I go back
and forth sometimes on Last Week Tonight’s
structure. Of course, I love the
in-depth main stories, and I understand that their fastidious detail means they
have to do their own thing, independent of the news cycle. But there’s so much going on right now, the pretty-much-weekly opening segment
of “what terrible thing(s) did the president do this week?” can feel like it’s
not enough. I mean, these pieces are
always hard-hitting and well done, but there’s only so much John can cover in
10-ish minutes that I usually come away wanting more of his take on it. At the same time, though, I understand the
desire to keep doing what they’ve been doing, often shining light on stories
that other outlets aren’t talking
about as much, especially considering that there’s no shortage of places to
hear about Trump. I’m sure it was a
difficult decision for the show to make, but for now at least, I think they’re
ultimately finding enough balance between the two.
Tuesday, September 5 – The show opened with
Obama’s letter to Trump on inauguration day, which Trevor pointed out was
basically a reminder that Trump shouldn’t destroy democracy. Next was a strong story on DACA – I especially
liked Trevor’s observation about how quick Trump was to note that many Dreamers
are adults rather than children, when he defended his son’s Russia meeting with
comments about what a “great kid” he was.
We got the latest on North Korea’s most recent missile launch test, with
Trevor growing concerned that Kim Jong-un took the advice about “finding
something you love and doing it” way too much to heart. Teenage activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez was the
guest; while Trevor tried to figure out how one gets so involved at such a
young age (Martinez began when he was six,) Martinez talked about suing the
administration over its handling of climate change.
Wednesday, September 6 – Good story that
began with Hurricane Irma but pulled in a lot of different elements. Trevor started with the storm and implacable climate
change deniers, then segued into Trump’s compromise with Democrats to prevent a
government shutdown, as well as passing emergency funds for Texas. I loved Trevor’s suspicion that Trump doesn’t
care about the border wall and was only threatening government shutdown over it
because he doesn’t want to work. It was
a two-guest night. The first was
Christopher Hill, a diplomat with experience negotiating with North Korea. He discussed the recent missile test and
tried to assuage fears about nuclear war.
The second guest, Lake Bell, discussed the new movie she wrote,
directed, and starred in. It was
interesting to hear about her experiences writing a film about marriage in
which her philosophy on the subject completely changed as she was working on
it.
Thursday, September 7 – More on Hurricane Irma, looking at a pilot who, in Trevor’s mind, identified way too much with
the movie Sully and flew into Puerto
Rico (and out again) just before the storm made landfall. We also followed up on Trump’s deal with the
Democrats re: the debt ceiling. In discussing how Republicans reacted to the
deal, Trevor highlighted the fact that Trump apparently made it, not out of any
great plan or desire to compromise, but because he was bored and wanted the
meeting to be over. In honor of New York Fashion Week, new correspondent Dulce talked about cultural appropriation in
fashion – she and Trevor had a great back-and-forth, and I especially liked the
point she made about dreadlocks. The
guest, designer Zac Posen, continued the fashion theme. He discussed the many balls he currently has
in the air and his push for racial, body type, and age diversity in his models.
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