Fans Reflect on Stephen Colbert and The Legacy of ‘The Late Show’ 53%
By Meg Felling0%
5/21/2026, 11:38:18 PM
Topics: Arts, Television
BS Summary: This article contains 14 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Halo Effect, and Sunk Cost Effect, with Pessimism Bias as the most egregious example at 20.8% saturation with 40 hits. Analysis detected 315 faulty-reasoning hits from 192 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 51.7% and a BS Rank of 53% (7,998 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 52.40% of the article peer group.
Outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan, fans shared their thoughts on the legacy of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as the late-night program prepares to tape its final episode.
“I think he’s a genius and he’s going to be totally missed, and I would have really done anything to be here today.”
“I’m just a big fan of his because I was here for his first show, and now I’m going to be seeing his final show, and it’s an emotional time.”
“I think we kind of wanted to be in the room where it happened.
Even though we won’t be in the room, we’re on the street where it happened.
He’s a very intelligent, well-spoken, well-thought-out person who is able to make the news bearable.”
“If we can’t laugh about what’s happening, I think we’re all going to just totally lose it.
So we’ll really, really miss Stephen.”
“I think as a society we’re taking a big step backwards in terms of being able to tell the truth, and it’s sad.
It shouldn’t have ended this way.”
Confirmation Bias
0%Confirmation Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
1.7%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Anchoring Bias
0%Anchoring Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Availability Heuristic
7.3%Availability Heuristic
OverallThis article
7.3%AuthorMeg Felling
5.7%PublicationThe New York Times
2.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Representativeness Heuristic
0%Representativeness Heuristic
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Hindsight Bias
0%Hindsight Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0.8%PublicationThe New York Times
0.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Overconfidence Bias
0%Overconfidence Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
2.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Framing Effect
0%Framing Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
5.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Loss Aversion
15.1%Loss Aversion
OverallThis article
15.1%AuthorMeg Felling
3.8%PublicationThe New York Times
0.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Status Quo Bias
3.1%Status Quo Bias
OverallThis article
3.1%AuthorMeg Felling
0.8%PublicationThe New York Times
0.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Sunk Cost Effect
15.6%Sunk Cost Effect
OverallThis article
15.6%AuthorMeg Felling
3.9%PublicationThe New York Times
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Optimism Bias
0%Optimism Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
2.7%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Pessimism Bias
20.8%Pessimism Bias
OverallThis article
20.8%AuthorMeg Felling
11.2%PublicationThe New York Times
3.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Negativity Bias
19.8%Negativity Bias
OverallThis article
19.8%AuthorMeg Felling
7.9%PublicationThe New York Times
9.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Self-Serving Bias
0%Self-Serving Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
1.3%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%Fundamental Attribution Error
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.9%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Actor-Observer Bias
0%Actor-Observer Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
In-Group Bias
12%In-Group Bias
OverallThis article
12%AuthorMeg Felling
7.6%PublicationThe New York Times
1.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Halo Effect
19.8%Halo Effect
OverallThis article
19.8%AuthorMeg Felling
14.8%PublicationThe New York Times
0.9%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Horn Effect
0%Horn Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%Dunning-Kruger Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Recency Bias
0%Recency Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
3.9%PublicationThe New York Times
1.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Primacy Effect
0%Primacy Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Blind-Spot Bias
0%Blind-Spot Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Ad Hominem
0%Ad Hominem
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Straw Man
0%Straw Man
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Appeal to Authority
0%Appeal to Authority
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
False Dilemma
8.9%False Dilemma
OverallThis article
8.9%AuthorMeg Felling
4.4%PublicationThe New York Times
1.2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Slippery Slope
8.9%Slippery Slope
OverallThis article
8.9%AuthorMeg Felling
4.4%PublicationThe New York Times
0.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Circular Reasoning
0%Circular Reasoning
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Hasty Generalization
12%Hasty Generalization
OverallThis article
12%AuthorMeg Felling
9%PublicationThe New York Times
2.7%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Red Herring
0%Red Herring
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Bandwagon
0%Bandwagon
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Appeal to Emotion
8.9%Appeal to Emotion
OverallThis article
8.9%AuthorMeg Felling
11.3%PublicationThe New York Times
3.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Begging the Question
0%Begging the Question
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Post Hoc (False Cause)
0%Post Hoc (False Cause)
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Tu Quoque
0%Tu Quoque
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0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Burden of Proof
0%Burden of Proof
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0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.3%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Appeal to Nature
0%Appeal to Nature
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0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Composition/Division
0%Composition/Division
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0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Anecdotal
0%Anecdotal
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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No True Scotsman
0%No True Scotsman
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Ambiguity (Equivocation)
3.1%Ambiguity (Equivocation)
OverallThis article
3.1%AuthorMeg Felling
0.8%PublicationThe New York Times
1.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Gambler’s Fallacy
0%Gambler’s Fallacy
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Middle Ground
0%Middle Ground
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Personal Incredulity
0%Personal Incredulity
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Special Pleading
0%Special Pleading
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Genetic Fallacy
0%Genetic Fallacy
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Unattributed Quote
0%Unattributed Quote
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
19.4%PublicationThe New York Times
2.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Quote-first Misdirection
0%Quote-first Misdirection
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Biased Writer Voice
0%Biased Writer Voice
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Indoctrination
8.9%Indoctrination
OverallThis article
8.9%AuthorMeg Felling
2.2%PublicationThe New York Times
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Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%Politically Left Leaning Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%Politically Right Leaning Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
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Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
0%Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
OverallThis article
0%AuthorMeg Felling
0%PublicationThe New York Times
0.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
192 words analyzed.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.