the debut of Trevor Noah's tenure.
According to Larry Hartman, Noah took a lot of inspiration from Stewart's set.
A second on-stage 'jumbo-tron' was added and the colours of the set were made lighter.
The graphics, intro, theme music, lower thirds, logo, etc.
were also all revamped.
On July 19, 2016, the set and graphics were given another change to reflect Democalypse 2016 and denote The Daily Shows RNC and DNC coverage (which was taped in the conventions' respective cities).
The new temporary sets had a Washington theme, and was meant to show that Washington is "a little broke" and needs "repair".
Though the studio was reverted to its former self after the election week in 2016, the changes to the graphics were kept.
Since March 2020, due to the pandemic, the studio has been closed and the show has been filmed from Noah's apartment.
The show's writers begin each day with a morning meeting where they review material that researchers have gathered from major newspapers, the Associated Press, cable news television channels and websites, and discuss headline material for the lead news segment.
Throughout the morning they work on writing deadline pieces inspired by recent news, as well as longer-term projects.
By lunchtime, Noah — who describes his role as that of the captain of a team — has begun to review headline jokes.
The script is submitted by 3 pm, and at 4:15 there is a rehearsal.
An hour is left for rewrites before a 6 pm taping in front of a live studio audience.
The Daily Show typically tapes four new episodes a week, Monday through Thursday, forty-two weeks a year.
The show is broadcast at 11 PM Eastern/10 PM Central, a time when local television stations show their news reports and about half an hour before most other late-night comedy programs begin to go on the air.
The program is rerun several times the next day, including a 7:30 PM Eastern/6:30 PM Central prime time broadcast.
Craig Kilborn's tenure (1996–1998)
The Daily Show was created by Lizz Winstead and Madeleine Smithberg and premiered on Comedy Central on July 22, 1996, having been marketed as a replacement for Politically Incorrect (a successful Comedy Central program that had moved to ABC earlier that year).
Madeleine Smithberg was co-creator of The Daily Show as well as the former executive producer.
A graduate of Binghamton University, she was an executive producer of Steve Harvey's Big Time and a talent coordinator for Late Night with David Letterman.
Aiming to parody conventional newscasts, it featured a comedic monologue of the day's headlines from anchor Craig Kilborn (a well-known co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter), as well as mockumentary style on-location reports, in-studio segments and debates from regular correspondents Winstead, Brian Unger, Beth Littleford, and A. Whitney Brown.
Common segments
Common segments included "This Day in Hasselhoff History" and "Last Weekend's Top-Grossing Films, Converted into Lira", in parody of entertainment news shows and their tendency to lead out to commercials with trivia such as celebrity birthdays.
Another commercial lead-out featured Winstead's parents, on her answering machine, reading that day's "Final Jeopardy!"
question and answer.
In each show, Kilborn would conduct celebrity interviews, ending with a segment called "Five Questions" in which the guest was made to answer a series of questions that were typically a combination of obscure fact and subjective opinion.
These are highlighted in a 1998 book titled The Daily Show: Five Questions, which contains transcripts of Kilborn's best interviews.
Each episode concluded with a segment called "Your Moment of Zen" that showed random video clips of humorous and sometimes morbid interest such as visitors at a Chinese zoo feeding baby chickens to the alligators.
Originally the show was recorded without a studio audience, featuring only the laughter of its own off-camera staff members.
A studio audience was incorporated into the show for its second season, and has remained since.
Differences between Kilborn's version and Stewart's version
The show was much less politically focused than it later became under Jon Stewart, having what Stephen Colbert described as a local news feel and involving more character-driven humor as opposed to news-driven humor.
Winstead recalls that when the show was first launched there was constant debate regarding what the show's focus should be.
While she wanted a more news-driven focus, the network was concerned that this would not appeal to viewers and pushed for "a little more of a hybrid of entertainment and politics".
The show was slammed by some reviewers as being too mean-spirited, particularly towards the interview subjects of field pieces; a criticism acknowledged by some of the show's cast.[by whom?]
Describing his time as a correspondent under Kilborn, Colbert says, "You wanted to take your soul off, put it on a wire hanger, and leave it in the closet before you got on the plane to do one of these pieces."
One reviewer from The New York Times criticized the show for being too cruel and for lacking a central editorial vision or ideology, describing it as "bereft of an ideological or artistic center... precocious but empty."
Craig Kilborn's departure
There were reports of backstage friction between Kilborn and some of the female staff, particularly the show's co-creator Lizz Winstead.
Winstead had not been involved in the hiring of Kilborn, and disagreed with him over what direction the show should take. "
I spent eight months developing and staffing a show and seeking a tone with producers and writers.
Somebody else put him in place.
There were bound to be problems.
I viewed the show as content-driven; he viewed it as host-driven", she said.
In a 1997 Esquire magazine interview, Kilborn made a sexually explicit joke about Winstead.
Comedy Central responded by suspending Kilborn without pay for one week, and Winstead quit soon after.
In 1998, Kilborn left The Daily Show to replace Tom Snyder on CBS's The Late Late Show (Now Hosted by James Corden).
He claimed the "Five Questions" interview segment as intellectual property, disallowing any future Daily Show hosts from using it in their interviews.
Correspondents Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown left the show shortly before him, but the majority of the show's crew and writing staff stayed on.
Kilborn's last show as host aired on December 17, 1998, ending a 386-episode tenure.
Reruns were shown until Jon Stewart's debut four weeks later.
Kilborn made a short appearance on Jon Stewart's final edition of the Daily Show saying "I knew you were going to run this thing into the ground."
Jon Stewart's tenure (1999–2015)
Shift in content
Comedian Jon Stewart took over as host of the show, which was retitled The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on January 11, 1999.
Stewart had previously hosted Short Attention Span Theater on Comedy Central, two shows on MTV (You Wrote It, You Watch It and The Jon Stewart Show), as well as a syndicated late-night talk show, and had been cast in films and television.
In taking over hosting from Kilborn, Stewart initially retained much of the same staff and on-air talent, allowing many pieces to transition without much trouble, while other features like "God Stuff", with John Bloom presenting an assortment of actual clips from various televangelists, and "Backfire", an in-studio debate between Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown, evolved into the similar pieces of "This Week in God" and Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell's "Even Stevphen".
After the change, a number of new features were developed.
The ending segment "Your Moment of Zen", previously consisting of a random selection of humorous videos, was diversified to sometimes include recaps or extended versions of news clips shown earlier in the show.
The show's theme music, "Dog on Fire" by Bob Mould, was re-recorded by They Might Be Giants shortly after Stewart joined the show.
Stewart served not only as host but also as a writer and executive producer of the series.
He recalls that he initially struggled with the Kilborn holdover writers to gain control of the show and put his own imprint on the show's voice, a struggle that led to the departure of a number of the holdover writers.
Instrumental in shaping the voice of the show under Stewart was former editor of The Onion Ben Karlin who, along with fellow Onion contributor David Javerbaum, joined the staff in 1999 as head writer and was later promoted to executive producer.
Their experience in writing for the satirical newspaper, which uses fake stories to mock real print journalism and current events, would influence the comedic direction of the show; Stewart recalls the hiring of Karlin as the point at which things "[started] to take shape".
Describing his approach to the show, Karlin said, "The main thing, for me, is seeing hypocrisy.
People who know better saying things that you know they don't believe."
Logo used for Stewart's tenure
Under Stewart and Karlin The Daily Show developed a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited.
Then-correspondent Stephen Colbert recalls that Stewart specifically asked him to have a political viewpoint, and to allow his passion for issues to carry through into his comedy.
Colbert says that whereas under Kilborn the focus was on "human interest-y" pieces, with Stewart as host the show's content became more "issues and news driven", particularly after the beginning of the 2000 election campaign with which the show dealt in its "Indecision 2000" coverage.
Stewart himself describes the show's coverage of the 2000 election recount as the point at which the show found its editorial voice. "
That's when I think we tapped into the emotional angle of the news for us and found our editorial footing," he says.
Following the September 11th attacks, The Daily Show went off the air for nine days.
Upon its return, Stewart opened the show with a somber monologue, that, according to Jeremy Gillick and Nonna Gorilovskaya, addressed both the absurdity and importance of his role as a comedian.
Commented Stewart:They said to get back to work, and there were no jobs available for a man in the fetal position. ...
We sit in the back and we throw spitballs – never forgetting the fact that it is a luxury in this country that allows us to do that. ...
The view from my apartment was the World Trade Center.
They attacked it.
This symbol of American ingenuity and strength and labor and imagination and commerce and it is gone.
But you know what the view is now?
The view from the south of Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty.
You can't beat that.
— Gillick and Gorilovskaya point to the September 11 attacks and the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as the point at which Jon Stewart emerged as a trusted national figure.
Robert Thompson, the director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, recalled of this period, "When all the news guys were walking on eggshells, Jon was hammering those questions about WMDs."
Broadening the role of the correspondent
During Stewart's tenure, the role of the correspondent broadened to encompass not only field segments but also frequent in-studio exchanges.
Under Kilborn, Colbert says that his work as a correspondent initially involved "character driven [field] pieces—like, you know, guys who believe in Bigfoot."
However, as the focus of the show has become more news-driven, correspondents have increasingly been used in studio pieces, either as experts discussing issues at the anchor desk or as field journalists reporting from false locations in front of a green screen.
Colbert says that this change has allowed correspondents to be more involved with the show, as it has permitted them to work more closely with the host and writers.
Popularity and critical respect
The show's 2000 and 2004 election coverage, combined with a new satirical edge, helped to catapult Stewart and The Daily Show to new levels of popularity and critical respect.
Since Stewart became host, the show has won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards, and its ratings steadily increased.
In 2003, the show was averaging nearly a million viewers, an increase of nearly threefold since the show's inception as Comedy Central became available in more households.
By September 2008, the show averaged nearly two million viewers per night.
Senator Barack Obama's interview on October 29, 2008, pulled in 3.6 million viewers.
In the political spectrum
The move towards greater involvement in political issues and the increasing popularity of the show in certain key demographics have led to examinations of where the views of the show fit in the political spectrum.
Adam Clymer, among many others, has argued that The Daily Show is more critical of Republicans than Democrats.
Stewart, who voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election, acknowledged that the show has a more liberal point of view, but that it is not "a liberal organization" with a political agenda and its duty first and foremost is to be funny.
He acknowledges that the show is not necessarily an "equal opportunity offender", explaining that Republicans tended to provide more comedic fodder because "I think we consider those with power and influence targets and those without it, not."
In an interview in 2005, when asked how he responded to critics claiming that The Daily Show is overly liberal, Stephen Colbert, also a self-proclaimed Democrat, said in an interview during the Bush Administration, when the Republicans held a majority in the House and Senate: "We are liberal, but Jon's very respectful of the Republican guests, and, listen, if liberals were in power it would be easier to attack them, but Republicans have the executive, legislative and judicial branches, so making fun of Democrats is like kicking a child, so it's just not worth it."
Stewart is critical of Democratic politicians for being weak, timid, or ineffective.
He said in an interview with Larry King, prior to the 2006 elections, "I honestly don't feel that [the Democrats] make an impact.
They have forty-nine percent of the vote and three percent of the power.
At a certain point you go, 'Guys, pick up your game.'"
He has targeted them for failing to effectively stand on some issues, such as the war in Iraq, describing them as "incompetent" and "unable... to locate their asses, even when presented with two hands and a special ass map."
Karlin, then the show's executive producer, said in a 2004 interview that while there is a collective sensibility among the staff which, "when filtered through Jon and the correspondents, feels uniform," the principal goal of the show is comedy. "
If you have a legitimately funny joke in support of the notion that gay people are an affront to God, we'll put that motherfucker on!"
On September 15, 2003, Senator John Edwards became the first candidate to announce that they were running for president on the show, causing Jon Stewart to jokingly inform him that their show was "fake" and he might have to reannounce elsewhere.
On November 17, 2009, Vice President Joe Biden appeared on the show, making him the first sitting vice president to do so.
On October 27, 2010, President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to be interviewed on the show, wherein Obama commented he "loved" the show.
Obama took issue with Stewart's suggestion that his health care program was "timid."
After the United States Senate failed to pass and the media failed to cover the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which would provide health monitoring and financial aid to sick first responders of the September 11 attacks, Stewart dedicated the entire December 16, 2010, broadcast to the issue.
During the next week, a revived version of the bill gained new life, with the potential of being passed before the winter recess.
Stewart was praised by both politicians and affected first responders for the bill's passage.
According to Syracuse University professor of television, radio and film Robert J. Thompson, "Without him, it's unlikely it would've passed.
I don't think Brian Williams, Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer would've been allowed to do this."
Writers' strike
Due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, the show went on hiatus on November 5, 2007.