Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. You can also show appreciation by pledging a small sum if we go partly “paid” one day.
Last night’s “Weekend Update”:
Heavy drinking cold open with Pete, Aziz again as Patel and Matt Damon as “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh:
Surely you have seen unveiling of new Trump golden statue and religious worshippers already hailing. Nick Kristof: “I used to make fun of this kind of thing when reporting in North Korea.” Trump left, Korean fascist at right.
Then there was news of the “road trip from (MAGA) hell,” New York magazine:
Sean Duffy filmed road trip for seven months. Work, occasionally. The Transportation Secretary said he did manage to do ‘some work,’ while filming a full Trump-approved reality show with his family titled ‘The Great American Road Trip.’
David Dayen adds: “It was funded by close to a dozen corporations directly regulated by DOT.”
Heather Cox Richardson:
While we celebrate the modern version of Mother’s Day on May 9, in this momentous year of 2026, it’s worth remembering the original Mothers’ Day and Julia Ward Howe’s conviction that women must have the same rights as men, and that they must make their voices heard.
Howe also gave us “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and the reference “the grapes of wrath.” So she is included in my upcoming Woody Guthrie film.
Music Picks
The Waterboys return with a topical tune, “Don’t Even Have to Say His Name”
On Kimmel a couple of nights ago The Avett Brothers were joined again by Mike Patton:
Just came across this gem with pre-POTUS Obama introducing his favorite Illinois band Wilco at Farm Aid, with the group proceeding to do a Woody Guthrie co-authored song….
From Tunes to Toons
Wuerker:
Goris:
Bennett
Sipress:
Anderson:
A collection of Paul Noth cartoons coming, and for first time I see his most famous one (below) in color:
Photo Finish
For moms everywhere
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Yeah, in Bar Cheers 2026 🤣🤣🤣