leifw

Way back in January, Steven Colbert of the Daily Show was interviewed on NPR. I was suprised by how humble and down to earth the guy seemed in the interview. In explaining how he grew up in the South but did not develop a Southern accent, he said

I never said I was smart. I said I wanted to seem smart.

His logic as a child was that because TV content associated a Southern accent with lowered intelligence, he should sound differently. As his model voice, he chose the network news anchors of the day, Cronkite et al. Ironically his childhood choice paid off.

Earlier in the interview Colbert said

I don't know why anyone would talk to the press for any reason whatsoever. The press is like a lamprey that latches on to a subject and sucks and sucks and sucks until your brain and soul is [sic] as dry as a cruton because they need what you've got inside you to make their story. They don't care about you; they care about their story.

It's noteworthy that Colbert said this to a member of the press to whom he had earlier expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be interviewed. Perhaps Colbert had no qualms about this because he doesn't consider NPR or his interviewer to be part of the life sucking press.