Lizz Winstead spent her youth beating her independent head against the walls of a conservative, Catholic childhood, a trend she’s continued as a creator of The Daily Show and cofounder and on-air host of the Left-leaning radio network Air America. Particularly intrigued by media and its effect on how we process the world, Lizz, along with an array of other brilliant talents, currently writes and performs a weekly live show in New York, called Wake Up World—an ongoing, relentless, subtly audacious skewering of bland, anodyne morning television and how it seeps into our consciousness, trivializing everything that matters. Taking a break from that monumental task, Winstead explains how an inquisitive mind is born and the challenges it must face.

Lizz Winstead’s conversation with Paul Provenza is in the book.