Thanks to their crisp, measured voices, C- SPAN became must-see slow TV.
At the center of the show were the straight men, or, in this case, women: the House reading clerks, Tylease Alli and Susan Cole. Everything about their manner—capable, organized, serious—as they called the roll was a counterpoint to the politicians sitting before them. For a few days they became niche sensations, the voices of sanity that kept the gag going. Thanks to their crisp, measured voices, C- SPAN became must-see slow TV. And when, in October, the House found itself speakerless anew, there were our familiar guides, unflappable as ever. Asked by a political reporter about her sudden social-media celebrity, Cole sounded bewildered. “I’m just Susan,” she said. Always playing it straight.