"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Friday, November 16, 2018

News Satire Roundup: November 11th-November 15th


Sunday, November 11 – First up was the midterms, featuring Trump’s bizarre reframing of reality to suit his own narrative.  Next was Matt Whitaker being named acting AG.  Again with Trump reframing reality, personally vouching for Whitaker then denying any acquaintance with him days later. Similarly, the main story looked at his exact-opposite execution of his “drain the swamp” campaign promise.  I just don’t know how to fathom a former coal lobbyist running the EPA or the Secretary of the Interior showing his admiration for Teddy Roosevelt(?!) by selling federal land to oil companies.  I also appreciated the clips of Trump followers sidestepping every logical argument they were presented with; it’s good to be reminded how deep it runs.  Finally, there was a fun story on unmarked ads from “influencers” on social media, with John thinking he deserved some sponsorship from the Church of Scientology for the free press he’s given them.




Sunday, November 11 – Very informative episode, looking at the oil industry in America.  Most of us already know about the urgency of climate change, the importance of renewable energy, and our overdependence on oil, and the show hits the appropriate level of apocalyptic concern (“We are one Zendaya away from Mad Max:  Fury Road!”)  What I didn’t know, though, is that the U.S. is now the number one oil producer in the world, largely due to fracking.  The whole thing about oil companies 1) asking for government subsidies 2) to protect their facilities from the effects of superstorms 3) which are worsening due to the climate change they’re instrumental in perpetuating?  Stomach-churning.  Perhaps knowing what a downer this story was, Hasan made sure to throw in plenty of tangential humor, including callbacks to past episodes and a mini-treatise on Muammar Gaddafi’s sense of style.


Monday, November 12 – We started with Florida recounts and Trevor riffing on “unconceding” an election, followed by Michelle Obama turning herself into an “instant meme” with a single Melania-Trump-related facial expression.  We got a Trump-themed Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That:  Trevor covered Trump’s turn-around on Matt Whitaker, blaming California for its wildfires(?!), skipping a WWI remembrance ceremony (loved the point that Angela Merkel was there, even though Germany lost WWI,) and the loss of his bromance with Emmanuel Macron.  Roy had a new CP Time on Black soldiers; it was a nice cross-section of American history, from William Lee (a slave of George Washington’s during the Revolutionary War) to Colin Powell (proof that Black men can wreck the Middle East as well as white men.)  Good interview with Jeffrey Wright, talking about a documentary on helping veterans through the arts.

Tuesday, November 13 – Nice joke about the new Amazon headquarters “finally putting New York and D.C. on the map.”  I don’t even know how to process the prom photo of a bunch of high school boys throwing up Nazi salutes, but the bit on the new Tide packages looking like boxed wine was funny.  More on the Florida election results.  I liked the joke comparing Florida to a friend who’s always late (so you have tell them events start earlier than they actually do,) and it was staggering just how counterintuitive the voting/counting process seems to be.  Later, Trevor clapped back at a Fox News pundit who prioritized “the excitement of finding out on election night” over determining who actually won, and Michael used a penis-based chart of Florida to demonstrate voting issues.  Jenifer Lewis was the guest; in talking about her new memoir, she covered singing in church, Whitney Houston, and bipolar disorder.

Wednesday, November 14 – Good opening blurbs:  Melania Trump’s call for a national security aide to be fired (and Trevor’s point that Trump is running out of people we’ve heard of to fire,) Kanye West protecting his home from wildfires (I loved the line, “There’s rich, and there’s ‘private firefighter’ rich,”) and some Fortnite/NFL crossover (I liked Trevor’s note that Colin Kaepernick kneeling isn’t exactly a threat in a gun fight.)  Nice story on the new Congress, with Trevor praising the diversity on both sides of the aisle (for the Republicans, it was “so many different types of white guys!”) and preparing for the House Democrats’ “subpoena cannon.”  The Flat Earth International Conference was a perfect target for Lewis’s disdain in a new Back in Black – really funny.  Chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley was the guest, defending chess against Trevor’s jokes and talking about bringing some hood smack-talk to his match commentaries.

Thursday, November 15 – We opened on Trump’s support for prison reform (right in time for a new round of indictments!), followed by parliamentary pushback on the plan for Brexit and a new study about the attractiveness of facial hair – Trevor “growing” an instant beard and then starting the next story with tape still on his face was so funny.  We looked at complaints about Amazon moving to New York, with Jaboukie coming in to argue that most of the benefits will be on Amazon, most of the disruptions on the city.  It was a two-guest night, with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand up first.  She discussed her new children’s book on suffragists and talked about the personal decision of whether or not to run for president.  Tessa Thompson was the second guest; in addition to talking Creed II, she teased the new project she’s producing based on the life of an 86-year-old diamond thief, which sounds awesome.

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