Prison: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) 

Privatised prisons are completely unethical as it is the state which is supposed to be punishing you, not shareholders making money from your misery.

Solitary confinement is defined as torture by the UN

Video title: Prison Thumbnail: Sesame Street Me: **Concern**

The cell size question had me like: Oh, right. The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. ...

Alright, I've been watching these shows for a while now, and I just have to ask this: Americans, what does your government DO? Because you have to pay for healthcare, you have to pay for high education, the government doesn't take care of prisons...what do they do? Are they even a government at this point, they don't do any of the jobs they are supposed to do.

You know it's bad when Elmo has to tell kids about prison

Saying it for emphasis: Should never be operated for profit: 1. Healthcare 2. Prisons 3. Education Corresponds exactly with: 1. Life 2. Liberty 3. Pursuit of happiness

I DON'T THINK I CAN EXPLAIN THE FEELINGS THAT COMES ACROSS WHEN I WATCH A PUPPET SAY "MY DAD IS IN JAIL"

"The size of the cell..." - it's like a Seinfeld episode.

When John Oliver started Singing this became one of the greatest videos on his channel.

i spent 22 days in solitary, nothing to read, no pen to write, i was considering bashing my head against a wall to get some attention, i got some books which relived the madness.

Sesame Street also teaches children how to handle the fact that a parent died while serving in the military (or police). No, I am not joking, I still have the DVD's.

That clip of the director of prisons was physically painful.

So the "Land of the Free" has the most people incarcerated? Hmm...

This is like the third prison video I've seen by John and they make me cry almost every time. I spent 23 months in jail and it was for a good reason, I was in jail for distribution, but the thing that makes me sad is that as soon as I became a prisoner I became just a number to people, and who cares about a number? Like I am just one of the millions of criminals in the country and why should we take care of those people? They're criminals, they've broken the law, they don't deserve care. That's the way it seems like everybody sees people in jail, and it doesn't matter who the person actually is, it only matters that what they did broke the law and that justifies treating them as subhuman. It's really hard to watch these videos and be reminded that for a good chunk of my life I was considered subhuman by a lot of people.

Having watched a bunch of John Oliver vids the last couple of days, one thing has become very evident to me: the man seems to have a real love for musicals. He's not super overt about it (except for the ending segment on this episode, of course), but there's hints about it here and there in almost every episode. Not that I blame him, I love them too :P.

this show is so good but watching it makes me so depressed

I like how Sesame Street explains being in prison to young children 'My dad's in jail, and I'm sad' *deep talk about what being in prison means* 'Right everybody DANCE NUMBER DANCE NUMBER!'

The “Arizona lawmaker “/ “take it with a grain of sugar” is despicable. His name is John Kavanagh. If you live in Arizona please do some research on him and remember what you learn just in case you are ever in a situation where you are thinking about trusting him. If anyone can find information that shows I am wrong about him please let me know. His story is very disheartening.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): The only show on television that has to deal with the racial profiling of crocodiles.

We have to decide if prison is supposed to be just punishment or also rehabilitation.

I've never understood why we as a society feel so comfortable joking about male on male rape.

It really is a shame that we’ve lost the idea of forgiveness, empathy, sympathy. People fall and it is really up to all of us to help lift them back up. Most humans have lost grace.

This was like a darker version of Mr. Rogers. The prison system needs to be broken down and rebuilt from the foundation up.

If Seasame Street is smart they need to bring in John Oliver for like 50 episodes

I did a 14 page research paper on private prisons and got a 100, thanks for the topic idea, John :)

I literally started tearing up at the Sesame Street part. I can't believe that this is such a normal thing, that sesame street has to explain it! I mean, these poor kids without their parents...

That woman didn't even know why they put sugar in her wound. You're telling me it's more likely she just randomly came up with that? The blatant cruelty and greed in some people is just utterly disgusting!

I just think it is bad that a prisons can hold rapists, murderers & pedophiles, but also hold weed smokers & torrenters...... but all those people get treated equally as horrible as each other.

The crocodile speaks the truth.

I feel like John just takes any excuse to sing with Sesame Street puppets.

"How big is the cell? Am I asking this wrong?" LOL. Also tragic.

Its close to 5am and I'm still on a John Oliver binge. Loving it! Highly educational and gosh, his humor and wit are AWESOME!

"I'm a crocodile!" "Oh Jesus, here we go..." xD

Watching these during the Covid-19 lockdown period and I'm so not used to hearing the live audience. Take me back to the white void.

dude, seriously, johnny boy could do an entire series of just him singing with puppets and i would totally watch that

It makes me sick how people actually think prison rape is some kind of justice.

K but I died starting at 8:14. "we floated for three days on a piece of bread but we never lost hope!"

There's such a joyful look in John Oliver's eyes when singing is suggested.

"Orange is the new black" The one lesbian in the crowd: wooh

Did I seriously hear a Sesame Street puppet say 'and possibly rape'?

I am quite sure that although 4% report rape, I would say that there are far more who don't report. Even in the free world, men rarely report rape, and you have to believe that in prison, those numbers are even lower due to fear of retaliation.

I was a CO in the 90s when the state started locking everybody up for everything. I stayed there longer than I was comfortable with for the money and benefits. It was a bit easier for me due to it being a Close-Max joint, just about everybody there genuinely belonged. But I finished my IT degree and made my 'escape' in 2000. People used to ask me what it was like working there and when I told them some of the absolutely unhinged shit that happened they'd generally think I was lying. So I just started saying 'Oh you wouldn't believe it'. Seems it's getting worse.

I love how at 17:01 you can see John trying so hard not to smile.

The Sesame Street clip gave me hope. It was a very quiet and mature way to introduce the concept of prison to young children.

My parents always told me that prisoners have a great life. Break the law? Do drugs? Kill or rape someone? Then you go to prison, where you get a free education, 3 free meals a day, gym and recreation, and a job when you get out! Sounds awesome, right? No. I never bought in to that bullshit. The prison system is horrible. I get that you get real scum bags in there, but you also get decent human beings who just made some mistakes. As many of them as possible deserve a second chance, and in order to get that, they need to be able to live.

"don't worry when we're done with them they're like human boomerangs: broken in the middle and always coming back." OOOOF

10:50 Ahh so that's where Janice from the Accounting used to work before

Congratulations on the promotion, Janice from accounting. How much do they pay in hell?

the doughnut part, was just, perfect

Did anyone finish this episode and just stare at the screen for a minute with a blank expression feeling the last fraction of their soul dissolve into dust and curl away into the breeze? John Oliver is a funny guy and covers some real topics, but I feel like this episode was hard to get through even for him.

Watching him say "Trumped up cheerios" with a positive tone is something that will NEVER happen in this country ever again.

I live in Venezuela; the most impoverished country in all latin america. In the whole world, there's only eight countries with a worse economy than mine and they are all in the South of Africa. Needless to say, the level of starving people in here is mindblowing. And yet, I've never heard of anyone dying from a bacteria in food delivered by a supplier. Never. No matter how bad things are, not a single company in this country has been desperate enough to give rotten food to their clients. Maybe old, but not rotten. Are you seriously telling me that in USA people is dying from this not because they are going hungry, but because their companies's priorities is to look after of their expenses?

Dear Mr. Oliver, in your recent interview on CBS you denied any credit for your personal input and involvements in choosing matters in your program. Regardless of all your gentlemanly reasons, I as one of your devote followers think you are one of the best single person to open our eyes to our shortcomings while we are laughing at ourselves! Great job and I take my hat too you as a great human doing the hardest job in informing us your public. Thank you and much respect for your dedication.

I have rarely laughed and learned so deeply at the same time. Great musical number!

17:00 I love that John can't hold his laugh here

This is why Oliver's new show is among the best in television. Rather than cramming brief glimpses at a variety of subjects into 30 minutes, he spends the entirety of the show examining, critiquing, and explaining complex and important subjects. With his breezy humour and intellectual focus, Oliver might just be the one to ignite that elusive national conversation about injustice that perpetually looms on the horizon.

Just do what England did - send your convicts to a beautiful sunny country to live.

“...while your mind slowly becomes untethered.” OMG, coffee straight out the nose ☕️ 🤣

One of my professors assigned this video for our class to watch. I'm glad that I've seen this now. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver never ceases to keep me updated about important problems in the world.

...Aramark controls the food supply to my school. Am I screwed?

I'm not sure how I want to feel about the sesame street short... On the one side I'm happy we have a positive way to explain incarceration to children, on the other hand, that it's prolific enough for this to be necessary is saddening on a level I didn't even realize I could get to.

My father is currently serving time in Elmore Correctional Facility because of a nonviolent shoplifting offense. He has a 17 year sentence and has served 8 years of that. Several months ago he was attacked by a guard unprovoked. My family tried to go see him multiple times, but we were denied. The first time, we first called to make sure we had the right credentials, and they said we needed SS. We drove up there and they told us we needed Birth certificates. 2 weeks later we asked to make sure everything we had was right and that we were able to see him. When we got up there, they said he was restricted and was not allowed visitation. This is seriously unconstitutional and inhumane and something needs to be done about it.

you know it's actually sad that a children's program, A LITERAL FREAKING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM cares about a certain subject, while the rest of us don't. It's sad that a small red monster from a Muppet franchise cares about everything else while, we don't give a literal crap. And honestly just like Maui says in Moana... "It's nice to see that humans never change"

"My dad is in jail, because he killed 4 people". "Well,ok,he is actually a dangerous individual, who needs to be in jail." Spilled my coffee all over my PC :))))

Prison attendance went up since the 1970's? What's that other thing that started in the '70's? Oh yeah! The drug war! Huston, I found your problem!

Dude, Tim Robbins Stands Shirtless in the Rain: The Movie is like my favorite movie!

Most women who are incarcerated are chained to the hospital bed during childbirth. It breaks my heart.

This is the best episode John has ever made; the televangelist just behind

When I was a kid a idolized America and thought they were the leading example for everything that's good, funny how opinions change when you grow up.. Poor Americans.

Your stuff is brilliant. Possibly the most relevant news I've ever watched. You deserve the emmy

Interesting, in the last 5 years... - The US prison population stagnated - Drug related prisoner numbers went down (but it's hard to tell, depending on which methodology they used to count) - John got his teeth improved - The tone of the show became much darker (especially in the last half of a year)

Aramark also provides food for my college...not surprised...

"Cause we put people in jail instead of treating schizophrenia" fuCKING Y E S

Wait..... My school food is provided by Aramark! *Checks burger Uh oh

I’ve watched literally every single episode of his, but this episode takes the cake

"prisoners are people" now theres the key, isnt it? A lot of people just want to feel better than other people and look at anyone who's ever broke the law as dirt.

Hey, Aramark also provides food to my college! I... I might stop eating at the cafeteria.

For all the horror of this subject... Knowing John Oliver is a Sesame Street fan since his childhood makes the end so adorable.

I love the way the journalist stares at that prison official saying the mom was lying, like he absolutely cannot believe what is happening in front of his eyes. I like him

I love the guy behind him at 6:00 he's so desperately trying not to laugh.

John Oliver for President. At least we'd have the funniest country leader

This is my favorite john oliver piece. I haven't seen it in a long time. I love the Muppets.

hearing the sesame muppet sing raaape in a falsetto singing was a very surreal experience for me

If only John Oliver is the president. The country would be heading toward a better future.

I'm becoming a huge fan of John Oliver. He present very well and got a great team working with him.

I'm glad this is a replacrment for the daily Show. I have so any clips to catch up on

For real though the way John lights up whenever he gets to do a musical number gets me every time

So many times I've read on social media about how we live in a rape culture during high profile cases, and yet here's a real rape culture that those same people seem to consistently ignore. Hopefully hearing this from John Oliver will spur these people into action, and I don't mean another hashtag campaign.

Shit, are there really so many kids with incarcerated parents that Sesame Street needs to do a segment on it?

John Oliver is one of the greatest human beings ever! keep doing what you are doing though i'm sure that you are gonna and i look forward to hearing from you in the future on last week tonight. you are definitely an inspiration!

Hey Aramark was the laundry service for our uniforms lol when I worked at Jiffy Lube back in the 90's. We'd grab a uniform out of the closet, and after wearing it for the day put it in a hamper that a giant white, "Aramark," truck would come and collect every week along with our red shop towels, (rags,) while dropping off clean ones.

I am so happy that this gets shared to RU-vid instead of being locked away behind the HBO paywall like some other programs a I know *cough GoT *cough* John Oliver and his writing staff consistently bring serious issues to the table for discussion in ways that John's contemporaries (Stewart and Colbert) simply can't. Perhaps this is the freedom of being on HBO in contrast to a Cable network like Comedy Central, or perhaps it's simply due to John being much more brutal and honest because he is a relative new comer in the "late night, semi-newsy" show category. Either way, almost every video that gets published to RU-vid from this show is brilliant and cutting through all the bullshit. I highly recommend watching and subscribing to this channel (hell there aren't even ads on these videos because it's HBO after all) Tagging these folks so they are sure to see this: ***** ***** justinhabit *****

As of March, Aramark has been the concessioner for Yosemite National Park. A corporation under scandal for undersupplying and supplying rotten food to prisons is now in charge of supplying and running businesses *in a national park*. The more I hear about them, the more I side with Delaware North Company on the trademark issue in Yosemite.

i've been watching all of john oliver's pieces these last few months and put this one off for the longest time because i knew it would make me unreasonably sad and i was right.

I literally thought this was a Dave Chapelle Skit 2:33 Welcome to a Dystopian Nightmare Son!

10x7. Thet's bigger then my appartmant where 4 people live!!! Oh wait...You were talking about feet...

I can't believe he didn't mention Louisiana's broken ass private prison system. It's shittier than anything he spoke on.

I love this whole series, and everything on the system has been spot on. I was charged with 5+ charges on 3 separate occasions, 1 I was actually guilty of and I denied search to begin with, so for the price of a public defender ($60 here) I got a deal where I could take 2 years of probation or face every charge individually (all I could beat except maybe a possession of a joint I never saw). So essentially I got 2 years probation and fines for something I could've gotten a ticket over. And then put in jail for a probationary hold that was put out by an incompetent PO for not showing up (I showed up the day I was sentenced if not the hour, got all my paperwork, got a phonecall that I got a new PO before my first appointment, set up an appt w my old PO for after I got back from up North so the new PO called me when I had no service to come in earlier, couldn't obviously and called when I got back/got service, and got put on a hold after repeatedly calling to set up an appt and went in twice to the office to see her!). And then had a captain dick ass of POs 16 months through 24, where I was accused of not doing my stupid work I didn't need to do (classes) because my old PO didn't keep *ANY* notes after the first she saw me. So essentially I completed my work and got chewed out and threatened to be revoked 8 months before I was off because of lack of notes kept and dude had to go around and ask my actual "teachers". Apology? No. But I did get newer/harsher rules until I was transferred yet again to the only woman I actually liked who got me out because of the cluster fuck in their offices. Essentially the last 4 months were free because I am white and smart. Anyway, during the time there I figured out food tastes the way the jail smells, you can literally be dying on the floor and be laughed at or called a liar (I wasn't aloud my prescription sleeping med I was taking at the time) so that was messing my guts up. When I did finally get checked hours later the look on the nurses face said "oh shit" so they kept me on watch for two days (because they didn't want to give me my prescription). And even when you get a nurse who understands what you're going through, what you need every x hours and so on, you get a new nurse a few days later who thinks you're just conning them because they can't be bothered to look at the previous nurses notes. Even to some of the nurses, it's like a game. Talking about how "so n so is here on X, what are we in highschool? lol. Wish it was crack. They're a lot more fun to fuck with. lol". A nurse to another nurse. Jail is probably the best place to detox because you're not going anywhere but at the same time, worse, due to people who treat you like literal alligators/crocodiles in a cage. Pretty sure WI pays more to get worse food too. I mean the quality of food is an obtained disasterpiece. I had a friend for years that turned into a guard in town and found out that he's an abusive asshole beyond his duty. After all it's a jail, not a prison. Only people I met were people having a bad day/had a bad day and were paying for it for months/years barely peppered with people who you say to yourself, "yea I see why you're here." My favorite? Failure to pay child support. How is locking up and losing someone's job while tax payers pay for the jail help anyone? It's like shooting someone in the head and then asking for the safe combination. And the worst thing is (besides the unfortunate possible butt rape) is that even going to jail for a night is such a degrading experience mentally, emotionally, and even to your self esteem. Especially your first time. Because as soon as you cross that threshold, you're a con. A criminal. Someone who's been in jail.

Oh boy that last part😂