MONDAY, July 21 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR MONDAY, July 21, 2025

COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: AMISH FURNITURE WORLD

TODAY IS …
(All days repeat annually on today’s date unless otherwise noted; days may or may not be called “National”/”International”/”World” depending on source; sources listed often have additional info. We generally do not list special days which were created by commercial companies for the purpose of marketing – including “holidays” created by the National Day Calendar and Wellcat websites to drive traffic to their websites – or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year. We present only those specially designated days we feel your listeners would find most interesting or significant.)

MONKEY DAY
The FreePublic website says this:
“(On July 21, 1925,) in Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called ‘Monkey Trial’ ended with John Thomas Scopes being convicted of teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee law. Scopes was ordered to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed.” The conviction was later overturned.

NATIONAL JUNK FOOD DAY

NATIONAL LAMINGTON DAY
Spotlights the sweet snack from Australia – a cake made from squares of sponge cake or butter cake which is coated in a layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut.

July is:

Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
Air Conditioning Appreciation Month
Baked Bean Month
Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Family Reunion Month
International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month
National Blueberries Month
National Grilling Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Ice Cream Month
Melon Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Monday through Wednesday
Listings compiled from multiple sources

MONDAY, July 21

“Justice on Trial”
Amazon – New Series
Synopsis: Judge Judy Sheindlin presides over reenactments of landmark criminal cases, examining whether justice was truly served.

“The Hunting Wives”
Netflix – New Series
Synopsis: Follows Sophie O’Neil, an East Coaster who moves to East Texas and becomes ensconced in a crew of affluent housewives and gets sucked into their lavish, booze-fueled, sexually promiscuous lifestyle until, eventually, the body of a local teenager shows up in a nearby wooded area.

“Trophy Wife: Murder on Safari”
Hulu – New Limited Series
Synopsis: Explores the mysterious death of Bianca Rudolph during an African hunting trip with her husband, Larry Rudolph, a wealthy dentist.

WEDNESDAY, July 23

“Critical: Between Life and Death”
Netflix – New Docuseries
Synopsis: Offers an inside look into London’s major trauma centers, following medical professionals as they treat the most severely injured patients.

“Letters from the Past”
Netflix – New Series from Turkey
Synopsis: When a young woman discovers a long-buried secret about her past, she must trace back a collection of letters to their writers to uncover the truth.

“Match Game”
ABC – Game Show
Synopsis: Another revival of the classic TV game show, this time hosted by Martin Short.

“Washington Black”
Hulu – New Limited Series
Synopsis: Follows young George Washington “Wash” Black as he escapes enslavement in Barbados, and jumps ahead to find an older Washington living in Nova Scotia, where he’s mentored by a Black refugee with his own traumatic past.

Season Premieres:
Apple TV+ – “Acapulco”
Comedy Central – “South Park”
Prime Video – “Shiny Happy People”

PEE-WEE’S BICYCLE IS COMING TO THE ALAMO

Do you remember the iconic red bike from the 1985 movie, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure?” The movie was about Pee-wee’s search for his stolen bicycle, and at one point he ends up at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas (because a psychic told him it was in the basement). Well, the Alamo has now officially acquired the original screen-used stunt bike from the film and you can go see it later this year during a limited-time showing inside the Ralston Family Collection Center. The acquisition coincides with the 40th anniversary of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure this summer. The Alamo says the bike will be permanently displayed in the future Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, which is opening in the Fall of 2027.
* First they have to build a basement to display the bike, because as we all know, there’s no basement at the Alamo!
* If only Davy Crockett had Pee-wee’s bicycle at the Alamo, he could have scooted past General Santa Ana and gotten reinforcements.
* With Pee-wee’s bike at the Alamo, don’t be surprised to see the Christmas Story leg lamp in the Oval Office.

THE BUZZ

DON’T BECOME A CONSULTANT

Multimillionaire investor Kevin O’Leary, from TV’s “Shark Tank,” is also an Executive Fellow at Harvard, teaching an MBA course in entrepreneurship called The Founder Mindset. In his course, he tells Fortune magazine in a new interview, there is one career that he strongly advises his students to avoid, saying if you choose that career path, you “are tainted meat for the rest of your life.” That career is… any guesses? Consulting. He says, “Look, if you want to drift into hell on Earth, stay 24 months in a consulting firm. No one’s going to hire you to make a decision because you never have made one. If you’re there for more than two than 24 months, you get the virus. You’re tainted—your resume says you were someone of no consequence.” He adds, “Why would anybody burn all those hours while someone else makes money, and you do nothing of consequence?” He does note that consulting jobs can offer $250,000 to $350,000 salaries right off the bat. Still, he encourages students to start their own businesses.
* I was really afraid he was going to say “radio.”
* Thank god the radio industry doesn’t use consultants. Now here’s Van Morrison and “Brown-Eyed Girl.”

U.S. NEWS

DOCTORS KILL PATIENT WHILE PLAYING “MUSIC BINGO”

A now-settled lawsuit alleges a surgeon and anesthesiologist played a music bingo game during a routine eye surgery, which caused them to miss critical signs that their patient was no longer breathing. The surgeon, Dr. C. Starck Johnson, and anesthesiologist, Dr. Michael Urban, were performing cataract surgery. The procedure was scheduled to last little more than 10 minutes. The doctors, like many, liked to listen to music during the surgeries. The bingo game, according to court records, involved playing mostly ’70s and ’80s music and attempting to tie the bands involved to “B” “I” “N” “G” and “O.” For example, if the ’70s group the Bee Gees were to sing a song, that would be the letter ‘B.’ While playing, neither the doctor nor the anesthesiologist noticed the 56-year-old patient was not breathing. CPR was performed, but never regained consciousness and died shortly after he was transferred to a hospital. It was pointed out in the court record that Dr Johnson has performed over 25,000 cataract surgeries, 8,000 of them with Dr. Urban.
* After 8,000 surgeries together, they were probably tired of playing “I spy with my little eye.”
* How do you play a minimum of five songs during a 10-minute surgery? Unless it’s speed metal.
* And there were no “I” bands in the 70’s and 80’s.
* At least the eye surgeons weren’t play marbles with… uh, never mind.

FOLLOW UP – THE COLDPLAY KISS CAM AFFAIR SCANDAL

Here is what’s been happening with that Coldplay Kiss-Cam scandal that broke last week. As you remember, the were running the Kiss Cam at a Coldplay concert in Boston and the camera focused on a couple in a romantic embrace, but as soon as they realized they were on camera they quickly broke up and tried to hide. It turned out the man was the CEO of a tech company called Astronomer, and the woman was not his wife, but the company’s director of human resources. Here’s what’s happened since then:
– The CEO, Andy Byron, has resigned. Company co-founder Pete DeJoy is serving as its interim CEO. The Astronomer company released a statement saying it is “committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.” The company added that it will begin a search for its next chief executive. (* I hope the next guy hates Coldplay.)
– Astronomer is refuting the claim that another staffer, Alyssa Stoddard, was spotted in the video.
– There is a fake statement circulating of Mr. Byron apologizing, with a quote from Coldplay. It’s a phony. As of Friday, neither Byron nor Cabot had released an official statement. Both have taken their LinkedIn accounts offline.
– Grace Springer, the woman who recorded the Kiss Cam on her phone and helped it go viral, said, “A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but … play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” She hopes the partners of both Byron and Cabot “can heal from this.”
– Ms. Cabot has a somewhat-confusing marital status. Although she filed for divorce from her spouse Kenneth Thornby in 2018, she is married to Andrew Cabot, CEO of Privateer Rum spirits. Property records show the two have lived together since at least 2023, and that they appeared to have purchased a new home in February for $2.2 million.
– Because of Massachusetts’s 50/50 marital laws, in a divorce Mr. Byron’s wife could take home half of her husband’s millions, estimated to be anywhere from $20 million to $70 million.
* Those were the most expensive Coldplay tickets ever, as it turns out. And that’s AFTER the service fees.
* I guess a life as CEO of a company called Astronomy was not written in the stars.
* Next time, Coldplay is going to forego the KissCam and just publish some guy’s tax return on the Jumbotron to embarrass them.
* And people say Dad Rock is boring.
* Worst of all, the guy’s got no one to go with him to the Mumford and Sons concert this Friday.

LAW OFFICE INTERN FIRED FOR BITING EVERYBODY

An intern was reportedly fired from an elite Manhattan law firm after repeatedly biting her co-workers. The intern at the Sidley Austin law firm reportedly began biting colleagues and roaring at them on her first day. Insiders told the legal news site Above the Law that her bites were not “in an aggressive way,” but still — biting. Some reports have her biting more than 10 other people, but one insider claimed it was only around 5. It was such a repeated thing that her officemate started wearing long sleeve shirts to the office because she kept getting bit. The account added that, besides the biting, she had once ordered a $2,000 bottle of wine at a dinner with partners and associates.
* And the wine also had a bite to it.
* Did her boss chew her out?
* I can’t imagine that one of these local “Bulldog” or “Law Tigers” law firms isn’t scrambling to hire this woman, just to stick her face on a billboard.
* She could literally chase ambulances and catch the tires.
* Even if it is cannibalism, there’s something to be said for a few less lawyers.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC DUMPS TOILET WASTE ON PASSENGERS’ LUGGAGE

Some Virgin Atlantic passengers last Monday were horrified to find their luggage covered in foul-smelling poop and urine in a travel nightmare. Flyers made the discovery after landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. As they picked up their bags at carousel, they first smelled and then saw their luggage sprayed in what appeared to be human excrement. Virgin Atlantic insisted it’s not their fault and that the damage happened in the baggage tunnel at the airport. Waste from airplane toilets are typically stored in tanks and then removed by ground crews with special vehicles, equipment, and disposal methods.
* But sometimes, with cost-cutting, it’s done with buckets and a shovel, apparently.
* It’s true, The airlines have literally gone to crap.
* On Virgin Air, there’s no such thing as dooty-free travel.
* At least there’d be nobody crowding around your bag as you’re trying to pull it off the conveyor belt.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

THE OCTOPUS HOT DOG

In London, there’s a restaurant called La Spot in Soho that is serving an octopus hot dog. The item features a tender, slow-cooked octopus tentacle nestled in golden, pillowy, soft brioche roll, topped with onion marmalade, Makato cheese, crispy potato julienne, and a dash of hot paprika. The restaurant says the item sells out every day, as foodies and influencers queue up to try it.
* They first tried calling it the Octopus Wiener, but that turned out to be wrong on a couple of levels.
* You know what you say just before eating an octopus hot dog? “So long, suckers.”
* Let’s see Joey Chestnut down 76 of THOSE.
* They should build a car like the Wienermobile. Call it the Tentacle Truck.

TRENDING

ANOTHER KATY PERRY PROP MALFUNCTION

A couple weeks ago, Katy Perry suffered a prop malfunction during a concert when a giant ball she was in started rising unevenly off the stage. On Friday, at a concert in San Francisco, she was almost a victim of another incident. Perry was flying over the crowd on the back of a giant metallic butterfly, performing her hit “Roar,” when the entire apparatus suddenly lurched hard to the side and dropped several feet. Although she was clipped on to the butterfly with a harness, it was a scary moment. But she only lost about one line of the song, before composing herself and rejoining the track’s chorus.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (July 18-20)

1. Superman – $57.2
2. Jurassic World: Rebirth – $23.4
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer- $13 million
4. Smurfs – $11 million
5. F1 – $9.6 million

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

Sept. 1, Monday – Labor Day
Sept. 11, Thursday – Patriot Day
Sept. 22, Monday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 2:19 p.m. EDT)

BIRTHDAYS

Josh Hartnett (actor) … 47
Alysia Reiner (actress, “Ms. Marvel,” “Orange Is the New Black”) … 55
Jon Lovitz (comedian, comic actor) … 68
Yusuf Islam (singer, songwriter, formerly Cat Stevens) … 77
Garry Trudeau (cartoonist, “Doonesbury”) … 77

Today’s Birthdays grade: An SNL alum (how many are there now? 600?), a 70s singer-songwriter who’s sold over 100 million records with over 2 billion streams, a cartoonist who began in the 70s and is still publishing, and some middle-tier actors. Some distinguished folks – sorry, no faves for younger folks. Grade: B-minus.

[Want to try something different with the daily birthdays? Try grading them! Some days have “good” celebs, some have “great” celebs, some have “lousy” celebs. For fun, give the group an arbitrary grade: A-plus through F-minus. Sidekick will give you our take on it; you can to take the concept and run with it.]

BIRTHDAY QUOTE QUIZ – Ask your listeners “Who said it?” HINT: Today’s their birthday!

“Anybody who tells you he doesn’t want to be famous is full of crap.”

(A) Ye (Kanye West)
(B) Timothee Chalamet
(C) Jon Lovitz

ANSWER: (C) Jon Lovitz

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2011 – The space shuttle program came to an end after 30 years as Atlantis landed at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
* Flying the space shuttles was getting too expensive, too redundant, and too scary.

2002 – Telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection, about a month after disclosing it had inflated profits by nearly $4 billion through deceptive accounting.
* “Sorry, we accidentally moved the decimal point … seven places!”

1985 – The man who started the late 20th Century jogging craze, fitness author Jim Fixx, died of a heart attack while running.
* Right up until then, it was doing wonders for his health.

1984 – The first killing of a human by a robot occurred when a worker was killed by a factory robot in Jackson, Michigan.
* The weird part is that it was a love triangle.

1925 – John Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school in violation of state law. Scopes was ordered to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed. The conviction was later overturned.
* Those were not the days to monkey around with a Tennessee school board.

1873 – Famous Western outlaw Jesse James held his first heist, when he robbed the Rock Island Express train and got away with about $3,000.
* Back then, that was actually a lot of money.

1861 – The first clash of the U.S. Civil War took place, at Manassas, Virginia.
* We didn’t always used to fight wars only in places that had oil.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2017 – Canadian Justin Bieber was banned from performing in China, according to Beijing’s Culture Bureau. In a statement, the ministry said it was not appropriate to allow in entertainers who have engaged in “bad behavior.”

2008 – Amy Winehouse’s husband Blake Fielder-Civil, 26, was jailed for 27 months for attacking a pub landlord and then trying to bribe the victim to drop the charges.

2003 – Coldplay singer Chris Martin was charged with malicious damage in Australia after he allegedly attacked a photographer’s car after he had taken pictures of him surfing at Seven Mile Beach. Martin admitted he had lost his temper due to the constant harassment by that journalist, and consequently smashed his windshield and let the air out of his tires.

1990 – Roger Waters’ “The Wall” was staged at the Berlin Wall in Potzdamer Platz, Berlin. Over 200,000 people attended and the event was broadcast live throughout the world. Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell and others took part.

1977 – The Sex Pistols made their debut on UK music TV show Top Of The Pops.

X-TREME TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Every installment of X-Treme Trivia Challenge includes three mystery factoids. Create your own “Impossible Question” contest – great for listener giveaways and phone interaction starters! Also a perfect sponsorship opportunity!

1. In a recent survey, 76% of people said they do THIS alone. What is it?
Commute to work

2. A new survey found that the average person does THIS 3 times a day at work. What is it?
Gets up from their desk

3. THIS is the #1 reason we pass on using vacation days. What is it?
We hate the mounds of work that are waiting for us when we return

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