96: Graduation Brawl, Reality Check, Sex Saga & Sewer Scavengers

Welcome to David & Stu… Unhinged! As always, we'd like to thank Clara Wang for creating the fantastic artwork for this podcast.This week on David & Stu Unhinged, we examine four stories that prove America has officially crossed the line from functioning democracy into reality television.Graduation Brawls: Graduation season is supposed to be a celebration of academic achievement and youthful promise. Instead, at multiple high schools across the country, adults in the audience turned commencement ceremonies into fight night. Rather than focus on this national embarrassment, we will discuss graduates from a high school in New York City geared towards students from disadvantaged backgrounds.Reality Checks: Two high-profile Trump initiatives ran headfirst into reality this week. A federal judge ruled that the Kennedy Center couldn't simply be renamed after Donald Trump because Congress—not a board of loyalists—gets to decide what the Kennedy Center is called. Meanwhile, the administration quietly backed away from its controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund after legal scrutiny and bipartisan criticism mounted. In a political era where every idea is marketed as historic and unstoppable, it was refreshing to see a couple of projects meet an old-fashioned obstacle: the law.Sex Sagas: American public life continues to demonstrate that power, ego, and common sense rarely occupy the same room. One California congressman went from denial to confession regarding an extramarital affair, while a JPMorgan executive's lawsuit reads like a rejected Netflix screenplay, complete with allegations that he became a "sex slave" to a female superior. The details are messy, the explanations are implausible, and everyone involved probably wishes there had been fewer text messages.Sewer Scavengers: Just when you thought New York couldn't get any stranger, surveillance footage emerged showing groups of people climbing out of city sewers in the middle of the night wearing waders, carrying equipment, and disappearing into waiting vehicles. Police investigated and found no evidence of criminal activity, leading to the astonishing conclusion that people may simply be spending their evenings voluntarily wandering through New York's sewer system in search of valuables. In any other city this would trigger panic. In New York, the reaction has largely been, "Yeah, that sounds about right."Join us as we explore the graduation fights, legal setbacks, romantic catastrophes, and subterranean treasure hunters that together make up another perfectly normal week in America.We hope you tune in, and please leave comments. We welcome all feedback, including any critiques.Connect with David & Stu:• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@DavidStu...Unhinged• Email David & Stu: [email protected] and share your comments, concerns, and questions.• We encourage all to visit our website (https://www.rageworksnetwork.com/show/david-stu-unhinged/), and please leave comments for our consideration.