After a two-week hiatus, Jon Stewart is set to return to The Daily Show tonight amid another stacked news cycle that includes some awkward corporate baggage.
The biggest geopolitical headline of the break: the U.S. launched a series of airstrikes against Iran, prompting renewed debate over presidential war powers and America’s role in the Middle East. Back on domestic turf, Donald Trump pushed his controversial “big beautiful bill” through the Senate, prompting one-time ally Elon Musk to announce the formation of his own political party aimed at challenging Republican lawmakers who voted for the bill.
But perhaps the most eyebrow-raising topic of discussion tonight hits much closer to home, with The Daily Show poised to take what we can only imagine will be a critical look at parent company Paramount, which agreed to a $16 million settlement with Donald Trump as it awaits federal approval for its merger with Skydance. The payout ends a lawsuit over the network’s editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris last fall—a case Trump has used to amplify claims of media bias.
Retired 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft—no stranger to going toe-to-toe with powerful figures—will join Stewart to discuss the implications. Kroft has publicly slammed the settlement as a “travesty,” calling it “the latest attempt by the Administration to damage the country’s institutions and encroach upon the rights granted to the people under the First Amendment.”
Stewart himself has previously criticized both Trump’s lawsuit and the possibility of a Paramount settlement, arguing that the media landscape has become so compromised that “all must pay tribute to the king,” comparing recent corporate payouts and newsroom purges to mafia-style extortion.
Later this week, Ronny Chieng returns to host The Daily Show from Tuesday through Thursday.
On Tuesday, July 8, Michael Luo—executive editor of The New Yorker—will join Chieng to discuss his new book, Strangers In the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, a sweeping exploration of immigration, identity, and resistance.
On Wednesday, Chieng will welcome filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, whose new FX/Hulu docuseries Social Studies examines the complex ways wealth, status, and influence shape modern society.
And on Thursday, July 10, comedian Youngmi Mayer will round out the week with a conversation about her debut memoir, I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, a candid and darkly funny take on personal trauma, identity, and resilience.
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