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Sunday, September 25
· Recap of the Week – Gov. Ron DeSantis flies migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Hurricane Fiona hits Puerto Rico
o Tucker Carlson was the one who initially floated the idea on his show of sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard – “So I guess it is true what they say: good artists borrow, great artists steal, and racist governors get their ideas yelled at them by the human equivalent of a boat shoe found at the scene of a hazing death.”
o Great line – “Nothing says ‘I’m against smuggling and human trafficking’ quite like making fake documents to smuggle people across a border.”
o Puerto Ricans have found a really impactful way of protesting their privately-owned energy company, which plagues the island with frequent blackouts – People are writing protest slogans on the screens of TVs fried by power outages.
o Bad Bunny has been bringing attention to the issue, and recently used a new music video to bait-and-switch a 22-minute documentary about how badly Luma Energy is failing Puerto Rico – “Honestly, the video is sort of like this show, where you think you’re getting something fun before getting tricked into essentially watching Homework: The Television Show.”
· And Now This – The queue to view Queen Elizabeth II
o This made me crack up – “We didn’t used to be good at queueing. We used to be famous for rioting and cutting kings’ heads off.”
o I also like the news anchor who talked about people who just got drawn into the queue without intending to do it, seriously intoning, “Such is the seductiveness of the queue.”
· Main Story – Jair Bolsonaro
o John was concerned about how President Bolsonaro is already priming his supporters not to accept the results if he loses his reelection bid, but he side eyed an article that warned him could incite “a tropical version of the Capitol riot” – “For the record, you really don’t have to use the word ‘tropical’ to describe an insurrection just because you’re talking about Latin America. Especially because ‘tropical riot’ sounds like a Mountain Dew flavor that was recalled for blinding several children.”
o Here were Bolsonaro’s words at a recent rally, to be filed under “holy crap” – “There are only three alternatives for me: to be arrested, to be killed, or to be victorious. And I tell those scumbags, I will never go to prison.”
o Gun ownership has doubled since Bolsonaro took office in 2018, doing everything he could to loosen gun laws.
o We also looked at how he’s enabled deforestation in the Amazon, including agricultural corporations clearing land indigenous tribes are living on – “It has got to be tough to fight people taking your stuff when they feel like they have permission from the most powerful person in the country.”
o In lieu of any sort of helpful COVID response from the government, there are gangs in Brazil who’ve instituted and enforced lockdowns.
o John was unimpressed with Pfizer’s pleading attempts to get Brazil to order COVID vaccines and suggested using more forceful language – My favorite was, “Earth to President Bitch: Stop subtweeting Leonardo DiCaprio and answer your fucking phone.” The DiCaprio reference, by the way, was due to Bolsonaro’s claim that fires in the Amazon were “false flag” actions funded by the actor.
o Part of what makes Bolsonaro’s possible refusal to step down particularly concerning is how well he’s wooed the military – “Generally when someone threatens democracy, it’s a lot easier to say, ‘You and what army?’ when you’re absolutely certain that that person doesn’t have an actual army behind them.”
Monday, September 26
· Headlines – James Earl Jones steps down as the voice of Darth Vader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy releases new GOP agenda, GOP candidate accused of lying about past deployment, British pound drops to record low
o Opening blurb on the announcement that Rihanna will be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show – “We can all agree on what that means, right? That means that this isn’t the Super Bowl anymore, this is a Rihanna concert with football around it, all right? That’s what it is.”
o The audience cheered when Trevor announced that Italy elected its first female prime minister… then booed when he added that she’s from a far-right party as looks up to Mussolini – “Too late, you cheered! You can’t take your cheers back. You can’t take your cheers back. You love her already.”
o Great line, again from the blurb on the Italian prime minister – “This is bittersweet for Italian liberals, because a woman did break the glass ceiling, but she did it by throwing an immigrant through it.”
o Trevor was concerned by the news that Darth Vader’s dialogue will now be created by an A.I. that replicates James Earl Jones’s voice – “We think A.I. is going to take over the world, and now we’re going to teach it to use the dark side of Force? No one thinks this is a bad idea?”
o The new GOP agenda includes a provision to “repeal” (a.k.a. fire) 87,000 IRS agents – “Basically, the GOP is that kid who ran for class president in ninth grade on a platform of making homework illegal. And you’re like, ‘This doesn’t seem responsible or even possible, but… yeah, he has my vote.’”
o The Ohio GOP candidate currently in hot battle for lying about his military service also created an atrocious anti-Biden “rap” video – “Rap did not survive that video. Rest in peace, hip-hop. We will remember you.”
· Interview – Journalist Christiane Amanpour
o Amanpour came on to discuss the protests that have erupted in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was killed in the custody of the country’s “morality police.”
o Amanpour was supposed to interview the president of Iran, but he backed out after she refused his last-minute instruction that she wear a headscarf – “I do actually believe he did not want to be seen with a woman whose head was uncovered right at the same time that, in his own country, there was an uprising on the streets.”
o She pointed out that these protests are a powerful thing for the government to reckon with – “Some 80% of the Iranian population is under the age of 21. 60% of Iranian students and university graduates are women. Women have a lot of power and they want their full rights.”
· Interview – Writer/director Tyler Perry
o Perry’s newest film, A Jazzman’s Blues, is based on the first screenplay he wrote, 27 years ago – He talked about why he held off on making the film for so long, explaining, “I had to be very intentional about building my studio, doing things that work, ‘cause I couldn’t take a chance on doing a period piece, especially 10, 15 years ago. So I made everything work and solidified myself so now I can do things that I’ve always wanted to do, and this is one of them.”
o He shared a story that it was actually an encounter with August Wilson when he (Perry) was a young playwright that encouraged him to write the film.
o A lot of the interview focused on people’s perceptions of Perry and how this is a very different sort of project for him. This was a great question from Trevor – “How have you been able to operate or work in a world where so many people have an idea of what you create and why it should or shouldn’t be created?”
o Perry said, “To be in this moment, it feels really good to see people understand that, just because you come from one place or you do one thing, it doesn’t mean you have to stay there.”
o I liked Perry’s description of himself as “an introvert [who poses] as an extrovert.”
Tuesday, September 27
· Headlines – Russian referendums in eastern Ukraine, traffic returning to pre-pandemic levels
o The referendum was Russia forcing eastern Ukrainians to vote (sometimes at gunpoint) on whether they wanted to become part of Russia – “Honestly, why do they even go through all of this? Huh? Like going door-to-door, making everyone sign shit just so you can do what you’re already doing anyway.”
o I liked Trevor’s idea for a five-day week, with three days of work and two of weekend.
· Correspondent Piece (Ronny) – K-Pop
o I smiled at Ronny’s description of K-pop – “It’s why your cousin suddenly speaks Korean more fluently than English.”
o The first Korean group to make it big in the west was the Kim Sisters in the 1950s, but the Korean music scene was hit along with the rest of the country when a dictator came to power – “Everyone’s end-of-summer Spotify playlist just said, ‘Your most played song was “The National Anthem.”’”
o A Korean group had their music featured in 3 Ninjas Kick Back… in a scene that takes place in Japan – “Give them a break, okay? They’re the 3 Ninjas, not the 3 Cultural Sensitivity Experts.”
o Great intro to “Gangnam Style” – “I’m sorry. I know it took you ten years to get this out of your head, but we’ve gotta talk about it.”
o This was fun – “BTS is without a doubt the biggest group in the world. You can tell by their fans. The BTS Army is the second largest military after the U.S. And they’ve droned zero weddings.”
· Interview – Philosopher William MacAskill
o MacAskill champions a philosophy known as Effective Altruism, which is all about how people can actually help make the world better – When asked whether humans are inherently good or bad, he said, “Humans are just very malleable. So people can be inspired to do amazing things, terrific things […] But you can also inspire people to do bad. The history of the 20th century showed the banality of evil. Just how people could—even good people—could get swayed by bad ideologies and produce horrific outcomes.”
o Much of his work was focused, not just on improving the world, but specifically improving it for the sake of future generations – “Harm is harm no matter when it occurs. And just as we should care about people whether they’re in this country or on the other side of the planet, no matter where they are in space, we should care about people no matter where they are in time as well.”
o This was a wild statistic, but it makes a depressing amount of sense – Anyone earning $60,000 a year or more is in the top 1% of global wealth.
Wednesday, September 28
· Headlines – Hurricane Ian hits Florida, Joe Biden’s press conference gaffe, viral video of airplane PA system
o Good line – “I honestly hope everyone in the Sunshine State is staying safe. And I mean like rest-of-America safe. Yeah, you know, not like Florida safe, you know. Like where someone wears, like, a long-sleeved shirt to wrestle a gator—'I’m being safe!’ No, not that, just be safe-safe.”
o Loved this, also about Hurricane Ian – “I mean, you heard Governor DeSantis, he said, ‘This thing is the real deal. Not like the usual stuff I tell you to be scared of like drag queens or critical race theory. I’m talking real. Like, I might fly myself to Martha’s Vineyard.’”
o According to the airline, their plane’s PA was emitting creepy sounds due to an amplification problem, picking up sounds it doesn’t normally broadcast. Trevor was concerned – “You’re telling me the plane is always making sounds like Frankenstein is getting a prostate exam, but we’re only hearing it now because of a mechanical issue? That’s not reassuring information.”
· Correspondent Piece (Michael) – Project: Conspiracy
o An obvious bit, but I smiled – “Conspiracies: they’re everywhere. Or are they nowhere? Or is that exactly what they want you to think?”
o This time around, Michael’s conspiracy du jour was his belief that ice cream trucks are a mass surveillance operation (and the jingle brainwashes us, obviously) – “One chocolate éclair bar. Or did you already know that???”
· Interview – TV host/NBA owner Mark Cuban
o Primed for a new season of Shark Tank, Cuban shared why so many people love the show – “Everyone wants to be that person who can just have an idea in their garage, in their bedroom. You know, we all get it, right? You get that feeling in your stomach and you’re all fired up and you check it with your friends. But these are people who made it in front of us. And if we say yes, they go from being just a business to being that guy, that business. And that’s why. Anybody can be that person.”
o I liked his attitude toward the basketball team he owns – “I may be responsible for writing the checks for the Dallas Mavericks, but everyone in Texas owns the Dallas Mavericks.”
Thursday, September 30
· Headlines – Hurricane Ian, new book on the last days of the Trump administration, Kamala Harris visits South Korea, Trevor announces he’s stepping down
o Fun opening blurb – “The queen of Denmark has stripped her grandchildren of their royal titles. Yeah. Because she says she doesn’t want them to be ‘limited’ by their royal duties. Which is the most posh way ever to say, ‘Bitch, get a job.’”
o Trevor had some questions about do-gooders helping animals during Hurricane Ian – “Do flamingos need more help than humans in a hurricane? It’s just weird. It’s like, ‘Don’t worry, flamingos, I’ll protect you.’ Flamingos are like, ‘Uh, we’re the waterbird, dude. We’ll protect you.’”
o This made me laugh – “As you all know, Joe Biden is the president of the United States. But what if I told you there’s also a vice president of the United States? Yeah, it’s true, it’s true.”
o Ronny reported on Harris’s visit to the DMZ – “Anyway, the vice president was just here, and she just walked up to the border with her giant cell binoculars and then stared at North Korea like a geopolitical pervert.”
o End of an era! Trevor announced that, after some reflection, he’s realized it’s time for him to move on – “But in the most… in the most beautiful way, honestly. I’ve loved hosting this show. It’s been one of my greatest challenges. It’s been one of my greatest joys. I’ve loved trying to figure out how to make people laugh even when the stories are particularly shitty on the worst days, you know?”
o Aww – “I never dreamed that I would be here. I sort of felt like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I came in for a tour of what the previous show was, and then the next thing I know, I was handed the keys.”
· Thinking Out Loud – Online discourse
o Very relatable – “It makes it feel like people are less inclined to listen and more inclined to want to immediately, like, ‘dunk’ on a person or an idea or a— Do you know what I mean? But they don’t engage anymore.”
o As an example, Trevor pointed to the protests in Iran, where some detractors on social media are using women’s protests against the morality police as an excuse to trash Islam.
o Not a bad idea – “That’s what they should have on social media as well. They should also verify assholes.”
· Interview – Supermodel Iman
o Iman was on to talk about the new documentary she was involved in, Supreme Models – To her shock (and everyone else’s,) there’d never been a documentary before focusing on Black models.
o Loved this – “The cri de Coeur in the ‘60s was ‘Black is beautiful.’ That hasn’t changed. We are just now a tribe of Black beauties.”
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