Jesters once had considerably more leeway than the average person to make fun of the king. If otherwise loyal subjects made light of their leader, they could lose their head. Jesters, however, could test the limits of the possible with relative impunity—until they crossed the line and lost their heads as well.

Donald Trump hasn’t revived the guillotine—not yet. So, modern jesters Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert don’t have to worry about decapitation. But ABC and CBS, fearful of falling afoul of the Trump administration, metaphorically cut off the heads of their late night hosts by cancelling their shows.

After CBS announced that it was axing The Late Show for “financial reasons,” Colbert’s show goes off the air next May. The franchise, which began with David Letterman in 1993, has i

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