12/16/25

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, December 16th

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

Strawberries. Oranges. Pencils.

ANYTHING.

And now, the news.

Update: Brown University Shooting

-via AP News

Starting with a very important update on the shooting that took place on Saturday at Brown University that claimed the lives of two students and wounded nine others –

In yesterday’s episode I noted that a person of interest, 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson, had been taken into custody but had not been charged.

After I recorded that episode, Erickson, who, again, was never charged, was released.

This now leaves the community back at square one – without a suspect.

Part of the problem is that the engineering building, where the shooting took place, doesn’t have a lot of cameras. However, on Monday authorities did say that there was grainy footage of of the gunman walking away from the attack.

So they don’t have a ton of video, they don’t have a suspect (or at least, a suspect they’re naming), and it feels like we’re back to square one. Ideally, by the time you see this, that will be outdated and there will be at least SOME information.

Because for now we’re talking about a community, and a campus, without answers but, and I’m not trying to be dramatic but it’s just the truth, a mass shooter on the loose.

Health Care Vote

-via ABC News

As we head into the holiday hiatus, we’ve got a few things to keep an eye on in the news. One of them being, of course, the health care bill.

As a reminder, the reason the entire government shutdown was because the Big Beautiful Bill (mortifyingly, history will remind us forever that that is, in fact, the real name of the bill) cut off health care for more than 20 million Americans. Republicans were fine with it, Democrats were not and so they voted down the budget over the fight for healthcare.

Democrats had all the cards.

And then, after 43 days, the Democrats came back with this truly astounding deal: what if we reopen the government on the promise that, in December, Republicans promise to vote on healthcare?

And Republicans were like: are you… serious? Yes! Yes, quickly sign before you realize that was insane! Insane decision.

So the government was reopened on a promise that the Republicans, who have hated the Affordable Care Act since it was called Obamacare and they realized it was named after a Black man, but have never, in the years that they’ve had to try, come up with a backup plan… would somehow in a month, magically have a solution.

The lack of a healthcare plan is one of the reasons that Marjorie Taylor Greene started backing away from MAGA (that and the protection of pedophiles). She was very clear in noting that they do not have an alternative. And Democrats were still like… no, it’s okay. We’re going to vote on it in December and even though we don’t have the majority anywhere, based on just, like, vibes, my gut tells me this is the right move.

Well it’s December and it’s… not going well.

Shocking I know.

Last week, health care bills in the Senate failed to advance. So now it’s over to the House, where the fate of 20 million American’s health care relies on… oh no… Mike Johnson? The guy whose name sounds like a Simpson’s prank call to Moe’s?

Okie doke…

On Friday, House Republicans released their own health care plan that does not extend ACA tax subsidies.

This is huge because without those subsidies, healthcare prices will double for millions of Americans. Meaning they will not be able to afford it.

For the record, the Senate Democrats’ plan was to extend subsidies for three years. It was joined by a handful of Republicans, but didn’t pass the 60-vote threshold needed.

Epstein Files

-via BBC

Of course the other thing we’re keep on an eye on this week is that the December 19th deadline for the DOJ to release the Epstein files, a deadline set in the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

On Friday, the House Oversight Committee released a small batch of photos. They come from a batch of 95,000 that are still being reviewed. They include photos of Epstein with Trump as well as former president Bill Clinton, plus Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, and Woody Allen.

It’s so funny to watch people on TikTok try and use Bill Clinton as a gotcha. I don’t mean to blow anyone’s mind here, but most normal people don’t really care about someone’s political leanings when it comes to sex crimes. We just firmly believe that if someone is accused of these crimes, they should be investigated to the fullest extent and then we go from there.

No normal person is going to first stop to ask “oh hang on, but first – what are your thoughts on the Indiana gerrymandering? Because if you agree with me, maybe we’ll let this ahorrent crime slide.”

And yet, it sure seems like some people at least seem open to that… anyway, so that’s something we’re keeping an eye on. The 19th is a Friday. That’s usually after I’m done for the week (and after I was planning to be done for the year so… that’s rude. We’ll see what I end up doing about all of that when it happens. Obviously that seems like something I’ll walk to talk about before I come back from hiatus.)

Rob and Michele Reiner

-via Washington Post and AP News

And in Brentwood, California, Sunday came with the shocking news that Rob Reiner, as well as his wife Michele Singer Reiner, were murdered.

That sentence feels fake. That feels like a fake sentence to read out loud.

Reiner’s son Nick has been taken into custody, where he is being held on a $4 million bond.

There are stories floating around about what happened, leading up to the murders, but the family has asked for privacy and frankly, since none of that helps in an active investigation of searching for a suspect, I don’t really see the merit of sharing those rumors here on this show.

Incredibly, Trump decided to post about this absolutely horrific news and say that Reiner died “due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”

He goes on from there. I mean, I realize he… exists, but this is really beyond. Even Republicans pushed back against what he said. Which I note because, in addition to being one of the most celebrated filmmakers in Hollywood, Reiner was also known for his incredible advocacy work. And while what would have been better is if Trump never said anything (actually what would have been best is if this whole horrible story didn’t exist), I think it is particularly fitting that this has prompted Republicans, including some who rarely disagree with Trump in public, to criticize him because of this message.

Here's a very sweet story about Rob Reiner and his wife – the original ending of When Harry Met Sally had them parting ways on the street. However, Rob met Michele while he was making the movie. He’d been single for ten years and didn’t think he’d ever meet anyone again. So he didn’t see how he could make a movie where the romantic leads ended up together. But after he met Michele, he went back to Nora Efron and they rewrote the ending.

One of the best romcom speeches ("When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible") is owed to Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

There is no limit to the mark this man made on film, television, or Los Angeles. The world was better with him in it and just a little darker without him.

As I often do, I wanted to give Rob Reiner the last word: “Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself. And that's a lot. Because if you can fix yourself, it has a ripple effect.”

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of anyone who tries to put more good than bad into this world. Who looks at it as is, has notes, and then tries to just put a little more good out there. A little more comedy. A little more heart. Just a little more possibility for betterment.

Also the movie Sleepless in Seattle. Perfection.

I would dip that movie in chocolate and it would not be made better because you can’t improve upon perfection and also because dipping a movie into chocolate is nothing. It’s just a mess.

But more than dipping a DVD into chocolate, because you’re not a mess, and you do serve a point… and also because you are the good that is more good than bad in this world… I’m proud of you.