Daily Show host Jon Stewart kept people smiling throughout this year’s elections, providing insight and catharsis along the way (especially for liberal types). He is an entertainer, but he’s also a fact checker, hypocrisy meter and pundit who affects how people view the major players in America’s messy, vital democracy. While keeping the citizenry informed with his spoof newscast in 2012, the comedian won his 10th consecutive Emmy for best variety series. Stewart, who is 50 as of Nov. 28, has reached icon status in America. Perhaps most important, he’s an icon who continues to make us laugh in troubled times.