Daily Bafflements

• Jon Stewart’s run as host of The Daily Show came to an end last night, carried off on the wings of a thousand think pieces. As an op-ed from WBUR said this week, “His anger — righteous, moral, though rarely overt — has been the key to Stewart’s success. He has been our generation’s Howard Beale, mad as hell, but well aware that we’ll all have to continue taking it.” Back in Baffler no. 27, Ben Schwartz explored the way satire has been co-opted in recent years by mainstream politics, concluding that “in the right moment, in the right place, satire can still alter perception and change the conversation. The difference today is that politicians and policy apparatchiks now understand this as well as the comedians.”

• Today in billionaires: a rare Picasso painting was seized from the $30 million yacht owned by Santander banking billionaire Jaime Botín, who has since 2012 been attempting through various schemes to sneak the piece out of Spain, where it is considered a national treasure and banned from export.

• Have trouble stomaching last night’s GOP primary debate? You should have been better prepared, with this Dan Rather-inspired drinking game to get you through the bizarre event. If you were playing along at home, and can’t believe some of what you heard last night in the sober light of day, here’s a roundup of some of the strange and memorable moments, as reported by Variety, appropriately, we think.