Penn State professor: Stephen Colbert ‘one of the most important satirists in American history’

A professor of international affairs and comparative literature at Penn State believes soon-to-be canceled late-night talk host Stephen Colbert will go down as one of the “most important satirists” in the history of the country. Writing in The Conversation, “scholar of political satire” Sophia McClennen (who over a decade ago opined that conservatives are just too dense to grasp Colbert’s “smart comedy”) puts Colbert in the same class as Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and … Benjamin Franklin. This is because the “best satirists do more than entertain […] they influence public discourse and leave lasting marks on political life,” she...