Although I had never watched his show, I knew that Dylan Ratigan was one of those blustering talk show hosts who seemed to be in a state of perpetual outrage. He left his show on MSNBC to pursue a new direction in life working on an organic hydroponic farm. Al Madrigal of The Daily Show looks at his transformation, using the same techniques that these vapid cable news talk shows use: phony outrage, manufactured ‘balance’, and pointless panels. All these are staples of such shows, necessary in order to hide the lack of real news and to fill up the air time.

(This clip aired on May 21, 2013. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post.)