Sunday, December 1 – Strong episode.
Hasan looked at billionaires, specifically “big philanthropy,” charitable
giving from the richest people in the U.S. He did a nice job looking at how all
this giving isn’t as heartwarming as it seems. There was the obvious greed
angle, scams and tax write-offs, but he went into the issue from multiple
sides. I appreciated the point about billionaires who give hundreds of millions
to put bandaids on the very social problems that they lobby legislators to keep
in place, and I loved the line about how the Sacklers used their arts donations
to “launder their reputation” while they quietly fueled the opioid crisis. Good
point too about billionaires deciding how their donations get spent like Mark
Zuckerberg’s $100 million to New Jersey schools mostly going to charter schools
and new construction. I also really liked the interview with Anand
Giridharadas, which culminated in the author’s “anti-Batman” stance.
Monday, December 2 – Great jokes on the
first miniature therapy horse allowed on a plane, from the reaction of someone
who was told their carry-on was too big to someone who can’t complain about
their lack of leg room resorting to “saying nothing in the most expressive way
possible.” We also covered the London Bridge attack and a poll showing that a
majority of Republicans think Trump is a better president than Lincoln (what?)
A catch-all of Democratic primary stories. Highlights included Joe Biden
nibbling on his wife’s finger at a rally (why?) and Michael Bloomberg’s media
blitz. Michael also did a fun bit on the “No Malarkey” label of Biden’s
campaign bus, lapsing first into old-timey newshound speak and then into
Shakespeare. In discussing his new movie, I loved guest Mark Ruffalo’s
description of real-life heroes as “the people no one would want to be,” making
the most difficult choices.
Tuesday, December 3 – Good bit on Mark Zuckerberg trying to deflect interest in his meeting with Trump – I loved, “Now he cares about privacy!”, and
Trevor’s imitation of Siri trying to teach Zuckerberg how to talk like a human
was great. Trevor commented on shade a Peloton ad has gotten online, examining
some of the quick judgments the ad got. We also covered Kamala Harris dropping
out of the race before moving on to Trump at the NATO summit. Re: France,
Trump’s insistence that “if someone’s gonna take advantage of our big tech
companies, it’s gonna be us” was jaw-dropping in its absurdity. Roy had a fun
field piece on “the future of meat,” looking at plant-based Impossible burgers
and chicken nuggets grown from cloned meat cells. I laughed so hard at his
briefcase full of hamburgers. Ta-Nehisi Coates was the guest, talking about his
new book and the challenge of describing slavery in a way no one has before.
Wednesday, December 4 – I loved the blurb on
a recall of gas station/pharmacy sushi, especially Trevor’s remark that people
who buy gas station sushi are the real
thrill-seekers – “I have a business meeting in 40 minutes and I don’t know
where the nearest bathroom is, let’s do this!” We also got quick bits on a
new plan to help restore coral reefs and smart TVs being hacked (I laughed at
Trevor greeting viewers who were only watching because hackers changed their
channel.) More on the NATO summit, with the big story being world leaders
caught on a hot mike laughing about Trump. I liked the note that world leaders
are “gossipy bitches” like the rest of us, and I loved, “We already knew Justin Trudeau was two-faced. He has one
white face and one brown face.” Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes was the
guest. After sharing about how her parents’ interracial love story informed her
latest album, she performed a song for us.
Thursday, December 5 – First up was some
teenagers’ post-car-accident post of TikTok, followed by the administration’s
plan to kick nearly 700,000 people off food stamps (nice point that
malnourishment will make it harder, not easier, for people to get work) and a
recently-cultivated apple that stays fresh for a freakishly-long time. The
latest on the impeachment inquiry, with constitutional lawyers testifying
before the House. I enjoyed Trevor reacting to Nancy Pelosi’s announcement
about articles of impeachment as though it were a long-awaited proposal.
Jaboukie offered some insight into what the Founders would’ve thought of all
this, along with the reminder that we shouldn’t always depend on what the
Founders would’ve thought (“Now he’s saying the N-word. A lot.”) John Lithgow was the guest, talking about the challenge of
playing Roger Ailes in Bombshell and
his administration-skewing children’s book.
No comments:
Post a Comment