John Oliver talked about recent terrible events, like the deaths of nurse Alex Pretti and other people in Minneapolis at the hands of masked U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Video evidence proved this, even though the White House denied it. He talked a lot about how people in the community were pushing back, showing clips of quick protests that made ICE agents back off, which showed that a lot of people were against them. The show also looked back on past segments and said that early efforts on issues like immigration and prisons were too shallow.
Over the course of 350 episodes, Oliver’s team improved their method by making the runtimes longer, up to an hour for complicated issues like child incarceration, and mixing dark facts with funny clips marked with red stars. Tim Carvell, the executive producer, said that the show has gone from quick Daily Show-style bits to curated, unseen footage that keeps viewers interested even when the topics are heavy. This method worked well for dealing with too much news, turning sadness into humor for release.
Oliver was upset that ABC briefly pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air because of pressure from the Trump administration. He warned against giving in to bullies who want more. He also plans to cover the sale of Warner Bros. to Netflix. The host is hopeful because activists are working hard and fighting back on the streets, like Minnesota’s unified ICE countermeasures.
