3 Things: Mike Ward, Chop & Steele, and Eden / by Chris Duffy

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.

 Upcoming shows

EVERYWHERE:
There's a new episode of The Payoff online now all about student loans. Antonia and I interview Undersecretary Ted Mitchell, who ran the entire federal loan program from 2014 to 2017, share our own stories, and learn about the best way to tackle our debt. Link

A new episode of Explorer airs Monday at 10 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel. We take a look at El Salvador's strict reproductive laws, talk with Scott Pelley about journalism, and have Dave Coulier from Full House investigate the return of the mullet. Watch a preview here: Link
 
You can listen to episodes of You're the Expert here:  Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Thursday, March 30th at 7:00 p.m. at National Geographic. You're the Expert takes over NatGeo's Grosvenor Auditorium with Aparna Nancherla, Maeve Higgins, and an amazing scientist. Link

My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


This is a classic comedy bit that I keep coming back to year after year. It never stops being funny. Only five lines and barely any words, but I believe Mike Ward has truly created a masterpiece. E-Mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying To Give Out Over The Phone
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:


Local morning shows have a tough job: lots of airtime to fill and not a lot of time to prep. As a result, sometimes they don't really have time to vet their guests before they're on air. That can lead to magical results, like professional strongmen Chop and Steele. The duo sent out a "press release" and successfully appeared on three morning shows across the country. You have to watch the incredible television that resulted. Fake Strongmen Prank Morning News Shows

(Chop and Steele are actually Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, the hosts of the Found Footage Festival, which is so much fun and hilarious. These guys are great.)


1 Interesting Thing:

A reality show where the contestants are totally cut off from the outside world and try to rebuild civilization from scratch. It's an interesting idea, but honestly, not the most original. But the story of Eden, which just finished taping in the Scottish Highlands this week is more bizarre than anyone could have imagined. The first few episodes aired and got bad ratings, so the network canceled the show. But no one told the contestants. So they've just been living in the wilderness for months. They're about to walk out of the woods to find out about Brexit, Trump, and the fact that they were barely even on television. It might not be a TV show, but it's definitely a great premise for a movie. TV Show Contestants Spend Year in the Wildnerness – With No One Watching


Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend,
Chris