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Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I was skeptical, but I really do think that this is the best of both worlds. While I think Oliver could easily carry a full hour, the chance to only do one show a week gives them the chance to take a longer view on many issues. Whereas The Daily Show basically functions as a replacement for the nightly news, Last Week Tonight is the 60 minutes weekend breather.

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Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I think the show is much, much stronger covering foreign affairs. Particularly given that there's huge overlap between "foreign events" and "things no one else in american news is covering"

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I don't think Jon Stewart sat around and consciously decided to shift towards media criticism over reporting; the show started drifting that way over time. Its not a good or a bad thing, and I think it gives TDS a bit of inoculation from the charge that its just a liberal free-for-all.

Oliver has thus far been taking far more biting aim at the actual news stories themselves.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I really like the structure they've built - we start with a quick recap of the week, which is basically throat clearing and when the show is the most TDSey.

And then he hones in on one or two stories and does a deep drill on them - and then always ends with an interesting interview or sketch.

And man, I goddamn love the international focus.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I'm an american who spent two years living in London for university and I was crying in laugher watching the last episode.

It is hard to overstate just how different america treats class. I remember drinking with several british friends and asking how you define class. Because in america, we all know what to say - money defines it.

But my british friend, solidly middle class, said it was entirely related to where your parents were. Parents poor? You're poor, even if you have a million quid in the bank.

"What if I won the lottery?" I asked.

"Then you're a fluke."

"What if I got into a new industry at EXACTLY the right time, and hopped onto an economic boom?"

"Well, if you made lots of money, maybe you could send your kids to better schools. Then THEY would be able to change their 'class.' "

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Drones are not "war". In the american public mind they're thought of(perhaps wrongly) as assassinations. And it is goddamn disturbing to realize the government has NO idea who they are killing.

But I agree that as enjoyable as John Oliver was, the research was pretty thin. I knew more about the issue just by occasionally following blogs like Andrew Sullivan's - not quite sure why they didn't attack the issue from a different angle.

It also felt a little repetitive to have a "We couldn't find any information!" a week after the miss america segment.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Scholarships and grants are hilariously and infuriatingly corrupt - with more strings attached than a new credit card.

I went to an "elite" east coast non-religious private university, and they gave me a juicy aid package. They force all incoming first years to live in the dorms, no exceptions.

Which would be fine, except the meal plans were hideously overpriced, along with a jacked up room and board pricing that was nowhere near fair.

My second year I planned tomoved off-campus and was promptly notified that over $6,000 of my grant money was contingent on me staying in the dorms. Fine print is a bitch.

I moved off-campus anyway. Instead of sharing a cramped room with a roommate, I had my own space and a small ten minute walk to campus. And one day, my parents and I sat down and priced out how much I spent on food and rent and all the rest - even by losing $6,000 in grant money we STILL saved a substantial chunk of money.

Never forget that every university, not just the "For profit" universities, are a business at the end of the day. Or at least, that's the way the industry has moved.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I'm a creative writing major; the only people I can make fun of are philosophy students.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I could be mistaken, but did the pink bus have the bit about how they wanted to have women "around the kitchen table" instead of the boardroom? Because that was pretty damning.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Eh, I'm still greatly enjoying Last Week Tonight.

Really want to see the "Our Friend Israel" episode though. Going after the scourges of doctor bribery, infrastructure, and tobacco hasn't really done it for me.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

They're verging on overusing the fake ad gag, even though I laughed heartily at the fanta bit.

The whole run on daylight savings was a thing of beauty though. And the small section on Israel gives me hope that they're still planning on doing a big Our Friend Israel episode, probably after the election.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Unfortunately, there's a lot of people who want colleges to be ran solely as a for-profit business. (Hi, Scott Walker!)

And mega schools having mega stadiums is a huge part of that dream.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Eh, Radley Balko was one of the first journalists to really make the argument that Ferguson's primarily problem was this ridiculous fine-and-tax-and-jail system put in place for several years. And although communities across the country do it, I remember Missouri being particularly egregious and over the top.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Collecting agencies are downright baffling. As a college-educated underemployed Californian from an upper-middle class family, I know a lot of people who regularly tangle and negotiate with those agencies for all manner of things.

A friend of mine goes to school up in Canada and was back home visiting family when he got into a car accident. He had to have a day of hospital care with a bill that came out to eight thousand dollars. There's a weird loophole where the canadian system won't cover him (I forgot the reason), so my friend is basically screwed. He goes back to Canada and keeps getting calls that sound almost exactly like the mafia, except instead of breaking legs they threaten jail time and a demolished credit score.

he finally gets some student loan money in (He's a PhD student) and decides to handle the problem. At this point they tell him he owes well over $12,000 due to interest.

My friend explains that he lives in Canada and will be planning to stay up there for at least the next decade as a Permanent Resident after school. "I'll give you two thousand dollars via check in the mail, today."

"Deal," they say. Last I heard he's good, though with a wrecked credit score if he ever ends up back in america in the near future.

----

It is rather telling that while I have to track down and make several calls if I want even the most basic of health services (I'm under a weird california version of medicaid), my student loan supervisors are consistently keeping track of absolutely everything I do.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Whoa, how drunk do you have to be to get a drunk in public? I've slurred my way through Los angeles and the inland empire without any issues. But I'm white, so....

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

pentyne posted:

""WE NEED TO CUT TAXES AND GO BACK TO SMALLER GOVERNMENT!"

"So, what about the $700-800 billion on defense spending? Even $50 billion would be a huge saving"

"WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA! WE NEED TO GUT MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY BECAUSE OF WELFARE QUEENS"

Living in a VERY red part of California (the land o Nixon and Reagan) that's a little too close to conversations I have on a daily basis.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

So I broke down and paid for HBO Now, but how long will it take episodes of Last week tonight to pop up on the service? I know GoT is close to simultaneous, but will I have to wait til Monday morning to watch it?

I'm trying to be a less lovely (less pirating) person here, HBO!

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

As much as this show has exceeded anyone's expectations, I really do miss the foreign policy bent the show initially had. Would've much rather had check-ins or main stories on any other matter of foreign affairs/elections than a riff on sweatshops that I've seen and heard before.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Scorchy posted:

The first half of the show covered the Armenian genocide and the New Zealand prime minister though?

There's usual a foreign policy bit in the opening section, but I'm getting tired of the topic feeling under-serviced in the Main Story department.

poo poo, I'm STILL waiting for the Our Friend Israel episode.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I only teach during the summers for a private teaching company. We only work on reading skills, thank God. But a decent chunk of my job is just sitting with parents and letting them unload about how their school district is just utterly loving up their kids.

I teach all over southern california, and its incredibly telling to see which districts prepare their kids and which ones don't have a drat clue how to educate. And oddly enough, it doesn't even have all that much to do with class or economics.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I teach reading skills for a national tutoring company. Our curriculum changes depending on what parents want, so there's been some shifting to align with general common core standards. but in terms of plot, here's where kids are at...

For entering 2nd graders, we go over stories that have a "beginning, middle, and end". The very basics of ordering events in a timeline, basically.
For entering 3rd graders, we start the very basics of understanding characters and what their goals are. A character says "I want to hunt dinosaurs!" and I ask the kids "what does the character want?"
For entering 4th and 5th graders, there's a big jump up to children's novels where stories now have a book-length plot. We also start talking about setting and meaning.

Comprehension is so, so tough to teach. Its not something that comes naturally to most kids and has to be taught - almost separately from raw reading skills.

That hare story is pure parody and playing with conventions... I doubt half of my junior high kids would understand what those questions are trying to get at.

And I teach in Southern California, with kids all across the economic spectrum.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

This week's episode would be a perfect time to delve into how hosed up democratic elections (or the press) are these days.

But instead, he'll probably mention it at the top of the show and then pivot to discussing... con men or faulty mechanics or some other wanky obvious target.

Any hope of the bugle maybe being the place to find Oliver talking about the Uk election?

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

IRQ posted:


Also is there a more obvious topic than how hosed up democratic elections, the press being garbage, and campaign finance are?

Any one of those would be better than exposing the evils of... tobacco, lone sharks, and the fashion industry.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

GutBomb posted:

Yeah if he cared about public safety he would have done a show about packs of sharks instead.

:golfclap:

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I took a journalism 101 class in college that was really old school "do yer research or gently caress off" ethos that has largely died away.

We had a surprise quiz on day one - a blank map of the middle east that we had to fill in the country's names. The results were so dismal that we re-took the test a second time a week later, and even in advance we still did terribly. Our professor had us take the quiz a third time a month later, and this time provided a list of the countries.

I know kids from that program who STILL bitch about that quiz.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Micheladas are delicious. Budweiser's versions in a can are an abomination.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Bill Maher's politically incorrect show back on ABC was a really solid and fun panel discussion.

His HBO vehicle has gradually degraded over time - he's definitely been outpaced by liberalism no longer feeling like such a dirty word.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

The best part of the Kansas story is that despite everyone in Kansas admitting they hosed up, Sam Brownback won re-election.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Yeah, without getting all sperg about it 24's political leaning was more "paranoia" than "neocon". Later seasons actually dealt with the cost of torture with some degree of depth.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

It is possible to say "Brianna Wu is not a perfect human being and has said awkward and dumb things" and still 100% condemn harassing and threatening women in any space - virtual or otherwise. Its largely a question of focus.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Lumberjack Bonanza posted:

When someone's talking about the harassment she faced it's probably not the ideal time to talk about the lovely things she's done, that's the point.


Exactly. That's what I meant by being a question of focus.Apologies for the confusion.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I felt like Oliver took a non-controversial approach to it. Can't we all loving agree that all police should know what twitter is? basic knowledge about a crime is kinda police 101, eh?

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I had an amazing US history teacher for high school who was actually part of the foreign service for a few years - so he really went the extra mile to make class great.

We not only read from the main "textbook", but he also had us read excerpts from Zinn's people's history of the US and some conservative equivalent. Pretty mindblowing poo poo for a sixteen year old honors student.

For those curious about reconstruction, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1877

Basically, one party removed all union troops from the south (and it took the better part of a year before reconstruction was completely destroyed - and the average freed slave lived in way worse conditions than when they were officially slaves) in exchange for being given the presidency.

its crazy, crazy poo poo that absolutely no one talks about.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

That same issue is pervasive in video game design - I have a 22" TV because I valued 1080p over size in my limited budget. And every single goddamn game assumes you're playing on a loving mega-sized projector, because the text is so small I have to squint to read any onscreen text.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

I posted a few weeks ago about the lack of foreign stories. There's awesome and hilarious and terrifying poo poo happening around the world, but Oliver's focus has been exclusively american.

I really shouldn't be forced to watch al jazeera america if I want to get even the most basic coverage of foreign elections.

Come on Trevor Noah.

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Fun Sex Ed Story: In seventh grade we finally got a week of education about Puberty and How Our Bodies Work. Girls got a female-focused talk in fifth grade and they just had us watch Cool Runnings a bunch that year.

Finally, we get sex ed in seventh grade! Woo! Except the speaker they had planned couldn't make it or something (PTA boards are fun for gossip) and so the youngest male science teacher was stuck explaining to us how things work.

This included the super fun and super awkward "I can tell you contraception exists but I can't talk about it, please don't ask me."

One kid raises his hand and asks if Sex Feels Good.

And my science teacher just stammers and stumbles and finally mumbles "Well God wants us to have lots of babies, so of course he made it feel amazing."

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

So does he talk about Corbyn at all?

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Propaganda Machine posted:

Not at all. I'm bipolar, and having made glib jokes about the Crazy Bipolar Girlfriend roommate I had in college, the diagnosis was a tough pill to swallow. Further to that, it shocked me that my employer legitimately had to do a bunch of research to get a handle on the condition after I lost it in a manic episode once; for some reason, I thought the facts of bipolar disorder were common knowledge, but not so.

Ultimately, I don't know what I think will help. Stuff like John Oliver pieces are better than bad, but it's a tough stigma to deal with. The illness comes through with actions rather than physical realities like blood sugar this or arrhythmia that, so it's an uphill battle convincing people that this is an ailment rather than a personality flaw, and ultimately it seems that we choose to just do the doctors and the medications and try to hide the fact of it to the extent possible. Of course, that feeds straight back into the reality that a significant proportion of people with mental illnesses remain undiagnosed, untreated, and, at times, a danger to themselves and others.

:smith:

I've been classified as bipolar in the past, and I actually got some medication that helped with the depression (Pristiq). And then my insurance ran out and I've had to go back to living medication free and its been fairly brutal.

A LOT of conversations I have with friends go something like this....
"you seem down, are you struggling with that stuff?"
"Dude you don't want to know."
"I'm four beers in, hit me with it."
*I proceed to tell him/her exactly how I feel and my mental state.
"That's too much. You, uh, should, uh, talk to, uh, someone, about that."

And if that struggle exists within friends I've known for literal years, how I do even begin to share this sort of thing with a romantic interest?

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

The argument is even more specious with Oliver though, given how much research goes into his show.

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Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

A lot of the problem is that Ridley Scott is right - its hard as hell to get funding for blockbusters with diverse casts.

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