Watch highlights from the fourteenth episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Josh Brolin, with Ariana Grande as the musical guest, including the State of the Union cold open.
Launch‘He nailed it’: Republican strategist reacts to Biden’s 2024 SOTU speech
Republican strategist Sarah Longwell reacts to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, saying Biden “nailed it,” and explains the mistake some in the GOP made about the president.
LaunchEvan Osnos on Joe Biden’s last campaign
“For better and worse, he is a more solemn figure now. His voice is thin and clotted, and his gestures have slowed, but, in our conversation, his mind seemed unchanged. He never bungled a name or a date.”
LaunchSNL mocks Republican senators for being forced to worship Donald Trump
Watch highlights from the twelfth episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Shane Gillis, with 21 Savage as the musical guest, including the Trump Victory Party Cold Open cold open.
LaunchJon Stewart returns to The Daily Show desk for the first time since 2015
Jon Stewart is once again hosting The Daily Show, but only on Mondays, in an arrangement similar to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Here’s the first monologue of his new residency, looking at the 2024 presidential election and commenting on the ages of the expected major party nominees.
LaunchAnd Ain’t I A Woman: A poem in honor of Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth, a former slave, spoke at the Women’s Rights Convention, held in Akron, Ohio, in 1851 – a decade before the first shots of the Confederate insurrection were fired.
LaunchWhy repealing Oregon’s drug decriminalization laws would be a mistake
“If we really want to end the overdose and homelessness crises — in Oregon and around the country — we have to understand and follow the evidence, not the fearmongering,” writes Maia Szalavitz.
LaunchNikki Haley appears in SNL cold open to spar with fake Donald Trump
Watch highlights from the eleventh episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Ayo Edebiri, with Jennifer Lopez as the musical guest, including the CNN Town Hall South Carolina cold open.
LaunchA year after East Palestine disaster, rail safety little improved
“Trains are still rolling through East Palestine, Ohio, at 50 mph — the same speed allowed last February when an accident spilled toxic chemicals in the rural town. Bipartisan safety legislation proposed a month after the crash is bogged down in the Senate. And derailments are happening at roughly the same pace,” writes Thomas Black for Bloomberg News.
LaunchF.D. Flam discovers the truism that if common sense existed, we wouldn’t talk about needing it
“There’s a productive, illuminating debate to be had between disagreeing sides — and it won’t be solved by appeals to common sense.”
LaunchSNL returns and serves up another Trump cold open with James Austin Johnson
Watch highlights from the ninth episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Jacob Elordi, with Reneé Rapp as the musical guest, including the Trump courthouse cold open.
LaunchHospitals owned by private equity are harming patients, reports find
“Hospital ratings dive and medical errors rise when private equity firms are in charge,” Ars Technica’s Beth Mole reports.
LaunchFast-food giants overwork teenagers, driving America’s child labor crisis
“More than three-quarters of child labor violations in the first nine months of 2023 were in food service, with most of those at franchised brands,” Lauren Kaori Gurley and Emmanuel Martinez report.
LaunchThe key to fighting pseudoscience isn’t mockery — it’s empathy
“Evidence shows that shoving data in peoples’ faces doesn’t work to change minds,” Paul Sutter writes.
LaunchJim McGovern slams Republicans for turning the people’s House into a political theater
The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out that the chamber has “become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all.”
LaunchBowen Yang offers perhaps his final George Santos impression with “Scandal in the Wind” cold open
Watch highlights from the sixth episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Emma Stone, with Noah Kahan as the musical guest, including the George Santos expelled cold open.
LaunchThe first results from the world’s biggest basic income experiment
“Money always helps, but for the very poor, one lump sum can last a long time,” Dylan Matthews reports.
LaunchNetanyahu and Hamas depended on each other. Both may be on the way out.
For much of the 2000s, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s serial governments and Hamas’s leaders have found each other useful for their own purposes, a The Washington Post analysis explains.
LaunchCalifornia commits to teaching media literacy in schools
“Beginning next year, California’s public school students will be required to take media literacy courses that will help them identify fake news posted online while also being able to tell the difference between legitimate news articles and paid advertising,” The Los Angeles Times reports.
LaunchJason Momoa has a blast hosting SNL’s 2023 Thanksgiving episode
Watch highlights from the fifth episode of SNL’s forty-ninth season, hosted by Jason Momoa, with Tate McRae as the musical guest, including the Biden Panda cold open.
LaunchWhat if money expired?
Jacob Baynham: “A long-forgotten German economist argued that society and the economy would be better off if money was a perishable good. Was he an anarchist crank or the prophet of a better world?”
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