Dear Sir:
 
My name is Charles Schumer, and I am currently serving as Minority Leader in the United States Senate.  I am senior senator representing the Great State of New York, which is where I understand you were born, before you moved to Florida.  (I have several friends who live in Florida, too, though just for the winter.  They say that “Any more than three months, and it’s like living in hell.  And that’s before Trump got here.”  Their words, not mine.)
 
I am writing to express my strong objection to you saying you will freeze funds for Harvard University.  Even though you’re now in Florida, you know how problematic freezing is.  Well, it’s just as bad when you freeze funds.  I can only say that as strongly as possible.  If you’re not be aware, this money is largely used for medical research, rather than for things like students and DEI programs, and therefore your decision would harmful to many people.  I strongly urge you to reconsider. 
 
I know that you have said you will freeze funds for other colleges, as well.  (See above re: freezing.)  Mark my words:  you should not do this.  Not.  It is wrong.  I can only repeat that as strongly as possible.
 
There are several other issues my staff and constituents would like me to address, strongly.  Since I know you don’t like to read, I won’t go into them here.  Perhaps therefore it would be better for us to meet, if that can fit into your schedule.  I strongly request we do this.  When you get back from the Vatican, and have caught up from jet lag, please have someone from your office let me know.
 
It is my strong, urgent hope that you will take this letter as seriously as it is intended.
 
In the meantime, I have eight strong questions for you.  I know that five questions is usually the standard limit for you, but I have eight.  That’s how serious I am.  And how serious the situation that has driven me to write you is.  I very strongly and deeply hope, therefore, that you will answer all of them.  And no “Taking the fifth.”
 
Why on earth did you wear a blue suit for the funeral of Pope Francis?
 
Has anyone on your staff told you a president may not be elected to three terms in office?
 
Why did you move to Florida?
 
Is JD Vance as awkward a human even in private when there isn’t a camera on him?
 
Now that you are 78, have you ever shot a round of golf with a score under your age?
 
What’s the deal with Lindsey Graham?
 
Did you know that my distant cousin is actually Amy Schumer?
 
Do you know who Amy Schumer is?
 
Thank you again for your extremely serious attention to this letter.  I must insist again that I hope you understand how truly strong I am about it all.  Truly.
 
By the way, when you’re next in Florida, I don’t know if you have dinner plans with Gov. DeSantis and his wife, but if not yet, I suggest you set them up soon.   You’ve been out of the country, so might not know that she appears to be in legal trouble, and it seems like she could be going to jail soon.  (Take that, Florida…Ha, ha.)
 
 
Sincerely,
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer
(D-NY)
Minority Leader, U.S. Senate

​On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest contestant is actress Lauren Graham.  Her conversation with host Peter Sagal is funny, occasionally off-beat and often sweet, and not shockingly focuses mostly on Gilmore Girls.
 
This is the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 18:30 mark.

On this week’s Naked Lunch podcast, hosts Phil Rosenthal and David Wild continue to offer more highlights from previous shows.  In this episode,, their guests include Jeff Bridges, Elaine May, Ray Romano & Brad Garrett, Steven & Maureen Van Zandt, John Stamos and more.
 

​We have a new one this week.  And a first after years of posting these “Piano Puzzlers”.  This week’s contestant is Finn Mikeal calling from Euless, Texas.  And the reason it’s a first here is that a few weeks back I received an email from Ms. Mikeal to say – well, let her explain herself.  She wrote:
 
“hi, i was the contestant for the piano puzzler from 3/19/2025 and i would love to see if you would be interested in covering it since i know you post mini reviews of the puzzlers!! i’m a big fan of reading them along with when i play and would love to know what you thought because i had a lot of fun. thanks!”
 
Well, of course I would not only be interested in covering it, but I always do and will – and am.  I’ll get to what I thought in a moment, but first (for added perspective) some words on how I did.
 
When I saw this episode was 13 minutes, I thought I might be in trouble, and she, as well, since that’s a long one, which means there were likely some replays of the tune and extra discussion.  And when the song began, I didn’t have a clue about any of it – but after about 20 seconds, the hidden song kicked in and I got it almost immediately.  Because, well, I’m me with my knowledge of such obscurities.  But I knew not everyone would, since it is not a well-known song at all, though there is something about its – well, let’s call it its “provenance” (so as not to give anything away) – that is well-known.  As for the composer style, it wasn’t my area of expertise, and there are usually only two composers with that style that I reasonably know.  I thought it might possibly be one of those, and almost guessed it.  However, there’s a third composer who is similar, but I don’t know well at all, and usually never guess.  But on a whim, I thought I would this time, since it didn’t strike me as exactly the person I was going to guess.  And…I was wrong – it was the person I was going to guess!
 
As for how Ms. Mikeal did – for starters, her interview was charming and even a bit funny, when talking about the pressure her family put on her for her appearance.  I was impressed by her guess for the composer style – it wasn’t right, but it was “right next-adjacent,” for reasons I knew immediately, and which pianist Bruce explains.  Personally, I didn’t hear the connection she did – but that’s all the more to her credit, given how incredibly “adjacent” her guess was.  And so, when told how close she had been and why, she got it on her follow-up guess.  As for the hidden song, when she didn’t get it right away I knew she’d be in trouble with it.  In fact, host Fred Childe didn’t know it either.  That’s how little known it is.  But after getting a bunch of clues, she impressively did guess it.  So, even though it took the clues, given the song’s relative obscurity (though not its “provenance”…), she gets major points for figuring it out.  And so, overall, did very well.
 
I will add just one additional comment.  And I say this quip completely with my tongue-in-cheek.  But my only other comment is that I believe Ms. Mikeal’s keyboard has a broken Caps Lock…

ADDENDUM:  After writing this, I sent an advance copy of the text to Ms. Mikeal, rather than unnecessarily make her wait weeks.  And among her thoughtful and charming responses was noting at the very end -- "Also fun fact, my laptop keyboard was in fact broken at the time of my initial email haha!"

So, I was right!!

​The guest on this week’s Al Franken podcast is author, public health advocate, and American surgeon Atul Gawande.  As Al writes, “Elon Musk and DOGE have been taking a chainsaw to the federal government since Trump was re-elected. It could take us generations to fully recover from the damage inflicted by the careless and cruel nature of these cuts. We’re joined by Atul Gawande to discuss just how devastating these actions are. During the Biden administration, Gawande was a senior official at USAID. He walks us through many of the great works the program did around the world… and the damaging and deadly road that lies ahead now that it’s been gutted.
 
“We also discuss the state of our healthcare system and the popularity of Medicaid expansion. The Affordable Care Act has improved the lives of millions of Americans, but Donald Trump and the Republicans threatened to take it away from Americans in his first term. Does he dare try again?”

On the surface, this is the endearing story of a rescue boxer who pretty much only gets along with the woman who adopted him.  But I think it’s as much a squirrel story (yes, another one – I love squirrel stories.  Not as much as my friend Rob Hedden, though I’m not completely sure I want to go that far).  That’s because – well, as Rob would see it, squirrels bring out the best in everyone, if you just let them.

I don't think I can embed the video here (I'll try...), but if it doesn't work, you can watch it by the clicking the link here.
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