Sunday, March 8 – A quick mention of Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee segued into the Philippines’ election, whose frontrunner has been dubbed the Trump of the East. Given his penchant for death squads and refusal to backpedal on rape jokes, I’d say they have it worse. In North Korea, US journalists were treated to top-shelf propaganda as Communist leaders had their first big meeting since 1980. The main story, on scientific studies, was great. John lambasted “a new study shows...” pieces that the media loves, by which something like coffee both prevents and causes cancer. He examined how wild claims are extrapolated from vague findings, data can be manipulated, and studies are touted without replication. I liked his point on why it’s a problem beyond people thinking chocolate improves fetal health, that yo-yo studies undermine trust in science and lead to dismissing something like climate change as untested theory.
Monday, May 9 – An economics professor accused of terrorism for writing “suspicious” equations on a plane, giving way to our fear of math. Good story on GOP leadersthrown into chaos by Trump, with some vowing not to vote at all and others completely reversing their prior condemnations in the name of party unity. I especially enjoyed the hypocrisy of Rick Perry, who once called Trump a “cancer” on the Republican Party, now open to the possibility of being his running mate. I loved Desi’s Mother’s Day piece on mom-shaming, highlighting the attitude that moms are open season to be judged for everything they do. She had some nice encouraging words for moms doing their best and a strong “back off” for everyone criticizing them. Glad to see author Sherman Alexie as the guest. He talked about his new book, team names like the Redskins, and how Native Americans are largely left out of conversations concerning them.
Tuesday, May 10 – Excellent continuing piece on North Carolina’s new bathroom law. I like that Trevor pointed out the less talked-of part of the law, which makes it illegal to pass anti-discrimination legislation protecting LGBTQ people, he had a terrific rant on why people are paying so much attention to who’s in the public bathroom with them in the first place, and the obtuseness of the guy with the discriminatory law comparing himself to MLK, Gandhi, and Jesus was just jaw-dropping. Michelle had a decent bit about where Americans can go if Trump becomespresident. Apologizing to England and offering to “pay for the tea” was fun. I don’t watch Scandal, but I loved guest Joe Morton. His comments on diversity in Hollywood were especially good – not new ideas, but ones that bear repeating until Hollywood finally starts to get the message.
Wednesday, May 11 – Amusing blurb the “scandal” of Queen Elizabeth II’s mildly disparaging remarks about her Chinese visitors. The story on Trump-esque politicians in other countries was good, both funny and horrifying; I appreciated Trevor’s comments on the perfect storm of fears and frustrations that let leaders like this gain prominence. The biggest take-away, though, was that Rodrigo Duterte (discussed on Last Week Tonight) did win the presidency in the Philippines. I liked the story on Sanders’s primary victory in West Virginia – interesting remarks about West Virginia’s voting patterns. Trevor’s disappointment about the DNC giving Trump the nickname “Dangerous Donald” (a misguided attempt to ape “Lying Ted” and “Crooked Hilary”) was also great. Nice interview with Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, talking about polls, what on earth is happening in this election, and his fears for what could happen between now and November.
Thursday, March 12 – It makes me sad that London mayor Sadiq Khan (the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital) has to field questions about Trump, who’s “graciously” declared Khan an “exception” to his proposed Muslim ban. I loved the story on Trump dithering about releasing his tax returns. Even though, as Trevor pointed out, it won’t make a shred of difference with his base, the weasely-ness and hypocrisy deserves pointing out, as does Trump being officially “shadier than Richard Nixon!” Jordan had a good field piece on increasing numbers of Latino immigrants seeking citizenship before the election, in hopes of voting against Trump; of course Fox News suspects a conspiracy featuring the DNC funneling in “illegals” from Mexico and fast-tracking their citizenship. It’s the only explanation, right? BJ Novak was the guest, talking, not about acting or writing, but about an app he created. Pretty decent interview.
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