Another reason to love Stephen Colbert

In his ongoing "Salute to the American Lady," we learn that feminism is as American as apple pie.

Published October 11, 2006 7:38PM (EDT)

In my world, there are two reasons for cable TV: "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report." Sadly, I still don't have cable -- but I do have a fast Internet connection, and so I got to check out some clips from Colbert's recent "Salute to the American Lady." It features, among other gems, a "Cooking With the Feminists" segment that aired last night, in which Colbert, Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda join together to bake apple pie.

The real point of the interview is to publicize GreenStone Media, Fonda and Steinem's new all-women, all-talk radio network, which officially launched in September with the goal of "bring[ing] the world to women and women to the world by becoming the predominant producer and syndicator of female-oriented talk radio programming."

Of course, Colbert approaches Steinem and Fonda with a more, er, traditional attitude, interrupting Steinem at the beginning of the interview to suggest that they continue their conversation in the kitchen. Cut to Colbert behind a countertop covered with pie-making ingredients, flanked by Fonda and Steinem and sporting a "Kiss the Cook" apron -- an accessory whose message Fonda takes literally.

"Grab some of those McIntosh apples," Colbert says to Steinem, "and explain to me what is the state of American feminism."

"Sort of like an apple," Steinem quips back -- "extremely healthy, full of vitamins and meant for everyone."

But enough of my attempts at description. You should stop reading this right now and watch the clip, maybe while enjoying some pie. After all, it's like Colbert says: "It is fall -- and what better time to explore the bounty of the American harvest than when there's a little nip in the air."


By Catherine Price

Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author of Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food. Her written and multimedia work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, O: The Oprah Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Mother Jones, PARADE, Health Magazine, and Outside. Price lives in Philadelphia.

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