John Oliver

Pūteketeke are pictured in Lake Alexandrina on South Island, New Zealand, in this undated handout photo.

With a boost from John Oliver, pūteketeke soars to first in New Zealand bird contest

2:27pm November 15, 2023

by Joe Hernandez

The water bird was named a conservation organization's Bird of the Century after the Last Week Tonight host took out billboard ads across the globe and hyped the threatened species on his show.

John Oliver returned to TV with season 10 of his show.

'Utterly joyful': John Oliver tells NPR about returning after 5 months off the air

5:22pm October 06, 2023

Late night TV host John Oliver spoke to All Things Considered about the last few months off air, the tentative agreement for writers, and what he hopes for his writers in the future.

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Stephen Colbert returns to new episodes during Monday's Late Show program.

Arts

Late night TV is back! We rank their first episodes

1:44pm October 03, 2023

by Eric Deggans

The strike meant the hosts were sidelined for about five months and their return reminds us that satire helps us process the absurdities of modern life and politics.

The late night heavyweights are putting their power into a new podcast, sharing this image on the Instagram page for the show.

Late night TV hosts team up for a new podcast amid the writers' strike

3:55pm August 31, 2023

by Andrew Limbong

The biggest names in late night have turned their private group chat into a Spotify podcast. All the proceeds will go to support their staff during the writers' strike.

John Oliver's HBO show, Last Week Tonight, returned for its fifth season in February.

Arts

John Oliver Finds Humor In The News No One Wants To Hear About

3:07pm March 07, 2018

by Terry Gross

On Last Week Tonight, Oliver dives into often obscure stories, like NRA TV and the laws that govern televangelism. He describes the show's style as "the slowest improv you've ever seen."

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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has started the process to roll back Obama-era regulations for Internet service providers. The agency is scheduled to vote on Thursday on whether to reverse regulations of whether all web traffic should

As FCC Prepares Net-Neutrality Vote, Study Finds Millions of Fake Comments

5:56am December 14, 2017

by Brian Naylor

The federal agency is about to decide if all Internet traffic should be treated equally. And yet among 22 million comments the FCC received, many were fake. Some are calling for a delay on the vote.

The Dalai Lama has a conversation with John Oliver — and fermented horse milk comes up.

Health & Safety

Looking Into The Horse Milk Story That The Dalai Lama Told John Oliver

1:01pm March 09, 2017

by Angus Chen

The spiritual leader says he brought down Mongolia's rate of alcoholism by encouraging a switch from vodka to horse milk.

John Oliver speaks at Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together for Autism Programs" in New York in 2015.

John Oliver On Facts, Donald Trump And The Supreme Court For Dogs

9:08am February 10, 2017

by David Folkenflik

In an NPR interview, the comedian talks about why facts matter more to him as a comedian than the president he's about to lampoon. Oliver's Last Week Tonight returns for a new season on HBO Sunday.

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Chechen regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov speaks as he attends celebrations marking Defenders of the Fatherland Day in Chechnya's provincial capital of Grozny, Russia, in February.

World News

When The Cat's Away: Chechen Strongman Spars With John Oliver Over Lost Feline

2:20pm May 25, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The fur started to fly when Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov told his 1.8 million Instagram followers that his cat is missing. Then the HBO host got involved and turned the saga into Internet catnip.

World News

John Oliver Says U.S. Students Learn Virtually Nothing About Africa

7:18pm September 09, 2015

by Anders Kelto

So we asked a former U.S. student who went to live in Africa to come up with 11 factoids — a crash course on the continent. Note: We will not test you on these facts.