# Eugene Mirman - Comedy Under Fire:  On Kimmel, Colbert, Trump’s Attacks on Free Speech

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/eugene-mirman-comedy-under-fire-on-kimmel-colbert-trump-s-attacks-on-free-speech
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/eugene-mirman-comedy-under-fire-on-kimmel-colbert-trump-s-attacks-on-free-speech.md
Podcast: [Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737)
Published: 2026-05-01T20:48:42+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/episodes/eugene-mirman-comedy-under-fire-on-kimmel-colbert-trumps-attacks-on-free-speech/
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/2c5e9cec-d65e-4c99-84c0-ff6f2722e4f4/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=2c5e9cec-d65e-4c99-84c0-ff6f2722e4f4&feed=8GTvjwcf
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/episodes/eugene-mirman-comedy-under-fire-on-kimmel-colbert-trump-s-attacks-on-free-speech
Duration seconds: 3168

## Resource

Comedians are under attack. The MAGA machine has pushed Stephen Colbert off the air, gone after Jimmy Kimmel, and skipped a comedian at the White House Correspondents Dinner for the first time in memory. That's not an accident — it's the playbook of every authoritarian regime that ever feared a punchline. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with his old college friend, beloved comedian and actor Eugene Mirman — Bob's Burgers, Flight of the Conchords, and the new special Here Comes the Whimsy — for a candid, funny, and unexpectedly moving conversation about what it means to make people laugh while the rigged two-party system burns and Trump and the executive branch goes all gas, no brakes.

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## Transcript

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