This American Life vs. The Daily Show

middle-americans? like midwesterners?

Definitely This American Life, hearing stories told & read is delightful.

Also I am not sure who you mean by middle-Americans in this question either. Like, Americans in general?

this is interesting -- both shows treat "normal" people as if they are creatures in a terrarium, above which we float suspended, able to observe them in their natural habitats -- however i love the daily show and sort of can't stand TAL despite the greatness of many of the people they profile and the stories they have

TAL, since that shit's free.

Also, maybe I don't understand the Daily Show (because it's not free and so I never actually watch it), but I thought it was just Jon Stewart doing Weekend Update and interviewing celebrities? Where does the casting an eye on middle Americans come in?

jaymc, Daily Show sometimes does little "profiles" of Americans with "interesting" stories. Usually ways for Stewart and his team to make fun of the overly conservative or just batshit crazy middle-Americans.

I didn't mean that these shows were exclusively about midwesterners, I was just thinking about the different ways that the shows treat these folksy folks. My post was not great as I had a few glasses of wine in me and I was watching TAL while posting it.

or just batshit crazy middle-Americans

The Daily Show with Kilborne was the king of this, though, to the point of being cruel. There was no point at all, political or otherwise, it was just "LOOK! LOOK AT THE CRAZY!" I loled a lot, I have to admit.

daily show better

The reason I posted is because I was watching a TAL thing about people who go to New Mexico and take Polaroid pictures of the sun in order to capture images of Jesus and Mary. TAL presented these people in its usual tone - non-judgmental, curious, earnest, and respectful. I thought about what John Stewart would have to say about these same people, and I pictured him cocking his eyebrow and pausing before making a wise crack.

While my own reaction would be more in line w/ that of the Daily Show, I get tired of the whole mocking tone. On the other hand, sometimes the whole "fishbowl" anthropological manner gets tiresome.

The same contrast in reactions could apply to the guy who had a pet bull that died, which he skinned. He said, in a thick drawl, "I'd skin a while, and I'd cry a while." Then the guy's wife pulled a box out of the hall closet, and inside was the bull's skin, including his empty face.

Ira Glass asked about the couple about their feelings about the bull. John Stewart would have cocked his eyebrow.

I was watching TAL while posting it.

Oh, is this about the TV show then?

Meh, both really. It's easier to compare/contrast TV to TV, but it doesn't really matter.

Note: TAL TV is available on Netflix for online viewing!

One of the only TAL airings I ever heard was about this hotline where you could make anonymous confessions to a tape recording. (I don't know how they were legally able to broadcast these.) In the only one I can remember, a guy said that when he was a kid he would put a plastic bag (or something) over his baby brother's head to watch him kick and squirm, just too young to understand that he was hurting him. Eventually he stopped squirming and he was able to put 2 and 2 together. The death was blamed on SIDS and he never in his life told a another person (until calling the hotline, abviously).

So props to the Daily Show for always being light hearted and not requiring that I be in any sort of proper mood. Though I love them both (from what I can recall of TAL).