Fremde Frau

I felt that they emphasized the nature of the questions more so than the time limit, but, like I said, I may be reading it wrong.

Oh, I agree. At least Jon knows what he's asking... even if his interviewee can't always follow Jon's train of thought. Hee. (Is the purpose of those questions simply to stump the contestants? I have no context outside of what John showed us.)

The Washington piece will apparently run tomorrow. (via Twitter)

I loved that segment. The way he talked about their week gave me this image of them as terriers digging and digging at a hole, knowing the prey is down there somewhere and not giving up, nope, not even for dinner. The dismissal of Trump and criticism of the MAP's bullshit claims about scholarships were so well done. The only thing that bugged me a little was the bit about "ridiculously complex questions." Yes, they are contestants in a pageant that is about their beauty and marketability, but the initial joke sort of played on the old trope that (pretty) girls can't be expected to worry their pretty little heads about such weighty issues. Why is it "crazy" to ask these young women questions like the ones he showed? As opposed to what? Is it really "ridiculously complex" to have an opinion about government policies, privacy, torture, or crises around the world? Like he said, it's a little easier to mock the contestants for saying dumb things, and I realize that he was setting up the larger theme about scholarships, but it was still leaning on that same old trope. The bit with the "No" commercial last week hit that note better, I thought, by deconstructing it. I like that he included the answer to the ISIS question, admitted that it was good, and went on to point out that many of the contestants are impressive for more than their looks. Maybe I'm reaching... Maybe his amazement was just that any young American citizen of undefined education would be able to articulate a solid and globally-aware answer to a big issue in such a short amount of time. That said, the third question by Ian Ziering was convoluted. (It was almost like one of Jon's scenic-route questions. Heh.) Disclaimer: I don't watch the MAP, so I don't know if these questions were representative or if he chose mild examples.

They may or may not be touching on Scotland again. From their Twitter: There was also this "spoiler":

It was pretty awkward. They referenced it in the bit, but it's hard for any farewell to live up to what John got last December. That one was just beautiful in so many ways. Even Stephen's "impromptu" tribute this year felt small by comparison... although I'm guessing they have something big and emotional in store for his last show. (I wonder what Jon's last show would be like? Would he try to sneak out the back door, so to speak, or would he get the grand send-off like Letterman or Colbert? I get the feeling that he'd rather retire with as little fanfare as possible.) Back on topic (sorta): I wonder how much of a given it is that Clinton will be the Democratic candidate in 2016. Who else could run with any hope of success? It's definitely not Biden. I wish Warren would run, as I frankly prefer her to Clinton, but she's said no pretty unequivocally, hasn't she?

"Dr. Affleck" (Alexander van Tulleken) returns Jon's mancrush. In other news, I had no idea that the reach and reputation of TDS is such that even a medical doctor 1) considers it a potential nightmare to be mentioned on TDS and 2) volunteers his name to the list of people who "get their news" from it. This is freaking me out. Who put me under a spell for 14 years that it took me until last October to see TDS for the first time? That is some serious fail on my part.

From the NY Daily News, here is a short interview with Larry Wilmore:

I made the mistake of reading the comments section. EDIT, from Mediaite: Thomas Ryan Red Corn, a comedian and one of the activists, posted two images on his Instagram account from the Daily Show shoot. Jason looks like he was up to his usual antics. Here's an additional quote from the Post on what the experience was like for the Native American activists:

Well, that's a little disappointing... but I'm interested in the book, so I can't complain too much.

Is it odd that Michael's brief time on TDS mostly made me realize how badly I miss Aasif, Al, Wyatt, and even John? As much as we get of John on his own show, I still miss his interactions with other correspondents and with Jon at the desk. I've been missing Larry lately, too. Hopefully, they'll do some crossovers next year. I wish they would do more to troll each other's shows from time to time, the way Stephen sometimes does with TDS.

@purist, you might like this one, too. No kitten, but it's a nice shot. Here is a Washington Post article on an upcoming Jason Jones piece about the "Redskins" issue.

I can't pinpoint why, but I'm not really feeling their ISIS bits this week. Their segments on the impact of US foreign policies in the region are so much sharper--I guess due to how much experience they have thanks to Bush's original "Mess O'Potamia."

I saw this today. They seem perfect for each other, all the way down to the prematurely gray fuzz.

On Twitter just now... Aww. EDIT: part of the Mavericks' interview.

Maybe he'll not-ask him that question by asking him, instead, what he thinks of his wife undoing decades of accomplishments in women's rights by leaving an important job in the public sphere to work the most thankless of all jobs from inside their House. p.s. I cannot wait for this interview. Because BILL CLINTON.

Nobody this side of President Obama or the Queen of England could top Bill Clinton. That said, if Donald Trump ever showed up for an interview, it might top everything ever on television.

But Jon wasn't swearing; he was speaking Yiddish! >_>

I don't know what's wrong (perhaps it's geoblocked?), but I can't get the interview to play no matter how many different browsers I try. My life hates me. It's as though it's telling me, "Stop playing! Go back to your studies!" But I want to play once in a while.

Yes, I meant attend as in attending a graduate program at Edinburgh. I've been working on my application paperwork since the summer and plan to submit it by December. I'm still going to try, because the only way for sure it won't happen is if I don't try, but now I'm nervous about my chances as an international grad student.

Thank you, MartinKSmith. I've been following this story with great interest since I hope to attend Edinburgh next year.

His delivery is perfect. Thank you, Sharpie66! I had no idea this even existed!

For what it's worth, there is actual research on the topic. "The Irony of Satire: Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report" I guess they believe he's mocking the perception by liberals of conservative icons like Bill O'Reilly by playing the character over the top and speaking truthiness to power (i.e., the liberal monolith that is everyone in the universe who thinks differently from them)?

Thank you, dusang. I spent the last hour or so looking up classic SNL skits, and the talent participating in any given skit blew my mind. I had no idea how many famous actors and comedians passed through there. Wow. I'm excited for Michael Che, since SNL is more popular than TDS and being a host is a much better gig than being a correspondent.

I feel like a horrible fan of comedy saying this, but I've never watched Weekend Update. Actually, I've only seen a handful of clips from SNL. It wasn't something that I had access to for most of my childhood in Japan, and when I moved to the States, I had other interests that took up time. I basically only know the clips that make the news, like the Sarah Palin parody, and clips from various "best of" lists. Is it anything like TDS/TCR/LWT? How badly am I missing out?