'Tsunami: Race Against Time' leads nominees for Outstanding Historical Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Throwback Thursday

I closed 'Apollo 13: Survival' leads nominees for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Wayback Wednesday by telling my readers "Stay tuned for Throwback Thursday, when I plan on continuing my News & Doc Emmy Awards coverage along with another retrospective about entertainment." I resume with the remaining nominees for Outstanding Historical Documentary, beginning with the most nominated program, Tsunami: Race Against Time, which has two nominations including Outstanding Promotional Announcement – Documentary. Watch the nominated Tsunami: Race Against Time | Official Trailer | National Geographic.

Marking 20 years since one of the deadliest natural disasters in history which spanned 14 countries, TSUNAMI: RACE AGAINST TIME provides a 360-degree view into the heart-stopping events of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The powerful series, from executive producers Tanya Winston and Danny Horan of multi-award-winning Blast Films and directed by Daniel Bogado, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker of Nat Geo’s “9/11: One Day in America,” features personal accounts from survivors, scientists who raced against time to understand the catastrophic disaster and warn the world, journalists who broke the shocking news, and the fearless rescuers who risked their lives to save others. Told minute by minute through harrowing video and gripping stories of survival and courage – some both seen and heard for the first time – the four-part series offers the most comprehensive and immersive look at the destructive wave as it surged across the ocean, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

I'm not teaching geology this summer, but I'm scheduled to run three sections in the fall, so I plan on recommending this series to my geology students next semester for extra credit. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Returning to the awards, I think it's a good sign that the same people who produced 9/11: One Day in America created Tsunami: Race Against Time and that series won both Outstanding Historical Documentary and Outstanding Promotional Announcement – Documentary. On that basis and it leading in nominations, it's my favorite to win at least Historical Documentary. It helps that The Sixth was removed from this category while retaining its nominations for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary and Best Documentary. I'll get to it in a future installment of this series.

The remaining three nominees have only this nomination, so I'm going through their trailers in alphabetical order beginning with An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th | Official Trailer | HBO.

"The Oklahoma City bombing was a crossroads.”

#AnAmericanBombingHBO: The Road to April 19th explores the surge in anti-government ideals and political violence in the 1980s, leading to the Oklahoma City bombing and continuing today.

Ugh, corn pone fascists. That written, this documentary examines a critical episode in their development.

Next, The women who changed the world while flying it | FLY WITH ME | American Experience | PBS.

At a time when single women were unable to order a drink or eat alone in a restaurant, own a credit card or get a prescription for birth control, becoming a stewardess offered unheard-of opportunity and adventure. Maligned as feminist sellouts, “stewardesses,” as they were called, knew different: they were on the frontlines of a battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace.

Featuring firsthand accounts, personal stories and a rich archive, FLY WITH ME tells a lively, fun and important but neglected history of the women who changed the world while flying it.

I agree with the video description; this looks like serious fun, especially compared to the other nominees, which are serious and scary, if not downright tragic.

Today's final trailer is Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War | Official Trailer | Netflix.

From Luminant Media and director Brian Knappenberger, comes the definitive documentary on the Cold War and its aftermath post the collapse of the Soviet Union leading to the rise of Vladimir Putin. Featuring interviews with prominent politicians, journalists, and the people who lived through history, this series is an exploration of the decades-long conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union framed by current events that reveal the Cold War continues and the world remains on the precipice of nuclear war.

Multi-Oscar-winning Oppenheimer just told the beginning of the story. The rest of the story is still unfolding, 80 years on. Like all the rest of the nominees, it exemplifies the truth of the William Faulkner quote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Because of the subject's continuing relevance, along with its trailer having the most views of any of the nominees, it's my pick to upset Tsunami: Race Against Time.*


Tsunami: Race Against Time is up against very stiff competition in this category, particularly Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story with six nominations, The Grab with four including Best Documentary, and Blink with two. The rest have just this one nomination. I plan on examining this category at least three more times, so I'm holding off on handicapping the nominees until I see all of them.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the most read entries from the back catalog with an emphasis on those with an entertainment theme.

I begin with an entry I covered in My Saturn Awards preferences and predictions vs. the winners for Flashback Friday.

'Apollo 13: Survival' leads nominees for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Wayback Wednesday

Happy Wayback Wednesday! As I wrote yesterday, "I have three days of entertainment-themed retrospectives planned this week as I begin my coverage of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards nominees." I begin with the nominees for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary.

Apollo 13: Survival has the most nominations among the nominees in this category with four. As the preview image shows, they are Outstanding Editing – Documentary, Outstanding Sound – Documentary, and Scenic Design – Documentary in addition to Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary. Because of that, it's my pick to win. Then again, Good Night Oppy had six nominations and was my pick to win this category two years ago, but it lost to How to Survive a Pandemic while still winning Outstanding Sound and Outstanding Writing: Documentary. I hope that doesn't happen to Apollo 13: Survival, whose trailer I'm sharing.

Using original footage and interviews, this documentary tells the nail-biting story of Apollo 13 and the struggle to bring its astronauts safely home.

As I wrote in Apollo 14 50 years later for Moon Day 2021, "That's a gripping story, which is probably why [Apollo 13] was a more successful film than "First Man," both at the box office and at the Oscars."

The next most nominated documentary in this category is The Space Race from National Geographic, which earned two nominations, Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary and Outstanding Writing – Documentary. Based on that criterion, it's the main competition for Apollo 13: Survival. Here's its trailer.

"The Space Race" uncovers the little-known stories of the first Black pilots, engineers and scientists that became astronauts. "The Space Race" will debut on National Geographic on February 12 before streaming on Disney+ and Hulu the following day.

That's an important story to tell, and I'm glad it included the contributions of Nichelle Nichols to recruiting astronauts of color in general and African-Americans in particular. I'm not sure it will beat Apollo 13: Survival.

The remaining three nominees have only this nomination. The first in alphabetical order is the "Anand Varma: Hidden Wonders" episode of Photographer on National Geographic. I'm sharing the clip It Looks Like a Velociraptor Foot in lieu of a proper trailer.

Anand Varma captures the development and heartbeat of a chicken embryo within an unshelled yolk. The first trial failing, the photographer eventually succeeds to the stage of what to him looks like the foot of a dinosaur.

Check out the full episode of Photographer, Season 1 Episode 2, "Anand Varma: Hidden Wonders" on Disney+! Anand figures out how to photograph an egg developing into a baby chick.

I include embryology in my lectures about evolution, so I might show this to my students. National Geographic has another clip from the show about honeybees that I might use for World Bee Day or World Honey Bee Day.

Next is the "Hunt for the Oldest DNA" episode of NOVA on PBS, which I've watched in its entirety. I'm not embedding the full documentary, just Hunt for the Oldest DNA | PBS NOVA Trailer (2024).

Two decades ago, Eske Willerslev had a radical idea: Could DNA, the fragile chemical code of life, survive intact in frozen sediment for millennia? Fellow scientists called him crazy, but the Danish biologist set out to prove everybody wrong, and his perseverance paid off.

This is the only episode of NOVA nominated and I agree it's probably the best one of 2024. It's also the nominee with the most important science. That written, it's not likely to win the most votes, since most of the electorate will judge the nominees for their cinematic and journalistic merit, not their scientific value. As I reiterate nearly every time I write about awards shows, electorates matter.

I circle back to Netflix for the final nominee, What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates. Watch its trailer.

In What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates, the tech visionary and global health and climate philanthropist invites viewers to join him on a learning journey to explore pressing issues facing our world today. Across five episodes, Gates delves into the promise and risks of artificial intelligence; the pervasive challenge of misinformation and the underlying complexity of defining truth in an era of social media; the scale of the climate crisis and the potential of cutting-edge technologies to solve it; the injustice of income inequality and the opportunities to tackle poverty; and how science and innovation is leading to cures for deadly diseases. Featuring insights and commentary from some of the world’s most renowned scientists, politicians, thinkers, journalists, medical professionals, artists and more, and executive produced by Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), What’s Next? offers a glimpse into a more promising and equitable future.

I have two reactions. First, Bill Gates is a Crazy Eddie. That's a compliment coming from me. Second, of all the nominees with just this one nomination, it's the one most likely to upset Apollo 13: Survival.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for Apollo 13: Survival and The Space Race along with the most viewed entries about awards shows posted between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025, the blogging year just ended.

WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse (and Ozempic)

I telegraphed today's topic as an aside in 'SNL' celebrates Mother's Day 2025.

It didn't take long for weight loss drugs like Ozempic to drive Weight Watchers into bankruptcy. Since they operate brick-and-mortar locations, they're now another candidate for my Retail Apocalypse coverage. Add that to my to-do list.

I begin my crossing off by sharing TODAY reporting WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy to shed $1B+ in debt.

WeightWatchers, a major cultural force that went beyond the fitness space that’s been around for more than 60 years, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a bid to shed more than $1 billion in debt and reposition itself in the industry. “We are going through this transaction to strengthen our financial foundation for WeightWatchers moving forward so that we can innovate and compete and continue to invest in our business,” president and CEO Tara Comonte says. NBC’s Christine Romans reports for TODAY.

WeightWatchers decided that if they couldn't beat Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, they'd join them. Too bad things moved so quickly that they were late to that party.

Since I live in metro Detroit, I'm adding a local perspective with CBS Detroit also reporting WeightWatchers is filing for bankruptcy.

Weight Watchers, a weight loss program with a history of over 60 years, has entered the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. WW says services for members will continue.

"All good things come to an end." I don't think WeightWatchers filing for bankruptcy will be the end of the company, at least for now. There will still be a need for its services, as the panelists on The View pointed out in WeightWatchers Files For Bankruptcy.

#TheView co-hosts react to injectable weight loss drugs becoming so popular that WeightWatchers filled for bankruptcy.

The panelists did a good job of humanizing the issue and explaining how weight loss drugs are not the answer for everyone because of affordability and individual reactions to the medications. Behavioral modification, including diet, will still be on the menu, pun intended. At least Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump is trying to do something about drug affordability, which I'm adding to ending minting pennies and daylight saving time among his few good ideas. Even a stuck clock is right twice a day, and Hoover Cleveland is definitely a stuck clock.

Stay tuned for Wayback Wednesday tomorrow. I have three days of entertainment-themed retrospectives planned this week as I begin my coverage of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards nominees.

2024's most popular baby names for Mother's Day Monday

I'm not done with Mother's Day. It's time for this year's edition of Social Security's top ten U.S. baby names of 2023 for Mother's Day weekend, beginning with the Social Security Administration's (SSA) blog post, Olivia and Liam Remain Most Popular Baby Names for 2024.

Olivia and Liam are once again America’s most popular baby names of the year. 2024 marks the sixth consecutive year that families chose to stick with both familiar names. Also, for the sixth consecutive year, Emma took the second slot for girls, and Noah for boys.

The girls’ name Luna has dropped from its spot among the Top 10, replaced by Sofia which enters at number 10 for the first time.

I found two videos from The Everymom that list last year's most popular baby names down to 20th place. The good news is that they add the meanings of the names, how long they've been in the top twenty (or ten), and how many places they've moved. The bad news is that they mistakenly claim that they are this year's most popular names. Oops. The SSA won't know that until next May.

First, The 20 Most Popular Baby Girl Names of 2025.

It’s always an exciting time of year when the Social Security Administration (SSA) https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ releases its list of the 1,000 most popular baby girl names of the year. Expectant parents might use the SSA list for baby name inspiration or parents might look to see where their kid’s name falls on this year’s list. Others might simply be curious: Will Olivia will hold onto her spot as the top baby girl name for another year? Will Luna keep inching her way up the list? Or will another celestial-inspired name climb the charts? Keep watching to find out.

Using data from each year’s social security card applications, the United States federal agency ranks the most popular names given to both baby girls and baby boys from the previous year. But if you’re thinking that you don’t want to commit your kid to a childhood of name-sharing with 20 others in her school, don’t worry. While the list brims with U.S. parents’ top picks, each name only accounts for 1-2% of all baby names given that year.

Next, The 20 Most Popular Baby Boy Names of 2025.

I remember looking for the perfect baby boy name when I was pregnant and feeling totally lost. We poured through countless baby name books, took suggestions from family and friends, and still came up empty. If you’re looking for a name, the Social Security Administration (SSA)’s list of most popular boy names is a great place to start.

When choosing a baby name, checking the Social Security Administration (SSA) website may not be your first thought. But each year, this organization pulls together the list of the most popular boy and girl names given to the prior year’s crop of newborns. The SSA baby name list https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ is usually released right before Mother’s Day using compiled data from the previous year’s United States social security applications.

If the popularity of a name gives you pause, consider that even the top baby names account for only a small percentage of each year’s newborns. For example, Liam, the top boy baby name for the eighth year in a row, only accounted for 1.2 percent of all babies born last year.

So while your child won’t have the world’s most unique baby name, they won’t get lost in a sea of kids with the same name either. Climbing up the charts for the year are Truce, Colsen, Bryer, Halo, and Azaiah.

Whether you’re at the start of your naming journey, or in the throes of decision fatigue, take a moment to read through the boy names parents around the U.S. used the most in last year.

Mateo, which I've been tracking for a while, slipped from sixth to seventh. Xiomara, which I've also been following, fell from 402 to 432 after rising for seven years. Both of those names came from Jane the Virgin, and I guess its popularity is finally waning. At least the name Jane itself continued its climb from 281 last year to 269.

The Everymom listed the top five boy's names that increased the most in popularity, but not the girl's names. SSA's blog post at least mentioned the girl's name that topped that chart.

Each year, the list also reveals the names that increased the most in popularity. Among those rising in popularity for girls, Ailany, which means ‘chief’, topped the list. The boys’ name Truce, which means ‘peace’, rose an incredible 11,118 spots from last year’s position, cracking the top 1,000 at number 991 overall.

Here are the top ten boy's and girl's names that increased in popularity between 2023 and 2024.


Not only did Ailany come in first on this list, variants Aylani and Ailani came in second and tenth. All of them look Hawaiian or Polynesian, so I wondered if the popularity of Moana contributed to this. I could find no one by any of those names in the two films, so maybe parents searched for Hawaiian girl's names and retrieved them. If so, the effect is indirect.

I close with a quote from the SSA press release.

“As Mother’s Day nears, we remember the incredible impact that mothers have on our lives,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano. “Growing up with a working mom, I witnessed firsthand the dedication, resilience, and balance it takes to juggle both career and family. Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible mothers in our lives who inspire us and set an example for future generations.”

That's a sweet quote, but it reminds me that I sarcastically asked "What shall we give up for Lent, Social Security?" That hasn't happened, yet. May Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano not be the one that makes that happen for real.

I plan on revisiting baby names for Father's Day, so stay tuned.

'SNL' celebrates Mother's Day 2025

Happy Mother's Day! I'm celebrating with highlights of last night's Saturday Night Live, beginning with Trump Mother's Day Cold Open.

A mother's day message from Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang and Marcello Hernández gets interrupted by President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson).

Of course Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump would make it about himself. At least the viewers got the return of Cecily Strong to play Jeanine Pirro. As I wrote two days ago, "Break out the w(h)ine!"

The Mother's Day celebration continued with Walton Goggins Monologue.

First-time host Walton Goggins talks about his character in The White Lotus and becoming a sex symbol in his 50s before dancing with his mom for Mother's Day.

That was fun, sweet, and short. I like all three!

Follow over the jump for Weekend Update and selected skits.

What Stephen Miller does in the shadows, a DailyShowography

I closed Lydic, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at the first American Pope for Flashback Friday with a program note for today: "Stay tuned for a non-retrospective entry tomorrow, maybe the one about Stephen Miller I mentioned in the footnote to 'SNL' mocks Trump's executive orders during his second first 100 days." Here's the footnote and its setup.

JD Vance...still isn't as creepy as Stephen Miller.*
...
*The Daily Show has a video about Miller, which plays up how creepy he is, that I might share.

Given that Miller has said that the Administration is considering suspending habeas corpus, that video is even more timely than ever. Watch Stephen Miller: Sucking the Blood Out of American Democracy.

From the dark halls of Santa Monica to the caves of the Trump administration, Stephen Miller has been working in the shadows as the White House Chief of Staff. From influencing election denial to mass deportations, can Stephen Miller’s vampiric bite kill American democracy?

This is right up there with the three DailyShowographies I embedded in Dailyshowographies of Tim Walz and JD Vance plus 'The Daily Show's Emmy Awards in terms of story-telling through creative editing and voice-over. I fully expect at least one of the segments featuring Tim Walz, JD Vance, and Stephen Miller will earn a nomination for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment) in July. That's the good. The bad is that he's a threat to rule of law, which I think is even more fundamental than democracy in securing both liberty and security. In that way, he mirrors his boss, who has benefited from due process while denying it to others. The ugly, other than Miller himself, is that the corn pone part of corn pone fascist may not apply to him, although going to Duke University in North Carolina might qualify him, the fascist part certainly does.

That was the silly part of today's coverage. PBS NewsHour provides the serious part in Top Trump adviser suggests White House could suspend habeas corpus to deport migrants.

The Trump administration again escalated its fight with the judiciary. In stunning remarks, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said they are considering suspending habeas corpus for migrants contesting detentions. Miller’s comments come as judges across the country have blocked major parts of President Trump’s immigration agenda. Laura Barrón-López reports.

Yikes! Actually hearing Miller propose such an action, which requires approval from Congress, makes it even more chilling.

That's a wrap for today's post. Stay tuned for highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live, which will both filter the week's news through comedy and celebrate Mother's Day.

Lydic, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at the first American Pope for Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! I set up today's post in the middle of 'Conclave' — fiction vs. reality, when I wrote "I expect I'll return to the topic once the real conclave elects a new Pope." That happened yesterday with the election of Leo XIV. Without any further ado, I begin the videos with The Daily Show's First American Pope Makes History and MAGA Catholics Already Have Issues.

Desi Lydic has the latest from the Vatican after the announcement of the first American pope, Leo XIV, including the world's reaction to a Chicago-style pope and Fox News immediately yelling at him to speak English. Plus, Michael Kosta celebrates America's conclave win.

The Pope told off JD Vance? I like him already.

Unlike Michael Kosta, Stephen Colbert is Catholic, and he weighed in with White Smoke! | The Chicago Pope | Melania Absent While Donald Handles First Lady Duties.

The new Pope is an American from Chicago, and Melania Trump is M.I.A. so her husband has taken on tasks traditionally managed by the First Lady.

"Pope-S-A! Pope-S-A! Pope-S-A!" and "Daa prayers" — classic. On the other hand, Stephen repeating Desi Lydic's line about "English being good enough for Jesus" is enough to bring out my inner pedant to say "Well, actually, Jesus probably spoke Aramaic," complete with pushing up my glasses.

As for the First Lady being at the White House for a total of two weeks out of the first 100 days, I'm not surprised. I wrote Melania Trump prefers Trump Tower to the White House more than eight years ago. Some things haven't changed.

Before I move on, the nomination of Casey Means to be Surgeon General after Dr. Janette Nesheiwat withdrew shows two things; first, the influence of RFK Jr. remains strong, and, second, things can get worse. I can say the same about the replacement of Ed Martin with Jeanine Pirro as Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Break out the w(h)ine!

It wouldn't be a closer look post without Seth Meyers, so here's New Pope Criticized JD Vance; Conclave Upstages Trump's Underwhelming U.K. Trade Deal: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump announcing a meaningless trade deal with the United Kingdom, which is the first deal he's reached after claiming he already had 200, and him getting upstaged by the new pope.

Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump deserved to be upstaged. I'm not so sure about UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer, who I mentioned here for the first time since his election, although he was boring. I hope he feels like his country got something out of the deal. Hoover Cleveland probably does; he might buy a Rolls-Royce because of it.

I close the video portion of today's post with Jimmy Kimmel's Trump Reveals First Trade Agreement, MAGA Nuts Lose Minds Over New Pope & MTG’s Dumb-assery.

A new Pope was selected and he’s American, thousands of worshippers gathered in St. Peter’s Square to welcome the new holy father, right wing social media is losing its collective mind because the new Pope cares for the poor and the sick and the plight of immigrants, Trump announced his first trade deal today with the UK, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was not able to be at the White House but he did call in to kiss some ass, Trump blamed Pete Buttigieg for all of the issues at Newark Airport, several of Pete Hegseth’s personal passwords have been compromised by cyberattacks, Klan Mom Marjorie Taylor Greene put on a magnificent display of dumb-assery, Trump has an important Mother’s Day message, and Jimmy’s wife Molly gives a helpful hint for how to make this the best Mother’s Day ever.

Not only did the new Pope criticize Vance, he criticized Hoover Cleveland. I like him even more. Speaking of criticism, fake Starmer was a lot more entertaining than the real one. So was Representative Melanie Stansbury, who showed that Hoover Cleveland isn't the only politician who can be fooled by a doctored photo and then insist they weren't fooled. "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" was a lot funnier when Chico Marx said it.

Because of the criticism of VP Vance combined with the election of the Pope, today's retrospective covers last year's most read shares of blog posts on social media about the 2024 election I haven't already covered. Follow over the jump.

Meyers, Lydic, and Kimmel take closer looks at meeting with Canadian Prime Minister on Throwback Thursday

Happy Throwback Thursday! Before I take a look back at last year's blogging, I'm sharing Carney Tells Trump Canada "Not for Sale," Trump Offends Catholics with AI Pope Image: A Closer Look from Seth Meyers.

Seth takes a closer look at Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, telling Donald Trump that Canada will never be the 51st state.

Time for me to repeat my crackpot idea about incorporating Canada into the U.S. from Meyers, The Daily Show, and Kimmel take closer looks at Trump's designs on Greenland and Canada.

I'd only be in favor of that if each Canadian province were admitted as the 53rd through 62nd states after Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. That's only slightly more likely than "a new constitution that replaces the republic with a constitutional monarchy and invite[s] Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor to be Queen." Monkeys will fly out of my butt first.

I amended that with "maybe not Prince Edward Island; they might have to rejoin Nova Scotia first." Also, anyone who thinks Canadians are nice, polite people have never seen them at a hockey game!

The Daily Show examined the meeting in Canada PM Carney Friend-Zones Trump & Real ID Brings Out the Karens the night before.

Desi Lydic recaps Trump's oblivious reaction to getting friend-zoned by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and prepares for a summer of s***ty air travel as the Real ID deadline approaches and Newark Airport spirals into more chaos.

"You never met her, because she lives up in Canada — oh, that excuse doesn't work." That sounds familiar — "my girlfriend goes to another school/was in summer camp with me/lives in Canada, so you don't know her. I resemble that last remark; the ex-girlfriend I write about the most was living in Canada while we were dating." As for the rest of the segment, I'm glad I got Real ID two years ago and the crash in January was only the beginning of problems with air travel.

I close the above the jump part of this post with Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, Trump Makes Hollywood Great Again & Canadian Prime Minister Shuts Down Becoming 51st State.

The stars came out for the annual Met Gala last night and there were many creatively-preposterous outfits on display, Jimmy has thoughts on people using the word “giving,” Trump met with new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House, he is planning to slap a 100% on any movies filmed outside the United States, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent might need to be unplugged and plugged back in, Trump had a press conference to announce that the 2027 NFL Draft will take place on the National Mall in DC, he signed an executive order aimed raising awareness for mental health, Skype is now in internet heaven, and in honor of Teacher Appreciation Day we give Americans the chance to apologize to their teachers.

Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump's proposal to assess 100% tariffs on movies produced overseas will hurt Canada, especially Vancouver, who benefits from American studios shooting films and TV shows there, as I described in Vox explains 'Why your favorite movies fake their locations' plus the Leo Awards. That might not work out the way Hoover Cleveland thinks it will. I might get to that later. In the meantime, follow over the jump for a retrospective of last year's most read comedy posts about the 2024 election where Hoover Cleveland was not the focus, just to remind my readers of the alternative.

'Last Week Tonight' examines 'Trump & Deportations' for Wayback Wednesday

Happy Wayback Wednesday! I'm featuring Last Week Tonight with John Oliver examining Trump & Deportations, which I could have used for Cinco De Mayo but I'm happier to use it today.

John Oliver discusses the recent deportations by the Trump administration, the conditions in the facility people are being sent to abroad, and why even Henry Winkler could be in danger of being expelled from the U.S. Yeah, even national treasure Henry Winkler.

Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump insisting that the photoshopped "MS-13" on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's hand is real reminds me of what I've written before, "the voices in his head are not reliable sources. Neither are the real people he listens to." All of them are advocating for "speed, volume, and spectacle" in the service of "the cruelty is the point." All of them, especially Hoover Cleveland, have gotten worse this time around. This includes going after citizens, mistakenly or not, and denying due process to those targeted for deportation. As Oliver said, this is an outrage.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts on social media featuring Last Week Tonight with John Oliver between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025 that I missed in Vox asks 'RFK Jr. is in charge of vaccines. What now?' A Wayback Wednesday special.

Randy Rainbow sings 'Incompetent!'

Change of plans — instead of Revenge of the Sixth, I'm featuring Randy Rainbow singing Incompetent!

Parody of “Impossible” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein)

"Let me just get this gay: Are you telling me sir, that you looked for these loose lipped leakers? After your lapse leaked the logs that launched a liability? And now you and your loyalists are loudly labeling these leakers legally liable for leaking libelous leaks?" LOL! Randy likes alliteration even more than I do! Also, what Randy was mocking serves as yet another example of Projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism. As I wrote in Colbert, Meyers, Kosta, and Kimmel take closer looks at Mike Waltz being fired on Flashback Friday, "Once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker.' Yeah, Kegseth, you'd know."

Randy turned his satirical sights on more than Pete Hegseth, targeting RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, JD Vance, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and the rest of Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump's cabinet, as well as Hoover Cleveland himself. Good, they all deserve it.

I wanted to see if the Marsh Family had anything to say about Whiskeyleaks and they did. Watch and listen to "You Were Not Supposed to Message It Through" - Marsh Family parody of the Bee Gees on #Signalgate.

Here’s a song about #Signalgate – the flamboyant US security breach – adapted from one of our all-time favourite Bee Gees tracks, titled “You Were Not Supposed to Message it Through!” A quick parody turnaround, but only five of us singing as Alfie (actually our hands-down best fake Bee Gee) is currently away, and will be annoyed. One day we’ll have a proper go with instruments live, but for now this will have to suffice as a post-work / post-school knockup.

The fantastic original, "Gotta Get a Message to You", with its uplifting modulations and incredible layered harmonies, was released in 1968 and got to number one in the UK and the top ten in the US. Apparently it’s actually about someone on death row, though we never realised this until today. Nor that there are some other lower harmonies in later verses that are a bit raspy, which we had fun with.

Looking forward to the promised remake, if not more from Kegseth.

I can't completely ignore today's Star Wars special day, so I'm closing with Nerdist's ALL ABOUT THAT BASE (Star Wars Parody - Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass).

Nerdist Presents Team Unicorn's Star Wars parody of Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass. No Rebels.

May the Farce be with you!

Stay tuned for Wayback Wednesday tomorrow.