News Satire Roundup: October 15th-October 19th

Sunday, October 15 – John covered a number of good angles on the Harvey Weinstein’s allegations:  Weinstein’s depravity, the awfulness of people speaking in his defense, and the “yeah, but…” of the Academy ousting him while still keeping Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby, etc.  On Trump, John looked at him rolling back provisions of Obamacare and refusing the recertify the Iran deal – with the latter, I really liked John’s explanation of why that move was so nonsensical and pointless.  The main story was on the Equifax data breach.  In addition to hammering home the importance of taking steps to protect our credit, John also detailed the extent to which Equifax massively dropped the ball on this one and yet is still trying to weasel out.  The fraud protection company that shares part of its revenue with Equifax (the reason we’re all in this mess) was especially mind-boggling.

Monday, October 16 – The show is filming in Chicago all week.  We started with a Ferris-Bueller-style opener of Trevor and the correspondents racing to the theater – my favorite was the gender-swapped bit of Desi circling back to introduce herself to hot sunbathers.  I liked the standup aesthetic the show had going on; it fit the atmosphere and the crowd.  Trevor had some great comments about the perception of Chicago as the “murder capital” of the US.  I loved the point about murder rates vs. murders per capita (using Pennywise the Clown to illustrate!), and the montage suggesting why politicians single out Chicago in particular (the repeated references to “Obama’s hometown”) was very telling.  Roy had a field report on Ceasefire, a group working to deescalate conflicts in the Southside.  Common was the guest.  In addition to talking about the theme of the night, he also discussed the song he wrote for the new movie Marshall.

Tuesday, October 17 – After congratulating Chicago on its title as America’s “rattiest” city, it was on to the news.  More White House psychodrama, with Trump and Mitch McConnell holding a press conference to prove how much they like each other – Trevor imagining their hypothetical lovers’ quarrel was great.  Next up was Trump pivoting from his non-response on the deaths of US soldiers to bizarrely claiming Obama “didn’t make calls” to Gold Star families – who is this guy, seriously?  Ronny’s field piece on New York vs. Chicago-style pizza was terrific.  It started out amusingly with the feud, turned thoughtful as he checked out a program teaching culinary skills to inmates, and then got funny again with a pizza prison-break parody.  The guests, Arne Duncan and Curtis Toler, talked about the Emerson Collective, their organization that works to engage at-risk youth.

Wednesday, October 18 – Loved Trevor’s reaction to one Chicago Bull punching another in the face.  Good piece on the prototypes for the border wall.  I enjoyed Trevor’s take, that Trump has to conduct everything like a reality show, and his riff on the requirement that the wall be able to withstand a “30-minute assault” was hilarious.  Michelle came out to talk about sexual harassment, painting a vivid picture of the “Tough Mudder of dicks” that women slog through on a daily basis.  Dulce had a nice field report about Young Chicago Authors, a group that helps kids connect to themselves through spoken word.  I love how much attention this week is paying to community organization and outreach programs, focusing on work people are doing on the ground.  The guest, Lena Waithe, talked to Trevor about her latest writing project and the fact that we’re still having “first Black” award winners in 2017.

Thursday, October 19 – Great story on the evolving scandal of Trump’s dealings with Gold Star families, from not saying anything to promising $25,000 (what the…??) and then not sending it to allegedly stating that a fallen soldier “knew what he was signing up for.”  This led into wider remarks on Trump’s overall propensity for creating scandals – I loved the bit imagining someone tuning in just after a press conference, flabbergasted at the new disaster the administration dug itself into in about a ten-minute span.  Hasan had a good piece on Kim Jong-un’s basketball fanboy-ness, begging Bulls stars of years past to “take one for humanity” and befriend Kim to distract him from testing nukes.  I liked the interview with the guest, rapper Vic Mensa.  He and Trevor bonded over being “halfrican,” and he discussed the way American society decides your identity for you when you’re mixed.