John Oliver catches this year's cicada swarm up on everything that's happened since 1999

John Oliver catches cicadas up on the last 17 years

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

published 2 May 2016

Last Week Tonight is on break this week, "but we wanted to quickly address one absolutely huge story," John Oliver said in a web-only video posted Sunday night. That story is the horde of cicadas set to swarm the northeastern U.S. this summer, with the current batch hatching from the ground for the first time since they were conceived in 1999. "And if they're anything like humans conceived in 1999," Oliver said, "I'm guessing all the girl cicadas are named Madison and the boy cicadas are named Tyler."

But these cicadas won't be here for long — they will live for 2-6 noisy weeks, mate, and then die. "So they don't spend too much time catching up on what they missed, I just want to take a few minutes now to get them up to speed on what has happened in the last 17 years," Oliver said. He remembers a lot of things you may have forgotten — or forgotten are just plain weird — and he got in a particularly sly joke about Bill Cosby and a dig at Boston Red Sox fans (but not Curt Schilling). Yes, there is one Donald Trump reference, but you'll have to wait until the end to see it. 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.