trevor noah

In his native South Africa, Noah's debut was widely hailed as a smash hit, with South Africa’s foreign minister taking time out of her schedule at the United Nations General Assembly to visit the comedian in his new New York studio. Having a South African host the show, said Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, is not funny business - it’s cultural diplomacy.

There’s a vintage example of American exceptionalism in the Financial Times this week, by the paper’s US editor Gary Silverman. The article is about the appointment of Trevor Noah to the vacant Jon Stewart berth on The Daily Show. But Noah’s controversial Twitter history isn’t what concerns Silverman. Instead, he sees Noah’s career arc – growing up bi-racial in Soweto, where “my existence itself was a crime”, emigrating to America, working his way up in short order to the most prestigious satire gig in the country – as a classic tale of “American soft power”.