The Snark Factor 3 in 3 Week in Review: Trust Gaps, Control Myths, Confident Nonsense
January 31st, 2026
15 mins 37 secs
Your Hosts
About this Episode
Three stories.
Three minutes.
Every weekday.
Here’s what survived the week.
This Week in Review pulls together a run of stories about trust, control, and the quiet confidence institutions keep asking us to accept.
We start with investigations that matter less than who’s allowed to run them, as lawmakers argue credibility while millions meant for the homeless quietly disappear into luxury homes and private jets. Oversight isn’t the problem. Belief is.
From there, control becomes the theme:
Tax season promises relief, then hands you new forms.
Real ID tightens security while making movement more expensive.
Technology offers dignity and choice, right up until it asks a machine to make the most human decision imaginable.
California spends $236 million to help 22 people and calls it leadership.
Health experts warn that everything you enjoy eating is destroying your gut.
Your car shakes after a snowstorm—not because it’s failing, but because ice is stuck where it doesn’t belong.
Meanwhile:
The U.S. quietly positions itself closer to conflict with Iran.
Kids can’t read cursive, but are still expected to sign their names.
Major restaurant chains file for bankruptcy while insisting nothing changes.
Washington avoids a shutdown the same way it always does—delay, duct tape, and confidence.
AI agents promise efficiency while quietly introducing new risks.
And adulthood officially begins at 32, complete with blowout parties and the realization that nobody actually knows what they’re doing.
The through line is simple:
Everyone wants certainty.
Very few want questions.
Most systems just ask you to go along with it.
Sign here.
If you want this every weekday, it’s Three Stories. Three Minutes.
The Snark Factor 3 in 3 posts Monday through Friday, exclusively on Substack.
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This is the Snark Factor 3 in 3 — Week in Review.
I’m Fingers Molloy.
Let’s talk Monday.