“The Problem with Jon Stewart” (the official podcast) is a weekly podcast hosted by Jon Stewart that features long form interviews with guests on a prescient topic. Jon is joined by staff writers at the beginning and end of the episode to talk about news of the week and the things that make them laugh, cry, and shake their fists in the air. Jon is dedicated to taking an issue that is affecting our lives, and the news cycle, and deconstructing the topic, highlighting the absurdities within it and getting to heart of what makes us so fired up about it, and the impact it has on the U.S. No matter the topic, Jon is able to bring humor and levity to the interviews that make every issue accessible to all podcast listeners, and brings what might typically be heated conversations to a place of clarity, composure, and open-mindedness. Jon always brings incisive and authentic conversations to the table, he prioritizes clarity in a noisy news world and often seeks to engage people who might disagree with his viewpoint, all in the name of bringing more open and honest conversations.
Jon often has guests on to challenge the status quo, he questions why our broken system continues to self perpetuate and asks why the government’s approaches to problems in this country are often resistant to change and innovative thinking. Sometimes the experts agree with Jon and bring a historical, research based, or journalistic angle towards analyzing the topic with him, and sometimes they come to the table with those things to tell us why we are flat out wrong. Either way, the goal is to use the podcast platform as a space to have unfiltered, barely edited conversations around the issues that so often are couched in talking points and misinformation. On top of providing context for a given topic or story, the podcast and Jon do not shy away from the nitty gritty details of the issues discussed. Our team of researchers and producers dig deep to find troves of research that help Jon dive into the weeds on some of the most complicated topics (i.e. how to solve inflation), not that he needs much help. Jon’s humor, wit, and laser sharp analysis allows the show to get some of the biggest names on the podcast, and sometimes highlights individual experts who are lesser known but have the knowledge and passion we wish would be highlighted on traditional news.
When the podcast is consumed in addition to the Apple TV+ series of the same name, viewers get the satisfying meal of a highly-produced, well-crafted televisual production on a particular topic, and its more casual long-form “peek behind the curtain” audio counterpart. In the television show we crystalize an argument down to its clearest form with short segments painting a full picture of an issue and how to address it; the podcast is its sibling that allows conversations to play out in real time, discover things together and hold our media and government accountable through expert conversations and interviews that breathe. The podcast allows us to keep up with the topics brought forward on the television show. Change does not happen in an instant, whether it be through legislation or modeling new ways to discuss a hot button issue. The podcast allows us to pick up where we left off on the TV show, frequently checking in with guests and topics covered so that we don’t leave progress on the cutting room floor, but use Jon’s platform to keep these conversations alive and provide updates and new ideas that arise in the space. “The Problem with Jon Stewart” is an award-winning podcast and has been a winner for Adweek’s Podcast of the Year Awards and the Webby Awards and has been nominated for the Ambie Awards, People’s Choice Podcast Awards and Signal Awards.
