The Colbert Report backdrop

The Colbert Report S5E11 — Elizabeth Alexander

8.1

The Colbert Report•Season 5•Episode 11

Elizabeth Alexander

8.1/10 · 18 votesJan 21, 2009

Ranked #13 of 70 in Season 5•+0.3 vs season avg

Elizabeth Alexander explains to Stephen the difference between a metaphor and a lie.

Previous episodeE10 · Jabari Asim Next episodeE12 · Jon Meacham

Seasons11

All 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Season 5 Episodes161

John King still

John King

Matt Miller still

Matt Miller

Benicio Del Toro still

Benicio Del Toro

Lawrence Lessig still

Lawrence Lessig

Anthony Romero still

Anthony Romero

Niall Ferguson still

Niall Ferguson

Alan Khazei still

Alan Khazei

David Gregory, Shepard Fairey still

David Gregory, Shepard Fairey

Frank Rich still

Frank Rich

Jabari Asim still

Jabari Asim

Elizabeth Alexander still

E11 8.1Now viewing

Elizabeth Alexander

Jon Meacham still

Jon Meacham

Chris Mooney, Ed Young still

Chris Mooney, Ed Young

Philippe Petit still

Philippe Petit

Paul McCartney, Denis Dutton still

Paul McCartney, Denis Dutton

John Podesta still

John Podesta

Dan Zaccagnino still

Dan Zaccagnino

Henry Louis Gates Jr. still

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Steve Martin still

Steve Martin

James Surowiecki, Jonah Lehrer still

James Surowiecki, Jonah Lehrer

TV on the Radio still

TV on the Radio

Robert Ballard still

Robert Ballard

Eleanor Holmes Norton, Steven Pinker still

Eleanor Holmes Norton, Steven Pinker

David Ross, Ed Colbert, Adam Gopnik still

David Ross, Ed Colbert, Adam Gopnik

Father James Martin, Helen Fisher still

Father James Martin, Helen Fisher

Cliff Sloan still

Cliff Sloan

John Fetterman still

John Fetterman

Kris Kristofferson still

Kris Kristofferson

David Byrne still

David Byrne

Mark Bittman still

Mark Bittman

Carl Wilson still

Carl Wilson

Steven Johnson still

Steven Johnson

Lisa Hannigan still

Lisa Hannigan

William Gerstenmaier, Dr. Jay Keasling still

William Gerstenmaier, Dr. Jay Keasling

Howard Fineman still

Howard Fineman

Simon Johnson, Peter Singer still

Simon Johnson, Peter Singer

Jonathan Chait, Neil Gaiman still

Jonathan Chait, Neil Gaiman

David Grann still

David Grann

Juan Cole still

Juan Cole

John McCardell still

John McCardell

Derrick Pitts still

Derrick Pitts

David Plotz still

David Plotz

Dambisa Moyo still

Dambisa Moyo

Biz Stone still

Biz Stone

Tom Brokaw, Rich Lowry still

Tom Brokaw, Rich Lowry

Queen Noor still

Queen Noor

Phil Bronstein still

Phil Bronstein

Bart Ehrman

Sunita L. Williams, Susie Orbach

Jim Lehrer

Kanishk Tharoor, Doug Kmiec

Ken Quinn, Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Coach Mike Kryzewski

Ira Glass

Elizabeth Bintliff

The Decemberists

David Gross

David Kessler

Jonathan Alter, Ethan Nadelman

J.J. Abrams

Cliff Sloan, Paul Rieckhoff

Laurie Garrett

Mitchell Joachim

Jeff Daniels

Ron Howard

Michael Pollan

Yusuf Islam

Meghan McCain

Walter Kirn

Seth Shostak

Green Day

Jeffrey Toobin, Sen. Byron Dorgan

Katty Kay

Eric Schlosser

Dag Soderberg, David Byrne

General Raymond Odierno still

General Raymond Odierno

Specialist Tareq Salha, Sgt. Robin Balcom still

Specialist Tareq Salha, Sgt. Robin Balcom

Lieutenant General Charles Jacoby still

Lieutenant General Charles Jacoby

Stephen broadcasts from Iraq, Command Sgt. Major Frank Grippe still

Stephen broadcasts from Iraq, Command Sgt. Major Frank Grippe

Austan Goolsbee

Karim Sadjadpour, Jim Rogers

Joshua Micah Marshall

Paul Muldoon

Simon Schama

Howard Dean, David Kilcullen

Matthew Crawford

Jim Fouratt

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Alexi Lalas, Kevin Mattson

Nicholas Kristof

Ed Viesturs

Paul Rieckhoff, Paul Krugman

Leymah Gbowee

Douglas Rushkoff

Edmund Andrews still

Edmund Andrews

Geoffrey Canada, Bob Park still

Geoffrey Canada, Bob Park

Dr. Aaron Carroll still

Dr. Aaron Carroll

Matthew Waxman, Chris Anderson still

Matthew Waxman, Chris Anderson

Zev Chafets

Movits! still

Movits!

Arianna Huffington still

Arianna Huffington

Kevin Baker still

Kevin Baker

Kathryn Bigelow still

Kathryn Bigelow

General Anthony Zinni still

General Anthony Zinni

Kurt Andersen still

Kurt Andersen

Kris Kobach still

Kris Kobach

Meryl Streep still

Meryl Streep

Sen. Barbara Boxer still

Sen. Barbara Boxer

Jonathan Cohn still

Jonathan Cohn

Mark Johnson still

Mark Johnson

Mark Devlin still

Mark Devlin

Bill McKibben still

Bill McKibben

Robert Wright still

Robert Wright

Ang Lee still

Ang Lee

Chris Matthews still

Chris Matthews

Cory Booker still

Cory Booker

Christiane Amanpour still

Christiane Amanpour

Tony Danza still

Tony Danza

Frank Bruni still

Frank Bruni

Tue, Sep 22, 2009 still

Tue, Sep 22, 2009

AJ Jacobs still

AJ Jacobs

Ken Burns still

Ken Burns

Sheryl WuDunn still

Sheryl WuDunn

Matt Latimer / Out Of The Closet still

Matt Latimer / Out Of The Closet

Wed, Sep 30, 2009 still

Wed, Sep 30, 2009

Francis Collins still

Francis Collins

Arne Duncan still

Arne Duncan

The Mountain Goats still

The Mountain Goats

Alison Gopnik still

Alison Gopnik

Thu, Oct 8, 2009 still

Thu, Oct 8, 2009

Shashi Tharoor, Dr. Sanjay Gupta still

Shashi Tharoor, Dr. Sanjay Gupta

David Javerbaum, Sylvia Earle still

David Javerbaum, Sylvia Earle

Amy Farrell, The RZA still

Amy Farrell, The RZA

Jerry Mitchell still

Jerry Mitchell

Cornel West still

Cornel West

Tue, Oct 27, 2009 still

Tue, Oct 27, 2009

Brian Cox still

Brian Cox

Bill Simmons still

Bill Simmons

Nicholas Thompson still

Nicholas Thompson

Andrew Sullivan still

Andrew Sullivan

Harold Evans still

Harold Evans

Thu, Nov 5, 2009 still

Thu, Nov 5, 2009

Mon, Nov 9, 2009 still

Mon, Nov 9, 2009

Maria Shriver still

Maria Shriver

Christopher Caldwell still

Christopher Caldwell

Woody Harrelson still

Woody Harrelson

Mon, Nov 16, 2009 still

Mon, Nov 16, 2009

Malcolm Gladwell still

Malcolm Gladwell

Norah Jones still

Norah Jones

Thu, Nov 19, 2009 still

Thu, Nov 19, 2009

Dan Esty, Cevin Soling still

Dan Esty, Cevin Soling

Tue, Dec 1, 2009 still

Tue, Dec 1, 2009

Wed, Dec 2, 2009 still

Wed, Dec 2, 2009

Thu, Dec 3, 2009 still

Thu, Dec 3, 2009

Mon, Dec 7, 2009 still

Mon, Dec 7, 2009

Senator Bernie Sanders, Andy Schlafly still

Senator Bernie Sanders, Andy Schlafly

Wed, Dec 9, 2009 still

Wed, Dec 9, 2009

Thu, Dec 10, 2009 still

Thu, Dec 10, 2009

Snoop Dogg still

Snoop Dogg

Alicia Keys still

Alicia Keys

Tom Brokaw still

Tom Brokaw

Cast1

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert - Host

Discussion

0 comments

Join the conversation

Share your take and reply to other fans.

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this episode.

Episode Summary

"Elizabeth Alexander" is episode 11 of The Colbert Report season 5. It scored 8.1/10 from 18 votes, ranking #13 of 70 episodes this season (season average 7.8). It aired on January 21, 2009.

Next: E12 · Jon Meacham Best of Season 5