North Dakota: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) 

John Oliver's too awesome, always shining light on the stuff most don't notice.

"Be Polite? Fuck You! Don't tell me what to do" lmao

This man spends the shit out of HBO's money and it's always so worth it

Family Guy said it best: "North Dakota.....we're not even the good Dakota."

If John was able to run for president i would honestly vote for him. Imagine the day, an English immigrant as President. Conservatives everywhere would cry

Having come from North Dakota... I can say the oil boom has been disastrous to my community. I had to leave due to how outrageous prices got for everything from housing to gas. (Ironically enough) You almost have to work in the oil industry to have a decent life there. The lack of infrastructure is probably the most apparent problem. More deaths are resulting from that, as opposed to the rig accidents. Man, it's a mess. You did nail it though. Usually North Dakotians are ecstatic about their state or town being mentioned nationally. I don't feel that right now, except for those billboards. I remember those and they were the shit.

As someone who’s family has lived in North Dakota for 30 years this episode was at once both heartbreaking and extremely accurate

Stumbled in here (a few years late) and found: A comedy show with MUCH more news and actual research than the actual news. The research shown here is at a level not seen much these days. Subscribed.

South DaCanada, laughed a little to hard at that.

Fun fact about the billboards: they’re still here. And we have no idea who pays for these things, but they’ve been around as long as I can remember

Over 7 years in the Oilfield Services. I got out with all my toes and fingers. Thank God 🙏

I live in ND, and I approve this message. Thanks you, Mr. Oliver.

Did you know that Montana and North Dakota got into a war? It got so bad that the North Dakotans started throwing dynamite. The Montanans lit it, and threw it back.

I am from Texas, and I can confirm that the speed limit is "Let er' rip!"

Oil companies were trying to drill on Dad’s farm in Scobey out in the part of Montana we call West Dakota; he refused to allow it and he fought the KXL pipeline. Sadly he is gone now but the farm is still producing food and not oil. I guess the coal companies also drove him nuts back in the day...

In the UK sub contractors count as employees under health and safety law. It avoids this kind of lack of employer responsibility.

Y'know, people knock OSHA for not doing a lot to protect workers, but as someone with a degree in industrial hygiene and have thus learned a LOT about OSHA in the last few years, I find that yelling at OSHA for people dying on the job is like yelling at your security guard when your stuff gets stolen when you've nailed that guard's feet to the floor and have given him a rubber band to defend himself. OSHA, for all the good its done, is still one of the most toothless and understaffed agencies in the government, and businesses will do the very crap done as reported here in this video to avoid having to be responsible for the lives of workers and save a buck. And when people try to introduce reforms or enhancements to OSHA, the same baloney comes back down the pipe of "over regulating" and "putting the handcuffs on businesses". I'm so sorry, businesses, that you feel chained down and enslaved because you're being asked to ensure that your employees and contractors are able to come home to their families alive. The saddest part of this video was Governor Dalrymple's speech about how the "regulatory environment is very reasonable" in North Dakota. That's politi-bull for "we'll look the other way on your crap safety if it means you bring us business".

ALL HAIL JOHN OLIVER AND THE GLASSES THAT LAYETH UPON HIS FACE!

SIXTY NINE HOURS!!! Can you imagine just being awake for that long?! Never mind driving, watching what ur supposed to be working at, listening to what you need to be listening to and for, EVEN WALKING FOR SIXTY NINE HOURS IS INSANE!!!

As a person who’s visited north and South Dakota I can confirm that theyre basically as nice and wholesome as Canadians

YES, SOUTH DAKOTA WAS MENTIONED. I'VE NEVER BEEN THIS PROUD. THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING US. SOUTH DAKOTA EXISTS!

This is exactly why labor unions are more important now than ever. The labor force being killed and maimed in the oil fields need a voice.

"North Dakota is probably best known for the 1996 Coen Brother's movie Fargo, and the visitor's center can tell you all about it... " Like how all of it, save one scene, takes place in Minnesota?

"The longest I've ever been out on a job site is 69 hours straight" Nice. but also, you know, not nice.

As someone who lives in North DaCanada I can tell you that the only reason we're so polite is because that staves off the psychosis. Remember the last time Canadians got mad? Nazis ran away.

I love John Oliver. He knows just how to simplify complicated topics while not making it sounding like he's dumbing it down, plus he's seriously funny.

The fact that I miss these kinds of stories and having time to worry about the environment is depressing.

"Business friendly" = "Civil Enemy" That's how it sounds, at least.

69 hours that's almost 3 full days for an explosive technician, that's terrifying

3:01 "...like a solar eclipse, you _really_ shouldn't look directly at it." Insert picture of Trump staring into the solar eclipse...

What hit me hardest was that people were burned. That to me is the worst type of injury. Medical professionals have a hard time controlling pain from burns.

Standing Rock is in North Dakota. This report came out just before the huge protests. The stranglehold oil has on the state was absolutely the reason for all of that unbridled police violence. Oil benefits a few in the short term and hurts so many more in the long run

North Dakota: Come for the culture.....Stay because your car won't start..

Ooooo, the censors missed one

Who'd have known in 2020 the barrel is worth more than oil in it .

I would totally love to hear a follow up on this subject matter.

John please do a segment on the TPP!

i find it hilarious that the north dakota video has 6 times more views than the population of N Dakota.

one aspect why they are so great, I'm watching this vid 8 years later, pretty cool for a "weekly news" series. Thanks!

My friend worked in the Bakken oil fields and came home with leukemia. I wonder how many others got sick?

Man, my econ teacher last year (who also happened to be a far-right conspiracy theorist) was going on about how great the North Dakota oil fields were. I hope he somehow finds out about this video.

I love that they censored "F*ck you!" But then, on the third f*ck, they just said fuck censorship.

As an ND native, I'll give him this: South Dacanada is one I hadn't heard before.

I have a slightly ridiculous suggestion. When we were in Seattle last year, my father wanted to photograph the welding sparks at a construction site near where we were staying. He did this several days in a row. He noticed he was getting nervous looks, and asked someone about it. "You from the government?" the guy apparently asked. "No," my father replied, "I'm just taking photos of the sparks." The guy laughed and said, "I don't think I'll tell the boss. He's been double-checking all the safety equipment since they saw you." My point being, if you dress business-casual and carry a large camera, you can sometimes get someone's boss scared enough to follow the law. Even if you have no authority. Schrodinger's OSHA.

DAMNIT I WANTED TO GO TO SLEEP!

They forgot to bleep the "fuck you" @ 1:28. I can't believe a show on HBO didn't bleep out a cuss word. Shameful. Here I thought HBO was good, wholesome family entertainment.

"The price of oil has dropped in the last year." 2020, 2021, and 2022: *Allow us to introduce ourselves*

I've lived in North Dakota 11 years... and I had to look up that turtle monument. Practically in Canada as far north as it is. But I'm still proud. Next time I head west to visit in-laws, I'll be making a detour to see it. Thanks John Oliver ;)

Regarding the explosives expert required to work shifts up to 68 hours long... Uhh, well, I've spent a lot of the past few years voluntarily not getting enough sleep so I can play video games and make posts on webforums regarding video game lore. One thing I've learned about my sleeplessness, is that after 24 hours awake or so, I do not consider my mental state to be capable of playing the easy mode stuff in video games with a sufficient level of competence to actually get anything done. I've been up to 68 hours (and further) without sleep on some occasions, so I know something about the mental state of someone who's been awake that long in a stress-free environment. That explosives expert was required to handle explosives competently while he was constantly hallucinating, the size and shapes of objects constantly shifting, and he probably couldn't walk in a normal fashion or be able to complete a grammatically-correct paragraph. The fact that no one at that site was killed during that work shift is a god damned miracle.

Born and raised North Dakotan. Grew up in Bismarck and I hardly recognize it anymore. Porches, Ferraris, massive houses in gated neighborhoods. I just can't stand it here anymore. People, especially in big cities, are rude. At least in a place like NYC or LA you'd expect it. But with the massive migration to this state, they've brought that with them. Granted, the first time I tried Japanese food was after the boom, but I'd rather stick with lefse, kneophla, and hotdish if it means we could have our state back. I really encourage journalists to check out the levels of corruption in our State Legislature. It's sick. But the citizens are too polite to say people aren't doing their jobs in government. It's true. We'd rather be seen as ignorant than rude. Being rude is a big deal here. Thanks for bringing attention to the issue, John.

My dad bought an apartment complex right before they shut down the jobs. Let's just say that it's a bad situation now. Side note... the guy who wrote Blood and Oil was in my graduating class of high school. haha

Years later, I still live in ND. We still have those billboards...

This story echos the entire shale natural gas industry in multiple other states.

I moved to Minot for a year and a half during high school, the first night I was back a few people died in a bar stabbing that involved a lot of oil workers with too much to drink. Violence indeed rose a lot in ND because of the influx of new workers.

John and his team must have saved lots of lives raising awareness

Sounds like it's time for my dad's favorite joke about ND! What is the North Dakota state bird? An empty Walmart bag caught on a barbed-wire fence.

You know you're not american when you wonder about all the people talking about one "fuck you" not being bleeped in the comments^^

As a Texan, the "Let 'er rip" speed limit thing is 100% true.

Hiring sub-contractors. I live in Japan, have been here 36 years, and this is the standard operating procedure for large corporations to avoid responsibility of compliance to Japanese Labor law. The law mostly applies to only full time employees, not sub-contractors. And did you know that many of the workers at the pre-tsunami nuclear power plants are untrained and under-protected sub-contractors .... as are the foreign immigrant labor hired to clean up the shit?

7:00 ... Oasis Petroleum? It takes a real weasel for a company that pollutes all the water to name itself after a source of water.

John please do an episode on the problems in Alaska! Most people don’t even know we’re a state or that we are not an island. Despite the glaring issues with global warming they constantly vote against doing anything about it or other issues

Hey oil companies: Why the fuck you lyin why the fuck you lyin mmmh ohmygod why the fuck you lyin

From Texas here... John is spot on about what he said regarding my state... 🤦🏽🤦🏽

'I've mind fruck ya' is such a scottish phrase

Coming from Saskatchewan the oil has had a disastrous impact to communities. it's made the crime rate skyrocket made once nice neighbourhoods turn into ghettos.

Those billboards straight up remind me of They Live.

There is only 2 seasons in ND winter and road construction

I've legit watched this episode a handful of times because frankly I enjoy watching John do the fucking news. This man hands down has the best fucking show on cable.

Just watched this on TV. Did anyone else have the part about Mitchell's Oil Service cut out?

1:28 Don't bleep out fuck lol

I asked my OSHA certification instructor what would happen if a company just didn't pay a fine. He said, the fine would double...and so on. So, nothing.

It's always the nicest people who get taken advantage of the most.

The investigative team on this show is absolutely brilliant.

Additionally I love John’s little evil finger tap before he reveals the bullshit lol

The Briggs thing about North Dakota oil wouldn’t let me stop thinking about the northern wall of Briggs.

I oddly think about North Dakota a LOT. Almost specifically Bc I think of it as a “forgotten” state. What I actually forget about is South Dakota. And Idaho. I forget Idaho exists 99.9% of the time.

I'm just gonna say what everyone's thinking. That was was a f*cking awesome turtle.

Comedians speak the truth while politicians make us laugh.

Wow, this episode was particularly infuriating... The news clip describing the burn victim losing his legs and committing suicide is just horrific. Good lord...

I left Fargo ND not a few months ago. And YES. Those billboards are still there.

They didn't censor the "fuck you" at 1:30

One of the best jobs must be the person who photoshops the images for all the show's jokes. You'd just photoshop funny pictures and read jokes all day. 15:22 - 15:31 Even the Fifa building in the field next to a windmill seems like it'd be humorous to create.

That wood chipper is an AMERICAN Hero! Steve Buscemi is a MONSTER!!

I pushed the foot into the chipper last summer & the photo of me is one of the happiest I’ve ever had. We stayed in Fargo & it was sketchy af & honestly, one of my favorite things ever.

Being Norwegian here I never ate Lute fisk, If I ever go to North Dakota I will try that single restaurant. I just have 48 states to visit first.

I really wish John Oliver would dedicate an episode to the 1100 murdered or missing indigenous women here in Canada. And how the government says it is not a problem and not worth investigating any further, despite calls from the UN saying it is a crisis.

"North Dakota, we're not even the best Dakota." - Peter Griffin Lmgdao! Here in North Dakota right now. Living in Minnedakota and we were just all throughout South Dakota for spring break vacation at Crazy Horse Monument, Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, The Black Hills, Badlands NP, Rapid City, Wall Drug, The Corn Palace and Sioux Falls. That saying is soooo freakin true. "It's funny cause it's true."

Thank you, John. You are fearless.

I HAVE AN AUDITION FOR A FILM TOMORROW, OLIVER! Ah fuck it! I love you

John Oliver is a true genius!!!!

Had my WHS induction at my new job today and when the guy leading the meeting started talking about the two people who'd died on construction sites (already) this year in the state and followed it up with 'and I can guarantee you, in 6 months, the developers behind those sites won't be operating' I kind of just... On one hand, can we not aim to avoid loss-of-life simply to prevent loss-of-life? Does there have to be a financial motivation behind it? But, on the other hand, I remembered this episode and I was just so thankful that, not only do I work for a company that actually cares whether it's workers live or die (regardless of their motives), but that I also live in a country where this sort of bullshit blame-tossing actually has consequences.

These vids are like topical extended-length late-night monologues without the interview guests promoting their record/movie/book. For a long time, I’ve recorded Kimmel and Colbert so I could watch the monologue and delete the rest. These topics are better chosen, too, as they can use the lengthier time to dig deeper. 60 Minutes show with one speaker and one topic per episode. Adding the comic asides during the rat-a-tat pace is brilliant. Rock on, John. Even when they’re old, they’re often topical.

I know this is an old video, but the real problem with the subcontractor system in cases like this is that it allows corporations to completely evade responsibility. Subcontracting can actually be good for local economies, by giving business to existing local firms rather than creating competition for them - or worse, transferring in people from outside the locale and displacing local workers - but the contractor themselves needs to have some degree of accountability for the actions of their subcontractors. I worked on defense contracts for several years, and at first the company I worked for was subcontracted through another company. If we screwed around and our employing company didn't do anything about, _they_ could get penalized as well as us. The same went for the DARPA liaison on top of the whole contract - if he was made aware of improper work activity of a contractor (such as one University using DARPA funds to fund research that was not even tangentially related to the subject of the contract, outside of being about the military), and did nothing about it, _he_ could wind up being disciplined or even *prosecuted* for allowing the mismanagement of government funds. Heavy industry *must* be held to the same standard, or some standard at *all* because unlike a contract that involves non-mission-critical software, peoples lives are _literally_ on the line. EDIT: Full indemnification waivers like the one in Oasis' contract should also be abolished. Some of them can be scary as hell. I had to sign one during a competition that attempted to claim that I would not assign liability to the host school even in cases of _malfeasance_. In non-legal terms, that meant that they could _intentionally_ do something that could harm me, and I could not file civil suit against them. Was it enforceable? I don't know! Even if not, though, the fact that someone would ask anyone, let alone someone who was at the time a _minor_, to sign such a waiver, is unconscionable.

They're like Captain Planet villains without the subtlety.

I grew up playing on that Turtle as a kid.

I always stay current with your show and often times binge watch previous shows and all I have to say is good on ya my man! Brilliance and hilarity mixed with cutting edge in depth research I wish more people paid attention!

John Oliver has taken his teacher torch and is lighting the way for all of us. I just hope his words don't fall to deaf's ears. THANK YOU MR. OLIVER AND THANK YOU HBO. PLEASE NEVER CHANGE

And people of the US learn all this not at school but on HBO after the age for schools. HBO is now more sophisticated than the education officials.

I learn so much from John Oliver. He's also hilarious

Don't diss lutefisk. It is the sustenance of the gods, your puny form cannot comprehend the majesty of lutefisk.