Jon Stewart and Oprah

Photo: George Lange

5 of 23
Jon Stewart
June 2005

Oprah: Do you deny that you are powerful?

Jon Stewart: Yes—I deny that I am powerful. Power implies an agenda that's being acted on.

OW: But more than anyone else, you have us thinking about politics differently.

JS: Every generation has had its people who stand at the back and make fun of those in charge. When the Nazis came to power in the '30s, it created an incredible underground scene of satirical comedy. The British comedian Peter Cook once said with a straight face, "Yes, they really showed Hitler." That's how I see it.

Read the full interview from the June 2005 issue.