Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Homeschooling

October 9, 2023 1:47 PM - Season 10, Episode 12

This week.... Kevin McCarthy is dumped as US Speaker of the House, and there are a number of troubling things about Franklin, Tennessee mayoral candidate and MAGA supporter Gabrielle Hanson. And Now: People On TV Share Increasingly Unhinged Conspiracy Theories About Taylor Swift. The main story has to do with homeschooling, which is rarely regulated due in large part to the efforts of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDS), the "NRA of homeschooling." (On Youtube, 25 minutes) And Now: The Surprising Importance of Emojis on 'Divorce Court.'💦🍆🥒🍑

John Oliver praised the work of WTVF Nashville reporter Phil Williams, who has been featured on LWT multiple times in the past. He's won the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, the duPont-Columbia Award four times, and three Peabody Awards.

F.37: "Biden Bitin'" COMMANDER

posted by JHarris (2 comments total)

I think I forgot how depressing some of John's main segments could be since I mostly remember how funny the delivery is. Having straight up Nazi curriculum in a homeschooling group is nuts, and complete lack of oversight is also nuts.

Say what you will about standardised testing, if it was required of all kids then some of the horrors could be mitigated.
posted by Marticus at 2:41 PM on October 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

The heartbreaking part about the many disparate groups who are forced into partnership with the HSLDA, is that the reason they need the HSLDA is to get out of school systems that are poisoned by... the exact same garbage right-wing fundamentalist white nationalist political forces that created the HSLDA.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:30 AM on October 10, 2023 [7 favorites]