Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Gene Editing and CRISPR
August 13, 2018 7:20 PM - Season 5, Episode 17 - Subscribe
Let's catch up a bit, shall we? This was the episode that aired July 8, 2018:
Oliver, in what we can do about the new Supreme Court nominee (later revealed to be Kavanaugh): "I'm happy to say here that there is actually some good news, because as it turns out there is a Constitutional loophole that allows Democrats to I'm obviously lying here, there is no good news, everything is terrible now."
Then: "Look, barring some massive screw-up from Trump, the only thing anyone can really do now is vote, and there are actually two key elections you should really try and vote in, one in 2016, and one in 2014, because that is what got us into this mess, so, I want you to go find a medium-sized cardboard box right now. Take a pen and write 'TIME MACHINE' on the side of it, not because it'll take you backwards in time--it won't, it's a cardboard box-- but what I want you to do is just scream into it. Empty all the anger and frustration that you're feeling right now into that box, and when you're done, tape it up, go out, vote, knock on doors, and take that box with you. And if you ever come across someone who is thinking of sitting out an election because neither of the candidates quite 'do it' for them, and 'there's not much difference between them anyway,' open that box into their fucking face, and let yourself from this week scream some sense into them."
Oliver's failed limerick about the dangers of the Lyme disease experiment:
There once was a man from Nantucket,
Who gathered some mice in a bucket.
--He altered those mice,
--Engineered with a splice,
And now all of the seagulls are dead.
F.37: "Swingus Votus," JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY
- Trump's "We got more money, we got better brains, we got more houses," etc. speech.
- The week's prerequisite bombshell was the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. As of this writing his position has still not been filled. Oliver reminds us that this has the potential to be really really bad for reproductive and LGBT rights. Democrat hopes to block mean once again playing America's most depressing game show, HOPE SUSAN COLLINS FLIPS AND BE DISAPPOINTED WHEN SHE DOESN'T!!! Jeffery Toobin made a tour of talk shows to make sure everyone's hopes were appropriately dead.
- And Now: For Canada Day, The Most Canadian Thing Imaginable: Polite Interactions Between Professional Curlers At The 2018 Tim Hortons National Championship
- Main story: Gene editing, and how a revolution in technology, "CRISPR," puts it into the hands of people literally working in their garage. Contents: jacked, sexy beagles; work on reviving wooly mammoths; irresponsible biohackers; the hope to wipe out malaria; an Australian man who hates invasive cane toads; a Lyme disease experiment on Nantucket Island; the question of whether deafness and dwarfism are diseases that should be eliminated; and China's pushing the boundaries of gene editing. It's on YouTube (20m).
- And Now: Hey Guys--What The Fuck's Going On With Animals In Florida?
Oliver, in what we can do about the new Supreme Court nominee (later revealed to be Kavanaugh): "I'm happy to say here that there is actually some good news, because as it turns out there is a Constitutional loophole that allows Democrats to I'm obviously lying here, there is no good news, everything is terrible now."
Then: "Look, barring some massive screw-up from Trump, the only thing anyone can really do now is vote, and there are actually two key elections you should really try and vote in, one in 2016, and one in 2014, because that is what got us into this mess, so, I want you to go find a medium-sized cardboard box right now. Take a pen and write 'TIME MACHINE' on the side of it, not because it'll take you backwards in time--it won't, it's a cardboard box-- but what I want you to do is just scream into it. Empty all the anger and frustration that you're feeling right now into that box, and when you're done, tape it up, go out, vote, knock on doors, and take that box with you. And if you ever come across someone who is thinking of sitting out an election because neither of the candidates quite 'do it' for them, and 'there's not much difference between them anyway,' open that box into their fucking face, and let yourself from this week scream some sense into them."
Oliver's failed limerick about the dangers of the Lyme disease experiment:
There once was a man from Nantucket,
Who gathered some mice in a bucket.
--He altered those mice,
--Engineered with a splice,
And now all of the seagulls are dead.
F.37: "Swingus Votus," JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY
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posted by rhizome at 11:33 PM on August 13, 2018 [2 favorites]