“A 22-minute editorial cartoon” is how Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central’s hit “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” described his show to Radio Free Europe.

“It is creating something,” Stewart said. “It is parasitic to some extent. We are feeding upon the flesh of something else for our own [purposes], to create our own, sort of picture.”

Millions of viewers tune in every night to watch ‘The Daily Show’ poke fun at the high and mighty. Stewart constantly attempts to downplay the program’s social impact, but a study last year by the Pew Research Center listed the comedian as the fourth most-trusted American journalist.

“Political satire aims for laughs, but it also does something in society,” said Bruce Jacobs of Radio Free Europe. “It is a form of free speech, it takes points of view.”

Listen to the entire interview here.