John Oliver: Jon Stewart’s legacy on public health

Last semester I taught a course on public health law. There was hardly an issue we covered that did not have an astute The Daily Show with Jon Stewart segment to help the students understand not just the health issue, but also its underlying political and legal conditions. Many of the clips are captured here in a tribute to Stewart put together by the American Public Health Association.
While we will miss Jon Stewart, the public health community still has a tremendous ally in Stewart’s protégé, John Oliver.
In his HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Oliver gives significant billing to public health issues that Americans should care about. Oliver has the same knack for exposing the politics, policy and laws that are at the root of so many of America’s public health problems.
And he is really good.
To get you hooked, here are a few links (Sex Ed, Tobacco, Sugar) to some of my favorite Last Week Tonight segments detailing public health issues, including a recent segment on Food Waste that if you haven’t seen, you must.
We will miss Jon Stewart. But Oliver is doing an excellent job making sure America’s public health problems, and their underlying causes, remain in the spotlight.