The Cut Sheet takes a sharp turn with Natalie and Joshua Strong’s lawsuit against Brown Fertility Associates in Jacksonville. The couple alleges the wrong sperm sample was used during IVF, with a blood-type discrepancy eventually leading to DNA testing that excludes Joshua as the biological father; we work through the questions that creates about records, stored material, embryos and the family’s effort to learn what happened.
We begin with Converse pulling and apologizing for a sneaker ad featuring K-pop star Karina after critics said its lighting and composition evoked racist imagery. We study the image, question how the interpretation spread, react to boycott videos and then broaden the discussion to Nike’s business troubles, its removal from the S&P 100 and the competition it faces from newer footwear brands.
Next comes “Bucks County, USA,” the five-part PBS docuseries from Robert May and Barry Levinson that follows two teenage friends and families caught in Central Bucks school-board battles. We play the trailer, talk through the local disputes that grew out of the pandemic era and then get into Bucks County Community College canceling a screening over stated safety concerns before the event shifts to the Hiway Theater.
Matt Rooney joins us from Washington, D.C., first reacting to New Jersey’s government-building sex bill and then discussing his work with the New Jersey chapter of the America First Policy Institute. From there we debate power supply and electric bills, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ food-price messaging, New World screwworm and cattle costs, then return to the White House press fight through a Scott Jennings CNN clip before Rooney signs off.
9 AM Hour
