Sunday, March 8 – A quick mention of Trump as the
presumptive GOP nominee segued into the Philippines’ election, whose
frontrunner has been dubbed the Trump of the East. Given his penchant for
death squads and refusal to backpedal on rape jokes, I’d say they have it
worse. In North Korea, US journalists were treated to top-shelf
propaganda as Communist leaders had their first big meeting since 1980.
The main story, on scientific studies, was great. John lambasted “a
new study shows...” pieces that the media loves, by which something like coffee
both prevents and causes cancer.
He examined how wild claims are extrapolated from vague findings, data
can be manipulated, and studies are touted without replication. I liked
his point on why it’s a problem beyond people thinking chocolate
improves fetal health, that yo-yo studies undermine trust in science and lead
to dismissing something like climate change as untested theory.
Monday, May 9 – An economics professor accused
of terrorism for writing “suspicious” equations on a plane, giving way to our
fear of math. Good story on GOP leaders
thrown into chaos by Trump, with some vowing not to vote at all and others
completely reversing their prior condemnations in the name of party unity.
I especially enjoyed the hypocrisy of Rick Perry, who once called Trump a
“cancer” on the Republican Party, now open to the possibility of being his
running mate. I loved Desi’s Mother’s Day piece on mom-shaming, highlighting
the attitude that moms are open season to be judged for everything they do.
She had some nice encouraging words for moms doing their best and a
strong “back off” for everyone criticizing them. Glad to see author
Sherman Alexie as the guest. He talked about his new book, team names
like the Redskins, and how Native Americans are largely left out of
conversations concerning them.
Tuesday, May 10 – Excellent continuing piece on
North Carolina’s new bathroom law. I like that Trevor pointed out the
less talked-of part of the law, which makes it illegal to pass
anti-discrimination legislation protecting LGBTQ people, he had a terrific rant
on why people are paying so much attention to who’s in the public bathroom with
them in the first place, and the obtuseness of the guy with the discriminatory
law comparing himself to MLK, Gandhi, and Jesus was just jaw-dropping.
Michelle had a decent bit about where Americans can go if Trump becomespresident. Apologizing to England and offering to “pay for the tea” was
fun. I don’t watch Scandal, but I loved guest Joe Morton.
His comments on diversity in Hollywood were especially good – not new
ideas, but ones that bear repeating until Hollywood finally starts to get the
message.
Wednesday, May 11 –
Amusing blurb the “scandal” of Queen Elizabeth II’s mildly disparaging remarks
about her Chinese visitors. The story on
Trump-esque politicians in other countries was good, both funny and horrifying;
I appreciated Trevor’s comments on the perfect storm of fears and frustrations that
let leaders like this gain prominence.
The biggest take-away, though, was that Rodrigo Duterte (discussed on Last Week Tonight) did win the presidency in the Philippines. I liked the story on Sanders’s primary
victory in West Virginia – interesting remarks about West Virginia’s voting
patterns. Trevor’s disappointment about
the DNC giving Trump the nickname “Dangerous Donald” (a misguided attempt to
ape “Lying Ted” and “Crooked Hilary”) was also great. Nice interview with Nate Silver of
FiveThirtyEight, talking about polls, what on earth is happening in this
election, and his fears for what could happen between now and November.
Thursday, March 12 – It makes
me sad that London mayor Sadiq Khan (the first Muslim mayor of a major Western
capital) has to field questions about Trump, who’s “graciously” declared Khan
an “exception” to his proposed Muslim ban.
I loved the story on Trump dithering about releasing his tax returns. Even though, as Trevor pointed
out, it won’t make a shred of difference with his base, the weasely-ness and
hypocrisy deserves pointing out, as does Trump being officially “shadier than
Richard Nixon!” Jordan had a good field
piece on increasing numbers of Latino immigrants seeking citizenship before the election, in hopes of voting against Trump; of course Fox News suspects a conspiracy featuring the DNC funneling
in “illegals” from Mexico and fast-tracking their citizenship. It’s the only explanation, right? BJ Novak was the guest, talking, not about
acting or writing, but about an app he created.
Pretty decent interview.
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