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That is just an objectionable thing for humanity to do, right?
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It's not the worst thing we've ever done, but it's part of our worst instincts.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by John Oliver. Here we are.
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He's the Peabody Award-winning host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a show that's won more than two dozen Emmys since premiering in 2014.
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Catch new episodes Sunday nights on HBO at 11:00 Eastern with past episodes canonized rather conveniently right here on YouTube. Okay.
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John Oliver, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sean.
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Um I was going to I was going to say it's a pleasure to be here, but let's not start with me lying right into the camera. Right, right.
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You know, that's how we build the trust.
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You just have to be honest with me.
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Let's build an immediate connection.
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My instinct says this is going to go very, very badly.
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Let Stockholm Syndrome commence. I'll be honest.
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That was hotter than I wanted the first one to be.
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I would not say great at this point. I would say, "Uh-oh.
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We're working with a different spectrum Mhm.
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than my face is used to."
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We're going to put a number to it today, all right? Okay, yeah. All right.
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Do you have an all-time favorite misuse of HBO resources for a bit on Last Week Tonight?
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I mean, I love misusing their resources.
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There is There's almost nothing in life that makes me happier than doing something I think they're going to be a little bit mad at.
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So, yeah, we we bought Russell Crowe's jockstrap.
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I was going to give people context.
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I don't know if you really need any.
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Uh it was from the movie Cinderella Man.
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Um and uh so we bought it and we sent it to uh one of the last remaining Blockbusters in Alaska.
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I think that then shut down.
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I believe it was then sent to the last, the actual last Blockbuster, which I think is in Oregon.
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I think that's where Russell Crowe's Cinderella Man jockstrap is right now. A smokey Jay.
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I don't like the name at all. Not horrible. Right.
2:36
I think you were uh kind of jarred a little bit by the first one, you know, but that would be like, you know, you're a football fan, right?
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That's like you got out on the pitch, you took a bump, and now you're settled into the game, you know? Yes.
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Which football are we talking about there?
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I'm talking about round football, you know, because I'm a host. I'm hospitable.
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You know what I'm saying, Jay? Yes. A pitch. Pitch was the giveaway. Pitch.
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I didn't even That really was hospitable.
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You said pitch and I didn't even internalize that you were being gracious. Yes.
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I love I love football very much.
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And that, you're right, that felt like This one gave me a nudge. Mhm.
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This one, I don't feel nudges anymore.
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Cuz you're in the game, baby. Cuz I'm in the game. I'm all about the game.
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So, when we had Louis Theroux on the show last year, Oh, yeah.
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he said that his Britishness works as like a superpower for getting American subjects to just reflexively trust him.
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Does that align at all with your own experience? It does.
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I mean, he's a brilliant interviewer, right?
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In fact, I thought I was going to meet him.
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It was when I was working at the Daily Show.
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Uh it was a producer there had worked with him, and they they'd set up something for my birthday, and so he just needed to get me upstairs, and he said, "Louis Theroux's here.
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Do you want to meet him?"
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And I was so excited, and then I ran in and it was just a surprise birthday party for me.
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And I had to really reverse engineer, "Oh, I thought I was meeting Louis Theroux, not this.
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An emotional sort of short circuit.
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This isn't what I wanted. You're not him.
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You're celebrating my birth.
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That's not what I was promised.
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Estella's funky's hot sauce.
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Yeah, the names are getting fun.
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Yeah, aren't they though? I actually like that.
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This is going to be the moment I remember somewhere over here as the good times.
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From breaking your nose in a Civil War reenactment to hiding from security during the 2008 Republican National Convention, what stands out in your memory as being the most harrowing experience you had as a Daily Show field reporter?
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They were all pretty harrowing, I think.
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Um I mean, that was one of my first experiences in America was breaking my nose.
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It probably made me realize that I was in the right place to work.
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It was a dream come true to come and work for Jon Stewart.
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That was my first interaction with the US healthcare system.
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No notes, by the way, Shawn. Works great.
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Um to get back to the office and hear them playing that clip again and again and laughing so hard.
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It kind of made me think, oh, you're more concerned about the joke than me.
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I think I think this is where I belong. You found a home. Yeah. Los Calientes. Fair day.
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Again, I feel like I'm being hit in the face with a setup jab, right? Right.
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It's the lead left that is hitting me, but that's not the fist I'm worried about. what?
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Just roll with it because we're moving forward. You know what I mean?
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Every step is a sauce that's out of the way.
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You know what I'm saying? So, you just take it.
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If you got kind of a freebie, just take it. Don't apologize for it. Enjoy it.
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These are the good times.
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Every step is a sauce out of the way.
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If that isn't a piece of merch, if you don't have that on a t-shirt, Chris, it.
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And you're leaving money on the table.
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For the uninitiated, what's magical about the Edinburgh Festival and how do you think it shapes you as a stand-up?
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I mean, the magical thing about it, and you know, that word is overused, but it to me there is a real magic to it, is that it's not curated.
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Like so many other festivals, um, are you're invited to come, so that you might take a certain standard.
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The beauty of Edinburgh is that kind of quality control doesn't exist.
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So, it's just absolute free-for-all of artistic mayhem, and that can produce things as great and as terrible as you would imagine.
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It is the greatest place.
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I miss it so much every year. It's the best.
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And you know, it seems like bombing is almost a part of the process.
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It's like a right of passage when you do that.
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Is there a set that you look back on and think of as like a comedy nightmare?
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There was a gig in Edinburgh.
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I I I'm not sure if it's still goes.
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Uh, it started at 1:00 in the morning.
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It was called Late 'n' Live, and it was a bear pit.
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So, it was um, starts at 1:00. Notoriously aggressive.
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Uh, there was one time I'd bombed already, very fun.
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Uh, and then a comedian had gone on after me and done really well, and he was getting an encore.
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As he came off, we agreed it would be funny if I took his encore.
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So, I then went back on, and a guy smashed a glass a beer glass on the table in front of me, and he said, "If you tell another joke, I'm going to stab you."
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And I said to him, "This This anger in you it just can't be about me."
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And he said, "It really is."
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And you know, that's one of the happiest memories of Edinburgh I have, is having a guy saying, "I you are going to compel me to commit an act of violence."
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That is how much I object to what you think is funny.
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And that violence, it's not me. It's you.
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It I promise this is your problem.
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Your implication is there are other things happening in my life. There there aren't.
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I have a stable, happy life.
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You've turned it upside down and you must be stopped. Keso sin keso.
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I don't know if I'm if that's a collab I'd encourage.
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But another level of heat, but it seems like you're kind of on top of it.
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You know, I was a little nervous with the first one, but it does seem like you've caught a rhythm here, John. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
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I mean, if you if you if you're asking confidence has gone up, no. I'm still at thinking. That's smart. That's smart.
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You know, where people get into trouble is when they get overconfident at this point, you know what that is not possible. I We're five in.
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I think we all know where this is heading.
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You have a quote that I found interesting where you said, "The problem is the loudest journalism in America is generally saying the least." Can you unpackage that?
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With our show, no one in their right mind would try and do a show about prison health.
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No one no one wants to hear about that, but they should know about it and so we're going to force-feed it to them.
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And we're in a very very lucky position cuz we don't have the commercial pressures that other certain news outlets do have.
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So, we are lucky to be able to follow whatever um whatever interests us and force-feed it to people, but they can't or won't do that.
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And so, you are left with yeah, kind of yammering talking heads who um on on TV who are are really not talking about much.
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And that's the problem with being in a perpetual election cycle and we're in election year now.
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Never really feels like election year stops.
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That's the problem, right?
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And that takes out all the air from a room cuz you're just talking about people Uh but candidates like politicians whereas policies are much more important than politicians but we are focused on the personalities and that's easy to do but it's not the most important stuff.
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Bourbon and maple think they're concealing what the third word is promising.
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Now what's nice about this is that you do think you get a little maple up front, you know?
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The first thing you catch is maple. Yep. Then what happens Yep.
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Is there's this tail on it. Maple delivered.
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Bourbon not detected but I appreciate the idea it is there.
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And then the reaper says actually I'm the star of the show. I'm the captain now.
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I am the guest at this party who's going to dictate the evening.
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Are you someone who finds comfort in the stress and tension of an adversarial interview?
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It almost seems like it would be like a prerequisite for anyone who went through the Daily Show school of broadcasting.
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Yeah, that's a really good question.
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Yes is the answer and I can't really square that with who I am as a person.
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There is something where my heart rate goes down and I don't feel what they are feeling.
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So yeah, I don't I I can't really explain why I don't mind it and I'm and I'm drawn to hostile interviews.
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Um Yeah, they brings out a side of me that I don't particularly like but it is there.
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Okay, so I've been through. All right. Same with me. Yep, this is a jump. Um That wasn't fun.
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That's not an experience I'm going to look back upon with.
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Remember the good old days?
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Remember the good old days, John?
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Remember Hunky's hot sauce? Oh, Hunky's hot sauce.
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With your Stella buzz and your fun little cartoon fox. We had fun, didn't we?
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If I went to a Liverpool match at Anfield, what's one chant and one obscenity I'd need to know?
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Most last chance you should probably know is basically Mo Salah.
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Mo Salah running down the wing.
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Salah la la la la the Egyptian king. That's it. I think I got that. Yeah, you can do it. It'll be great.
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My My kids knew that song before they knew anything else.
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If I If right now if I say to them, "Mo Salah!"
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they'll just Even if they're in a different room, they'll say, "Running down the wing."
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I'm like, "That's right, kids." That's right.
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Where does nailing that free kick in uh Soweto when you're recovering the world Where does that fall in your list of career accomplishments? It has to be up there.
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It is so depressingly high.
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I'm genuinely embarrassed to say how much it meant to me scoring that free kick.
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In my head, I'm seeing a wall of like four or five like six-foot guys and it bending all the way around and then kissing the bottom of the crossbar and going in.
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It It went in and I just started running.
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Absolute joy coursing through my body.
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And yeah, it's one of the best sporting moments of my life.
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And I think And the whole thing was kind of set up as a joke, right? It wasn't a game.
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He might have let it in, but um the fact I scored, I think, a serviceable free kick in Soweto is spectacular.
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I mean, I've been putting this off, but I guess there's uh There's nowhere to run. No. No. All right. Okay. Mhm.
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They'll know almost immediately. Holy [ __ ] [ __ ] Mhm. Woah. Mhm.
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And I'm not going to lie to you, John.
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It's just going to kind of build from here a little bit. Oh, that's good to know. Yeah.
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You know, I just want to be transparent. Yeah, thanks.
14:01
I'm pretty I'm pretty angry at that. Yeah. No, I get it.
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Are you about to smash a glass?
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Please don't stab me, John.
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It's not about you, sure.
14:09
I know it's not about you.
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Um So, how many of these have you had in your life? I'll estimate 315 times.
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You're going to die, aren't you? Uh but I made it so far. You know what I mean?
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Maybe I'm actually getting stronger.
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You know what I it was like the science hasn't caught up to what you're doing to your body yet. I know. I'm a one of one. You know what I mean?
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This feels like the kind of stomach version of CTE for football players. Yeah, yeah.
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They're going to cut your stomach open and realize, "Oh, yeah, you can't actually do this." medical journal someday. "Actually isn't okay."
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Um And then just be careful around your eyes. You know what I mean?
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Cuz you have it on your fingers.
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I can see the tears coming, so I'm just be very careful. Be very careful. And you know what?
14:48
While you endure that Yeah.
14:51
I know that you spent over a month preparing to systemically dissect all these complex issues on your show. We do.
14:57
But after the bomb, I think it would just be kind of fun to get your totally unprepared, raw take on some hot topics.
15:03
So, I'll just throw out some clear, Sean.
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Everything that I just said I don't like, you want me to do now. Yeah, 100%.
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like is, you know, considered I wish the news did it more. Yeah. Right. Right. Right.
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Render a coherent opinion.
15:14
Make sure you back it up.
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Don't shoot from the hip.
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What you're saying is The walls are closing in, and I've pulled the guns. Go. The Muppets. The Muppets. Yes. Muppets. Okay.
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I love the Muppets so much in many ways, crazy this might sound, we kind of modeled the show around the Muppets.
15:32
Um like those big things that they uh they did.
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The you know, the big things the Muppets did.
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I don't know what I'm talking about now.
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Uh I love I love I love um puppets, Sean. I um Love Island.
15:49
This feels like my Vietnam.
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I shouldn't have got into this and I've got no good way out.
15:55
Yeah, and then you the the napalm is you can feel it in the room. Sorry, you were saying? Uh Love Island. Love Island.
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Love Island is um Britain Britain's id.
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Um it is you take us if you take us at our best with Monty Python, I'm afraid you must also take us at our worst with Love Island. George Santos.
16:13
George Santos George Santos in office I kind of turned on it seemed like at the start this guy has no place in politics.
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Towards the end I thought I I kind of love this guy.
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He's this part of me I not I part that I particularly respect one I try to mute to thinking I love right now what's he doing? He's got a mystery baby. Sounds right.
16:34
Come on, George, what have you got next?
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Felt like he was his whole time in office seemed to be like a game produced by Andy Cohen in a way that I genuinely liked. The bambi on insanity. The bambi on insanity?
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That is just an objectionable thing for humanity to do, right?
16:49
It's not the worst thing we've ever done, but it's part of our worst instincts. It's really terrible.
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But you've survived it and it's behind us. You say that.
17:01
You'll never be able to take that away from me. You say that.
17:05
I couldn't say I'd be completely surprised if I woke up in a hospital room now and they said, "Oh no, you you blacked out after queso sin queso."
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So what what the [ __ ] is this? Matasano's hot sauce.
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And it's a monkey in a top hat, which I do like.
17:34
It's just going to be worse. No.
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Nothing's going to be as bad as what you just ate.
17:37
It won't be fun, but it will not be worse.
17:40
Yeah, that's a perfect description of this. This is not fun. But not worse.
17:46
Why am I still eating it? I don't know.
17:48
I'm just following along with you. Yeah.
17:50
Why on earth eating more of that? Maybe you like it. You know? Yeah.
17:57
Is it the tension that you find comfort in? Yeah, exactly.
18:00
It was a deeply self-loathing myself. You deserve it.
18:04
You deserve the monkey in the hat spitting its metallic venom at you.
18:10
Of the odd jobs that you worked before TV, which do you remember fonder?
18:13
Shoveling oats as a factory worker or working the phones for someone who trafficked in stolen kitchen appliances?
18:22
I did do both of those things.
18:24
There was one There was one odd job that I had that one summer when I was a kid.
18:32
I was a cashier at like a independent little supermarket.
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It was one of them where you price stickers on things and you have to input it.
18:39
To make the day go interestingly, I kind of had kind of dynamic pricing system for people.
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So there was other people like I would overcharge some people so I could undercharge others.
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So it was it was basically operating my own kind of taxation system on I know that you've you you came up in a nice car. Bad news.
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These beans are going to cost more than you think.
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This woman comes in with four kids.
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These beans are going to be half price for you. And it it made it work.
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So it was it was like my perfect version of making um you know the world you're like a Robin Hood.
19:15
You're a you're a cashier Robin.
19:16
Yeah, that was a fun job though. Yeah. All right, John. All right. Wow, okay. So, what's this? Oh, what the hell? We've come this far.
19:35
Do you do is that all right? Let me see. Yeah, that's generous. Okay.
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And maybe do one of these. Do you do okay?
19:42
Yeah, and then one of those.
19:44
I'm at a point to be honest where I'm not sure I can feel anything anymore. Right.
19:49
I feel like a spice or something. the other side. We're on the other side. Yeah. Well, cheers John. What are we on? Cheers. Salute. We did it.
20:00
I'm on And again, like the last one not fun. But it's all behind us. Yeah.
20:10
It kind of doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. anymore, right?
20:14
This resets your body's expectations of what is allowable.
20:20
The hard part's over, John.
20:20
We just have one more question for you.
20:22
And to do it, I want to kick it back to when we had Trevor Noah in the show, okay?
20:25
And he said that the parting words that he received from Jon Stewart when taking over the show was What?
20:33
"I'm leaving because I'm old and angry, and you're young and happy.
20:35
So, enjoy it while it lasts."
20:37
As someone who's marinated in news headlines and commentary for nearly two decades, how do you think your work has shaped your view of the future?
20:45
Like, do you think that you've been permanently fossilized in a kind of cynicism, or does your experience give you like an oddly optimistic look at what's ahead? A really good question.
20:58
I think to a certain extent yes, but not beyond that.
21:02
I think when you the deeper you look into these stories, the more flawed you realize things are systemically, but the more you encounter people working incredibly hard to change things.
21:14
Like clockwork at some point during a story, I'll leave my office and go into Tim's office who I run the show with.
21:24
And we'll say, "Burn it down.
21:24
Just burn everything to the ground."
21:26
cuz it feels like things are so bad in a story only flames are going to purify the hell that we've built for ourselves.
21:36
But, you do then work through that much like this shitty hot sauce.
21:44
Uh to realizing that in lieu of even as you're waiting for major change that you think might not come, incremental change is possible and valuable.
21:59
Does it Was that coherent?
21:59
I'm not sure what I just said.
22:02
Nailed the dismount, John-o.
22:02
For a look at you taking on the wings of death, living to tell the tale, like hitting that free kick in Suwayda. That's right. Right at the top, baby.
22:15
Kiss the crossbar when I'm running. Goal!
22:21
And now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
22:22
This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
22:29
I think what what I like about this in general, I think is you know like people complain about the filibuster that a price should be paid for something.
22:36
You know, that they say that you shouldn't just be able to say filibuster, you should stand on your feet for 18 hours and go to the have to wear a diaper.
22:42
This feels like a version of that for promotion.
22:44
They They should be a price to pay. That's what we thought.
22:47
That's That's literally the thesis of the show.
22:50
You got a B-minus movie you want to sell? Earn it. Earn it. Dance for me.
22:56
Um Um I don't have much to say.
22:59
Our show is back on um February the 18th.
23:02
I'm pretty sure that's the accurate date.
23:05
Can I plug other people's things? Yeah, go ahead.
23:07
Um best book I've read for a while was Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing. Have you read that?
23:14
No, but I will on your recommendation.
23:16
I I'd recommend I'd recommend you read Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe.
23:20
And yeah, I'm not Patrick Radden Keefe.
23:23
Even though if you told me right now that I was, I wouldn't argue. WOW.
23:33
THAT'S THE HOT ONES EXPERIENCE.
23:34
YEAH, and it is an experience, isn't it?
23:38
I can see why people feel closer to you at the end of this. We trauma bonded. Cuz you Exactly.
23:42
You go through a common experience. here and give me a hug.
23:49
It's like we've been through battle together. Thanks so much, mate. nice to meet you. It was really fun.
23:58
Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans? This is Sean Evans.
23:59
Thank you so much for watching today's episode.
24:01
And if you would like to get the taste of Hot Ones delivered right to your door, well, I have good news for you.
24:06
The Season 23 Hot Ones 10-Pack is available now. Heatonist. com, Heatonist. com, that's Heatonist.
24:14
com to get your hands on the Season 23 Hot Ones lineup.
24:16
Milk not included, ice cream highly recommended, and remember, be careful around the eyes.