Latest / The Daily Sarcast / May 27th, 2026: Iran Gets The Internet Back-ish, Trump's Physical And Workout Class Thoughts
Transcript
- 0:00Today's episode is sponsored by Karma. It's very real, and you really do get
- 0:05what you deserve sometimes.
- 0:07Cedar Point does not condone the behavior demonstrated in this video.
- 0:11Cedar Point, after an influencer filmed himself violating the safety rules,
- 0:16eating chicken nuggets, amongst other things from McDonald's,
- 0:20on a 93-mile-per-hour rollercoaster.
- 0:23Insert theme song here. This is the Daily Starcast. I give you the news and
- 0:27maybe a laugh. I'm Lindsay Vernick, and today is May 27th, 2026.
- 0:32What's up, guys? I'm actually traveling for work this week. I'm headed down
- 0:36to Miami Swim Week. Oh, so fun.
- 0:39If you're like, what the fuck is she talking about? It's just like this silly
- 0:43week of models walking around in swimsuits.
- 0:47So should be fun. I am working, but still hopefully should be fun.
- 0:53But that being said, the sarcasm this week are probably going to be scarce because
- 0:57I'm going to be super busy.
- 0:58So that being said, again, if you want to do a sarcasm this week,
- 1:03please reach out to me because I definitely could use the help.
- 1:07In real news, Iran just ended the longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern
- 1:12history after 88 days offline.
- 1:1588 days. That's over two months without internet and people not being able to
- 1:20connect with others and just get some entertainment.
- 1:25Apparently, the government shut down internet access because of the war,
- 1:29saying it was for national security, which is also what I say when I ignore
- 1:34texts for three days and put my phone on do not disturb for like a week.
- 1:38One government official announced the return of the internet by saying,
- 1:42the first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken.
- 1:47Who can believe anything that the Iranian government has to say anyways?
- 1:52But could you imagine America losing the internet for 88 days?
- 1:56We would collapse by like hour four.
- 1:58A woman in Brooklyn will be screaming outside of Sweetgreen because she can't
- 2:03access her Pilates waitlist.
- 2:04A finance guy in midtown would have to sit alone with
- 2:07his thoughts on the subway for the first time since 2017 horrific
- 2:12the craziest part is is people in
- 2:15iran still had to continue living normal life during all this of
- 2:17course people were running businesses trying to work trying to contact family
- 2:22members and meanwhile the entire country basically got sent to digital prison
- 2:26also to be clear internet traffic was only partially restored which feels very
- 2:32we brought the power back, but only for Fox News and weather.
- 2:36But 88 days without social media does make me wonder something.
- 2:41Someone out there probably was able to, like, be spiritually healed.
- 2:45Someone else touched grass. Another person read some books. Maybe somebody learned woodworking.
- 2:52Meanwhile, the second the Wi-Fi came back, everyone else immediately was like,
- 2:56Wait, okay, so what did I miss?
- 2:58And the answer is not much. The world is still freaking crazy as hell.
- 3:04It's better off just not knowing anymore. Donald Trump just had another physical
- 3:10yesterday at Walter Reed and
- 3:12immediately announced that everything checked out, in all caps, perfectly.
- 3:17That's what every dad over 70 describes their health, right before falling asleep
- 3:21in a lawn chair for three hours.
- 3:23Trump is about to turn 80 years old, which feels impossible because he's both
- 3:2714 and 97 at the same time.
- 3:30The White House still hasn't released many details from the exam,
- 3:33but they did mention bruising on his hands, swelling in his legs,
- 3:37fatigue, and a mysterious neck rash.
- 3:39At this point, his medical chart sounds like the warning label on a pharmaceutical commercial.
- 3:45Apparently, AIDS said the bruises on his hands are from handshakes,
- 3:49which is a kind of funny explanation because it makes it sound like he's been
- 3:53campaigning in a Bass Pro shop for like 14 straight months.
- 3:57And then there's the phrase advanced imaging.
- 4:01That's pretty vague medical language. Advanced imaging either sounds incredibly
- 4:06serious, or they just upgraded the iPhone camera.
- 4:09Also, one doctor previously claimed Trump's heart was 14 years younger than
- 4:14his actual age, which means Donald Trump has the cardiovascular system of a
- 4:1965-year-old casino owner.
- 4:21Inspiring stuff. The funniest part to me is presidents always release these
- 4:26health reports like they're up reviews for their organs, like liver performing
- 4:30beautifully, tremendous veins.
- 4:33Doctors have never seen cholesterol this patriotic. I mean, every presidential
- 4:37health update is basically the same. The public asks, is he okay?
- 4:42And the White House responds like a hostage negotiator, reading a prepared statement.
- 4:47President remains strong.
- 4:49Strong doing what exactly? Because half the footage lately is him blinking slowly
- 4:54at military parades like your uncle after two martinis at a holiday dinner.
- 4:59Still, though, 80 years old and running the country is objectively insane.
- 5:03I sprained something reaching for a pan in the bottom cabinet.
- 5:07And meanwhile, all of these men are negotiating nuclear policy with compression socks on.
- 5:12Meanwhile, over in China, a 60-year-old Chinese dissident escaped China in a
- 5:18rubber boat and landed in South Korea.
- 5:20I mean, the level of commitment here makes every person who says,
- 5:24I want to move abroad someday, look deeply unserious.
- 5:27This man has tried escaping China four different times.
- 5:31Thailand, Vietnam, swimming to Taiwan, and now a rubber boat to South Korea.
- 5:37At this point, he's basically starring in the world's most stressful, amazing race.
- 5:41The craziest detail is that that one time he literally tried to swim to Taiwan.
- 5:46Like, literally swim over there. I complain when the subway stairs are too steep,
- 5:52and this man said, I will freestyle my way to democracy.
- 5:57But after eight hours in the water, he called a friend and basically went,
- 6:00Save me, because I'm swimming to Taiwan right now.
- 6:03Which is maybe the weirdest sentence to hear on a random Tuesday afternoon.
- 6:08Like, could you imagine getting that phone call? Hey, what's up, dude?
- 6:12I'm currently swimming to Taiwan, but can you come pick me up, please? I'm scared.
- 6:17Also, the fact that he was inspired by another dissident who escaped by jet ski is incredible.
- 6:23Apparently, there's an underground Fast and Furious franchise for political asylum.
- 6:27And every vehicle just keeps getting funnier. First, they're swimming,
- 6:31and then a rubber boat, and then jet skiing.
- 6:34At this rate, someone's going to parasail into South Korea next year,
- 6:37holding a duffel bag and a fake mustache.
- 6:40But underneath all the absurdity, the story is actually kind of brutal.
- 6:44The guy lost his job, he got imprisoned multiple times, he got sent back after
- 6:49trying to flee, and basically spent years under surveillance just trying to
- 6:53reunite with his family.
- 6:55People don't repeatedly risk dying at sea because things feel kind of annoying.
- 7:00You do that when staying feels impossible.
- 7:03And still, I just can't stop thinking about this image of a guy crossing the
- 7:07ocean in a tiny rubber boat at 68 years old.
- 7:10Meanwhile, I'm like 31, live in New York City in the Upper East Side,
- 7:16and need to very much so mentally prepare for a Trader Joe's trip.
- 7:20And somewhere in the middle of all this, there's just a guy in South Korea who
- 7:26just looked out into the ocean and saw a random guy drifting towards shore,
- 7:30like the very beginning of a political Gilligan's Island.
- 7:34In Lindsay life I had to say goodbye again
- 7:37to my roommate yesterday because we're both
- 7:40so busy traveling and doing stuff it's
- 7:44so funny the other day someone was asking me
- 7:46what I was doing for my birthday and I was like oh
- 7:49my god I get to hang out with my roommate she's in town and the
- 7:53woman's like your roommate is in town what
- 7:56and I was like yeah sorry you don't get
- 7:59it's weird telling random people but my
- 8:02roommate is in town because obviously why
- 8:05wouldn't she be but I forget that a lot of
- 8:07people don't know my situation that my
- 8:10roommate's this really fucking cool musician and I
- 8:14work in television so we're both really never
- 8:17home things I'm thinking about I think
- 8:20that there should be a spreadsheet of every fitness instructor
- 8:23and all of the different studios across New York City and you can write like
- 8:29notes on what they're like and what kind of music they play and how you feel
- 8:33about them because there's just so many different classes you can take and so
- 8:38many different instructors we should be able to know what we're getting ourselves
- 8:42into and we should all collectively.
- 8:44Keep chart but also not let the instructors know about this because then I feel
- 8:49like they would try to skew it maybe I don't know I'm also thinking about this
- 8:53out loud in real time on this podcast which I probably should have done before.
- 8:58Anyway, I really need to get some rest. Cooking tip of the day.
- 9:02Let your sister do it. She'll make it way better than you.
- 9:06Feedback, comments, questions, a nice Jewish by looking for a date,
- 9:09email me at lindsay at thedailystarcast.com.
- 9:12Thanks so much for listening. Hopefully talk to you guys tomorrow.