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Josh Lieb

Former Executive Producer, "The Daily Show"

Josh Lieb is the former Producer and Show Runner of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His credits include stints as Executive Producer of NewsRadio and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He won 7 Prime Time Emmys as a producer and writer for The Daily Show. In 2009, he published a young adult novel, I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President, which was a New York Times Bestseller.

Lieb was raised in Columbia, South Carolina, and graduated from Harvard, where he was an editor of The Lampoon, the college humor magazine. After graduation, he found work writing for Twisted Puppet Theater, The Jon Stewart Show, and NewsRadio. He subsequently worked as a producer or consultant on shows including The Simpsons, Drawn Together, Sirens, Nikki, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Lieb's tenure at The Daily Show lasted from 2006 to 2010, during which he also served as Executive Producer of “The Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear” and as co-editor and co-author of Earth: The Book.

In 2013, he wrote and directed a series of comedic shorts to raise money and awareness for the charity Water.Org. Stars featured in the shorts included Matt Damon, Jessica Biel, Sir Richard Branson, and Bono.

Penguin/ Random House released Lieb's second novel, Ratscalibur, in 2015.

In October 2016, NBCUniversal announced an exclusive writing deal with Lieb.

When Does Political Correctness Become Orwellian?

Limiting speech doesn’t change the nature of hate, says Josh Lieb. Thoughts can be hateful and stupid—but should they be criminal?rn

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Is the Fruit of Political Humor Hanging Too Low?

In comedy there is always the temptation to go for the easy jokes – but now, more than ever, comedians have to challenge themselves.

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A Successful TV Writer On Why Not To Go Into TV Writing

Josh Lieb had worked in the writer’s rooms of comedy successes from the Simpsons to the Daily Show, but he warns those who want to follow in his footsteps that […]

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Big Think Interview with Josh Lieb

A conversation with the author of “I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President.”

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The Problem With Living Forever

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Is “Fahrenheit 451” Our Most Overrated Required Reading?

Is Ray Bradbury’s most famous work nothing more than an “authorial circle jerk”?

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How Comedy Writing is Like “North Dallas Forty”

When asked about how he overcomes writer’s block, TV writer Josh Lieb thinks about the glory of football.

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Who Wants to be E.L. Doctorow?

We may all want to be the next drug and booze fueled literary outlaw like Hunter Thompson, but Josh Lieb explains that alcohol leads to early flameouts and difficult lives. […]

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Are New Yorker Cartoons Too Easy To Write?

Josh Lieb is a bit underwhelmed by Bob Mankoff’s prolific New Yorker cartooning.

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Portrait of a Comedy Writer as a Young Prankster

Josh Lieb describes the childhood that doomed him to become a TV writer.

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A Comic Defines Love

The usually cynical comedy writer Josh Lieb gets sentimental about love.

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Josh Lieb’s Heroes

Daily Show writer Josh Lieb’s literary heroes include Charles Dickens and Danny Pinkwater.

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How to Avoid Comedy Burnout

TV writer Josh Lieb’s biggest mistake was burning out when his star was on the rise; he never knew how quickly he would lose Hollywood momentum.

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What Gets Josh Lieb Excited

Josh Lieb is very excited about his children, but he worries about education in the United States.

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Life in “The Daily Show” Writers’ Room

Josh Lieb describes the struggles and joys of keeping daily political comedy fresh, making Obama funny, and working with the creative minds in the writer’s room.

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When Getting a Book Published is “Much Too Easy”

Josh Lieb’s process of finding a publisher for and writing his book was criminally easy.

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Writing for Today’s Young Adult Audience: Adults

It says something about our world that the largest audiences these days are reading books for kids.

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Josh Lieb Wants to Be Your Class President

Josh Lieb describes the traits he shares with the protagonist of his new book, “I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President.”

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The 2008 Election

The war is the most obvious issue, says Lieb.

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How will this age be remembered?

We are the indulged grandchildren of the Founding Fathers.

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If you had $100 billion to give away, how would you spend it?

Schools, schools, schools.

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What is the measure of a good life?

Take care of your inner circle first.

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Is the American political system broken?

Rooting for a political cause, Lieb says, is like rooting for a football team.

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What is the world’s biggest challenge in the coming decade?

Fitting cranky, old ideas into sleek new packaging.

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Do you have a creative process?

It’s just work.

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Do you believe in God?

Faith in the face of evidence to the contrary.

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How do you write?

Don’t indulge the block.

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Is your work social criticism?

Is the Daily Show social criticism?

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What sparks your creativity?

A freckled, gap-toothed muse.

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What is your question?

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