Seasons & episodes
S12 · E49Andrew Card 2007-04-16
Tonight, former White House Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush, Andy Card. Jon begins the show with the fired U.S. attorney's scandal. Over 5 million White House staffer e-mails have gone missing, including some containing information about the fired attorneys in a segment called "The Amazing Erase". The White House claims that the e-mails were mistakenly erased. To put the story in perspective, Jon calls Sen. Ted Stevens(R) from Alaska to help explain the complexity of the internet and email. Furthermore, Jon talks with Senior Technology Correspondent Jason Jones about how easily these e-mails could be accidentally erased.
S12 · E50Sig Hansen 2007-04-17
Tonight, Norwegian fisherman Sig Hansen from the show Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. Jon begins the show with a brief talk about the big rainstorm in the Northeast. Jon then talks about Paul Wolfowitz who used his influence at the World Bank to get a promotion and raise for his girlfriend in a segment called "Loan Wolf". On a lighter note, Jon talks about Richard Gere who over the weekend kissed a Bollywood star during an AIDS awareness rally in India in a segment called "American Gigolo". This kiss led to massive protests in India since public displays of affection are frowned upon there. Senior Mumbai Bureau Chief Aasif Mandvi talks with Jon about the protests, which included burning effigies of Gere on the street. Finally, Rob Riggle goes to Largo, FL and talks with Steve Stanton who was fired from his job as a city manager because he is transgendered in a segment called "Suddenly Susan".
S12 · E51Ali Allawi 2007-04-18
Tonight, former Minister of Trade, Defense, & later Finance in the Interim Iraq Governing Council, Ali Allawi, who is also promoting his new book, The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace. Jon begins tonight's show with "Mess O'Potamia", where amid one of the bloodiest days in Iraq, 6 Shiite cabinet ministers resigned because Prime Minister al-Maliki will not set a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal. Also, Jon looks at Bush's new war czar position, which has been created to apparently cut through all the federal bureaucracy bogging down the Iraq War. Since the position has been rejected by 5 generals that have been asked to fill the spot, the White House is changing the name from "war czar" to "execution manager". Finally, Senior Financial Correspondent John Oliver talks with Jon about the contradictions plaguing the U.S. economy as the stock market hits an all time high, but the dollar has reduced in value by half as $1 now equals 2 British pounds.
S12 · E52Jeremy Scahill 2007-04-19
Tonight, journalist and author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, Jeremy Scahill. Jon begins the show by talking with Senior Legal Correspondent Aasif Mandvi about the Supreme Courts decision to affirm the partial birth abortion ban in a segment called "America Decides". Jon then talks about Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez who testified before the Senate about not recalling anything he may or may not have done. Finally, Jason Jones talks with Frosty Hardison, a man who got his daughter's Seattle school board to stop a teacher from showing the movie An Inconvenient Truth in her class in a segment called "Apocalypse How?".
S12 · E53Matt Cooper 2007-04-23
Tonight, journalist for the Condé Nast Portfolio, Matt Cooper. Jon begins tonight show with a look at France's runoff election for President between conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and socialist Segolene Royal. Jon then does a brief recap of the Alberto Gonbzalez testimony and talks with Senior Washington Correspondent John Oliver about Bush's reaction to the testimony. Finally, Samantha Bee does a story about Earth Day in a segment called "Man v. Earth: The Wreckoning".
S12 · E54Senator John McCain 2007-04-24
Tonight, presidential candidate Senator John McCain. Jon begins the show with a look at the continuing battle in Washington D.C. over funding for the war and the use of timetables in a segment called "Mess O'Potomac". Finally, Jon talks with 1st term President Bush and 2nd term Bush using past clips of the President that seemingly contradict one another.
S12 · E55Garry Shandling 2007-04-25
Tonight, comedian Garry Shandling promotes his new DVD Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show. Jon begins tonight's show with a look at Baghdad and how the Bush administration is bridging the gap between Shiites and Sunnis by building a series of walls in Baghdad in a segment called "Extreme Makeover: Baghdad Edition". Jon then talks with Baghdad Bureau Chief Aasif Mandvi about the Baghdad walls in a segment called "Wall or Nothing". Finally, Lewis Black makes fun of several Earth Day television specials in "Back in Black".
S12 · E56Richard Gere 2007-04-26
Tonight, actor Richard Gere promotes his new movie The Hoax.
S12 · E57Christopher Hitchens 2007-04-30
Tonight, author and journalist Christopher Hitchens promotes his book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
S12 · E58Tobey Maguire 2007-05-01
No episode summary available yet.
S12 · E59Pierre Rehov 2007-05-02
Tonight, director Pierre Rehov promotes his new documentary out on DVD, Suicide Killers. Jon begins the show with a good old fashioned Washington D.C. sex scandal. Deborah Jeane Palfrey a.k.a. Miz Julia, has submitted 46 pounds of telephone records from an escort service she ran for 13 years. Jon looks at the media frenzy to see which powerful D.C. men are on the list in a segment called "Beltway: Unbuckled". Senior Washington Correspondent Jason Jones talks with Jon about the how one can hire an escort legally and for nonsexual reasons, namely, by always laying down on your stomach while you get your "massage". Finally, Aasif Mandvi takes a look at both sides of the debate over Chief Illiniwek, the mascot for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who recently was retired because of protests saying the chief perpetuated rascist stereotypes in a segment called "Trail of Cheers".
S12 · E60Ted Koppel 2007-05-03
Tonight, journalist Ted Koppel. Politicians on television programs us common folks watch are prevalent this week as Jon begins the show by looking at President Bush and Laura Bush on American Idol & Hillary Clinton on The Insider. As the 4th anniversary of Bush's mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier fiasco loomed large this week, the Democrats passed the Iraq funding bill only to have it vetoed by Bush in a continuing show segment, "Mess O' Potamac". Finally, snitchin' is not hip in the African-American community. Just ask Cam'ron, a rapper who made it clear that those who snitch to the police about crimes in the community, even a serial killer who lives next door, have no street cred and thus sales of their rap albums suffer. Senior Black Correspondent Larry Wilmore talks with Jon about the ethical implications of this stop snitchin' phenomenon and the rappers code of "effix".
S12 · E61Lee Gutkind 2007-05-07
Tonight, author Lee Gutkind promotes his new book Almost Human: Making Robots Think. Jon begins the show with an in depth look at the Republican presidential candidate debate last week in a continuing show segment, "Clusterf@#k to the White House". Senior Correspondent Aasif Mandvi reporting live from the gates of hell talks with Jon about John McCain's comment at the debate that he will hunt Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell in a segment called "Styx & Stones". Finally, John Oliver gives us a behind the scenes look at the Republican debate.
S12 · E62George Tenet 2007-05-08
Tonight, former director of the CIA and author of At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA, George Tenet. Jon begins with Queen Elizabeth II visit to Washington D.C. where she hung out with President Bush at a series of events in a segment called "Elizabeth II: Visit from a Nice Old Lady". Finally, Jon talks with Royal Watcher John Oliver who wasn't as excited as he should be about the Queen's visit.
S12 · E63Michael Beschloss 2007-05-09
Tonight, presidential historian Michael Beschloss promotes his new book Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989. Jon begins with a foiled terrorist plot to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey by terrorists who delivered pizza to the army base. "Mess O'Potamia" continues as Jon reports about a secret 24 member all Shiite panel dubbed "The Office" who exert their authority to overrule official government decisions in order to help Shiite militias. But fear not, because Dick Cheney is on the way to Iraq to pay a visit and offer his support as Jon's theory on Cheney's evilness is proved once again. The segment concludes with a report about a Palestinian kid's show sporting a Mickey Mouse like character that encourages kids to hate Jews & America. And finally, Jon talks with Youth Spotting Expert Demetri Martin who discusses and give us tips on the use of video resumes to set one apart from those dreary paper resumes.
S12 · E64Reza Aslan 2007-05-10
Tonight, author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Reza Aslan. The show begins with "Mess O' Potomac" as Jon talks about the new Iraq spending bill that promises Bush half of the money now and the other half contingent on a July progress report. Of course, Bush plans another veto saying that any restrictions placed on the Iraq War by Congress is unacceptable and promotes defeatism. So when will the war end and what is Bush's definition of victory or success in Iraq? Jon looks at a series of clips showing the flexibility of Bush's definitions over the course of the Iraq War and also talks with Baghdad Bureau Chief Aasif Mandvi. Finally, Jon crosses over the Atlantic to Great Britain, where Tony Blair announced that he is planning on stepping down as Prime Minister on June 27th. Jon goes over some of the highlights of his speech in a segment called "The Blair Ditch Project".
S12 · E65Jeremy Paxman 2007-05-14
Tonight, BBC news reporter and author of the new book, On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry into Some Strangely Related Families, Jeremy Paxman. The show begins with a clip of Bush "The Decider" taking matters into his own hands and conducting an orchestra during the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. The fired U.S. attorney's scandal continues as Alberto Gonzalez testifies about what he doesn't remember before the House Judiciary Committee in a segment called "House A.G.". Senior Legal Correspondent Rob Riggle talks with Jon about how White House officials can never comment before, during, and after investigations into wrongdoing in a segment called "Speak No Evil". Finally, Samantha Bee in "This Week In God" talks about the history of Mormons as it relates to current presidential candidate Mitt Romney & about a hispanic man in Florida who founded a church based on the claim that he is the Antichrist.
S12 · E66Tim Russert 2007-05-15
Tonight, the host of Meet the Press and author of Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons, Tim Russert. "Clusterf@#k to the White House" continues with Jon showing us four of the presidential candidates hitting the airwaves on Mother's Day to talk about themselves. Jason Jones enlightens us about the importance of good skin and spin doctoring for politicians in a segment called "Nip/Talk". Finally, in a segment entitled "Banned Width", Jon talks about how reporters are now banned from filming insurgent bombings in Iraq & U.S. soldiers are banned from going on websites like YouTube & MySpace under the guise of protecting confidential military information.
S12 · E67Don Rickles 2007-05-16
No episode summary available yet.
S12 · E68Brink Lindsey 2007-05-17
Tonight, contributing editor to Reason Magazine & author of the new book The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture, Brink Lindsey.
S12 · E69Zaki Chehab 2007-05-21
Tonight, journalist and author of Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement, Zaki Chehab. The show begins with some breaking news out of the Middle East that amazingly has nothing to do with the U.S. in a segment called "Middle East Trouble?" Military forces in Lebanon attacked a Palestinian refugee camp that harbored an al-Qaeda sect called Fatah al-Islam. Senior Beirut Correspondent Jason Jones stops by to give his report on the breaking news out of Lebanon. The end of an era is at hand as Bush and Blair part ways in a segment called "The End of the Affair". Jon provides us with a touching montage of Bush & Blair's greatest moments together with Dirty Dancing's "I've Had The Time Of My Life" playing in the background.
S12 · E70Margaret Spellings 2007-05-22
Tonight, the current Secretary of Education under President Bush, Margaret Spellings. Jon begins tonights show with the new Immigration Reform Bill being proposed in Congress in a segment called "Aliens v. Senators". Senior Immigration Correspondent Aasif Mandvi goes over some of the more complicated parts of the bill with Jon. Finally, Dan Bakkedahl experiences the joy in what it's like to be a Mexican crossing the border illegally in a segment called "Mexodus".
S12 · E71Lt. Col. Kevin Robbins 2007-05-23
Tonight, the commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron “Thunderbirds”, Lt. Col. Kevin Robbins. Jon begins the show with "Mess O'Potomac" as the Democrats withdraw any timetables they had in their Iraq War funding bill, instead opting for a series of objectives that have to be met by the Iraqi's. Who determines if they meet these objectives, why Bush of course. Jon nails Senator Harry Reid who agreed with the new bill, even though it's substantially similar to Senator John Warner's bill, which Reid previously said was weak and compared it to an old cup of tea sitting on a table for a few weeks. Jon then looks at Jimmy Carter's comment that the Bush administration is the worst in history. Senior Presidential Historian John Oliver talks with Jon and delve into Carter's comments and about past president's that may have been worse.
S12 · E72Al Gore 2007-05-24
Tonight, former politician and current political activist on the environment and author of The Assault on Reason, Al Gore. Jon begins with a look at the media blitzkrieg on reports about high gas prices in a segment called "Gas Pains". Senior Petroleum Expert Rob Riggle dresses up in Mad Max gear to talk with Jon about this story. Finally, Jon reports about Monica Goodling who testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the fired U.S. attorney's in a segment called "Illegally Blonde".