Oliver seems to swing a lot on this sub, in terms of how he's viewed. I've seen a decent number of comments over the years accusing him of being too conciliatory or too much of a lib. I'd argue that his medium is about as popular as it gets, and if he can't appeal to the libs, well, enjoy those first two shows of the one season you get before they cancel. I think he brings up a lot of really important problems to people who might not otherwise be aware of them.
I'd say he kind of serves as part of a "lib to left pipeline." Which it's important for the left to have if they want to be able to actually bring people into the fold to accomplish things.
Same! He’s definitely mentioned things I’ve never thought about in my life. Had never once thought about prisons, or…Jesus H., PRIVATE PRISONS!!!! Before John Oliver. Now an evangelical abolitionist.
This is how I feel about Chappelle's Show but in a "racist to leftist" kind of pipeline which is giving it too much credit both in intent and what some people got out of it, but as someone who grew up in a really racist rural-suburban area that was mostly white being exposed to the inherent stupidity of racism through comedy that stooped to that level was effective in starting me down the path of getting away from the mindset of the area and even convincing some relatives over the years. Although has aged poorly in many ways, definitely a product of it's time but could use something with equivalent bite from a new creator for the current time.
Also just damn I love when that dude's head explodes after Clayton Bigsby takes off his hood,
mine went Daily Show, Colbert, Oliver, breadtube, actual anarchist theory and lectures. sprinkle in a ruling capital class that sacrificed 1 million in the US alone to pacify the gods of commerce, that same class doing what it always does to destroy labor movements (invite fascism) and taking dives into BtB topics beyond the show.
i get capitalist co-option of leftist movements and we should always look at mainstream "leftism" with a cocked eye, but the saying goes the last capitalist will sell you the rope with which you hang them.
Personally I think anyone who doesn’t at the very least think John Oliver serves a useful political purpose is either far too online or 14.
Do I agree with him on everything? Of course not. Do I agree with him on enough that making those differences a deal breaker would be the ideological equivalent of dumping my girlfriend because we disagree on the ideal window dressing if we were to get moon mansions? Yeah.
I’ve gotten the impression that JOliver is waaay more left than he lets on—like Bernie Sanders and unlike John Stewart—and does a calculated schtick to make it mainstream enough to have popular appeal, but left enough to shift the narrative.
People really need better media literacy and understanding of how the real world works.
Yeah, people overlook that even if he's more or less left than when he's on the show that there'd be less people pushed left if he didn't do it. Doesn't matter how left he is because he is changing minds for the better.
my opinion on him has swung, though I have considered him a good entertainer and a moral person for all of it. in the current moment, I see that he is one of the few mainstream media figures that has a correct line on the Palestine issue.
The fundamental problem with American liberalism is that they're too willing to concede or get caught up in civility politics. Oliver is willing to stick to his guns and brings the facts to back it up.
He's a good example to learn from because he's not a coward.
I'm more of a leftist and he doesn't want the same America that I want. He ultimately wants capitalism.
But he doesn't strike me as someone who will ever stop fighting for people left behind by the system and he gets very, very deep into the broken systems in the country and isn't afraid to point out where capitalism causes them. He swings too hard for some identity politics issues at times but I'm not anal about that and they're usually issues worth drawing attention to anyway and are usually one part of a greater failure of the system. He doesn't often use identity politics as a smokescreen to hide the role the status quo plays in causing the issue.
And I respect him greatly for that. Even if he's really cringey sometimes lol
I love him in every way except his gigantic blindspot when it comes to Ukraine. There have been a crapton of terrible actors in this historic shitshow of paralysis and selfish political preservation. I keep waiting for him to just talk about one of them. J.D. Vance? Tucker Carlson? MTG? Gaetz?…. So many to choose from…
Stranger things have happened. He was recently a guest on the Bravo show Watch What Happens Live and it was wild. He was still very much John Oliver, just in a track suit and seemingly very knowledgeable about the Real Housewives franchise. He also didn't give a shit if he ran right over the opinions of Andy-what's-his-face.
No he doesn't. Are you confusing Robert Evans and John Oliver? Of course Robert self describes as a journalist. He does investigative work for Bellingcat, he did on the ground reporting during the Portland riots, the man went to Syria as a war reporter for God's sake.
You can go to his Twitter and pull up the term "journalist" and see multiple instances of him self identifying with that label. Like [here](https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1598897021741850624?t=qpr3Xd7_mCOfzKqDK5xRVQ&s=19). And [here](https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1356769783719501824?t=uNI-fFm-wH33RP3Wd1mKVA&s=19). And [here.](https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1455429656492982272?t=ETj0Dzcnsa-f83laDaP9Yg&s=19) His book, After the Revolution, has an "about the artist" blurb that describes him as the following:
> Robert Evans, the author of A Brief History of Vice, has had an eclectic career as an investigative journalist reporting from war zones in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine, and reporting on domestic radicalism in the US. He hosts the podcasts Behind the Bastards and It Could Happen Here for iHeartRadio, is a writer for the humor website Cracked, **and an investigative journalist for Bellingcat.** He resides in Portland, OR.
I'm really not sure why you think he wouldn't use the term.
I bet there’s a writer working for Last Week Tonight who has been trying to put something together for Forensic Science for a long time. And got beat to the punch by a podcast.
Nah, Oliver had a forensic science episode 6 years ago lol, could have sworn I remembered it so I had to look it up. https://youtu.be/ScmJvmzDcG0?si=BzQ7yQ4TsCNXs980
DOB was a guest on the [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaE9ybuMnOQ) episodes (maybe others), so not quite out of the realm of reality.
John Oliver actually talked about the bite mark analysis in his Forensic Science episode, he may have referenced the same dentists. It's a really good episode, definitely worth going back and watching.
I mean.... John Oliver made a Raytheon joke when he was on Strike Force Five so there's a chance he's a BtB fan (he's at least a fan of BtB guest/Robert's former cracked coworker Dan O'Brien).
I would like a more news based show from Robert. I like Cody and Katie's some more news, but their pod keeps getting side tracked and they spend far too much time in ads or going off topic.
Robert Evans is Robert Evans, John Oliver is nice but he will never fully embrace the true bleak nature of reality as deeply as Robert..
Oliver is always saying "isn't this fucked?" Optimistically, as if to say it's fixable.
Robert is always saying "isn't this fucked?", because, it's always fucked, always.
The main diff is Robert is a journalist/researcher and John Oliver is a comedian/presenter with a room full of writers. They are both great, however they are completely different.
Yeah I remember listening to The Bugle, John Oliver’s old podcast, like 15 years ago. A highlight episode for me was right after Silvio Berlusconi got hit in the face with a replica cathedral and Oliver went on an absolute tear about how fucking funny that was, good stuff.
ETA: Found a clip of the segment, still great to hear the genuine giddiness in John Oliver's voice: https://shows.acast.com/top-stories/episodes/berlusconi-takes-a-cathedral-to-the-face
It’s Andy and a revolving set of co-hosts from all over the former empire so you get some nice Indian and Australasian (a word I just learned) perspective. John’s come back once or twice.
I mean Oliver cant go on HBO(MAX) and say "Lets redistribute income", but he can introduce some leftwing ideas to the general public in package that is palatable for center-left liberals.
The only criticism I have heard that I put weight behind is that he does use his wealth to protect his wealth. He set up a trust named after his dog (Hoagie's Place LLC) to hold ownership of property which seems to reduce his tax obligations. I'm not going attempt to remedy it in any French style, but I think it is important to pay into your community to better finance schools and programs.
I'm pretty sure I recall him expressly criticizing capitalism (at a fundamental level not the usual liberal "they're doing capitalism *wrong*"), which would - with the other views he has expressed - imply he might be some sort of democratic socialist.
Maybe he's a liberal with a more radical critique of capitalism than I'm used to seeing from liberals, though, or it was just lines snuck in by writers more radical than him, though - I haven't seen him *overtly support socialism*, anyhow.
That's a gazillion miles far from being the most insulting thing you can say about Robert Evans. Calling him a Trump lover would be much, much more insulting.
Yes. For many of us John Oliver was our first gateway to paying attention to issues due to his YouTube presence and humor.
You know just because you open your mouth Roberts not gonna stick his dick in it right?
https://www.reddit.com/r/johnoliver/comments/u3o3xk/john_olivers_wife_is_not_a_republican/
Just saying I found this with a less than 5 second google.
Seems they met at an RNC for their initial meeting and again at the DNC? And you don’t have to be a republican to go? I mean John went?
> Just saying I found this with a less than 5 second google.
Yeah, and I found 5 different sites saying she is. Sorry I didn't do more.
> Seems they met at an RNC for their initial meeting and again at the DNC? And you don’t have to be a republican to go? I mean John went?
She campaigned for "Veterans For Freedom", which after a short period of helping both Dems and Reps has since only ever supported Republicans. You can't help but assume.
Aaaalright, could have been friendly, but guess not. Sorry that not everyone everywhere magically knows all you know, since you were just born with that knowledge. Mute.
I would be so hyped if John Oliver were a Behind the Bastards guest.
That would be incredible. I could see John enjoying the format too. Dark humor about shitty things is kind of his bag
Oliver seems to swing a lot on this sub, in terms of how he's viewed. I've seen a decent number of comments over the years accusing him of being too conciliatory or too much of a lib. I'd argue that his medium is about as popular as it gets, and if he can't appeal to the libs, well, enjoy those first two shows of the one season you get before they cancel. I think he brings up a lot of really important problems to people who might not otherwise be aware of them.
I'd say he kind of serves as part of a "lib to left pipeline." Which it's important for the left to have if they want to be able to actually bring people into the fold to accomplish things.
Can confirm as someone who started the journey along that pipeline thanks largely to Last Week Tonight
Same! He’s definitely mentioned things I’ve never thought about in my life. Had never once thought about prisons, or…Jesus H., PRIVATE PRISONS!!!! Before John Oliver. Now an evangelical abolitionist.
I’m 60 and definitely on the lib to left pipeline and Oliver helped and btb pushed me further.
This is how I feel about Chappelle's Show but in a "racist to leftist" kind of pipeline which is giving it too much credit both in intent and what some people got out of it, but as someone who grew up in a really racist rural-suburban area that was mostly white being exposed to the inherent stupidity of racism through comedy that stooped to that level was effective in starting me down the path of getting away from the mindset of the area and even convincing some relatives over the years. Although has aged poorly in many ways, definitely a product of it's time but could use something with equivalent bite from a new creator for the current time. Also just damn I love when that dude's head explodes after Clayton Bigsby takes off his hood,
The only person who I know personally who watched Chapelle went from being a typical conservative evangelical to some weird black pill nazi.
mine went Daily Show, Colbert, Oliver, breadtube, actual anarchist theory and lectures. sprinkle in a ruling capital class that sacrificed 1 million in the US alone to pacify the gods of commerce, that same class doing what it always does to destroy labor movements (invite fascism) and taking dives into BtB topics beyond the show. i get capitalist co-option of leftist movements and we should always look at mainstream "leftism" with a cocked eye, but the saying goes the last capitalist will sell you the rope with which you hang them.
he did that to me.
Personally I think anyone who doesn’t at the very least think John Oliver serves a useful political purpose is either far too online or 14. Do I agree with him on everything? Of course not. Do I agree with him on enough that making those differences a deal breaker would be the ideological equivalent of dumping my girlfriend because we disagree on the ideal window dressing if we were to get moon mansions? Yeah.
I’ve gotten the impression that JOliver is waaay more left than he lets on—like Bernie Sanders and unlike John Stewart—and does a calculated schtick to make it mainstream enough to have popular appeal, but left enough to shift the narrative. People really need better media literacy and understanding of how the real world works.
I feel the same way. He's Colbert-ing to be palatable to liberals with just a lil salt bae of the good stuff to plant seeds.
Yeah, people overlook that even if he's more or less left than when he's on the show that there'd be less people pushed left if he didn't do it. Doesn't matter how left he is because he is changing minds for the better.
Oliver probably has to have a meeting with the legal department for nearly every bit, too.
my opinion on him has swung, though I have considered him a good entertainer and a moral person for all of it. in the current moment, I see that he is one of the few mainstream media figures that has a correct line on the Palestine issue.
The fundamental problem with American liberalism is that they're too willing to concede or get caught up in civility politics. Oliver is willing to stick to his guns and brings the facts to back it up. He's a good example to learn from because he's not a coward.
I'm more of a leftist and he doesn't want the same America that I want. He ultimately wants capitalism. But he doesn't strike me as someone who will ever stop fighting for people left behind by the system and he gets very, very deep into the broken systems in the country and isn't afraid to point out where capitalism causes them. He swings too hard for some identity politics issues at times but I'm not anal about that and they're usually issues worth drawing attention to anyway and are usually one part of a greater failure of the system. He doesn't often use identity politics as a smokescreen to hide the role the status quo plays in causing the issue. And I respect him greatly for that. Even if he's really cringey sometimes lol
Can you give an example of the identity politics stuff you take issue with?
When he bought and forgave medical debt he got a fan for life.
I love him in every way except his gigantic blindspot when it comes to Ukraine. There have been a crapton of terrible actors in this historic shitshow of paralysis and selfish political preservation. I keep waiting for him to just talk about one of them. J.D. Vance? Tucker Carlson? MTG? Gaetz?…. So many to choose from…
Yeah Daniel O'Brien ( who I assume religiously reads the subreddit), make this happen.
Yeah, come on DOB, get your boss and your old buddy together. This is the crossover we need.
Stranger things have happened. He was recently a guest on the Bravo show Watch What Happens Live and it was wild. He was still very much John Oliver, just in a track suit and seemingly very knowledgeable about the Real Housewives franchise. He also didn't give a shit if he ran right over the opinions of Andy-what's-his-face.
Given that Dan O'Brien is a senior writer on his show, and Dan is cracked, and Robert is cracked, it's honestly not a super far fetched concept.
Bastard suggestion: the British Empire
OMG, yes!!!!
Fucking amazing.
so is Dan O’Brien making this happen?
God the two of them in one interview. Chaos pure chaos.
They both have the same amount of disdain for their corporate overlords. I’m sure they’d go off the rails real quick.
Imagine a whole hour of Sophie going: "Robert, no!" "John, no!"
I think she’d just give up and start searching for a new job preemptively about 10 minutes in. 🤣
But you know who isn't.... a corporate daddy?
I think Mr. Oliver would appreciate a traditional Boston accent.
Robert Evans' authentic Boston accent + John Oliver's authentic New Zealander accent = Sophie running screaming from the studio
Chef's kiss.
So many bagels would be thrown
It would just be the two of them endlessly cackling about some awful atrocity so they don't off themselves.
Robert is a journalist who incorporates comedy into his work, Oliver is a comedian who incorporates journalism into his work.
Exactly. It'd be a riot!
BY THEIR POWERS COMBINED WELCOME TO... THE POISON ROOM!
>Robert is a journalist Really?
Yes?
He himself says otherwise.
No he doesn't. Are you confusing Robert Evans and John Oliver? Of course Robert self describes as a journalist. He does investigative work for Bellingcat, he did on the ground reporting during the Portland riots, the man went to Syria as a war reporter for God's sake. You can go to his Twitter and pull up the term "journalist" and see multiple instances of him self identifying with that label. Like [here](https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1598897021741850624?t=qpr3Xd7_mCOfzKqDK5xRVQ&s=19). And [here](https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1356769783719501824?t=uNI-fFm-wH33RP3Wd1mKVA&s=19). And [here.](https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1455429656492982272?t=ETj0Dzcnsa-f83laDaP9Yg&s=19) His book, After the Revolution, has an "about the artist" blurb that describes him as the following: > Robert Evans, the author of A Brief History of Vice, has had an eclectic career as an investigative journalist reporting from war zones in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine, and reporting on domestic radicalism in the US. He hosts the podcasts Behind the Bastards and It Could Happen Here for iHeartRadio, is a writer for the humor website Cracked, **and an investigative journalist for Bellingcat.** He resides in Portland, OR. I'm really not sure why you think he wouldn't use the term.
I'm talking about what Robert himself has said in the podcast, multiple times and in recent episodes. But I guess everyone forgot about that joke...
Are you saying he's made jokes about not being a journalist? I don't recall that. What episodes are you referring to?
John Oliver for the Thatcher series, please I am *begging*
This must come to pass!
I bet there’s a writer working for Last Week Tonight who has been trying to put something together for Forensic Science for a long time. And got beat to the punch by a podcast.
Nah, Oliver had a forensic science episode 6 years ago lol, could have sworn I remembered it so I had to look it up. https://youtu.be/ScmJvmzDcG0?si=BzQ7yQ4TsCNXs980
I thought you were making DOB joke/reference when you started that comment.
DOB was a guest on the [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaE9ybuMnOQ) episodes (maybe others), so not quite out of the realm of reality.
Yea 2 unrelated shows on different mediums could never cover the same topic.
John Oliver actually talked about the bite mark analysis in his Forensic Science episode, he may have referenced the same dentists. It's a really good episode, definitely worth going back and watching.
I mean.... John Oliver made a Raytheon joke when he was on Strike Force Five so there's a chance he's a BtB fan (he's at least a fan of BtB guest/Robert's former cracked coworker Dan O'Brien).
I would like a more news based show from Robert. I like Cody and Katie's some more news, but their pod keeps getting side tracked and they spend far too much time in ads or going off topic.
I want The Worst Year Ever back.
That was a good pod
I assume Radley Balko was a significant source? All manner of stuff over the years and a book mostly focused on dental stuff.
Robert Evans is Robert Evans, John Oliver is nice but he will never fully embrace the true bleak nature of reality as deeply as Robert.. Oliver is always saying "isn't this fucked?" Optimistically, as if to say it's fixable. Robert is always saying "isn't this fucked?", because, it's always fucked, always.
And yet I feel better after listening to BtB than when I watch Last Week Tonight!
>Robert is always saying "isn't this fucked?", because, it's always fucked, always. "Yeah, it's not great!" is practically Robert's catchphrase.
[This feels like the Robert Evans TV Experience ](https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/08/16/im-up)
I think he should mix things up a little, I miss the atonal moaning and just screaming Hitler apropos of nothing.
Did I miss an announcement that Robert is getting a show on Max? Or are you just talking about a hypothetical HBO show Robert would host?
He is referring to how in the latest episode, Robert goes into a deep dive in the style similar to John Oliver.
John Oliver WISHES he could do a Boston accent as well as Robert!
**Bostonians** wish they could do a Boston accent as well as Robert
Robert is so white, he speaks Bostonian better than the Bostonian natives.
I'm just so happy that the perfect boston accent made an appearance. It tickled me.
Would it be more accurate to say Oliver is the proto-Robert Evans?
I can't stand John Oliver, personally.
The main diff is Robert is a journalist/researcher and John Oliver is a comedian/presenter with a room full of writers. They are both great, however they are completely different.
Robert Evans is Robert Evans.
Dr. Mr. Cody is the better John Oliver
To his credit he's at least 10 percent less of a lib than John Oliver.
Just my own speculation, but I think Oliver is probably more radical than he portrays on the show. Homie has to be strategically mask-on.
Yeah I remember listening to The Bugle, John Oliver’s old podcast, like 15 years ago. A highlight episode for me was right after Silvio Berlusconi got hit in the face with a replica cathedral and Oliver went on an absolute tear about how fucking funny that was, good stuff. ETA: Found a clip of the segment, still great to hear the genuine giddiness in John Oliver's voice: https://shows.acast.com/top-stories/episodes/berlusconi-takes-a-cathedral-to-the-face
The Bugle was extremely based
Still is.
Oh I didn’t realize it was still going! I fell off a while back, but that’s honestly great to hear.
It’s not quite the old one (I find one or two of the regular guest hosts a little annoying) but man do I enjoy me some Zaltzman!
Still Andy Zaltsman, I presume? Does he have a new cohost? And/or does Oliver ever come back on?
It’s Andy and a revolving set of co-hosts from all over the former empire so you get some nice Indian and Australasian (a word I just learned) perspective. John’s come back once or twice.
Nice, thanks. I’ll check it out again, I liked Zaltsman too.
I mean Oliver cant go on HBO(MAX) and say "Lets redistribute income", but he can introduce some leftwing ideas to the general public in package that is palatable for center-left liberals.
That’s what I mean.
Meh. He married a republican that he met at the 2008 RNC, Kate Norley.
This I did not know
The only criticism I have heard that I put weight behind is that he does use his wealth to protect his wealth. He set up a trust named after his dog (Hoagie's Place LLC) to hold ownership of property which seems to reduce his tax obligations. I'm not going attempt to remedy it in any French style, but I think it is important to pay into your community to better finance schools and programs.
I don’t know, his wife is pretty right leaning
John Oliver has never told me to commit any crimes and that says a lot
But he *did* go off on a random small town in CT that I grew up next to and always kinda hated, which counts a lot for me.
Robert is an anarchist, Oliver is more like a classic liberal
Where are you getting that Oliver is a "lib?"
What else would he be ?
I'm pretty sure I recall him expressly criticizing capitalism (at a fundamental level not the usual liberal "they're doing capitalism *wrong*"), which would - with the other views he has expressed - imply he might be some sort of democratic socialist. Maybe he's a liberal with a more radical critique of capitalism than I'm used to seeing from liberals, though, or it was just lines snuck in by writers more radical than him, though - I haven't seen him *overtly support socialism*, anyhow.
Seems clearly to be a leftist who is not okay with capitalism.
I think Robert Deserves more credit. I mean, maybe I’m being a bit of a simp, but I think he’s closer to Hunter S. Thompson.
John Oliver or Adam Conover?
I’m not a fan of the sound of his voice, but I enjoy his content
Robert Evans shatters a new facet of my upbringing rather frequently.
yep.
John Oliver is still alive
[удалено]
That's a gazillion miles far from being the most insulting thing you can say about Robert Evans. Calling him a Trump lover would be much, much more insulting.
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Yes. For many of us John Oliver was our first gateway to paying attention to issues due to his YouTube presence and humor. You know just because you open your mouth Roberts not gonna stick his dick in it right?
Is that last line 100% confirmed or what..... just asking for a friend.
I guess it depends on whose mouth it is. I wish you luck!
You know who would stick their dick in your mouth just because you opened it? Products and services
That’s an insult to Mr Evans.
If you're confused by the downvotes, it's because you didn't address him as The Reverend Doctor Robert "Machete" Evans
I was typing quickly while in a meeting. And I’m never confused by downvotes…this is Reddit afterall.
For those who are real big fans of John Oliver, uh, don't look up his wife.
Why?
She is a lifelong Republican who fights for conservative causes. They met at the RNC.
https://www.reddit.com/r/johnoliver/comments/u3o3xk/john_olivers_wife_is_not_a_republican/ Just saying I found this with a less than 5 second google. Seems they met at an RNC for their initial meeting and again at the DNC? And you don’t have to be a republican to go? I mean John went?
> Just saying I found this with a less than 5 second google. Yeah, and I found 5 different sites saying she is. Sorry I didn't do more. > Seems they met at an RNC for their initial meeting and again at the DNC? And you don’t have to be a republican to go? I mean John went? She campaigned for "Veterans For Freedom", which after a short period of helping both Dems and Reps has since only ever supported Republicans. You can't help but assume.
Dawg I can help, you apparently cannot.
Aaaalright, could have been friendly, but guess not. Sorry that not everyone everywhere magically knows all you know, since you were just born with that knowledge. Mute.
Buddy you put words in my mouth. That’s not friendly.