(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) On Monday April 1, 2013, The Colbert Report managed to squeeze in a subtle reference to Shirley Jackson's famous short story "The Lottery" at the very end of the clip below (titled "Health Care Lottery"). What's especially impressive is that he doesn't draw attention to the source material. This is ballsy considering that many people probably wouldn't get the reference (unless of course there was a recent film adaptation or something that I don't know about). This isn't the first time "The Lottery" has made it's way into popular media. Both South Park and The Simpsons have made references in the past.
