John Oliver the Public Intellectual

Comedy has long been a staple of popular culture and has always existed in part to criticize society as a whole. Overtime, the comedy world has grown to become more inclusionary of women and minorities which has contributed to the world of comedy questioning power dynamics, privilege, and cultural authority more. Since the comedy world does a better job reflecting the world, humor has been given more moral purpose and intellectual burden than ever. In addition, political satire has risen as a sub-genre of comedy in order to criticize political authority and advance political arguments. In 2004, the Pew Research Center conducted a study into the effects of late-night shows’ political messages. The survey found that both younger and older audiences turn to late-night comedy for not just entertainment but also political awareness (Pew Research Center). The increase of the effects of late-night comedy on political awareness has led to a debate on whether or not these comedians are public intellectuals. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a public intellectual is an intellectual who expresses views intended to be accessible to a general audience (Oxford Dictionaries). Political satirist, John Oliver is a public intellectual because he has grown to become a trusted source of information in today’s popular culture. John Oliver’s show, Last Week Tonight on HBO, provides him a platform to be a public intellectual by allowing him to cover international news in a more relatable manner that sparks conversation and reaches millions of viewers both through television and the internet.

John Oliver grew up in Birmingham, England and attended Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge to study English. Throughout his time at Cambridge, Oliver was part of the famous Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe. In addition, throughout and following university he performed stand-up frequently. After he graduated, he co-created the political radio show Political Animal and became a regular guest on Mock of the Week, a satirical news quiz television show. Oliver got his big break in America when he was casted as the “Senior British correspondent” for The Daily Show in 2006. Oliver’s character on the show was meant to illustrate numerous British stereotypes and serve as a critic of American culture. When Jon Stewart, The Daily Show’s host, took a hiatus from the show for the Summer of 2013 Oliver appeared as the interim host. The following year, in 2014, Oliver debuted on his own show, Last Week Tonight for HBO (Biography). The show satirizes the traditional news television program and focuses on international and national politics as well as current events on a weekly basis. Over its four seasons, the show has been critically acclaimed, winning 6 Emmys. The show also continues to garner a large audience each week with an average of over one million viewers live and over 2.3 million Twitter followers online. John Oliver’s work on the show led him to both win a Peabody Award and be named on the list of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2015 (IMDb).

John Oliver educates and informs his viewers in a manner that is more relatable and easier to understand than traditional news platforms. For example, when the Syrian Refugee Crisis was at the forefront of political discussion in 2016, Oliver addressed the problem on his show. He argued that the US should continue to accept refugees and not create greater measures to prevent refugees from coming to America. Oliver supported his argument by sharing what the extensive vetting process is like. When, after listing multiple agencies and tests that potential refugees must go through, Oliver got to the health test he joked that the health test might not go well because you might have already given yourself a stroke by then. He also joked that when the House approved a measure that would add having the FBI director personally sign off on each individual refugee case they should just add a pie eating contest, a spelling bee, and an evening wear portion. At the end of the segment he explicitly stated that it is flawed to argue that refugees are too large of a risk to bring into America. He shared a statistic that since 9/11 the United States has resettled 784,000 refugees and in those 14 years, only three refugees have been arrested for planning terrorist attacks. No one can promise that someone dangerous won’t slip through the vetting process, however, one still accepts risks every day in other areas of their life. He joked that one drives cars and that about 20 people a year are killed by cows in the United States a year, and yet the government is not trying to expel cows (“Migrants and Refugees”). John Oliver used humor throughout the segment in order to simplify the complicated topic into ideas that the viewer could relate to more. It is easier for many viewers to understand political topics when Oliver likens it to elements they see in their everyday life such as driving a car. John Oliver is a public intellectual in today’s society because he uses his platform to cover news in a manner that is easier to understand than more traditional news shows. John Oliver’s primary goal on his show is not to entertain but rather to educate and inform. He uses humor to make the difficult topics that cloud news cycles easier to understand which in turn allows for viewers to garner more of an opinion.

Many don’t believe that comedians such as John Oliver are public intellectuals because their primary purpose as comedians is to entertain, however, on Last Week Tonight John Oliver’s jokes about the news aren’t just supposed to make one laugh but rather make a greater point. In Professor Stephen Mack's pieces "The Supposed Decline of the Public Intellectual" and "Are Public Intellectuals A Thing of the Past?", Mack makes the argument that "If public intellectuals have any role to play in a democracy... it's simply to keep the pot boiling" (Mack). Mack argues that one is not a successful public intellectual if they just have a following but if people are creating meaning and action from the public intellectual's words. Oliver uses this idea by implementing laughter as a way to guide and provoke conversation. For example, when discussing the polarizing topic of abortion, John Oliver shared facts that were intertwined with humor in order to ultimately inform and anger viewers regarding the current abortion legislation. The segment begins with Oliver discussing the public opinion regarding abortion. Oliver shared that, according to a Gallup Poll “Only 19% of Americans… believe abortion should be illegal under all circumstances.” Then he continued by exposing the current legislation surrounding abortion in various states. He explained that Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) has allowed for states to create restrictions on obtaining an abortion as long as it does not place “An undue burden… in the path of a woman seeking an abortion” (McBride). This ruling has led to the fact that in North Dakota, Missouri, Mississippi, and South Dakota each state only has only one abortion clinic respectively. Oliver joked that the state of Mississippi has four times as many of the letter “S” than abortion clinics. The segment continues by illustrating various scenarios in which states have created unnecessary hoops for those seeking an abortion to jump through in order to argue Oliver’s ultimate point that the problem regarding abortion is not just whether or not it is legal but whether or not it is accessible (“Abortion in the United States”). The goal of the segment is to evoke pathos and generate discussion on the topic of the accessibility of abortion. Humor is simply used as a device to enrage the viewer on the issue. In all, John Oliver uses comedy in order to discuss a complicated topic such as abortion and spark the greater debate outside of the realms of the show between both viewers and politicians. Through using comedy Oliver provokes national conversation and in turn presents himself as a public intellectual. The comedy helps for Oliver to be a public intellectual because his show functions as a way to guide viewers through intellectual and moral debates on cultural and social issues.

John Oliver’s commentary on Last Week Tonight has been credited largely with influencing various US legislations, court rulings, and improving regulations. Time magazine writer, Victor Luckerson, dubbed the “John Oliver effect” after Oliver was credited with transforming the net neutrality debate. In June of 2014, Oliver did a piece on net neutrality in which he documented problems with cable and phone companies wanting to create Internet “fast lanes.” In the piece Oliver argued that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could resolve these concerns through stronger internet regulations, and encouraged viewers to submit comments through the FCC website (“Net Neutrality”). Following the piece airing, the FCC received over 3.7 million comments on the subject. The amount of comments caused the server to crash. Eight months later, in February of 2015, the FCC voted to adopt the net neutrality regulations that Oliver advocated for. Through the platform of Last Week Tonight, Oliver has also been credited with influencing rulings such as increasing the rights of residents in US territories and lessening bail requirements for people charged with nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors in New York City (Luckerson). As a public intellectual, Oliver uses his show in order to question the status quo, inform viewers and inspire them to advocate for political and social change. John Oliver has been successful as a public intellectual because he has used his platform at Last Week Tonight to invoke change.

A public intellectual is one who expresses views on issues of concern to a mainstream audience. John Oliver not only expresses and informs viewers on various issues occurring around the world, but he also makes these issues easier to understand and inspires viewers to seek a solution through debate outside of the show. Last Week Tonight has provided him a platform to be a reliable source of information to viewers in a way that uses humor to make news and political issues more relatable for viewers to understand. In addition, John Oliver exceeds what it means to be a public intellectual because his show not only informs viewers but also influences viewers to debate, take action, and question leaders regarding global issues. Since his debut as a correspondent on The Daily Show, John Oliver has risen to be a prominent public intellectual in popular culture because his humor allows for him to connect with viewers in a manner that no other public intellectual can. In today’s society, the internet and social media have contributed to the transparency of politics and global issues. It is likely that John Oliver’s dominance and influence will continue to increase because of viewers trust that he will keep them informed in a way they understand and relate to on all international issues.

Works Cited

Carvell, Tim. “Abortion in the United States.” Last Week Tonight, season 3, episode 2, HBO, 21

Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU.

Carvell, Tim. “Migrants and Refugees.” Last Week Tonight, season 2, episode 28, HBO, 27 Sept.

2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU.

Carvell, Tim. “Net Neutrality.” Last Week Tonight, season 1, episode 5, HBO, 1 June 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU.

"John Oliver." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 02 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Sept. 2017.

Luckerson, Victor. "The John Oliver Effect: The HBO Host's Real-World Impact." Time. Time. Web. 12 Sept. 2017.

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (TV Series 2014– )." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 12 Sept. 2017.

Mack , Stephen. “The Supposed Decline of the Public Intellectual.” StephenMack.com, 24 Aug. 2016.

McBride, Alex. “Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992).” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_casey.html.

Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media Staff. "The Late Night Shows." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. 11 July 2004. Web. 12 Sept. 2017.

"Public Intellectual." Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries. Web. 12 Sept. 2017.