What A Day - Grand Re-Opening, Grand Re-Closing

Episode Date: May 22, 2020

China’s leaders are poised to impose a controversial new national security law in Hong Kong. The law would reportedly ban secession, subversion of state power, foreign interference, and terrorism. All that will essentially put Hong Kong more under China’s control and political system.Facebook has followed Twitter’s lead and will move to allow employees to work more from home, even after the pandemic. Two Ford factories had grand re-openings and grand re-closings this week. Both factories saw employees test positive for COVID-19 after returning to work and had to shut down.And we’re joined by comedian, writer, and actor Janelle James for headlines: New Zealand’s PM endorses a 4-day work week, Kendall Jenner pays for Fyre Fest post, and Aunt Becky pleads guilty.

It's Friday, May 22nd. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is what a day where we're all stoked for a Memorial Day weekend of really good behavior. That's right. I can't wait to just kick back, follow the rules and be super safe. I'm going to behave myself into oblivion. That's actually your personal brand. That is. That's every weekend. Before we get to the show, a quick announcement. We're going to be off on Monday for Memorial Day, but we will be back on Tuesday. On today's show, China moves to expand its power over Hong Kong, then some headlines.

But first, the latest. This was supposed to be the last broadcast of our season. But seasons are jumbled in the age of COVID-19. Spring has been taken and summer is thinning. If there is baseball, the season will be shorter and with no fans. The boardwalk might look a little more like it does in winter. Wow. Okay. So that was a clip from 60 Minutes that goes on to say they're going to be playing Titanic instead of doing the news next week. That's a great idea. I can't believe we didn't

think of it. But you know what, guys, I think that TV has completely lost its mind. Agreed. And now to the news. Another 2.4 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week. This comes even as businesses in many parts of this country have started to reopen. Republicans in Congress and the White House continue to say they want to hold off on providing more economic relief until they see how reopening goes. Hopefully they take a look at this number and think about their choices for a second. Meanwhile, economists are growing increasingly concerned that temporary job losses will become permanent as we move into a socially distanced new normal. A new analysis from Stanford estimates that over 40% of recent jobs that were lost won't come right back. Akilah, you've been looking at some of the ways that jobs and workplaces are changing at places like Facebook, Twitter, and otherwise. What do we know?

All right. So we reported on how Twitter CEO announced a new work from home forever policy for employees who want to do that. Well, it seems that the coronavirus has inspired Facebook to do what it often does and take a page from another social network's playbook. Yeah, that was shade. And yes, they are going to shift permanently toward more remote work. In a live stream for employees yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg went as far as to say that within a decade, half of FB's employees, so right now they have 45,000 employees worldwide, will be working remotely. And a little fun tidbit about that live stream, it cut out right at the one hour mark, highlighting the joys of technical difficulties associated with always being remote.

Yeah, no one's Wi-Fi is strong enough, not even Zucks. But okay, we also have some news about reopening that's gone awry. Yeah, so I mean, I kind of think we're going to keep having more and more stories like this since we're reopening before we have adequate testing and tracing, but I digress. So there was a grand reopening and a grand reclosing of two Ford factories this week, one in Dearborn, Michigan, after a worker tested positive for the virus. And Ford also closed a plant in Chicago. In the case of the Chicago factory, which closed Tuesday because two employees on different shifts tested positive, there was also a parts shortage because a supplier in Indiana had to close their parts factory because an employee there tested positive for COVID-19, which I think just goes to show that even if they do reopen individual factories,

all of these businesses are often dependent on other businesses' supplies. And even one positive test for the virus, which still doesn't have a cure, by the way, can stop the supply chain just dead in its tracks. Yeah, it's all, you know, a flashing red light, from my perspective, to just slow down. But okay, so that's an update on the economic crisis and how jobs are being impacted. But moving to the health crisis, Akilah, give us a sense of where things stand around the globe. All right, so we have some more bleak milestones. Worldwide, confirmed cases have now topped 5 million, and the World Health Organization says the numbers are still growing. In fact, they said on Wednesday that the world saw the highest number of new cases

in a single day since the outbreak began. The U.S., Brazil, and Russia now top the world in cases, and I kind of wonder if the complete lack of competence and leadership in those three countries has something to do with it, you know? I'm starting to wonder. Anyway, two-thirds of the new cases daily take place in just four countries, the three I just mentioned and India. So that's the worldwide situation as it stands currently, but experts are also beginning to look back at how the U.S. handled the crisis in the early days and how things could have gone differently. Right. So this is just one analysis from one set of disease modelers at Columbia University, but it's still an important and sobering report

to take a look at. They estimate that if the United States had begun social distancing just one week earlier in March, there would be about 36,000 fewer deaths by early May. And if it had occurred two weeks earlier on March 1, these researchers estimate that over 80% of deaths may not have happened at all. So let's compare this timeline to what actually happened. On March 9th, a week before social distancing, President Trump was still telling the American public that the risk from the virus was low. It wasn't until March 16th that he started moving on from calling the virus a hoax and began to tell the American public to limit travel and avoid groups of more than 10. Meanwhile, in New York,

the initial epicenter in the United States, it took until March 15th for New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio to close schools, and until March 22nd for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to put a stay-at-home order in place. So contrast that with California and San Francisco specifically. They acted with more initial urgency than New York, and San Francisco County has seen less than 100 deaths from COVID-19. And the early timing could have really played a significant role in that. There's a great story from ProPublica called Two Coasts, One Virus, how New York suffered nearly 10 times the number of deaths as California that explores these differences and more. But also, overhanging all of this is a dreadful federal response and a dismissal of the global pandemic in its early days by the president, who now insists it's time to focus on the economy. Woof. Okay, well, in separate news, we've touched on this before, but during the global pandemic,

some governments have been looking to expand their power at the cost of civil liberties. There's an important story out of China along these lines. So Gideon, take us through what we know. Yeah, so China's top leaders had their big annual meeting this week, and they announced that they were going to vote to impose a new national security law in Hong Kong. The law would reportedly ban secession, subversion of state power, foreign interference, and terrorism, all essentially putting Hong Kong more under China's control. The law is squarely aimed at protests that took place in Hong Kong last year and have stalled out to a degree due to COVID-19. Beijing has said that

these protests were a result of secession forces and foreign influence, effectively referring to them as acts of terrorism. But the protests were actually in response to a law that Hong Kong's leaders tried to pass that would have allowed citizens to be extradited to mainland China. The bill was withdrawn, but pro-democracy protests continued, even amid violence between the Hong Kong police and protesters. Yeah. And we should do a quick historical refresher for listeners who may or may not know about the special arrangement between Hong Kong and China. Yes. So since 1997, Hong Kong has operated under semi-autonomy. They have different legal, political, economic systems than China, and they have basic law, which is sort of a constitution that allows for freedom of press and assembly. Now, China had pledged to keep what has been

called this, quote, one country, two systems approach through 2047. But almost since then, for the past 17 years at least, China has tried to impose limitations on civil liberties in Hong Kong, influence the education system, and political leadership. President Xi Jinping has been particularly aggressive, and observers view this most recent move as another means to continue consolidating his power. Now, all of this also adds to already heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, and there's bipartisan Senate legislation that has been introduced to impose sanctions as a result. So the Chinese legislation

could pass as soon as next week per reports. So we'll keep you updated on that and go more in-depth as the story continues. But that is the latest for now. it's friday wad squad it's time for a little check-in okay so this one comes from istanbul for the last month the city has imposed a so this one comes from Istanbul. For the last month, the city has imposed a strict curfew on weekends due to the coronavirus. No one is allowed to go out, not even for exercise or groceries, but there are exceptions. Most notably, bakers are exempt from the rules because bread and baklava are seen as daily essentials. I personally agree. So Giddy, what's been a daily essential for you recently when it comes to food? I would kill for daily baklava.

Just putting that out there, like thinking about it. I have not eaten anything interesting recently. I've been having like a different Clif Bar every day. I got this like bulk box that has like five or six different flavors. And the excitement from my day comes from reaching into the box and pulling a random one out and being like is today macadamia nut or is it peanut butter chocolate this is the saddest check-in we've ever done i'm living a thrilling life i don't know about you i i have daily thrills here so i dig that. But what's necessary for you to keep stocked?

All right. So I mean, really, for me, it's two things. It's like these Nespresso pods. Luckily, I always buy them in bulk, so we're not at risk of running out for a while. But every day, I have to have coffee. And I don't even like the taste of coffee. I've never been a person who drinks a ton of coffee. But for some reason, it is harder to get out of bed. I wonder why. The other thing is Froot Loops. I forgot that I liked them, but they were out of the cereal I wanted. And I was

like, you know what? I came all this way. I risked everything. So I'm going to leave here with cereal. And I got to say Froot Loops really slapping. Froot Loops are so good. Yeah, like I haven't had them for a long time either and that might change my calculus going forward. Are you like leaving, are you like, what's the time between when you pour the milk and when you're actually starting? Are you going crunchy or are you going soggy? What's the scale? I like, so here's the thing, I like to do, like I like to wait, but I like to not use a ton of milk. So I like a bottom sog, a top dry, and then you can kind of dip in between. But that also makes a more saturated flavor for the Froot Loop milk, you know? This is interesting and something I've not heard before. I mean, cereal has really been pretty lit. So shout it out. God bless Kellogg.

Well, there you go. Just like that. We checked our temperatures. Thank you to all the people who are keeping us fed and keeping things running outside of our homes. We really appreciate you. And we will be back in touch with you all on Tuesday. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Today we've got a special guest, Janelle James. She's a brilliant writer and actor. You've seen her work on Showtime's Black Monday,

Apple TV's Central Park, and in the comedy lineup on Netflix. Janelle, we are so happy to have you. How you doing? Woo! I am existing. Accurate, accurate. De la la. True, true.

Yes. That's about the most you can ask right now. That's for sure. All right, you ready to go? All right, Janelle, take it away. From the full house to the full jail, actress Lori Loughlin, known for playing Aunt Becky and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, known for selling shiny shirts at Target. First of all, Mossimo had some other good stuff. But anyway, I missed the line myself.

But anyway, pleaded guilty yesterday for their roles in one of the country's largest college admissions scandals. They were accused of paying half a million dollars to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California. Half a million dollars for that. But anyway, as fake crew team members, Laughlin will be sentenced to two months in prison while her husband faces five months they will both do none of that time the so-called varsity blues case has led to a wave of changes in the college's missions process including higher levels of scrutiny and some schools no longer requiring students to take standardized tests like the sat proving that we all been doing this shit for nothing that's what 2020 is about really just like turning shit over like oh all this stuff means nothing you've all been cramming getting all these multiple choice shit into your head and it means

nothing how messed up is that but anyway yeah good for her i guess good for her good for us that she gets. Good for her. Good for her. She gets to go for five months, whatever. I don't know. Whatever. I feel you. I love it. Oh, my God.

All right. Kendall Jenner reached a settlement over her social media promotion of the impromptu Hunger Games reenactment called Fire Fest yesterday. She'll pay back $90,000 of her $275,000 fee to lenders who got burned by the fest. That means she's still walking away with $185,000 for posting a little orange square on Instagram, which I think we can all agree is entirely fair. Yeah, that's just the going rate for bright squares. Jenner was also accused of suggesting that her brother-in-law, Kanye West, would be headlining Fyre Fest. All right, so if you remember, the actual headliners were hallucinations

caused by drinking salt water with appearances by old lettuce. Celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski, Migos, Pusha T, and Lil Yachty could face similar lawsuits for their Fyre Fest posts. Yikes. TBD, if they'll pay up up they probably won't uh or get sent to some kind of posters prison where 90 of us on social media should probably do hard time anyway me first honestly i will follow you there someone's got to stop me from sending linkedin mail it's it's time new zealand's prime minister endorsed the idea of four-day work weeks. To quote wise oracle Marianne Williamson, girl, you are so on.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said shorter work weeks might encourage New Zealanders to spend money on domestic travel and vacations, thereby helping to right the economy post-COVID-19. Now, 60% of New Zealand's tourism industry comes from Kiwis themselves, but under the current lockdown, it's been on a massive decline. Not sure that anyone knows this, but a huge part of running a daily podcast involves interfacing with people in New Zealand. So if they go four days, WOD will have no choice but to follow suit. Honestly, we have no choice. New Zealand is sounding better and better every day. They got four day work week and a shire. I just this is amazing. They got it all. I want to go. I want hairy feet and second

breakfast. Yes. Oh my god. A drummer in the thrash metal band Death Angel, probably known for their hit songs Murderopolis and Blood Mitzvah, came down with a severe case of COVID-19 in March, falling into a coma that lasted 12 days. Okay, so he's feeling better now, so don't be mad that I laughed, and has returned to his home in San Francisco, but he had a potentially career-altering revelation after hallucinating that he went to hell and got tortured by the devil, who it should be noted for the sake of herstory he envisioned as a woman. He does not, quote, think Satan's quite as cool as he used to. The drummer says he'll still listen to satanic metal, thank God.

But it sounds like the magic won't be there anymore. Funny unrelated thing, if you play Death Angel albums backwards, they actually just tell you to do your homework and go to church. He's like, oh, woman's in charge. It's not as cool as I thought it was. Typical. Typical. Exactly.

He's like, this is dumb. This is over. This was a guy, so I'm going to go in the other direction. This is bullshit. shit uh 1950s time traveler and icon of teen tumblr angst lana del rey faced major backlash online after a post she made that slammed several women artists of color and ariana grande make sure you separate her anyway in lana's post she calls out carnie b nikki minaj beyonce and others for in her view using sexually explicit themes to get play. Very bold to come for the barbs and the beehive in a single day.

I don't know why I just turned into like RuPaul, but anyway. Very bold. Drag her. May God have mercy on her DMs. Lana goes on to address criticism she's gotten and says she's been called out unfairly for, quote, glamorizing abuse. She counters that her songs have paid the way for women to stop putting a happy face in their music. Almost as if Alanis Morissette or any of those other people doesn't exist. But whatever.

Like, you're not even the first white woman. Like, anyway. The Post ended with a subtle announcement of her next two poetry books and an upcoming album. What a way to pro-o. And that is so true. Kudos. In getting your name associated with Beyonce on all the searches today, Lana. That was...

Yes. Brilliant. Weird she had a first poetry book? Yeah, that's a good point. I'm sure her fan base and beyonce's doesn't you know cross stream so now all these people that never heard of her are looking her up just to drag her and that's like money can't buy that kind of uh publicity so i'm not gonna act like i'm not gonna you know play you know video games when i wear that one nightgown and find some mushrooms

finally in California. She has some nerve. I feel that in my soul. I see she didn't say Rihanna though because she know better. Yeah. Exactly. She's like Rihanna never says anything sexually explicit in her music. Anyway. Rihanna's perfect. I don't want to fumble the bag too bad.

Right. Oh my God. Janelle James and Angel. and angel thank you so much thank you for being here do you have anything you'd like to plug man look what do i have to plug oh yeah black monday comes back in june uh june 6th the second half and um central Park premieres May 29th on Apple TV. Go watch my Netflix show. Emma Thompson loved it. Chip, chip, cheerio.

And what else? I'm doing my best work in my Insta stories. You know, check that out. And yeah, I'm around. Follow me on all the socials. They tell me that's important. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me. And those are the headlines. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, play our podcast backwards to discover secret news messages, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just track listings on Now, that's what I call music CDs like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter.

Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And please bail us out of poster's prison. We didn't mean to post that stupid dated meme. I need to respond, resign a couple more times to the president on Twitter. What a day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein and our senior producer is Katie Long.

Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.