The Colbert Report

- Season 9

(2012)

Ben Folds Five performs a song from their new album "The Sound of the Life of the Mind."

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Kenny Rogers stops by to talk about his new book "Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir."

Dr. George Church, co-author of "REGENESIS: How Synthetic Biology will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves," visits The Colbert Report.

Morrissey discusses his upcoming tour and plays a song in the studio.

Naomi Wolf talks about her book "Vagina: A New Biography."

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Journalist Evan Thomas portrays another side of Dwight Eisenhower in his book "Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World."

Mayor Cory Booker visits the show to talk about the upcoming Dodge poetry festival in Newark.

Tyler Perry stops by to discuss his new movie "Alex Cross."

The Killers play a song from their new album "Battle Born."

Donald Sadoway, professor at MIT and inventor of liquid metal batteries, discusses renewable energy sources.

John Grisham stops by to talk about his new book "The Racketeer."

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels visits Stephen to talk about his book "Keeping the Republic: Saving America by Trusting Americans."

Women's rights activist Lilly Ledbetter discusses gender pay equality and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Stephen welcomes Blind Boys of Alabama to The Colbert Report to discuss their album "I'll Find A Way."

Nate Silver, author of "The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - but Some Don't," discusses the odds of the election.

David Byrne & St. Vincent play a song from their latest collaboration, "Love This Giant."

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses last night's elections.

Progressive political TV host Rachel Maddow sits down with Stephen to discuss the election results.

Ken Burns, director of "The Dust Bowl" and "The Central Park Five," visits The Colbert Report to talk about his new documentaries.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich discusses his new book about the first president entitled "Victory at Yorktown: A Novel (George Washington)."

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner talks about writing the screenplay for the upcoming film "Lincoln."

Anthropologist Chris Stringer discusses the origins of the human race and his new book "Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth."

Jake Tapper stops by to talk about his book "The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor."

Dolly Parton tells Stephen all about her personal philosophies on life and her new book "Dream More."

Frank Oz talks about the release of the director's cut of "Little Shop of Horrors."

Theoretical cosmologist Sean Carroll discusses his book "The Particle at the End of the Universe."

Stephen kicks off a Tolkien-themed week with Sir Ian McKellen, who stars as Gandalf the Grey in "The Hobbit."

Star of "The Hobbit," Martin Freeman stops by the Report.

Hobbit Week continues with guest Andy Serkis, the actor behind Gollum.

Director Peter Jackson helps Stephen wrap up Hobbit Week.

Stephen welcomes recording artist Diana Krall to talk about her new album "Glad Rag Doll." Then Diana, Stephen, and Elvis Costello perform a song to kick off Christmas Carol Week.

Malcolm Gladwell visits The Colbert Report to talk about "The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs." Then Christmas Carol Week continues when Audra McDonald stops by to perform a song with Stephen.

Stephen welcomes actor Mandy Patinkin to The Colbert Report to talk about his show "Homeland." Then, for Day 3 of Christmas Carol Week, Michael Stipe joins Mandy and Stephen to perform a song.

Sister Simone Campbell sits down with Stephen to discuss her social justice lobby, and Christmas Carol Week wraps up with a performance from Stephen, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, and Sean Lennon.

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, stops by The Colbert Report to discuss his upcoming ventures.

Punter for the Minnesota Vikings, Chris Kluwe, discusses his support of gay marriage.

Neil Shubin talks about his book "The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People."

Ben Gibbard stops by to discuss his new solo album, "Former Lives," and perform a song.

Piers Morgan stops by The Colbert Report.

Jared Diamond discusses his new book, "The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?"

Stephen welcomes Tom Brokaw to the show.

Stephen welcomes journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates to the show.

Caroline Kennedy stops by to talk about her new book "Poems to Learn by Heart."

Sally Field sits down with Stephen to discuss her movie "Lincoln."

Fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson talks about her first book "Rookie Yearbook One."

Environmental policy expert Michael Shellenberger stops by The Colbert Report.

Author George Saunders discusses his new book "Tenth of December: Stories."

Stephen welcomes Bill Gates to the show.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor stops by to discuss her memoir "My Beloved World."

Julie Andrews talks about her new children's book "The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart."

Lawrence Wright discusses his new book "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief."

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Author Garry Wills visits The Colbert Report to discuss his new book "Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition."

Stephen welcomes Roger Hodge, editor of the "Oxford American", to the show.

Dave Grohl stops by to talk about his documentary "Sound City."

Gavin Newsom sits down with Stephen to discuss his new book "Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government."

Emily Bazelon discusses her book "Sticks & Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy."

David Goldhill stops by to talk about his book "Catastrophic Care: How American Health Care Killed My Father--and How We Can Fix It."

The dancer Lil Buck talks to Stephen about his unique style known as "jookin."

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Stephen welcomes physicist Dr. Michio Kaku to the show.

Paola Antonelli of the Museum of Modern Art sits down with Stephen to discuss the museum's new video game exhibit.

Director of Speechwriting for President Obama, Jon Favreau, visits The Colbert Report.

New York Times reporter Christopher Chivers visits The Colbert Report to talk about Syria.

James Franco talks about his new movie "Oz the Great and Powerful."

Stephen welcomes artist Brendan O'Connell to the show to discuss his series of paintings inspired by Walmart.

John Sexton, President of NYU, stops by to talk about his latest book "Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game."

Stephen welcomes Junot Diaz to the show to discuss Freedom University, a school for undocumented students.

Dr. Eric Topol discusses his new book "The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care."

Dr. Robert Lustig stops by to talk about his new book "Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease."

Stephen welcomes actress Sigourney Weaver to the show to talk about her role in the Broadway play "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike."

Former Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey stops by to discuss the HBO documentary "Fall to Grace."

A.C. Grayling, author of "The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism," visits The Colbert Report.

Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, talks about The Brain Activity Map Project.

Stephen interviews President Bill Clinton after hosting the closing session of Clinton Global Initiative University.

Author Charlie LeDuff stops by to talk about his book "Detroit: An American Autopsy."

Pig farmer Carl Edger Blake II tells Stephen about his quest to breed the world's best tasting pig.

Author Cass Sunstein discusses his new book "Simpler: The Future of Government."

Caroline Kennedy stops by to talk about her new book "Poems to Learn by Heart."

Jeff Bridges stops by to discuss his new movie "R.I.P.D."

Stephen welcomes Richard Engel, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent, to the show.

Author Michael Pollan stops by the show to discuss his newest book "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation."

Co-author Eric Schmidt talks about his book "The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business."

NASCAR driver Danica Patrick visits The Colbert Report.

Shane Smith, host and executive producer of the new HBO series "Vice," visits The Colbert Report.

Bishop Gene Robinson sits down with Stephen to discuss his book "God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage."

Iggy & The Stooges stop by to talk about their new album "Ready to Die."

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Ben Kingsley sits down with Stephen to talk about "Iron Man 3."

Author Robert Caro stops by to discuss his book "The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson."

Stephen sits down with author Douglas Rushkoff to talk about his book "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now."

Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News' Chief Health and Medical Editor, discusses his book "Tell Me the Truth, Doctor."

Author Jennifer Egan joins Stephen for The Colbert Book Club and director Baz Luhrmann talks about his new movie "The Great Gatsby."

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Stephen welcomes Harvard evolutionary biology professor Dr. Daniel Lieberman to the show.

Authors Jessica Buchanan and Erik Landemalm discuss their new book "Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six."

Stephen welcomes Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, to the show.

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Author Noah Feldman talks about his new book "Cool War: The Future of Global Competition."

The National stops by and performs a song off their new album "Trouble Will Find Me."

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Mark Pocan tempts Stephen with divorce, precision-guided guns promote skill-free killing, and John Dingell wants Congress to learn how to compromise.

Director Alex Gibney sits down with Stephen to talk about his new movie "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks."

Superman gets a makeover, Laurie Garrett reviews Monsanto's wheat incident, the Chicago Sun-Times scraps photojournalism, and Jonathan Alter dissects the 2012 election.

Stephen King, John Mellencamp, and T Bone Burnett talk about their new musical "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County."

Author Dan Savage sits down with Stephen to discuss his new book "American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics."

Author Daniel Bergner stops by to talk about his new book "What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire."

Stephen welcomes Paul McCartney to the show for a special musical episode.

The Postal Service performs songs from the album "Give Up" to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Director Joss Whedon stops by to talk about his new movie "Much Ado About Nothing."

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Stephen welcomes Peniel Joseph, a professor of history at Tufts University, to the show.

Bill Moyers stops by to talk about his Frontline documentary "Two American Families."

New York's Democratic senior senator Chuck Schumer stops by to discuss immigration reform.

Author Jeremy Scahill talks about his most recent book "Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield."

Stephen welcomes David Karp, the founder of Tumblr, to the show.

World famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld drops in to talk about the second season of his hit web series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."

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Author Kjerstin Gruys joins Stephen to talk about her new book "Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body by Not Looking at It for a Year."

Stephen welcomes Anant Agarwal, President of edX, a free online learning service provided by MIT and Harvard, to The Colbert Report.

Former Maine Senator Olympia Snowe joins Stephen to talk about her book "Fighting For Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress."

The Lumineers perform the song "Stubborn Love" off their self-titled album.

Surgeon and writer Atul Gawande discusses his New Yorker article "Slow Ideas."

Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston stops by the show to talk about the final season of "Breaking Bad."

Stephen sits down with Hugh Laurie to discuss his second studio album "Didn't it Rain."

Surprise guest Robin Thicke drops by Stephest Colbchella '013.

Ashton Kutcher visits The Colbert Report and discusses his upcoming movie "Jobs."

Author Colum McCann talks about his new book "TransAtlantic: A Novel."

Stephen welcomes Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse to the show.

Congressman John Lewis discusses his new graphic novel "March Book 1."

Kevin Spacey stops by to talk about his Netflix series "House of Cards."

Richard Brodhead, President of Duke University, visits The Colbert Report.

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Meteorologist Gary England talks about his new role as Vice President for weather development at Griffin Communications.

Musician John Prine stops by to discuss his album "The Missing Years."

Billie Jean King sits down with Stephen to talk about her PBS "American Masters" profile.

Producer Shane Salerno discusses the documentary "Salinger."

Sheryl Crow visits The Colbert Report and talks about her new album "Feels Like Home."

Author Philip Mudd stops by to discuss his new book "Takedown: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaeda."

Author Andrew Bacevich visits the show and discusses his new book "Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country."

Stephen welcomes Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, to The Colbert Report.

Author Nicholson Baker stops by to talk about his new book "Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel."

Metallica discusses their new 3-D movie "Metallica Through the Never."

Joseph Gordon-Levitt vists the show to talk about his new movie "Don Jon."

Stephen welcomes shark wrangler and OCEARCH expedition leader Chris Fischer to the show.

Jack Johnson visits the show and performs songs from his album "From Here to Now to You."

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Tom Hanks stops by to discuss his new movie "Captain Phillips."

Authors Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O'Connell visit the show to talk about their new book "Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever."