Geist Talks Obama, Blago, Brackets on the Menu

Joining us on the Media Menu podcast today was MSNBC’s Willie Geist, minutes after leaving the Morning Joe set.

We talked about the big news story of the week — President Obama’s trip to Europe. “Every step of the way it was to show a more humble President and a more humble United States, and if that was his goal, he certainly achieved it everywhere he went,” says Geist. But: “I think a lot of this was cosmetic. I mean, obviously they weren’t going to solve the world financial crisis with a one day summit, but visually, the optics of it, looks pretty good for him.”

We also discussed a favorite podcast topic — former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. “In my world, the Blago story never goes away,” said Geist.

So does Geist think MSNBC could have a spot for Blago? “As you can tell by watching the cable news landscape, it’s okay to be completely insane, you can still have a TV show,” he said. “But sometimes I worry like where he’d be for the conference call, or wouldn’t show up for the show.”

Also discussed: Joe/Mika “tiffs,” how the newspaper industry can be saved and Geist’s predictions for tonight’s NCAA finals (and his “highly, highly illegal” NCAA pool).

You can listen to all the past podcasts at BlogTalkRadio.com/mediabistro and call in at 646-929-0321.

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