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Prison: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

LastWeekTonight · 11M views · 2014-07-21 · 17:43

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Overview

John Oliver's Last Week Tonight segment on the American prison system, covering conditions, private prison economics and more, with comedic framing.

On Hacker News

Cited as a reference when HN threads discuss US prisons, for-profit incarceration, and obstacles after release.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2015–2024

Topics

Law, policing & justiceMedia, journalism & propaganda
Search by tags
prisonscriminal justicejohn oliverprivate prisonsrecidivism

What people said

HenryBemis · 2024-01 · Reference

> I do NOT recommend being upfront I re-binged "Last Week Tonight" a month ago. There is an episode on the prison system in the USA and the obstacles people face upon release. I remember one case where the person wrote on his job application as employed by the "State of <insert state>" while he was in prison. (it must be this episode: [VIDEO] ). I haven't been convicted of any crimes, so I don't have own experience. From people I know, they continued working in tech as contractors/freelancers, but for small fry (as big banks will be very thorough on your background (criminal/credit scoring) checks). Doing small gigs for small companies where you don't handle personal/sensitive data can give you enough time to (as the parent suggests) have this 'forgotten'. Would you consider moving to another country?

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cristoperb · 2018-08 · Reference

The Jon Oliver episode on prison: [VIDEO] See also Shane Bauer's undercover report "My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard": [LINK]

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wu-ikkyu · 2017-06 · Reference

>It's kind of brilliant in a sadistic way, as if the prisons, their programs, food, and environment were designed to maximize recidivism. They are. In this Jon Oliver bit they cite a Powerpoint sales pitch from a prison corporation which notes that high recidivism rates are one of many reasons why you should invest. [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by LastWeekTonight, played through YouTube.

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