This past May didn’t just bring more tick and Lyme disease coverage — it brought a full‑blown national media wave.

Morning shows ran tick segments back‑to‑back. Major newspapers pushed out explainers, maps, and warnings. Cable news covered rising case numbers like breaking weather alerts. For the first time, it felt like the entire country was talking about ticks at the same time.

And then the conversation jumped somewhere it’s never really been before: late‑night comedy.

On June 2, The Daily Show‘s Michael Kosta interviewed the University of Rhode Island’s Dr. Thomas Mather (a.k.a.  “The TickGuy”) about ticks and how to protect yourself.

Their conversation managed to be funny, fast, and genuinely educational.

Watch it here:

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, President of LymeDisease.org. She is co-author of Finding Resilience: A Teen’s Journey Through Lyme Disease and of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.