Stephen Colbert Isn’t Sure Whether to Trust the C.I.A.

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/arts/television/stephen-colbert-cia-director-michael-hayden.html

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The former C.I.A. director Michael Hayden told Stephen Colbert last night that he doesn’t think former President Barack Obama tapped President Trump’s phone during the 2016 campaign. But he appeared especially bothered by the fact that Mr. Trump decided to tweet about his fear of a wiretap, when he simply could have reached out to C.I.A. and F.B.I. officials for the answer.

Mr. Colbert also grilled Mr. Hayden on the monumental leak Monday of what appeared to be C.I.A. documents, which described technologies that the agency uses to spy on people. Mr. Colbert had just had a lively interview with the comedian Jerrod Carmichael, in which they both agreed that the word “paranoid” should be removed from the dictionary. Mr. Colbert asked Mr. Hayden point-blank if his former agency spied on Americans.

Lewis Black appeared on “The Daily Show” in a sketch taking on Uber’s recent spate of bad publicity for, among other things, a video showing its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, fighting with an Uber driver who suggests that changes in company policy have harmed workers like him.

Throughout 2016, the veteran campaign journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann produced a running documentary series for Showtime called “The Circus.” The campaign has ended, but aspects of our politics still feel like a decadent carnival to many. So Mr. Halperin and Mr. Heilemann are bringing “The Circus” back for a second season, premiering March 17. They will stop by “The Late Show” on Wednesday to talk about the Trump presidency.

The actor, author and songwriter Marita Phillips didn’t find out until a few years ago that she was related to two famous foes: the writer Alexander Pushkin and Czar Nicholas I. When she found out, there was only one thing she could think to do with the information: create an opera about them. It’s now being performed in Russia. Here’s the story.