Sunday, June 17 – Fantastic show. We started with a quick bit on Michael Cohen,
then it was onto the North Korea summit and Trump’s creepy envy of Kim
Jong-un. Next was the administration’s
defense of its family-separation border policy, with Trump blaming
Democrats(?), Jeff Sessions quoting a passage of the Bible that was popular
with slaveholders, and of course, John’s righteously-blistering contempt for
the lot of them. The main story looked
at China’s president Xi Jingping, the changes he’s making within the country,
and the side of China he doesn’t like the world at large to see. For every funny bit (Xi hates it when people
compare him to Winnie the Pooh,) there was an awful instance of government
encroachment on private lives (I was chilled by the idea of a “social score,”
similar to a credit score in ramifications but given by the government on their
impression of your character.)
Monday, June 18 – After a quick
freakout about Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s joint album (whose video just increased the
value of the Mona Lisa!), we looked at the ridiculousness of Trump’s “Space
Force”; I loved Trevor’s point that Trump is planning to “shoot money into
space” after arguing that military exercises in South Korea were too
expensive. Strong story on family separation at the border. I especially
liked Trevor taking Trump to task for pretending that he “hates” the policy and
is being held captive by Democrats who refuse to change “their” law. Another sports piece on the World Cup – a real
one this time, with Roy and Michael. The
bit about fans in Mexico triggering a small earthquake by jumping up and down
so much in celebration was delightful.
The guest, Rep. Karen Bass, talked about her experience working for
child welfare and what the administration is doing with its family separation
policy.
Tuesday, June 19 – Good point about it
being high time 911 can see our location from our phones, given that most apps
can do the same thing. More on the
family separation policy, looking at reactions both outraged (including from Republicans)
and equivocating (mainly from Fox News.)
There was a repeat of “it’s okay to take someone’s kids from them if you
keep them somewhere nice” argument,
and I loved Trevor’s entreaty to call Fox News, in lieu of our representatives,
to get Trump to change his mind. Roy
reported on Wilmot Collins, a Liberian refugee who became mayor of Helena, deep
in Trump country; I really liked Roy’s astonishment at the ballsiness of
Collins campaigning door-to-door at the homes of random white people in
Montana. Becca Heller, who directs a
program aimed at assisting refugees, talked about the current situation at the
border while describing her own experiences working with refugees.
Wednesday, June 20 – Opening blurbs on
Canada legalizing recreational pot (Trevor suspected they’re just rubbing it in
America’s face now) and the World Cup (with fans staying to clean up the
stadium after their team won!) Great
catch-all story on immigration. I loved
what Trevor said about how this is nothing new for America – Jeff Sessions’s
biblical arguments for family separation were used by slaveholders, Trump’s
“they’re just cute kids now, but in
ten years…” fearmongering was used against Jewish refugee kids in the 1930s,
and Kjiersten Nielson’s point about how nice
the detention centers are was used to describe Japanese-American internment
camps. Later, Trevor and Michael
discussed Stephen Miller’s role in all this and made themselves feel better by
unloading on him. Dan Reynolds of
Imagine Dragons was the guest, talking about a documentary he produced on LGBTQ
acceptance and the Mormon church.
Thursday, June 21 – I enjoyed Trevor’s
commentary on the new gestures Trump was “trying out” at a rally in Minnesota,
especially the bit about imagining if the TV was muted. Next up was an Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That, hitting on a horrific Russian Burger King ad, plans for a “white civil
rights” rally in D.C., the “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” jacket Melania Trump
wore to look at undocumented children taken from their parents (stay classy,
Trumps,) and a woman injured by a hot dog cannon at a Phillies game – I loved
the joke that you never knew what a “shooting” in the U.S. will entail. Desi had a good piece on panels in cable
news, breaking down the factors that make good TV – tons of talking/shouting
over each other, little to no moderation – but not good news. The guest was Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park; he
talked about how he became an advocate for destigmatizing mental health
struggles and championing self-care.
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