John Oliver gets Edward Snowden to explain NSA domestic spying using phallic selfies

John Oliver interviews NSA leaker Edward Snowden

published 6 April 2015

Last week, John Oliver traveled to Russia to interview National Security Administration leaker Edward Snowden — which, while maybe not a surprise to the NSA, was a well-kept secret at HBO and to Oliver's Last Week Tonight audience on Sunday's show. Americans don't care about foreign surveillance, and barely care about domestic surveillance, Oliver told Snowden, with person-on-the-street-interview evidence. But that all changed when Oliver's team asked about the government siphoning up "dick picks."

"This is the most visible line in the sand for these people: Can they see my dick?" Oliver explained. Then he cleverly had Snowden evaluate a series of U.S. surveillance programs based on whether they could access a photo of Oliver's own phallus that he hypothetically sent to (presumably) a loved one. In a lot of cases, Snowden said, the answer was yes. "If the American people understood this, they would be absolutely horrified," Oliver said. "I guess I never thought about putting it in the context of your junk," Snowden admitted. So nice work, John Oliver. Warning: There is some NSFW language. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.