Sunday, April 23 – We opened with North
Korea’s recent failed missile launch test and the whole “we’re sending an
armada” thing. On Turkey, John applauded
Sean Spicer’s restraint in not commenting on Erdoğan’s recent election victory
before the dust settled, a contrast to Trump immediately calling Erdoğan to
congratulate him. Interesting main story
on Ivana Trump and Jared Kushner, challenging the notion of them as a
moderating influence on Trump. I liked
John’s point about Ivanka’s “talk less, smile more” savviness, a talent for sounding like she’s saying more than she
is. The interview clip of Jared dubbed with
Gilbert Gottfried’s voice was perfect because, as John noted, we know so little
about him that we can’t say with absolute certainty that that isn’t his voice (troubling in light of
how much responsibility he has.) And for
a wrap-up, we were “treated” to a sexist, racist farewell montage from Bill
O’Reilly.
Monday, April 24 – First up was Trump calling the ISS, with Trevor pointing out there are some who find recycled urine
preferably to living on Earth while Trump is president. Interesting story on Trump’s upcoming first 100 days, which he’s of course declared is a meaningless number to him now that
he has little to show for them, despite placing a lot of importance on it
during his campaign. I’m curious why he
thinks the 100 days shouldn’t apply to him specifically – did he even make up an
excuse for it? The show then kicked off
a week of features on Alabama, having learned that The Daily Show is least-watched there. Desi started us off, looking at religion in Alabama, both the good (a pastor organizing dinners between locals and Syrian
refugees) and the bad (inflammatory homophobic signs outside another pastor’s church.) John Kasich was the guest, talking about the
divided nation and (more circuitously) President Trump.
Tuesday, April 25 – Trevor opened on
Obama’s first major public appearance since January before continuing with the
run-up to Trump’s first 100 days in office and the not-much he has to show for
it. He covered Trump’s contradictory
statements on the border wall and uninspiring tax plan, with the Trump
impersonator from Comedy Central’s new show dropping in to “set things
straight.” I’d say the impression was
fine, but the writing was really on-point – it did a great job capturing
Trump’s bizarre stream-of-consciousness rambling. Hasan did his Alabama piece, focusing on the
state’s overburdened prison system. He met
a Republican congressman there interested in prison reform – I like that these stories
are finding encouraging points in places you wouldn’t necessarily expect. The guest, Charlamagne Tha God, discussed his
new book, once he and Trevor hashed out his reasoning behind his use of the
term “Black privilege” in the title.
Wednesday, April 26 – Amusing bit about
the “butler button” at the White House.
Trevor is right; I’d bet money that Trump presses it when he’s not
thirsty just because he likes having someone at his beck and call. Solid piece on Confederate Memorial Day. I liked Trevor’s over-it attitude towards the
whole thing, ready to counter any excuse suggesting Confederate history isn’t
rooted in racism. The theme continued
with Jordan’s Alabama story, which looked at both Civil War reenactors and march commemorators in Selma. I
appreciated the observation from one man who, despite being for the march, was
against shutting down the reenactment, saying that anything negative in the
white community is visited on the Black community ten times over. I enjoyed the guest, Chicago poet/activist
Kevin Coval, especially his explanation of how his grandmother’s Seder stories
led him to slam poetry and using his words to tell people’s stories.
Thursday, April 28 – I enjoyed that,
despite being against ludicrous Wall Street giving payouts for speaking
engagements, Trevor insisted that the practice could end after Obama got his fat check, arguing that the first Black
president shouldn’t also be the first “not to take the money.” We got an Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That,
covering the disingenuousness of Anne Coulter actually wanting to speak at
Berkeley, Trump summoning the entire Senate to the White House for a
seemingly-pointless briefing, and Trump’s tax plan conveniently getting rid of
what forced him to pay taxes in 2005.
Roy wrapped up the Alabama series with his segment, where his attempt to
show a “different side of Alabama” took a turn when the dedicated
environmentalist he was interviewing turned out to be a Big Foot
enthusiast. I really liked the
interview with journalist Katy Tur. Her
vantage point of covering the Trump campaign sounded fascinating.
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