there's many ways to go wild. they don't all include having implants and waxing your nether region.
—ariel levy, author of female chauvinist pigs: is raunch culture the new women's liberation?, on the colbert report, 10/10/06

stephen colbert's meteoric rise [if you'll pardon the oxymoron] reached new heights this week and showed he's attained the cachet to get some real heavy hitters to risk their public images by playing along with his travesty of right-wing overcompensation for inferiority fears.

tuesday, ostensibly to head off a threatened sexual harassment lawsuit by his staff, he saluted the "american lady" by baking apple pie with jane fonda and gloria steinem.

last night climaxed a non-contest between viewers who made videos using an online clip of colbert pantomiming a lightsaber duel. the guest was none other than the star wars creator himself, identified only as "George L," who was one of two finalists and wound up placing 2nd.

i fell head over heels for levy, whose interview rounded out tuesday's show. here's a couple more quotes:

"raunch culture" is this term i made up to describe the spread of the aesthetics and values of a red-light district into mainstream culture...like having cardiostriptease classes at princeton.

reminds me of things my ex used to say about young women's clothing styles. and

i think that having sex is, like, a little bit more personal than playing baseball.

definitely two of steve's best shows so far. catch them online if you can.