Late Night Today is for our readers who can’t stay awake to watch the shows. Everyone deserves a good laugh.
Last Week Tonight
by Matthew Dessem, Slate
This week’s Last Week Tonight was a break from John Oliver’s recent coverage of systemic disasters the United States has no hope and no intention of fixing, like our unemployment insurance system or our police raids or our meatpacking industry. Instead of broad, difficult problems in which we all have some degree of complicity, Oliver gave us a classic “Oh, this asshole again” segment about Tucker Carlson, who may be the most malignant television personality since Lonesome Rhodes. Last Week Tonight usually evokes a sense of hopelessness in the face of the nigh-unsolvable problems humanity will be facing over the next century or so. This week, however, in a return to the carefree days when Oliver was paying giant squirrels to insult coal barons, the host offered audiences the pure, innocent pleasure of watching him insult someone who richly deserves to be insulted. Enjoy!