Monday, July 13
· Headlines – Washington
Redskins will change their name, Trump commutes Roger Stone’s prison sentence
o
On
the Redskins, great note about America just “crossing off the easier items on
its racism to-do list”
o
Very
true – the “law-and-order president” becomes a total “prison abolitionist” when
he comes to people committing crimes on his behalf
· Pandemic News – No
reported deaths in New York City, surges across the U.S., Disney World reopens,
Trump wears a face mask, the administration slams Dr. Fauci
o
Trevor
was disheartened by new reports of long testing lines and PPE shortages in
hotspots, the same problems we were dealing with in March – “Other than
coronavirus getting a summer tan, nothing has changed”
o
How
maddening is it that seeing the president of the U.S. wear an effing face mask
in the middle of a pandemic was so surprising
that it constituted breaking news?
o
For
Trump supporters, seeing Trump wear a face mask “must be like seeing Trump at a
Black Lives Matter protest with AOC”
o
The
show “helped” Trump out with a Dr. Fauci smear ad – “We don’t need leaders who
change their assessment when they get new information! We need leaders who
stick with their gut assessment despite
new information!”
· Main story – The school
reopening debate
o
I
loved Trevor’s description of schools that plan to fully reopen with no
safeguards – “Sort of like the Hunger Games, except instead of money, you get
no grandparents!”
o
Our
president, ladies and gentlemen – “Just to be clear, he won’t touch the police,
but he’ll defund the shit out of schools”
o
Michael
joined in with his own plan – since parents want kids out of the house and kids
appear less susceptible to COVID-19,
let’s kill two birds with one stone and “send children to work at
meatpacking plants”
o
So
sad but true – “Child labor never went away, we just outsourced it to other
countries” (Michael’s “trying to bring those American jobs back home!”)
o
Clinton
was greatly concerned about voter suppression efforts, but she was optimistic
that “the more people who can actually get to the polls”/vote by mail, the more
likely it is that Trump won’t get a second term
o
I
liked this advice – “Whatever it is that motivates you, having something bigger
than yourself to get you up in the morning”
o
In
discussing Trump’s response to the pandemic, Clinton made the same point that
many have made in recent months – “He made it clear that he was more interested
in optics than the facts”
Tuesday, July 14
· Headlines – Coronavirus updates, Ghislane Maxwell denied bail, China’s new security law against Hong
Kong, Tucker Carlson’s writer fired for racist/sexist posts, the Trump
administration’s “Find Something New” campaign
o
I
laughed at Trevor starting the coronavirus news in California, “home to the
most gorgeous Emmy voters in the nation (sup, y’all?)”
o
Very
true – “Coronavirus has no politics. It doesn’t give a shit what state you live
in. Coronavirus is the most bipartisan thing to happen to America since hating
Jussie Smollett”
o
If
Ghislane Maxwell informed on Prince Andrew, it would be the biggest story in
British news, “unless of course Meghan Markle bought the wrong kind of avocado
that week or something”
o
Trevor
didn’t think China should punish Hongkongers who vote against them – “What
you’re supposed to do is just reduce the number of polling locations and tell
them their ID is incorrect because their picture has a Black face. That’s
democracy!”
o
Ah,
yes, Tucker Carlson’s “long-planned” mid-week vacation after the scandal over
his writer, “because the trout never expects you to show up on a Tuesday!”
o
I
loved the show’s “Finding Something New” ad directed specifically at President
Trump, urging him to try a different job
· Main Story – 2020
election
o
Trevor
was indignant at folks who are suggesting people only consider Trump’s pre-COVID track record in deciding their
vote – I definitely felt, “‘Remember February’? You want us to remember February?!?”
o
The
encouraging polls, juxtaposed with the ultra-sanguine predictions before the
2016 election, ably demonstrated why no one can get complacent now
· Correspondent Piece (Dulcé) – 2020 Census
o
Following
up on her earlier piece on the the importance of filling out the census, Dulcé
looked today at people/states who are working to undermine an accurate census count
o
The
expert Dulcé interviewed told her, “They’re doing all of this [census
suppression] to discourage us, but what we have to do is show them that we see
them”
· Interview – Comedian
Hannibal Buress
o
I
liked Buress’s saga of how he tried to recreate the usual experience of being a
Daily Show guest – driving around
somewhere so he could “arrive” (back at his home,) putting a digital backdrop
of the show’s set behind him
o
He
and Trevor discussed ways to keep standup alive during the pandemic – I liked
Buress’s idea of doing a drive-in tour of his latest standup special
Wednesday, July 15
· Headlines – The Trumps
hawk Goya products, Mary Trump’s new book, Jeff Sessions loses primary bid,
o
Learning
that the Trumps might have violated ethics laws by endorsing Goya products,
Trevor was shocked – “There are still ethics laws??”
o
Good
joke about Trump being an indiscriminate lech, using the example of putting a
pictures of breasts on a tree – “Damn, redwood, I had no idea!”
o
Great
description of Jeff Sessions as “the world’s smallest Confederate monument”
· Black Lives Matter News
– Misuse of a police gang-member database, a paroled teenager jailed after not
doing homework, Trump’s view on police shootings
o
I
loved Trevor’s remarks on the super-messed-up gang-member database story –
“Police are incentivized to create criminals and crime because they get paid
more if they do”
o
Great
demonstration that Trump’s answer to Black Lives Matter (“police kill more white people!”) isn’t the ringing
endorsement he thinks it is – “No, they’re killing everybody! These cops are lunatics!
Black, white, brown…. All lives don’t matter!”
· Pandemic News –
Vaccine-trial update, anti-mask protests, the administration reroutes data away
from the CDC, school reopening debate, teenagers using face masks to scam
liquor stores
o
The
director of the CDC said the U.S. could get COVID-19 under control if everybody
wore masks for 4 to 8 weeks – let
that sink in
o
What
teachers are potentially facing this fall is awful – I smiled at Trevor’s plan
to just suspend as many students as possible to reduce the number of people in
the classroom
· Interview – Rep. Katie
Porter
o
A
good portion of the interview was spent discussing school openings – I
appreciated Porter’s point about how childcare/at-home learning during the
pandemic has disproportionate impacts on different households, just like all
the other disparities COVID-19 has highlighted
o
Unfortunately,
her eagerness to get kids back in school but do it “safely” seemed a little at
odds with itself – it sounds like most hybrid programs wouldn’t have kids in
school more than a couple days a week, which isn’t all that helpful in getting
parents back to work (especially if they have multiple kids who are off on
different days)
· Interview –
Actress/playwright Danai Gurira
o
Gurira
talked with Trevor about the “Difficult Conversations with My White Friends”
videos she’s been putting up on social media, which I’m definitely interested
in checking out
o
She
stressed the emphasis of everyone needing to come together collaboratively (on
fighting both the pandemic and system racism) – “No one’s safe until everyone’s
safe”
Thursday, July 16
· Headlines – Trevor
addresses his “hoodie” controversy, Twitter hack, Kanye West’s presidential
run, Trump demotes his campaign manager, Georgia’s governor won’t allow city governments
to mandate masks, a North Carolina city approves reparations
o
Trevor’s
“hoodie apology” was perfectly on-point – “To anyone that I have made feel hot,
I apologize […] Also, completely unrelated to this scandal, we won’t have a
show Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, as I’m taking a long-planned vacation to go
trout fishing”
o
After
Twitter assured us that Trump’s account wasn’t hacked, Trevor wondered how we’d
be able to tell if it was (his
theory? Correct spelling)
o
Trevor
couldn’t figure out why Georgia’s governor said there was no point in making a
mask law because not everyone would follow it – “We don’t need laws? We’re
already living through Outbreak, I
don’t wanna add The Purge too!”
o
Dulcé
joined in with Trevor to discuss reparations in North Carolina, but she wasn’t
convinced yet – “I’ve been Black far too long to trust government promises”
· Main Story –
International coronavirus news
o
I
agree with Trevor – why is it a bad thing if Russia hacks vaccine research?
(Also, why did they need to hack it?
Why isn’t everyone already sharing what they know on this?)
o
But
I did laugh at Trevor side-eyeing Russia’s decision to hack the U.S.
specifically, given its terrible coronavirus response – “This is like cheating
off the kid that just draws dicks all over the test”
o
Great
response to Japanese theme-park goers being told, “Please scream inside your
heart,” on roller coasters – “That’s the same advice Dr. Fauci gives himself
before every press conference”
· Interview – Dr.
Michelle Harper
o
Harper
was there to talk about her memoir about fighting COVID-19 on the frontlines –
my heart broke for her when she said, “We’re treated as more disposable than
our equipment”
o
She
also had important observations about low-income essential workers, like
meatpackers, mail carriers, or grocery-store workers, noting, “They’re not
healthcare workers; they didn’t sign up for this”
o
Her
remarks on prisoners were really affecting too, pointing out that “they can’t make their own decisions” (i.e.,
when to go in and seek healthcare) – that whole crisis is so terrible
· Interview – actor
Patton Oswalt
o
Oswalt
on home-schooling his kids during lockdown – “No matter what you do, education
is not fun” (although Trevor thought his throwaway comment about trying to
incorporate American history into swimming was a winner!)
o
He
was there to discuss a docuseries based on his late wife’s research/book about
the Golden State Killer, of course a bittersweet experience for him – it’s good
that he’s able to take comfort in what her work provides for survivors
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