A Decade of The Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Its Success and Participatory Approach to Social Change

Authors

  • Kshitij Pipaleshwar University of Passau

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5283/copas.404

Keywords:

John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, Political Satire, Participatory Social Action, Parasocial, Digital Culture, Social Media

Abstract

With three Peabody wins, sixty-eight Primetime Emmy nominations (and twenty-eight wins), several Writers Guild, Producers Guild, Webby, GLAAD, and Critics Choice awards under its belt, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (LWT), has retained its position as the leading voice on international news and policy, structural issues, and other rather solemn topics that would not be considered entertaining for a primetime show. With long investigative pieces that build on the work of other journalists, LWT challenged the idea that viewers are not interested in stories lasting twenty-odd minutes without any commercial breaks. As the show completes a decade since its premiere (April 2014), it is an opportune moment to reflect on and explore what attracts its audiences. While most satirical comedy is limited to critiquing politicians and public personalities, offering catharsis to its viewers, LWT takes this step further by tackling structural issues, outlining solutions, and soliciting viewers’ participation in addressing them. This leaves the viewers on a hopeful note, making them feel that they are doing their part in standing up to metaphorical Goliath. This essay, thus, also examines the participatory nature of Oliver’s “calls to action”, which fosters a sense of empowerment among the show’s viewers, along with the reasons why audiences connect with the show.

Author Biography

  • Kshitij Pipaleshwar, University of Passau

    Kshitij is pursuing a doctorate focusing on the representation of women entrepreneurs in media at Universität Passau. Her interests include pop culture analysis, embroidery, and collecting books that she may or may not read. With a master’s in Media and Cultural Studies (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai) and International Affairs (Sciences Po, Paris), her writings/films explore themes of gender, queerness, race, capitalism, and disability. Her professional work experience includes founding ICSA, a media and research company that worked with social organizations. She spearheaded communication and corporate responsibility initiatives at Worley Ltd. (India), worked as a research fellow at CSR Knowledge Center, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and interned at the Times of India. She is happy to be contacted at kshtjpipaleshwar@gmail.com for questions, feedback, or memes.

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Published

2025-10-17

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Kshitij Pipaleshwar

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.

How to Cite

Pipaleshwar, Kshitij. “A Decade of The Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: Its Success and Participatory Approach to Social Change”. Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, vol. 26, no. 1, Oct. 2025, pp. 64-81, https://doi.org/10.5283/copas.404.