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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

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You're not exactly everyone's favorite person at the party when you go around asking—"What do you think about the United States Prison System?" Maybe Jimmy's cousin was incarcerated last year and it’s a touchy subject, but mostly no one wants to talk about the prison system because it's... Prison. But also, let's say you don't mind the topic-- you also might shy away from it because of the long list of problems that are attached to the topic. If you aren't affected directly, or haven’t experienced the prison system yourself, ‘it's out of sight, out of mind’ even though, “One in 28 American children has a parent behind bars”, “Three out of four young black men in Washington, D.C. can expect to serve time behind bars. This is despite the fact that people of all races use and sell drugs at the time rate”, “Eighty percent of defendants cannot afford a lawyer. Tens of thousands of people go to jail every year without ever talking to a lawyer or going to trial” (The Sentencing Project).
Oliver points out the severity of the US’s high incarceration rate in comparison to other countries, so much so, that Sesame Street needs to have a special, explaining to children what ‘Incarceration’ is, “And at least sesame street is actually talking about prison, the rest of us are much happier completely ignoring it, perhaps because it is so easy not to care about prisoners. In fact, it’s so easy not to care, that we are really comfortable making jokes about one of the most horrifying things that can potentially happen to them…”(3:15).
Oliver then shows a collection of film and television clips, that poke fun at some of the awful things prisoners face while serving time. I think Oliver does something really important here—he’s turning humor on its head because he's using humor in making a point, trying to enable change and spread awareness. He’s instilling the notion that, people need to realize this is a serious problem that needs to be solved and to do more than just laugh. Oliver's show is not just for laughs, it’s a way of moral messaging to the public; it’s comedy with a moral purpose. The way Oliver does this, makes the reality of the issues surrounding the prison and incarceration system even more hard hitting, calling the public out to not just laugh passively, but to start to taking action to solve this problem.
Through the nature of John Oliver's show, he devotes each episode (this particular episode pertaining to the US Prison system) to various social and/or political issues, using humor, to break down the major aspects of each problem, bringing awareness and educating viewers. Using humor, as already being an important component in education/moral messaging, Oliver goes through why the American people should care about the issues of incarceration and the U.S. Prison system. Oliver breaks down how the prisons are broken, going into the racism that surrounds drug law enforcement that targeting African Americans, “Our drug laws seem to be a little draconian and a lot racist”(1:55)
 
“While Oliver makes jokes throughout his segments, his moments of seriousness offer insight into the show’s reality of being well-researched and informed. The show draws out laughs, but his speeches often point out how frustrating many of his topics are. This transition between humor and seriousness more effectively drives home the feelings of anger and frustration that arise; as a result, these feelings successfully stay with viewers after the show.” (Sinfeild 2015)
 

Other Issues Oliver Deconstructs:
 

Torture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmeF2rzsZSU

Transgender Rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmoAX9f6MOc&t=16s

LGBT Discrimination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d667Bb_iYA&t=5s

Sex Education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0jQz6jqQS0

Standardized Testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lyURyVz7k

School Segregation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8yiYCHMAlM&t=44s

Voting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHFOwlMCdto

Online Harassment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNIwYsz7PI

Food Waste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY

Mental Health: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGY6DqB1HX8

Refugee Crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kZsOISarzg
Migrants & Refugees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umqvYhb3wf4

Nuclear Weapons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1ya-yF35g

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  1. Introduction to the Truth Tellers Mary Lopez

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