Woodman

Willie operating solo this morning and maybe for several mornings to come. He opened by saying Joe and Mika are on a delayed ‘extended’ honeymoon but will be covering the anniversary from France next week. So far(to the extent I’ve been listening) we’ve had a very low volume discussion on Mueller’s press conference. Eloise said that no author could produce a book and then refuse to do publicity, and how the spectacle of Mueller doing a dated FBI type press announcement contrasts and loses out to the tweeting from the WH. They also discussed the USS John McCain but it was so low key I couldn’t engage with the content. I’m almost missing Joe’s bombast.

https://www.thewrap.com/morning-joe-ratings-rise-2018-rivals-decline/ Morning Joe audiences increase by 12% as Fox and CNN fall.

SNL could do a great skit on Mika claiming every feminist/female break through is because of KYV. It’s so contrived (and pathetic). Yesterday it was the new Congresswomen in the Elle feature. Today it’s the Forbes most powerful women in the world where she trilled on breathlessly about Ann Finucane being number zz and a supporter of KYV and how they had texted yesterday on flights and Ann was going from Paris to Brussels and she’s amazing and did I mention she was a long time friend. Joe pointed out Mika had been scared of her and Mika agreed and then she realised that Ann was strong and clear and blah and blah and it was all fine. How old is Mika because at that point she sounded like a 8 year old trying to get into social media. Why is MSNBC supporting KYV when they have people like Stephanie Ruhle who is more relatable, make MUCH more sense and has done it herself. SR did a great piece at the end of her afternoon show yesterday in a discussion with Chris Jansen (?)

I lasted 5mins max. I streamed the video as I wanted to see if they had made it to the studio. Agree about Mika’s hair and her chest. She is looking so very err... mature on screen these days. I heard the end of Jon Meacham’s praising Maureen O’Dowd’s relationship with GHWB and Joe’s response was ‘Right’ or something equally bland. They then linked to Richard Haas and showed some pictures from his Reagan/Bush days when Haas had ‘windswept’ hair. Joe and Mika just started giggling and laughing. Summed them up - image first. Please send them away and bring back Willie ( or someone capable of presenting a news show)

I’m really enjoying listening this week. Even guests who annoy me when J&M host seem tolerable. Interesting and diverse discussions, no shouting and trying to get the attention of the WH occupant. It’s civilised. I love Heidi too, and not keen on Kasie or Katty but frankly I’ll take anyone over J&M.

Political daughter: political wife. She knows her value.

It Makes Sense Now”: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Tie the Knot in a Secret Washington D.C. Ceremony https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/joe-scarborough-mika-brzezinski-wedding

I thought the same last week. It would make sense, given the recent sharp turn right. I switched on 5mins early to listen to Stephanie Ruhle. It started well with Joyce Vance being her usual clear competent self. Then Joe saying words and Willie wondering why we had this hearing. Nothing had changed.

Updated Weds. guest list: Mike Barnicle, Susan Del Percio, Nicholas Confessore, Michael Steele, Jonathan Lemire, Mimi Rocah, Maya Wiley, Sophia Nelson, Seth G. Jones, Michael Moore, Eddie Glaude Jr., Anand Giridharadas and more I agree Nidratime. It’s ruined the show for me. As a new non US listener, I put it down to the impending elections and the fact he can’t stomach Democrats so would always prefer a Trump President and Congress. I might come back to listen after the elections.

Only Doris Kearns Goodwin is keeping me listening. The last 30mins have been torture and I share your headache. Today has been a bad show.

She’s quite the opposite of the independent woman making her own way. No wonder KYV comes across as false.

Mika was odd about the Kavanaugh story. She began strongly and Joe didn’t interrupt for several minutes. I thought #metoo was her topic. Then she started saying she hoped the Dems weren’t playing dirty on this. Joe was more empathetic and seemed to be treading very carefully among the issues. Mika and Joe open with Kavanaugh/Thomas clips but move quickly to Trump. Willie is also there - brought into the Emmy discussion. Mika has already raise KYV in relation to Clare Foy winning best actress. Perhaps she will be paid more says Mika ignoring that 1. She’s left and 2. they already have.

Updated Tues. guest list: Mike Barnicle, Katty Kay, Matt Miller, Eugene Robinson, Steve Rattner, Noah Rothman, Steve Kornacki, Heidi Przybyla, Nina Totenberg, Sen. Chris C****, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Daniel Klaidman, Rep. Jim Himes and more Noah Rothman has tweeted he is on from 6.20 to 7.20.

Updated Mon. guest list: Donny Deutsch, Kasie Hunt, John Heilemann, Benjamin Wittes, Jim VandeHei, Emma Brown, Robert Costa, Jonathan Turley, Joyce Vance, Sen. Dick Durbin, Fred Kempe, Martin Fletcher, Fmr. Pres. Jimmy Carter, Bari Weiss and more I hope people are keeping safe in the storms and floods. Mika presenting but no mention of Joe.

They are having a conversation rather than addressing each other. More spontaneous. Better discussion.

When was the last time this happened?

Updated Weds. guest list: John Heilemann, Carol Lee, Michael Schmidt, Kasie Hunt, Nicholas Confessore, Mike Barnicle, Elise Jordan, Philip Rucker, Joshua Johnson, Sen. Mazie Hirono, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Ian Myers, Sen. Ben Sasse, Ari Melber, Jeffrey Sachs and more

I’ve accessed live streaming and find Willie and Mika are in the studio. There was a brief glimpse of another guest.

Tues. guest list: Eugene Robinson, Sam Stein, Steve Rattner, Kasie Hunt, David Ignatius, Mark Leibovich, Steve Schmidt, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Vaughn Hillyard, Jacob Soboroff, Catie Beck, Amb. Wendy Sherman, Morgan Radford, Neal Katyal, Steve Patterson, Gadi Schwartz and more Mika, Joe and Willie They are talking about Mika’s pig. The way the conversation is going, I’m guessing they are all in separate studios. There is a different conversational tone - it’s more of addressing each other than a discussion. Now talking baseball.

I haven’t paid a lot of attention this week but there was a weird end to the show. Mika was interviewing Al Sharpton about Aretha Franklin’s funeral and said ‘that’s a good way to end the show’. There was still 20 mins to go. A few minutes later I noticed Joe’s voice interviewing the author of ‘Indianapolis’ presumably in a taped segment. At the end of the show Mika was back asking for final thoughts. There was Willie, Susan Del Percio and Jonathan Lemire. Mika then read a piece that sounded authored about John McCain. A couple of other observations- at one stage Mika seemed to be trying to stifle giggles anf I wondered if Joe was distracting her (let’s not go there). The 2nd was a comment directed at Trump ‘because we know you are watching’. It may be my Britness but I find it cringeworthy that J and M are still so needy for Trump attention.

Updated Fri. guest list: Jonathan Lemire, Susan Del Percio, Kasie Hunt, Eugene Robinson, Mike Allen, Matt Miller, Philip Rucker, Joyce Vance, Jennifer Jacobs, Ben Smith, Rep. Joaquin Castro, David A. Kaplan, Walter Isaacson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Lynn Vincent, Sara Vladic and more It’s Mika marshalling the guests, and Willie.

Updated Thurs. guest list: Eddie Glaude Jr., Mike Barnicle, Rick Tyler, Elise Jordan, David Ignatius, Yamiche Alcindor, Jon Meacham, Jim VandeHei, Jonathan Turley, Jeffrey Goldberg, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, Robert Costa, Mayor Bill de Blasio, David Hogg, Cynthia Nixon and more It’s Mika but I missed the intro so I don’t know if Willie is there. I assume Joe is off because we’ve had a few uninterrupted minutes of Mika. The energy levels have upped substantially today.

I heard it as Mika does Thursday and Willie does Friday but maybe I’m now used to the single presenter voice. This summer has established a different dynamic to the show.

Updated Weds. guest list: Mike Barnicle, Sam Stein, Elise Jordan, Steve Kornacki, Michael Steele, Heidi Przybyla, Gabe Gutierrez, Jeremy Peters, Andrew Gillum, Carol Leonnig, Sen. Chris Murphy, Kasie Hunt, Ali Vitali, Hugo Gordon, Katy Tur and more Barnicle is taking on presenter duties. He was in for Nicolle Wallace yesterday. It may be a normal thing but I hadn’t seen it before and he looked uncomfortable and awkward.

Updated Tues. guest List: Mike Barnicle, Noah Rothman, Heidi Przybyla, David Ignatius, Eugene Robinson, Katty Kay, Steve Kornacki, Karen Tumulty, Josh Barro, Josh Gerstein, Kasie Hunt, Sen. Jeff Flake, Anand Giridharadas, Ruth Marcus Here goes though 15 mins into show. For a Network that is getting record ratings, they are being v sloppy around MJ. It is sophorific this morning. No female voices yet but Katty Kay just cued in.