Last April, Tim Geithner held a secret, never-before-disclosed meeting with TV host Jon Stewart, according to Bloomberg, citing the Treasury Secretary's calendar. The reason, according to a Treasury spokesperson: “Jon Stewart is influential in America, so we took the opportunity for the two to meet and to discuss the economy.” This basically ends any debate about whether Stewart is a comedian or a newsman. Presumably Geithner thought it important that Stewart be well-informed on aspects of policy, and Stewart felt the same way.