Today,
I’m staying home for Tom Stoppard.
Sunday, March 29 – John is back! We jumped right into
the main story, which was obviously COVID-19 again. After checking in on international
responses, we focused on the U.S. I loved his description of those who want to
“sacrifice” the vulnerable to “save” the economy: “They’re trading one terrible
thing for both terrible things.
They’re shitting on their cake and choking on it too.” We looked at the chronic
equipment shortage, leading to doctors improvising subpar PPE and states trying
to outbid each other on ventilators. John’s contempt for Trump’s total lack of
urgency on the issue was palpable. And in imploring everyone to social distance,
John shared a sobering video of a doctor explaining that they had to rent a
refrigerated truck because the morgue was full. We did get a tiny glimmer of
fun at the end, when John showed us his new obsession with rat erotica from a
Southeast Pennsylvania artist.
Monday, March 30 – International news included a
lockdown in Moscow and Boris Johnson testing positive. Trevor used Tiger King to examine Trump’s COVID-19
response, noting Joe Exotic’s “presidential” qualities: making everything about
him, claiming false expertise, and believing in conspiracy theories. Trump
bragging about the ratings of his coronavirus briefings? Shameful. And I liked
Trevor’s analogy for Trump’s remarks on “unappreciative” governors, likening it
to a doctor who lets a patient die because “he wouldn’t say the magic word.”
Jaboukie interviewed a doctor hoping to begin trials on a vaccine. The doctor
also addressed the misnomer that COVID-19 doesn’t affect young people. The
guest was California governor Gavin Newsom. What most struck me was his
emphasis on their efforts to try and get the supplies they need, tacitly
acknowledging that they can’t depend on the federal government.
Tuesday, March 31 – First up was new hospitals being
erected wherever there’s space in New York, from the Javits Center to inside
Bill de Blasio’s shoes. Good story on the differences in leadership around the
world. Three guesses as to whether Trump fell into the “good” or “bad”
category. I liked the bit on Hungary, with a pandemic taking the fun out of
being a dictator – “I sentence you to torture! But you’ll need to torture
yourself, since it’s not safe to touch you.” On the “good” side, Trevor
highlighted state governors who’ve stepped up in the absence of much federal
response. The analogy, comparing it to the kids of an alcoholic dad taking care
of themselves, was depressingly apt. Michael, Dulcé, and Roy joined Trevor for
a highly-relatable attempt to figure out what day it is. The guest, NBA player
Kevin Love discussed looking out for arena workers during the season shutdown
and addressing mental health while social distancing.
Wednesday, April 1 – The government in Malaysia instructed
women not to “nag” their husbands while social distancing – charming. I liked
Trevor’s solution to have spouses team up against the real enemy: their kids! Today saw Trump taking his most serious
tone so far on COVID-19, but he also found time to blame impeachment, China,
and Obama for his slow response; I appreciated Trevor’s list of all the
policies Trump wasn’t too “distracted” to push during impeachment. Ronny
interviewed Andrew Yang to see how he feels about Congress “co-opting” his UBI
idea for the stimulus package (and suggest that Asians get paid a little extra
every time someone calls it the “Chinese virus.”) Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer was the guest. While her T-shirt did say “That Woman from Michigan,”
she emphasized that now is the time to focus on protecting her constituents,
not political games.
Thursday, April 2 – First was scientists collaborating on
treatment/vaccine research (no point in competing when Trump’s going to take
the eventual credit anyway!), followed by the severe spike in unemployment
claims (“the chart looks like the economy overdosed on Viagra and got one of
the those 4-hour erections!”), guns replacing toilet paper as the new hoarding
item, and Dr. Fauci getting assigned a security detail. Most of the show was
dedicated to an interview with Bill Gates, who discussed the pandemic through
the lens of what he’s learned from his philanthropic work. I liked what he said
about funding manufacturing for all
prospective vaccines that seem really viable, so that no matter which one comes
out on top, the infrastructure will already be in place to get it produced. At
the end, we got a trailer for a movie about a new type of hero: Roy, bravely
waging the war against the coronavirus by staying at home.
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