It's not that there's anything inappropriate about the little flirtatious compliments hosts pay to the women — especially actresses — who appear on their shows. And Letterman certainly isn't the only one to talk up his guests' beauty — Stewart's been known to do it too. but it does give the impression that the female guests are there as eye candy, even if they just, say, directed a film or completed a serious role. That's why it's so refreshing when, in the clip above, Jon Stewart jumps in after her hyperarticulate monologue about the history of Rhode Island to say, with obvious admiration, "you're very smart."

Given everything I've written about Letterman in the last couple days, you're probably expecting me to applaud the asexuality of the whole exchange. But it actually made me blush a little, because while all the "you're beautiful" comments are standard boilerplate for a celebrity interview, telling someone she's smart in a way seemed like actual flirting — or least, the kind of flirting I actually respond to. Calling a woman pretty is, while sometimes welcome, pretty much a Standard All-Purpose Compliment, while calling her smart (and meaning it) shows you're actually paying attention. So while I don't think Stewart's really hitting on Vowell here, I did find the whole thing kind of hot.

But that's just me. In a larger sense, it is nice to see a female guest treated like an actual author rather than a sex object. Of course, Vowell's whole persona — her clothes, her bowl haircut, her constant assertions of her own nerdiness — downplays sexuality in favor of intellect, and I wonder if this is a conscious choice. While Billy Parker's recent Gothamist interview with Vowell veers once into the semi-suggestive ("Have you always clicked with jokey fellas?"), Parker largely sticks with serious questions like, "What's the youngest reader that you're aware that you've had?" and, "Was Roger Williams a slight man?" Singers with sexy images, or writers un/fortunate enough to be tarred with the "hot writer" brush often end up getting asked a lot more about their looks and relationships, and a lot less about their work.

Vowell has a pretty funny This American Life piece about dressing as a goth, in part as a response to people assuming she's sweet all the time. So she's clearly aware of the power of appearance and its influence on social interaction. Most likely her personal style is just what makes her comfortable and happy, but her conservative outfits and simple hair also give her a certain freedom — the freedom to talk about what she wants to talk about, without participating in a played-out sexual script. It's a freedom some actresses might well envy.

Sarah Vowell, Author [Gothamist]
Sarah Vowell [Daily Show]

Not only did Molly, 10, acquit herself admirably, she seemed completely, awesomely non-plussed to be in the presence of both the bright studio lights and network cameras and the slightly manic Jenna Wolfe and Amy Robach. And she wore an awesome pilgrim top. Clip at left.

But she was allowed to listen to Loretta, even though "she got married when I think she was maybe thirteen or fourteen and she was pregnant at thirteen. So a lot of her songs in her book had to do with how she was stuck with all these kids when she was only a few years older than I was. It has this feminist quality where this woman who's sick of taking care of all of these kids, her husband running around on her and now it's her turn." Vowell's fave Lynn song is "The Pill," and she continues:

My family was very religious. I wasn't allowed to listen to Kiss because they were supposedly satanic. And then years later I would listen to a song like "Beth" by Kiss and it's just this little bubble gum love song. And I wasn't allowed to listen to that but I was allowed to listen to this Loretta Lynn song about, you know, getting hot pants and taking oral contraceptives.

Some people may find Vowell unconscionably annoying (from the Times's hilarious review of her most recent book: "[Vowell is] double-annoying, because she styles herself as annoying — provocative-annoying — and if you become annoyed by her you seem to be conceding the point. She’s gotten to you.") So while our enjoyment of her comedy stylings may, in fact, be NPR-related Stockholm Syndrome, we're still amused by her description of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" as "a fairly smutty song, to celebrate the birth of Jesus."

Sarah Vowell [KCRW]
Mayflower Power [NYT]

• Less than a month until the election, folks, and it's getting really ugly.
• John McCain sounding like a total loon during the debates, calling Obama "That One": ugly.
• Illogical republican strategists yelling at Newsweek for putting a (gasp!) un-retouched photo of Sarah Palin on the cover: ugly!
• Nikki Blonsky kicking Bianca Golden's mom in the vagina at an airport: ugly!
• At least we have the unarguably awesome Sarah Vowell and Donna Brazile to guide us through the ugliness.
• Though they can't really fix the ugly in this mess of the economy... or this Free People catalog.

• Questions about pelvic exams? We're at your cervix.
• Speaking of pelvic exploration, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist has an endearing and accurate depiction of teen sex.
• Thank jebus it's the weekend. So kick back with a career romance like the young modern you are, and have a fantastic 48 hours with Hortense!

[New York, October 6. Image via INF]