Sunday, March 10 – First up was
Brazil’s president condemning Carnaval, culminating in a country’s president tweeting
his constituents to ask, “What is a golden shower?” Next, we had Trump signing Bibles for
hurricane victims in Alabama (ugh,) which led into a great bit about how Trump
is simultaneously so terrible but also so funny. There was something cathartic about hearing
John say, “A++, you pile of shit!” The
main story looked at robocalls. Some
good info, although it didn’t grab me too much.
I enjoyed the clip of a reporter trying to make robocall say the words,
“I am not a robot,” and it looks like the FCC wants to make it easier to get harangued by robocalls and
harder to stop them, because of
course they do. The ending, however, was
perfect, with John gleefully announcing the show’s plan to spam the FCC with
robocalls of its own, reminding them that they have the power to stop this. Boy, did they bring it around!
Sunday, March 10 – Today’s story was on
hip-hop and streaming music services. It
pulled in a few directions, but the biggest was how streaming has helped
hip-hop spread around the world and had an effect had on political
dissent. Hasan looked at several
countries ruled by oppressive regimes where people are speaking truth to power
with hip-hop. The Rap Against Dictatorship
video from Thailand was really impressive – as Hasan pointed out, the group
called Thailand’s leaders war criminals (and called its prime minister “kinda
annoying,” ha!) under a regime where people have been arrested for eating sandwiches. He also looked at regimes that have tried to
coopt hip-hop for state-sponsored propaganda.
I loved the line about enemy-poisoning Vladimir Putin seeing the
influence of hip-hop and going, “I cannot destroy this.” Plus, the show noted how streaming has
changed hip-hop, like the revenue-based incentive for writing shorter tracks.
Monday, March 11 – We opened on the
Ethiopian Airlines crash – I liked the joke about pilots preparing to just pull
“a Sully” any time there’s a problem. We
also had quick blurbs on Paul Manafort’s criminally-low prison sentence, Jussie
Smollett’s indictment (great rant from Trevor about being charged more than
once for the same lie told to multiple people,) and the new Michael Jackson
documentary (I loved the bit about wedding DJs calling Bruno Mars to warn him
to “behave.”) Updates on the 2020 race,
looking at big names that haven’t thrown their hats in yet; it’s crazy that Joe
Biden has the best Democratic poll numbers, even though he hasn’t joined the
race! We caught up on some Trump moments. I especially liked the “Tim
Apple” thing and Trump’s later tweet claiming he intentionally did that to “save time”(??) Dutch historian Rutger Bregman was the guest,
talking “made-up” jobs, taxes, and economic futures.
Tuesday, March 12 – It was an Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That night.
Highlights included Nancy Pelosi saying Trump isn’t “worth” trying to
impeach (loved Trevor’s theory that it was reverse psychology to make Trump
admit his crimes,) Mitt Romney blowing his birthday candles individually
(wonderfully weird and funny,) and North Korea’s election (great bit about the
optional private voting booths being like To
Catch a Predator: Election Edition.) For Women’s History Month, Desi looked at
high-achieving women who haven’t gotten due credit for the bad things they’ve done, like the wives of Benedict Arnold and
Machine Gun Kelly, or Alexander the Great’s mother. I especially liked what she said about Ching
Shih, the most successful pirate in history.
The guest, Padma Lakshmi, discussed Top
Chef a little but focused more on immigration and Trump’s bogus national
emergency.
Wednesday, March 13 – I laughed at
Trevor’s impression of Trump explaining how grounding Boeing 737 Max 8’s would
work: “Some people didn’t get how you ground a plane that’s in the air,
but not me, folks!” We got Paul Manafort’s
sentence for his second batch of
crimes, then his third round of
indictments, and the bit on the possible danger of airpods led to a great rant
about tangled earbud cords. More on the
college admissions scandal. I liked the
jokes about parents who Photoshopped images of their non-athlete kids “playing”
sports, and the fact that some used a fake charity to make their illegal
briberies tax deductible was
wild. Goofy piece comparing news in the
U.S. and around the world, culminating in a sketch about CNN’s dramatic orchestra. The guest was Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown, talking about
his new memoir. I was impressed at how
willing he was to air some really dirty laundry and discuss how he’s changed
since then.
Thursday, March 14 – Opening blurbs on the
Great Social Media Crash of 2019 and Nancy Pelosi taking away Mike Pence’s
extra office in the House – I liked Trevor’s prediction that House Democrats
will force single-ply toilet paper on the White House next. More 2020 stuff, with Beto O’Rourke joining
the race – Trump of all people criticizing his hand gestures cracked me up –
and Ronny insisting to Andrew Yang that he
doesn’t need Yang’s platform to vote for him for being Asian. Dulcé headed a new segment on policing,
looking at misguided efforts at community engagement (police officer trading
cards?) and apprehension (a gun-like device that shoots cords to bind people’s
ankles?) Yeesh. LGBTQ activist Jacob Tobia was the guest. I liked what they said about playing with
gender and encouraging everyone to try things that presumed gender roles have boxed
them out of.
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