Dez Reads. Sex, Drinking and Dementia.

We are finally getting some decent weather, and I think I speak for everyone when I say – finally. Winter felt like it overstayed its welcome, but as we inch closer to spring, things are starting to look up.

This week, Anne Marie Malecha pulls back the curtain on Congress with a Politico piece that reads more like a Real Housewives reunion than a political exposé. Annie Moore breaks down Instagram’s latest attempt to challenge TikTok, and Nathaniel Beach takes a look at Warner Bros. Discovery’s financial freefall – let’s just say, Superman better save the day.

Meanwhile, Jen Hirshon reminds us that sometimes, the best stories aren’t in the headlines but in the kitchen, with Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Guinness Cake just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. And David Manitsky celebrates the return of late-night TV’s anything-can-happen energy with John Mulaney’s new show.

With March Madness around the corner and the days finally getting longer, here’s to more sunshine, better brackets, and a little less chaos – though we’ll see how long that lasts.

Here we go.

Politics.

Politico. Sex, Drinking and Dementia: 25 Lawmakers Spill on What Congress Is Really Like

As a former Congressional staffer, the happenings of Capitol Hill still interest me greatly. Yes, the policy-making and political posturing, but also the personalities. They’re on full display in this in-depth piece from Politico Magazine. While I abhor the celebritization of politics, this reads like a Real Housewives recap, and I’m here for it.

Members of Congress are like any other (dis)organized group: some are self-aware, others are not; some are tall, others short; some are there for the right reasons, some not so much; some are class clowns, some are all-stars. The list goes on. If nothing else, this interview is a great reminder that our elected representatives – love them or hate them – are human.

This interview has some no-holds-barred zingers on least liked members past and present. For example, “I was surprised at how thirsty my colleagues are.” That’s not a quote about hydration. And, “I have a difficult time sometimes telling between the deterioration of members and a handful who are just not very smart.”

In addition to sex, drinking, and dementia, the 25 members interviewed share their thoughts on the institution, daily life shuttling between their home districts/states and Washington, partisan politics, and when it’s time to hang it up. Whether you’re a Washington insider or trying to be as far from it as you can, this one is worth reading.

– Anne Marie Malecha

Food.

Nigella. Chocolate Guinness Cake

Dear readers of Dez Reads, I’ll admit—I don’t have a groundbreaking news story to share this week. But you know what? Sometimes, the best stories aren’t in headlines; they’re in recipes. And this week, I was reminded just how phenomenal Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Guinness Cake is. With St. Patrick’s Day coming up on Monday, what better time to channel a little Irish spirit into your baking? Guinness has been brewed in Dublin since 1759, and while Arthur Guinness probably never imagined his stout would end up in a dessert, I like to think he’d approve. Sláinte!

– Jen Hirshon

Media.

Puck. Can Mike & Pam Survive at Warners?

This past weekend, I finally watched Mickey 17, my most anticipated film of the year. On paper, a Bong Joon Ho sci-fi epic starring Robert Pattinson seemed like a guaranteed hit and potential “Best Picture” Oscar nominee. In reality, it was just fine. Worse yet, it’s shaping up to be a massive financial disaster, with early projections suggesting a $100 million loss for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

For a studio once considered the pinnacle of Hollywood filmmaking, this is an alarming trend. Under CEO David Zaslav, WBD has been in financial freefall, burdened by billions in debt. Zaslav initially made headlines for aggressive cost-cutting, infamously scrapping the nearly completed Batgirl and gutting HBO Max’s original programming. But now, he’s pivoted in the opposite direction, greenlighting expensive blockbusters in an attempt to reignite WBD’s box office dominance. The results, however, have been disastrous.

The Flash bombed spectacularly, losing over $200 million. Joker: Folie à Deux, despite the first film’s success, became the laughingstock of the industry.

Now, the studio is pinning their entire future on Superman, James Gunn’s highly anticipated reboot, meant to launch a new DC Universe. Banking the studio’s future on one superhero movie is an enormous risk. If Superman doesn’t deliver, WBD could go the way of 20th Century Fox, a legendary Hollywood powerhouse that mismanaged its biggest franchises and was ultimately absorbed by Disney.

– Nathaniel Beach

Variety. ‘Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney’ Turns a One-Off Experiment Into Consistently Delightful Chaos: TV Review

I’m sure my parents were confused why their son in middle school was watching The Late Shift, an HBO movie about Jay Leno and David Letterman competing to host The Tonight Show, over and over again, but I have always been fascinated by the late-night genre. It makes sense on the surface; I am a night owl, news junky, and comedy fan. But it wasn’t just the style of humor; it was the genre’s looseness and edge, tracing back to Steve Allen’s Tonight Show that was shot live in New York. This format, a sense that this was a cool place where “anything can happen,” captivated me.

Recently, late-night feels homogenized and dulled down, a victim of, I believe, internet culture and the over-corporatization of television. Ratings are down, and tonally, there’s hardly a difference between the Today Show and Tonight Show. Plus, late-night shows on major networks aren’t really live, but “live on tape.” However, Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney is returning to the genre’s roots.

In a time when audiences crave authenticity, Mulaney’s quirky and actually live show stands out. It’s a chance to reignite the unpredictable magic that first drew me and American audiences into the genre.

– David Manitsky

BBC. Instagram may launch separate Reels app to take on TikTok – report

As an early adopter of TikTok and a late adopter of Instagram (as a geriatric Gen Z anyway), I’ve watched both social media platforms transform over the past six years for TikTok and thirteen years for Instagram. The fundamental issue with Instagram trying to take on TikTok within their established platform via Reels is that people go to each app for different experiences. TLDR; Instagram is for people you know; TikTok is for people you don’t.

In my opinion, and with the relative success so far of Threads, it would make sense for Instagram to build out another app to directly compete with TikTok. I’m sure people are groaning, “I don’t want to have to download another app.” App fatigue is a real thing. But if Meta can take the data they already have on people from Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, and use it to make it easy to start a new profile on a separate platform, they just might be able to develop an algorithm as addictive as TikTok’s. I, for one, do care about my data privacy but not enough (like most people my age) to stop using TikTok. While I assume everyone already has everything on me, it’d be refreshing to at least know that that “everyone” with “everything” was an American company, not our biggest global rival.

– Annie Moore

Don’t forget to check out the latest monthly issue of Our Take!

Subscribe now