Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly have had several memorable clashes on cable television. Now the ideological foes are taking their ongoing tête-à-tête to the Internet.
The "Daily Show" host and Fox News star will take part in a 90-minute debate—"The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium"—on Oct. 6 at the Lisner Auditorium on the Washington, D.C., campus of George Washington University.
The debate will be streamed live online for $4.95. Tickets to attend the event ($25-$100) go on sale today, and anyone who preorders either the stream or in-person ticket by Oct. 1 can submit a written question that may be asked as part of the debate. E.D. Hill, former Fox News Live host and CNN contributor, will serve as moderator. According to a press release, they'll cover an "array of topics related to the state of our union."
Stewart and O'Reilly have a long love-hate history, often appearing on each other's shows in minidebates that, if nothing else, make for reliably good television.
In May 2011, for instance, O'Reilly challenged Stewart to debate a controversy surrounding the appearance by the rapper Common at a White House poetry reading. On O'Reilly's "Factor," Stewart accused Fox News of manufacturing the controversy to pump up ratings and fuel viewer outrage.
"There is a selective outrage machine here at Fox that pettifogs only when it suits the narrative that suits them," Stewart said.
In 2010, O'Reilly called Stewart's audience on Comedy Central "stoned slackers who love Obama."