Note: The first episode shown during the Second Quarter 2018 was a rerun of
#785 on March 19, 2018.
Episode #792: #DeleteFacebook
First Broadcast: 3/26/18
Repeated: 4/2/2018
Will Trump meet with Kim Jong Un? Trump fired Rex Tillerson! Jeff Sessions fired Andrew McCabe! Reasons to delete Facebook! Cambridge Analytica! A bomber in Austin! The March For Our Lives! I can't keep up with this backlog of news! Does the fun ever stop??
Episode #793: I Can't Tell
First Broadcast: 4/9/18
Trump's White House says that U.S. military involvement in Syria will soon end, but are those troops just going to be shifted to the Mexican border? Has the U.S. learned any lessons about putting short-term gain above long-term consequences? Will the success of the Roseanne reboot mask the fact that racial resentment was a better indicator of who would vote for Trump than the often-referenced "economic anxiety"? Too many questions for 28 minutes!
Episode #794: Smash and Grab
First Broadcast: 4/23/18
Did President Trump bomb Syria just so that he wouldn't look like he was lying with his tweets? Will New York State's Attorney General prod the state government to pass an amendment to make sure anyone pardoned by Trump doesn't get away with violating state law? Will New York City pass a "vacancy tax" that will result in a reduction of vacant storefronts throughout the five boroughs? Will Cynthia Nixon prevail in her primary challenge to Governor Andrew Cuomo? What did Mike Pompeo talk about with Kim Jon Un? Will the Senate really confirm a torture enabler to run the C.I.A.? Can't I just have one week where there isn't so much news, for once?
Episode #795: Blur of News
First Broadcast: 4/30/18
The Manhattan Supreme Court says it's OK for a bar to throw someone out for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat! Trump's nominee to run the Department of Veteran's Affairs was accused of dispensing Percocet without a prescription, "wreck[ing] a government vehicle," and getting drunk on a trip and banging on a woman's hotel room door so loudly that the Secret Service was afraid he would wake up President Obama! Ben Carson wants to TRIPLE the monthly rent that poor people pay in low-income housing! The Simpsons airs more episodes than Gunsmoke! Been there, done that.
Episode #796: Hipster Lettuce
First Broadcast: 5/7/18
Repeated: 5/14/18
Locally produced Romaine lettuce from New York State would be a good way to avoid the Romaine lettuce from Arizona that's been contaminated by E. coli bacteria. Avoiding contaminated oysters from British Columbia would also be a good idea. While you're at it, maybe also avoid the so-called "raw water" that so many people wrongly think is superior to tap water? Are people buying that crap for the same reasons that inspire people to not vaccinate their kids? Is this irrational distrust of science also the explanation for the increase in the number of people who believe the Earth is flat (possibly resting on pillars)? Is this all a war on science? The beginning of a new dark age? I hope not, but who knows anymore?
Episode #797: Technically True
First Broadcast: 5/21/18
On the same day that the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem--defying an international consensus to not recognize Israel's annexation of territory after the 1967 war--Israel killed over 50 Palestinians and wounded over 2000 more who gathered near the border between Gaza and Israel. The killings received condemnation from countries around the world, except from the United States, who blamed the Palestinians for their own murders. Can anything put an end to the apartheid policy that Israel is pursuing against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? Will it happen in my lifetime? For the sake of the roughly 2 million people who have to suffer under these policies every day, I certainly hope so.
Episode #798: Diving Deep
First Broadcast: 6/4/18
After a brief synopsis of some of the early "summer" movies that have been released this year, we talk about the late Roseanne program, done in by the star's racist and libelous remarks on Twitter. Is it bizarre that such an angry and ill-informed mind lurked beneath the surface of such a relatively innocuous TV show? Can racism be blamed on Ambien? (Spoiler: No, it can't.)
Episode #799: Misplaced and Troubling
First Broadcast: 6/11/18
Why does Donald Trump think the War of 1812 is a good reason to label Canada as a national security threat? How is Mexico responding to tariff increases by the United States? How will climate change affect the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean? Will Europe become colder? Is New York City colder than usual? Will Florida sink under rising sea levels? Did climate change help ignite the Syrian civil war? How many different scandals is Scott Pruitt dealing with now? Did he finally lose a lawsuit? Did I forget anything?