The Problem With Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart addresses American war veterans' health issues, specifically from burn pits. He speaks to some veterans who say that the Veterans Health Administration doesn't completely cover their treatment if the standard of proof for causality isn't met.^{[further explanation needed]}

Jon talks about how the US government frequently bails out corporations and the rich, but any talk of government assistance to the non-wealthy is dismissed as "socialism". He says that Tim Geithner told him that the government shouldn't pay the mortgages of people who had defaulted during the 2007–2010 subprime mortgage crisis because of "moral hazard."

Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen sits down for an interview.

Panel: Douglas Holtz-Eakin (former director of the Congressional Budget Office). Darrick Hamilton (professor at the New School). Amy Jo Hutchison. Magaly Licolli.

Jon focuses on the link between domestic violence and gun violence.^{[further explanation needed]} He interviews two women, April Ross and Janet Paulsen, whose husbands sought to kill them for wanting to leave abusive marriages.

Jon interviews David Chipman and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

Jon discusses the stock market, juxtaposing its ownership inequality with its supposed democratization. He explains that with Robinhood Markets, an investor's money doesn't go directly to the stockbroker; instead, the money goes to a payment for order flow (PFOF) handler such as Citadel LLC. Sometimes, market makers "slip the order into what are called dark pools" according to Stewart. He describes "dark pools" as "private exchanges."

Steward expresses cynicism about PFOF because he credits Bernie Madoff with the idea. He next jokes regarding investors' money, "Bernie made off!" Later, he compares Robinhood Markets to FanDuel.

• Guest: Gary Gensler (current Securities and Exchange Commission Chair).

Jon lampoons the media’s over-reliance on sensationalist tactics to convey urgency while still failing to provide meaningful, actionable solutions; covers the oil industry’s 20th-century propaganda campaign to individualize the collective responsibility for environmental stewardship, discusses how humans’ track record on similar issues suggests further inaction, shows montage with public statements about tackling climate change reaching back to George Bush 41.

A short satirical video from Ed Begley Jr. leads to the panel.

Sunita Narain, PhD, Director General at the Center for Science and Environment, hosts an intermission piece about the material impacts of climate change on the global south, relevant broken political promises, and future needs.

After a second convening of the panel, Jon interviews with Ben Van Beurden, CEO of Shell.

• Guests: Katherine Dixon IEA Chief Counselor, former Shell VP of Strategy for Energy Transition, Jesse Jenkins, PhD, Professor of Energy Systems Engineering at Princeton University, Heather Toney, VP of Community Engagement at Environmental Defense Fund

Jon Stewart discusses the United States cable news networks and their attempts to boost Nielsen ratings. Stewart also discusses Christopher Rufo receiving media attention for voicing his opposition to critical race theory (CRT).

• Guest: Robert Iger.

Stewart criticizes white politicians' responses to the George Floyd protests and says that black American intellectuals and artists, including Frederick Douglass, Angela Davis, and Sister Souljah have been articulating similar messages about systemic racism in America for centuries. In montages of news clips at which Stewart aims his criticisms, Bill O'Reilly cites Oprah Winfrey as an example of a successful woman "who made it on her own in America." Anthony Scaramucci says, "LeBron James is a great American success story." Bill O'Reilly blames poverty on the "collapse of the traditional family that is hurting the African American community." Bernard Goldberg says, "72% of black babies are born to single mothers." Stewart compares racial stereotypes in news coverage of drug crises and poverty.

Stewart cites the GI education benefit as an example of racial discrimination against black Americans. He interviews Lisa Bond, who says, "All of us white people do this [engage in racism]." Bond goes on to claim, "Every single white person upholds the systems and structures of racism."

Stewart travels to Washington DC to interview U.S. Senators Tim Scott (Room 104) and Cory Booker (Room 717) in the Hart Senate Office Building.

• Guests: Andrew Sullivan, Lisa Bond, Charles “Chip” Gallagher.