It wasn't all that long ago that college students started watching The Daily Show to get their news. Sure, you can credit the inimitable Jon Stewart with the shift, but Show producer Adam Chodikoff is the one giving the children what they want. How does he hold the show together with satirical truth?

Chodikoff, 37, has what amounts to basically the coolest job in the world. He's not a commentator or a show writer; in fact, he's technically The Daily Show's senior associate producer, which sounds about as boring as you can get. But Chodikoff forms the basis for all the jokes on his show with the sound bites and factoids he gleans from news sources -- all the sound bites and factoids you see Stewart riffing on on-air.

This is not a career for the lazy or night owls: Chodikoff arrives at the show's offices in the wee morning, hours before the writers and Jon Stewart, to read dozens of newspapers, wire services and broadcast and cable news show transcripts. He even combs the Congressional Record "for the funny." Also, take heed if you hit the bong too hard on the weekends (or were simply blessed with a sub-par longterm memory): Chodikoff admits he has no tricks for finding comedy gold except "recall and hustle and a few good TiVos."

Chodikoff relies on his funny instincts -- but he learned politics and journalism as a poli sci major at Duke. The UMass Amherst, USC, Howard and NYU all offer strong journalism majors, but you can just dip your toe in with a class or two in investigative techniques (read: recall and hustle).

But with the way Web video is exploding, you could probably also create your own anti-Establishment daily political clips show, become an Internet celebrity and get a contract with MTV before you could graduate from one of these programs. Not that we're suggesting that!