John Oliver Compresses Everything You’ll Learn at School This Year Into Four Minutes

Alan: John's treatment of Asian and African geopolitics is spot on.

For many, Labor Day is the final bulwark between the halcyon days of summer and the long, demoralizing slog of the school year. In that spirit, John Oliver returned this week with a web exclusive that prepares America’s youth for everything they’ll learn—or not learn—in class this year.

For example, there’s world history (“You’ll learn that Africa and Asia are places, but that’s about it”), chemistry (“You probably won’t even learn how to cook meth”), and English (“It’s basically just essay writing, you can’t be wrong!”). Oliver concludes his lecture with a handy “Who Dies at The End?” guide to high-school literature, ideal for the thousands of students who will soon need to crank out an essay on Of Mice and Men. Last Week Tonight returns from hiatus next week.

Sharan Shetty is a writer for Brow Beat.