Jerry Springer, the talk show host, politician, and king of mess who pushed the boundaries of television with his eponymous daytime talk show, died yesterday at 79. He leaves behind a legacy of norm-defying, provocative storytelling about people on the fringes of society that laid the foundation for the current reality TV landscape.

The Jerry Springer Show, which ran from 1991 to 2018, peaked in popularity in 1998, drawing 12 million viewers and surpassing Oprah’s talk show in the ratings. That year, while Oprah was chatting with celebs like Madonna, Brad Pitt, and Tyra Banks, Springer interviewed three people in interspecies marriages.

Just how weird was The Jerry Springer Show? If you thought Dr. Phil’s “Cash Me Outside” episode was strange…you’d better sit down. Examples of guests Springer hosted include members of the KKK, adult babies, a self-described kung fu hillbilly, and a number of folks who came clean about extramarital affairs while on the show.

Springer said he only ever interviewed “regular folks, of no fame, little if any wealth, and very little influence,” and he faced many critics who said that in doing so, he profited off the exploitation of low-income people.

But Springer defended his approach. When asked in a 2014 BBC interview if he was ashamed of his show, he said, “You could decide only to put well-scrubbed, wealthy people who speak the Queen’s English on television and just do that, but that wouldn’t reflect the whole society.”

Springer was a busy guy

When he wasn’t breaking up fights on daytime TV, Springer also:

• Started as a politician. He was an advisor to Robert F. Kennedy, served as the mayor of Cincinnati from 1977–1978, and ran for Ohio governor in 1982. Luckily, he lost and pivoted to TV.
• Inspired a musical. Jerry Springer: The Opera has been running on and off since 2001.
• Appeared in a number of other productions, including The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and most recently, The Masked Singer as a contestant.

Of course, for ’90s kids, Springer’s greatest role of all was keeping us company on sick days.—CC

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Powell got punk’d. In January, Fed Chair Jerome Powell had a phone call with a person he thought was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky…but it was just a prank by Russian tricksters, according to footage from Russian state television. In the video, Powell can be seen answering questions about inflation and the economy in ways that were consistent with his other statements—though the Fed said the video appears to have been edited and cannot confirm its accuracy. Powell isn’t the only victim of these pranksters; they also bamboozled their way to speak with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prince Harry.

Cigarette smoking hits a record low in the US. Just 1 in 9 Americans smoked cigarettes last year, a record low, according to the CDC. Compared to the 1960s, when 42% of US adults smoked cigarettes, it’s a dramatic drop that reflects greater awareness of the health risks of smoking, and economic hurdles like cigarette taxes. But Americans haven’t given up their nicotine addiction entirely. Vaping rose to almost 6% last year, and 14% of teens reported using e-cigarettes in another CDC study.

QBs go No. 1 and No. 2 at the NFL draft. On the first night of the NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers selected Alabama quarterback Bryce Young as the first pick, and with the second pick, the Houston Texans drafted Ohio State signal-caller C.J. Stroud. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens and former MVP QB Lamar Jackson agreed to a five-year deal worth $260 million, making Jackson the highest-paid player in the league. Jalen Hurts—it was fun while it lasted.

Say buongiorno to Mounjaro.

The antidiabetic drug made by Eli Lilly that helps patients shed pounds could dethrone Wegovy (the weight-loss version of Ozempic) as the favorite among celebrities and wealthy people on a diet, according to new clinical trials.

The results reinforced previous findings that Mounjaro (generic name tirzepatide) can help diabetic and nondiabetic patients lose more weight than people did in past studies of Wegovy. But Mounjaro is currently only approved for diabetes, and prescribed patients could lose steady access to the drug.

• Eli Lilly has already struggled through shortages of Mounjaro after a social-media-fueled demand for Ozempic seeped into the rest of the sector. And judging by how quickly Wegovy went to backorder after being officially approved for non-diabetes purposes, Mounjaro will likely also face a frenzy of weight-loss prescriptions that causes more shortages.
• Once greenlighted for weight loss, Mounjaro is projected to become one of the highest-grossing drugs of all time with $50 billion in annual sales, driving the weight-loss/diabetes medication industry to what some estimate could be $150 billion per year. Wegovy and Ozempic raked in $10 billion last year for manufacturer Novo Nordisk.

The timeline: Eli Lilly expects the FDA to approve Mounjaro for weight loss soon—perhaps by the end of the year. And the company is so confident in its potential “blockbuster” drug that it’s beginning an almost two-year trial this week to directly compare it against Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.—ML

The first film adaption of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret premieres in theaters today, and reminding many what it was like to be excited about wearing a bra. The novel, published in 1970, remains the beloved author’s best-selling book, but even today, it’s commonly banned around the country.

The story follows Margaret, an 11-year-old girl, as she navigates religion, periods, and toxic friendships in the New Jersey suburbs. Due to its frank discussion of menstruation and puberty, the book (and Blume’s other works) became a substitute of sorts for the sex ed many tweens never had in their classrooms.

That’s also why the novel received pushback

Are You There God and some of Blume’s other 32 titles were challenged during the first significant wave of banning books from schools in the ’80s. She’s spoken out against book bans, but her work is still being pulled from libraries for its discussion of teen sexuality and other taboo topics.

Most recently…Blume’s book Forever was included on a list of 80 books from celebrated authors like Toni Morrison and James Patterson banned last month by a Florida school district. A PEN America report released in September found that 1,648 titles were banned from school libraries in the 2021–2022 school year.—MM

Stat: Currently, more women CEOs are running S&P 500 companies than men named John, a Bloomberg analysis shows. If you’re thinking, “Well, I sure hope so,” this wasn’t always the case—as recently as 2015, the New York Times found that the number of Johns who ran large companies outnumbered the number of women who did. Still, women are significantly underrepresented in the corner office: They account for 8% of S&P 500 CEO positions, compared to their 50.5% share of the US population.

Quote: “It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success.”

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo channeled his inner Ted Lasso after his team’s shocking exit from the NBA playoffs Wednesday night. When asked by a reporter whether he considered the season a failure, Antetokounmpo responded, “There’s no failure in sports. There’s good days, bad days. Some days you’re able to be successful. Some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn. Some days it’s not your turn.” To no one’s surprise, his meditation on success started popping up on LinkedIn.

Read: The glorious return of a humble car feature. (Slate)

Getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to eating pierogies.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

The South Korean president has got pipes: Watch him sing “American Pie” at a state dinner at the White House.

Hoist the main sail: Find out how an 18th-century sailing battleship works. (YouTube)

Rating the weather apps: This website shows which weather forecasts have been the most accurate for your area.

Looking for a new book? Here is the shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

You’d love our daily podcast. Every morning, we go deeper into the news stories you read in the Brew with the most relaxed, casual vibe you won’t find in any other news pod. Check it out.

Your lucky (Way) Day: Wayfair’s sales event of the year—that’s up to 80% off 11k+ products from brands like Cuisinart, Dyson, and Sealy—just got a surprise extension! Everything ships free, so don’t risk furniture FOMO. Hurry, sale ends tonight.*

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Jigsaw: Most of us were not cool enough to attend Coachella, but today’s jigsaw puzzle will transport you to the California desert for as long as it takes you to solve it. Play the jigsaw here.

Friday puzzle

Place each number from 1 to 16 into this grid so that the sum of each column is equal to the number at the top of that column, and so that the sum of each row is equal to the number at the beginning of that row. There is only one solution.

Data analysis is a necessary skill for most positions these days. The next cohort of our Business Analytics Accelerator kicks off on May 1. Apply today.

John Deere, the agricultural machinery company, is expanding into space. We know that may sound odd, but there’s a business strategy behind the move. Read about it here.

Can’t wait for Marketing Brew’s summit next month? Get pumped by watching last year’s sessions with McDonald’s, Vans, and more here.

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