Junior Bake-Off, Harry Potter, and Britain’s depressing weather were all topics on this week’s episode of The Daily Beast Podcast with special guest John Oliver.
Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, spoke with hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee for a lighthearted conversation despite the impending US presidential election, a topic Oliver covers on his show.
“I don’t think it’s possible to know how America’s doing right now,” Oliver said. “The polls are incredibly close.”
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The late-night host also talked about the struggles of becoming a U.S. citizen with Coles, who called the process “strangely stressful,” having been through the same ordeal herself.
“When you start building a life in a country that… you’re not legally guaranteed to live in, the more you build that life, the more precarious it feels because you know it could get taken away from you at any second,” Oliver said.
Coles described her U.S. citizenship party, where Jessica Simpson came and served BBQ, as the ultimate “Welcome to America” moment.
Oliver said he only felt like an American when he voted for the first time. “ I thought, holy s--t, it’s real.”
Both Oliver and Bee were once students of comedian Jon Stewart, making their way to The Daily Show after rigorous comedy training. Oliver mentioned his first time on the series, and how J.K. Rowling was in the audience and told him he looked like Harry Potter.
“I had spent basically the years since her book was released doing standup, having Harry Potter shouted at me before I got to the mic. So, then J. K. Rowling basically heckled me in real time saying, yeah, you look like Harry,” Oliver said. “And I think I changed my glasses pretty soon.”
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