News Satire Roundup: April 10th-April 14th

Sunday, April 10 – We opened with the Panama Papers, highlighting shadiness from the prime ministers of Iceland and the UK, along with – who else? – Putin.  Corruption moved stateside with a story on a sex scandal involving Alabama’s governor.  As the fraud and sketchiness went increasingly deeper, I liked John’s speculation that the scandal might be the most “Alabama” thing ever.  Credit reports were the subject of the main story, a good old-fashioned freak-out piece to remind us how much power a few companies with next to no oversight have to severely screw up our lives, as well as how prone they are to unchecked errors.  Yay!  I was appalled for the man whose credit report falsely labeled him a terrorist(!), proving you’re not dead seems to be way harder than it needs to be, and John’s revenge on the three big agencies was wonderfully twisted.

Monday, April 11 – The statistic on the inefficacy of the TSA was absolutely insane; Trevor perfectly conveyed the annoyance and indignity of security screening.  Good story on campaigning for the New York primary – I liked Kasich’s actual gravy train and Sanders’s whole campaign being a plot to score Hamilton tickets.  I also thought Trevor’s remarks about America getting too caught up in a candidate’s personability and not their credentials/policy were great, and I liked his suggestion that the US elect both a president and a mascot.  The story on a Japanese virtual-reality sex suit was wild.  The crack about Andy Serkis was funny, as was the line about the VR wearer looking like “Stevie Wonder learning to play the boobs.”  I really liked guest Jennifer Hudson, talking about The Color Purple and Confirmation.  Trevor’s fanboy-ness was in full force, and who couldn’t use a little “Circle of Life” now and then?

Tuesday, April 12 – Quick update on anti-LGBTQ legislation, with North Carolina receiving condemnation and lost business from corporations and celebrities.  I don’t know what to make of Clinton, de Blasio, and the stupid “CP time” joke; I can’t figure out why she would’ve possibly thought it was a good idea, especially given the recent rehashing of her support of the 1994 crime bill.  I liked Trevor’s commentary here, but the follow-up with Roy and Jordan felt clumsy.  Jessica and Ronny tag-teamed a pretty good field piece on racism in online dating. They spoke to a panel about their experiences and found some super-depressing data that belied claims that sexual racism is just “the PC police gone wild.”  The guest was comedian/actor/social media star King Bach.  I liked him and Trevor discussing the difficulties of breaking into entertainment, but the whole “Instagram/Vine/Snapchat sensation” concept still feels really foreign to me.

Wednesday, April 13 – The idea of Kim Jong-un writing a letter to Obama “from” Lincoln is wonderfully bizarre, but the show’s coverage of it was so-so.  The next story, though, about former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert sexually abusing children, was perfect in its disgust and outrage.  It’s horrific to know that he spent so long second in line for the presidency, that the statute of limitations shields Hastert from charges of abuse, and that the Catholic Church opposes lifting the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.  After that heaviness, it was nice to have something more ridiculous in the next segment, and Trump’s now-defunct pyramid scheme was just the ticket.  I mean, shady Trump dealings involving people mailing him their pee to get “customized” vitamins?  What's not to like?  The promos I’ve seen for Dr. Ken haven’t tempted me, but I enjoyed Ken Jeong’s interview about his experiences writing and starring in the show.

Thursday, April 14 – Interesting story on America's undemocratic democratic process.  Trevor did a nice job capturing the confusion and frustration of feeling your vote doesn’t count amid superdelegates and the like, while also pointing to the Trump-shaped demonstration of the sort of reason why the Founding Fathers didn’t trust the unwashed masses with “one voice, one vote.”  It’s definitely a flawed system, but I’m not sure what the answer is.  Hilarious “Everybody Hates Cruz” piece on the recent Cruz family town hall; between karaoke lies and unsettling soup anecdotes, it was wonderfully bizarre.  Guest W. Kamau Bell talked about United Shades of America, a new program that examines prejudice in society.  The series sounds really interesting, and I liked Trevor’s incredulous reaction to the fact that Bell willingly met with Klan members.