News Satire Roundup: February 17th-February 21st

Sunday, February 17 – New season!  We started with the border wall “national emergency,” highlighting Trump’s admission during the announcement that he didn’t have to do it (ergo, no emergency.)  We also touched on the bizarre trend of New Zealand being left off world maps (with the show pitching in to help!), and an And Now This on the Westminster Dog Show somehow ended with a news anchor insisting we never had a president named Chester A. Arthur.  The main story looked at Brexit as things get down to the wire.  John covered Theresa May’s deal that was voted down, the possible fallout of a “no deal” Brexit, and whether the U.K. could opt not to go through with it.  John did a great job explaining the ramifications no deal could have, and I liked his comments on how uncool it was to make such a big decision by referendum, comparing it to your doctor asking you whether you think your appendix should be taken out.

Sunday, February 17 – Hasan turned to a homegrown problem for today’s episode:  drug pricing.  I appreciated the emphasis on how US-specific the issue is, with multiple comparisons to the much-lower prices of drugs in other developed nations.  Hasan dug into the various groups who all have a hand in the drug-pricing pot, getting rich while people suffer.  I his response to the graphs he showed of two drug companies with almost-identically rising prices:  though, for legal reasons, he couldn’t state they were price-fixing, he could ask a question – “Are they price-fixing?” – and then answer a question – “Yes.”  I also loved his reaction to Paula Deen admitting to being sponsored by an insulin manufacturer and then telling Al Roker that it’s no different than him being paid for what he does.  “Yeah, except Al Roker isn’t in the pocket of ‘Big Weather,’ and no one’s resorting to black-market episodes of The Today Show!”

Monday, February 18 – First up was an Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That.  We covered “even crickets” refusing to acknowledge Trump’s name in a Mike Pence speech, Colin Kaepernick’s settlement with the NFL, the new African Basketball League (great bit on Africans going “fool me twice” when Americans show up looking for their biggest and most athletic,) and Japanese Prime Minister Abe nominating Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize(?!)  Next was Jussie Smollett’s attack and the recent speculation that it was staged.  Good story, but I wish Trevor had noted the part that seems weirdest to me:  why would pay two Black guys to stage being attacked by two white guys?  Fun bit on Trump’s “national emergency,” highlighting his hypocrisy (he railed against Obama’s use of exective powers) and bizarre sing-song about court challenges.  Bing Liu was the guest, discussing his Oscar-nominated documentary on skateboarding, culture, and life.

Tuesday, February 19 – Opening blurbs on detained ISIS fighters (featuring Trump’s talent for stupid solutions to problems,) hairstyle discrimination (with Trevor arguing that discrimination against white people with dreadlocks should be mandatory) and light saber dueling in France.  Bernie Sanders announcing his 2020 run – we know he means business because “he didn’t rub a balloon on his hair” this time! – kicked off a story on minor scandals for Democratic candidates.  Fox News freaking out that Cory Booker would “force his veganism” on the whole country was insane.  More on Jussie Smollett, with Jaboukie contributing his perspective as a gay Black man.  He brought up the point I’d wanted last time (“You can’t hire Black guys to play white racists!  This isn’t Hamilton!”), and the stats on the “gay/trans panic” murder defense were chilling.  The guest, basketball player Enes Kanter, discussed learning English from Jersey Shore and using his platform to highlight atrocities in Turkey.

Wednesday, February 20 – Good line about Trump possibly obstructing his obstruction-of-justice investigation, and I liked Trevor’s riff asking how Tekashi 6ix9ine can go into witness protection with his name tattooed on his face.  We also got a blurb on the “48-hour challenge” hoax, marked by Trevor’s point that teenagers who can’t last an hour off social media wouldn’t be able to pull it off.  Good story on the opioid crisis, highlighting beneficiaries of the crisis that wouldn’t be stopped by a border wall:  doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and the billionaire family who lied about how addictive they were and then pushed the idea of marketing a version for kids.  Gross.  The guest, occupying two segments, was Senator Kamala Harris.  I liked what she said about always striving for the American ideal even though we continually fall short, but I thought she really punted Trevor’s question about some of her past actions as a prosecutor.

Thursday, February 21 – We opened with the man caught planning an attack on prominent Democrats and news pundits (creepy Google search history,) then moved onto Trump naming a climate-change denier to lead a panel on climate change.  A couple tech blurbs, on the Galaxy Fold and the Google Nest’s hidden microphone (great joke about disingenuous tech company apologies.)  One more Jussie Smollett story, on the new charges against him.  I loved the bit on how he’d wanted to get the attack caught on the security camera but it wasn’t a frame (“You’re an actor!  That is your only job!”)  Roy had a CP Time on attempts by opponents to turn Black people against America, from the Revolutionary War to WWI to ISIS (Roy was tempted, until he realized ISIS doesn’t have ribs.)  Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, the creaters of The Other Two, were the guests, and their interview increased my interest in seeing their show.