Author and Daily Show commentator John Hodgman, also known as “PC” from Apple’s TV ads, opened the last day of BookExpo today. He was master of ceremonies at an oddly disparate Sunday morning breakfast panel consisting of media mogul Ted Turner, Iran-expatriot author Azar Nafisi (Things I’ve Been Silent About), and crime novelist Dennis Lehane (The Given Day). The hilarious and deadpan Hodgman, who bills himself as a “famous minor television personality,” was the clear crowd favorite as he gently stole the show.

Hodgman: Do you think the Daily Show should be on CNN International?

Turner: I don’t think it belongs on a serious news network.

Hodgman: Are there serious news networks?

Hodgman’s new book, More Information Than You Require, will be published in October. Turner’s ghost-written autobiography, Call Me Ted, comes out the following month. I was particularly interested in hearing Turner speak –I am writing about his conservation efforts in my 2009 book, Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers and Millionaires Who are Saving the Planet. Turner wasn’t sharing any early galleys of his memoir, though he did pass out Call Me Ted baseball caps.

Above: Ted Turner looms large over BEA-goers.