Episode Description
As the US reengages with its roots in empire, it does so with a lot of leaders who just don't speak the language. Maybe that would help? Food for thought. On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, writer TAYLOR KAY PHILLIPS gets in on the dingus action with her pick: monolingualism.
Hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH yell with Phillips about languages—dead and otherwise—and ask whether "gonorrhea" was the solution all along to a dark political moment. She talks about writing jokes when the material doesn't necessarily lend itself to comedy.
Also on the episodes...
US Sec. of State "Little" Marco Rubio
ICE agents
Pete Hegseth
Greenland
And Lyz's badbadnotgood Bernie Sanders impression
DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday.
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SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.
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LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.
ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).
TAYLOR KAY PHILLIPS is a writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO and for Crying in Public on Substack. She is the author of A Guide to Midwestern Conversation.
LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.
SHOW RUNDOWN:
(00:00) - Intro: "Everybody has pubes" by Zachary Oren Smith
(04:06) - Comedy in dark times
(15:49) - Guest dingus: America's commitment to monolingualism
(23:30) - Presidential language history
(33:50) - American tourists abroad
(39:28) - Dingus says what?
(54:17) - Close