Episode
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Government Surveillance
Overview
There are very few government checks on what America’s sweeping surveillance programs are capable of doing. John Oliver sits down with Edward Snowden to discuss the NSA, the balance between privacy and security, and dick-pics.
Details
- Series
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- Season
- Season 2
- Episode
- Episode 8
- Air date
- 2015-04-05
- Runtime
- 30 min
Episode context
Government Surveillance is Episode 8 in Season 2 of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It aired on 2015-04-05. The runtime is 30 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 7: Municipal Violations
If you have money, committing a municipal violation may pose you a minor inconvenience. If you don’t, it can ruin your life. Also, the New Hampshire legislature refused to make the red-tailed hawk the official raptor of their state... so Last Week Tonight made it the official raptor of the show.
Episode 9: The IRS
Nobody likes the IRS. But recent budget and staff cuts have made it increasingly difficult for the department to do its very important job. Don’t take our word for it. Ask Michael Bolton.
More episodes from this season
Episode 6: The NCAA
The NCAA doesn’t pay athletes because they consider them amateurs. The NCAA considers them amateurs because they don’t get paid.
Episode 10: Patents
For inventors, patents are an essential protection against theft. But when patent trolls abuse the system by stockpiling patents and threatening lawsuits, businesses are forced to shell out tons of money. Also, CNN produced an actual doomsday video to broadcast when the world is ending and it’s incredibly dull. We've enlisted Martin Sheen to help make humanity’s final moments happier!
Episode 5: U.S. Territories
A set of Supreme Court decisions made over 100 years ago has left U.S. territories without meaningful representation. That’s weird, right? Plus, daylight saving time doesn’t actually benefit anyone. Strangely, it’s still a thing!
Episode 11: Fashion
John explores the concept of changing and cheap fashion and some of the ugliest truths of the manufacturing process.
Episode 4: Infrastructure
America's crumbling infrastructure: It's not a sexy problem, but it is a scary one.
Episode 12: Standardized Testing
American students face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how standardized tests impact school funding, the achievement gap and how often the kids are expected to throw up while taking one.
Episode 3: Elected Judges
The vast majority of US judges are elected, forcing many judges to pander to the electorate and accept campaign money in order to keep their jobs. This seems slightly troubling...
The UK's Labour Party has painted a campaign van pink in an attempt to attract women voters. We are glad they didn't keep going with that strategy.
Episode 13: Paid Family Leave
Many American companies do not offer paid leave after the birth of a child, which means they probably shouldn’t run sappy Mother’s Day ads. Also, the Japanese have some unhealthy obsession with mascots and John proposes to adopt some of that culture in the U.S. government agencies as well.
Episode 2: Tobacco
Thanks to tobacco industry regulations and marketing restrictions in the U.S., smoking rates have dropped dramatically. John Oliver explains how tobacco companies are keeping their business strong overseas and how Phillip Morris International in particular is employing some unethical legal practices while suing some of the world's poorest countries. Plus, we've noticed that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue still exists but can’t quite figure out why.
Episode 14: Chickens
John Oliver explains how chicken farming can be unfair, punishing, and inhumane. And not just for the chickens!