Sunday, April 10 – We opened with the Panama
Papers, highlighting shadiness from the prime ministers of Iceland and the
UK, along with – who else? – Putin. Corruption moved stateside with a
story on a sex scandal involving Alabama’s governor. As the fraud and
sketchiness went increasingly deeper, I liked John’s speculation that the
scandal might be the most “Alabama” thing ever. Credit reports were the
subject of the main story, a good old-fashioned freak-out piece to remind us
how much power a few companies with next to no oversight have to severely screw
up our lives, as well as how prone they are to unchecked errors. Yay!
I was appalled for the man whose credit report falsely labeled him a
terrorist(!), proving you’re not dead seems to be way harder than it needs to be, and John’s revenge on the three big
agencies was wonderfully twisted.
Monday, April 11 – The statistic on the
inefficacy of the TSA was absolutely insane; Trevor perfectly conveyed the
annoyance and indignity of security screening. Good story on campaigning
for the New York primary – I liked Kasich’s actual gravy train and Sanders’s
whole campaign being a plot to score Hamilton tickets. I also thought
Trevor’s remarks about America getting too caught up in a candidate’s
personability and not their credentials/policy were great, and I liked his
suggestion that the US elect both a president and a mascot. The story on
a Japanese virtual-reality sex suit was wild. The crack about Andy Serkis
was funny, as was the line about the VR wearer looking like “Stevie Wonder
learning to play the boobs.” I really liked guest Jennifer Hudson,
talking about The Color Purple and Confirmation. Trevor’s fanboy-ness
was in full force, and who couldn’t use a little “Circle of Life” now and then?
Tuesday, April 12 – Quick update on anti-LGBTQ legislation, with North Carolina receiving condemnation and lost business from
corporations and celebrities. I don’t know what to make of Clinton, de
Blasio, and the stupid “CP time” joke; I can’t figure out why she would’ve
possibly thought it was a good idea, especially given the recent rehashing of
her support of the 1994 crime bill. I liked Trevor’s commentary here, but
the follow-up with Roy and Jordan felt clumsy.
Jessica and Ronny tag-teamed a pretty good field piece on racism in online dating. They spoke to a panel about their experiences and found some
super-depressing data that belied claims that sexual racism is just “the PC
police gone wild.” The guest was comedian/actor/social media star King Bach. I liked him and Trevor discussing the difficulties of breaking into
entertainment, but the whole “Instagram/Vine/Snapchat sensation” concept still
feels really foreign to me.
Wednesday, April 13 – The idea of Kim Jong-un
writing a letter to Obama “from” Lincoln is wonderfully bizarre, but the show’s
coverage of it was so-so. The next story, though, about former Speaker of
the House Dennis Hastert sexually abusing children, was perfect in its disgust
and outrage. It’s horrific to know that he spent so long second in line
for the presidency, that the statute of limitations shields Hastert from charges
of abuse, and that the Catholic Church opposes lifting the statute of limitations
for child sexual abuse. After that heaviness, it was nice to have
something more ridiculous in the next segment, and Trump’s now-defunct pyramid scheme was just the ticket. I mean, shady Trump dealings involving people
mailing him their pee to get “customized” vitamins? What's not to like?
The promos I’ve seen for Dr. Ken haven’t tempted me, but I enjoyed Ken Jeong’s interview about
his experiences writing and starring in the show.
Thursday, April 14 – Interesting story on America's undemocratic democratic process. Trevor did a nice job capturing the
confusion and frustration of feeling your vote doesn’t count amid
superdelegates and the like, while also pointing to the Trump-shaped demonstration
of the sort of reason why the Founding Fathers didn’t trust the unwashed
masses with “one voice, one vote.” It’s definitely a flawed system, but
I’m not sure what the answer is.
Hilarious “Everybody Hates Cruz” piece on the recent Cruz family town
hall; between karaoke lies and unsettling soup anecdotes, it was wonderfully
bizarre. Guest W. Kamau Bell talked about United Shades of America,
a new program that examines prejudice in society. The series sounds
really interesting, and I liked Trevor’s incredulous reaction to the fact that
Bell willingly met with Klan members.
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