This hour's Scramble starts fun and gradually grows darker. We begin with David Rees, host of a television show in which he layers expertise onto simple acts like opening a door or making ice cubes. Its motto is "de-familiarizing the ubiquitous so as to increase our appreciation and wonder thereby." We can get behind that.
We even have ideas for future episodes, and we really want to know everything there is to know about how to swat a fly. You can watch that episode Monday night on "Going Deep with David Rees," his new show on the National Geographic Channel.
Our middle segment is about Sunday morning talk shows like "Meet the Press," "Face the Nation," and "This Week," and whether there is any need for them in 2014. They long controlled the flow and direction of breaking news and knowledgeable response before the internet changed the way we consume news. Today, they'd be more important if they put public figures on the hot seat more often. If they did that, though, public figures would simply gravitate to shows with softer questions. How can they retain, or regain, relevance?
Lastly, the NFL shows once again it has a horrid value system.
GUESTS:
- David Rees is a cartoonist and creator of the comic strips “Get Your War On”and author of “How To Sharpen Pencils”, and the host of "Going Deep with David Rees," which premiered on the National Geographic Channel July 14. You can follow him on Twitter @david_rees
- Dylan Byers is a media reporter at POLITICO and the author of the On Media blog. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanByers
- Tomas Rios is a contributing editor for “Sports on Earth.” His writing has appeared in Deadspin, The Classical, Slate, The Score and Pacific Standard. Follow him on Twitter @TheTomasRios
