I’m not a big watcher of 60 Minutes these days — so I missed Stephen Colbert’s interview with Morley Safer this past April. But I caught the re-airing of it this past weekend. I don’t know how long it will be up on YouTube, but you can see it in two parts: Part I & Part II. If it’s not there, you can look at CBS News’ summary of the good parts.

What is remarkable about it is not the interview itself (although Safer does a good job of capturing the complexity of what Colbert it trying to do) but the fact that Colbert pulls away the satirical veil and actually talks directly about his life and work.

And what inspired me to post is what Colbert has to say to Safer about satire, irony and his children:

At home, Colbert is a doting father who makes sure his kids do not see the other Colbert ? he only rarely let his kids watch the show.

“It’s just like a pure silly thing. But you know, I truck in insincerity. With a very straight face, I say things I don’t believe,” Colbert tells Safer.

“Kids can’t understand irony or sarcasm, and I don’t want them to perceive me as insincere. Because one night, I’ll be putting them to bed and I’ll say … ‘I love you, honey.’ And they’ll say, ‘I get it. Very dry, Dad. That’s good stuff.’”

The really ironic thing, of course, is that kids are not the only ones having a problem getting the satire. Take, for example, Colbert’s recent, already infamous interview with Congressmen Robert Wexler, in which he gets the congressmen, who is running in an uncontested election, to say outrageous things. The number of media outlets which took the interview seriously — or which at least took it out of satirical context — was depressingly high (Colbert later skewers them himself).

With satire having become such a major mode of cultural expression, we need to start taking it (no pun intended) more seriously. I think that most members of the past few generations “get” irony on a gut level very well — and know not to believe that Colbert is sincere. A big difference exists, however, between simply laughing off the humor (seeing the irony) and understanding that it might have a very poignant social or political point (which is the true definition of satire).