Sunday, November 3 – We started, as is
becoming typical, with Stupid Watergate II, touching on Fox News’s insinuations
about Alexander Vindman being a Russian spy (John speculating on just what “the
plan” was there was great) and a mind-boggling “witch hunt” shirt for sale on
Trump’s campaign website that seems to think witches are the hunters in a witch hunt. The main story,
on voting machines, was really sobering. Although I knew that many voting machines are outdated, the whole system is
vulnerable to hacking, and the Senate has little interest in fixing it, the
story included a lot of wild details, like someone demonstrating how a certain
voting machine could be penetrated in under two minutes or the fact that
machines with touchscreens can incorrectly count votes even without
interference when they get old. It’s awful that we have elected officials who
don’t care about the safety of the very process that elects them.
Monday, November 4 – We opened on McDonald’s CEO getting fired, calorie counts on menus being ineffective (I liked the
analogy to having a blacklight in a strip club,) and the inaccuracy of
breathalyzers (loved Trevor’s plan to test drivers with an offer to message
their ex.) Good piece on the border wall, which smugglers are cutting through with
easily-obtainable saws. Trump pivoting from “the wall is impenetrable” to
“anything can be penetrated and we made it that way because it’s so easy to put
back together” was absurd even for him. Next was Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare
for All plan. Good point on the scrutiny of her plan, when Trump ran in 2016 on
vague claims about “the best healthcare.” The guest, author Colson Whitehead,
discussed his new book based in a notorious reform school. I liked his comments
on setting it in the ‘60s, which he described as both the most optimistic and the most hopeless time for U.S. race
relations.
Tuesday, November 5 – Yes, we live in a
world where someone can get stabbed over a chicken sandwich and the bystanders
don’t move for fear of losing their place in line. Sheesh. We also had quick
blurbs on Gordon Sondland “revising” his testimony and the possibility of jail
time for overdue library books. I liked the story on California inmates being
used to fight wildfires. So gross – the state saves $100 million a year by
using them, but they only get days off their sentences and earn up to $1 an hour, plus they probably
can’t become firefighters when they get out. Loved the joke about how they can
only fight fires if they commit a crime first – “That orphanage is on fire!
Quick, help me rob this bank!” Cory Booker was the first of two guests. I liked
his comments that regaining voters doesn’t just mean flipping Trump voters. The
second guest was Edward Norton, talking about his 20-year quest to make Motherless Brooklyn.
Wednesday, November 6 – First up was the recent elections (“Virginia’s House flipped from red to blue, and that’s a state where
their governor’s face flipped from white to black.”) Some good lines about Emma
Watson’s comments on “self-partnering,” especially the proposed comeback to
creepy guys hitting on her: “I’m already dating someone richer and hotter than
you, and it’s me!” We also got a
quick blurb on a new theory of the universe. Next was Wall Street’s fear of
Elizabeth Warren. I appreciated the reminder of past times that Wall Street
predicted stock-market doom based on election outcomes. Michael had an
interesting piece on anti-masturbation rhetoric in the alt-right, the idea
being that sexual suppression keeps them angry and easier to mold. The guest
was Julián Castro. Like Cory Booker, he took issue with the idea that
Democrats’ sole focus should be on white working-class people who voted for
Trump.
Thursday, November 7 – Opening blurbs on
Facebook banning emojis used sexually (but not, as Trevor pointed out,
political ads with verified falsehoods,) Las Vegas criminalizing homelessness
(the government will provide you with a bed and a roof, but it’ll be in jail,)
and a 911 operator too busy watching Netflix to assist a caller. Nice piece on
the vaping industry, showing how it targets teens – I loved Trevor comparing
Juul’s “adults like gummi bear flavors too!” excuse to a pedophile shrugging
off their van full of candy and Disney movies. In the next piece, I liked the
initial observation of how weirdly Trump stands (penguin-like is a good description,)
but the ensuing sketch with Michael as the “standing ‘expert’” who taught Trump
fell flat for me. The guest, comedian Jenny Slate, talked her new book and
standup special. Re: the book, I liked the idea of a celebrity writing about
whatever comes into their head.
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