Top Five Episodes: Season 6 (Last Week Tonight)

No News Satire Roundup this week, so it’s a good time to look back on the last season of Last Week Tonight. Every episode teaches me a lot, and even if a particular topic seems less interesting to me at first, I usually see why it’s so important by the end (that’s John’s move all over.) But inevitably, some stories rise to the top for me. Here are my favorites from season 6.

Season 6, Episode 1: “Brexit” – I always appreciate John's stories on Brexit. He breaks the issue down and shows all the colossal ways this move will likely be terrible for Britain, most of which hadn't occurred to me. And who doesn't love the poetic justice of "Leave" supporters who want to kick the immigrants out stockpiling tikka masala and jerk chicken in the event of a no-deal Brexit?

Season 6, Episode 10: “Lethal Injection” – This is an instance where I already didn’t like capital punishment, but this story taught me how it’s much worse than I already thought. It still haunts me sometimes when I think about how the precursor drugs given before the execution are solely for the benefit of those witnessing the executions, not those who are being killed. What a horrible, horrible thing.

Season 6, Episode 16: “Everest” – This story surprised me. I previously thought very little about the many major impacts from “tourist climbs” of Everest, people who can attempt an incredibly-dangerous summit, not because they have the skill to do so, but because they have the money to pay for a curated experience with a fleet of Sherpas all but carrying them up the mountain. From the human toll caused by traffic jams at perilous elevations to the sheer volume of garbage and human waste littering Everest, the episode got into a lot of stuff I never knew about.

Season 6, Episode 19: “Prison Labor” – A really strong story. Last Week Tonight always does great pieces on the prison industrial complex, and this is no exception. Even though this was a topic I already knew a fair amount about, I learned even more from this story; it seems there’s no end to the ways the U.S. exploits and dehumanizes the incarcerated. (Also, can we all agree that, if you can’t bear to hear words like “period” and “tampons,” you shouldn’t be allowed to create the rules concerning them?)

Season 6, Episode 23: “Legal Immigration” – For my money, the best episode of the season. At every turn, John hammers two main points home: 1) legal immigration to the U.S. is a far longer, more complicated matter than simply “waiting in line,” and 2) for all that Trump claims that his issue is with undocumented immigration, he wastes no opportunity to try and curtail every type of legal immigration in any way he can. Very hard-hitting, keeping focus on the human toll of these policies.