UPDATE! Thanks to everyone who tuned in. You can find a few moments from the show here.
Today, Monday, I'll be back behind the Golden EIB Microphone for three hours of substitute-host-level Excellence In Broadcasting on America's Number One radio show starting at 12 noon Eastern/9am Pacific. I hope you'll dial us up either via the iHeart Radio app or on one of over 600 stations across the fruited plain, such as our old friends at WNTK New Hampshire, where you can listen to the full show from anywhere on the planet right here.
The march of the coronavirus seems likely to predominate, along with the Statler & Waldorf Democrat debate on who supported which Senate bill at the end of the last century - although even this had an oddly Covid-19 subtext: Joe coughed and touched his mouth at the very beginning of his first answer, and Bernie sniffled while insisting "I have no symptoms". Over the weekend Italy set a new record for the highest number of fatalities in a single day in any country: 368. You can get a sense of the reality of that in this comparison of the death notices in the Bergamo newspaper between February 13th BC (Before Coronavirus) and March 9th AD (After the Disease):
Bergamo daily newspaper pic.twitter.com/N3ECABz8dr
— David Carretta (@davcarretta) March 14, 2020
In other news, former Florida gubernatorial candidate and Democrat rising star Andrew Gillum has been self-quarantining with a roomful of crystal meth and a gay "escort", which is one way of lessening the stress.
So we seem set for another fast-moving news week, and we will do our best to stay on top of it.
~We had a busy weekend at SteynOnline, starting with the latest edition of Mark's Mailbox, in which I answer questions on everything from Britishness to Bidenness. Kathy Shaidle's Saturday movie column took a peep at Peeping Tom, a film I liked long before I got to know a little two of its stars (Moira Shearer, Anna Massey) and had a rather convivial late night cocktail with a third (Maxine Audley) - happy pre-quarantine days! Our marquee presentation was another live-performance video edition of our Song of the Week - this time a hundred-year-old song from Puccini via Al Jolson (with a tip of the hat to Vladimir Putin) given a killer workout. If you were too busy shooting your way into Costco for the last roll of 2-ply this weekend, I hope you'll want to catch up with one or three of the foregoing as a new week begins.
Song of the Week is made with the support of members of The Mark Steyn Club. As I always say, Club membership isn't for everyone, but it does come with some special benefits, including:
~Tales for Our Time, our monthly audio adventures of classic fiction, the latest of which starts this weekend;
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with yours truly (the latest airs around the planet this coming Friday);
~Transcript and audio versions of The Mark Steyn Show, SteynPosts, and other video content;
~My Sunday series of video poetry;
~Advance booking for my live appearances around the world;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~The opportunity to join me, the Trump-pardoned Conrad Black, the fearless Douglas Murray and my other guests on our third annual Mark Steyn Club Cruise (coronavirus permitting);
~and the chance to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
See you on the radio at noon Eastern, and on the telly with Tucker tonight.