The July 23, 2013 episode of the Daily Show focuses on the royal baby, and foreign policy with Richard N. Haas.
The episode begins with the usual fake explanation of where Jon Stewart is. John Oliver then explains that the previous day they had to push the coverage of the royal birth to this episode, but then Anthony Weiner let his wiener out again. That coverage has been pushed until the next episode (July 24).
The first two segment focus solely on the royal birth, and the coverage of it. Oliver describes the process surrounding the announcement of the birth. It involves a lot of pomp and circumstance. There are all sorts of announcements, and cannons, and partying. According to Oliver, the British have used it as another excuse to get drunk. Oliver also discusses the desperate coverage of the event. The news is running around like crazy, and giving the story a lot more attention than the birth of a baby, even a possible future king, really needs.
The second segment is making more fun of the coverage. Samantha Bee is outside of the hospital, and describes the coverage of the royal pregnancy and birth as an actual pregnancy. A pregnancy which includes post partum depression. Jessica Williams is at the royal baby boutique talking about the prince’ registry. Al Madrigal is dressed up as a crazy announcer. Jason Jones is in a pub.
The guest for this episode is Richard N. Hass promoting his new book, Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America’s House in Order. Haas is the president of the council on foreign affairs. In his book, he argues that in order to have effective foreign policy, the United States has to fix its problems at homes. This fix includes a focus on our treatment of veterans, education, and employment. Haas argues that this is far from an isolationist view. It just requires the U.S. to consider its position, before trying to convince anyone else of anything.
I did not really enjoy this episode. The royal baby stuff was boring. I get what they are trying to do: pointing out the folly of the 24 hour news cycle. I just think they could have done that in one segment, instead of using both. There must have been something about Egypt, or the Senate, or just one of their ridiculous pieces about a town banning Satan. The interview was decent, though. Haas had some excellent points, and I bet his book has even more. If you are on the fence about this episode, I would really just skip. Hopefully the material about Weiner tonight will be better.