Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Presidential Pardons
TV Flash files “Presidential Pardons” as hour 363 of 371 in the TV Flash guide — Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014–present) on HBO, season 13, episode 13, aired 2026-05-31, 47 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S13E13: listed hour 363 of 371 in the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver guide, hour 13 of 21 in season 13. It aired 2026-05-31 (47 min). The listed hour before it is “Structured Settlements” (S13E12). Next is “New College of Florida” (S13E14).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
John Oliver examines presidential pardons, focusing on Donald Trump's use of the pardon power since returning to office. The episode looks at the people who have received clemency, the political and ethical concerns surrounding those decisions, and the broader risks of a presidential power that can be used with few checks. The episode also touches on the administration's plans for America's 250th anniversary celebration and closes with a comedic awards-campaign bit involving Ghanaian artists.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Presidential Pardons sit in the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver guide?
S13E13 is listed hour 363 of 371 — hour 13 of 21 in season 13, season 13 episode 13.
When did Last Week Tonight with John Oliver S13E13 air?
Presidential Pardons aired 2026-05-31 and is listed at 47 minutes.
Do I need to watch every week in order?
Each episode is a topical deep dive, not a serial plot. Jump at a subject you care about; net-neutrality-era segments are the origin myth of the civic-homework clip.
In the series
Why this series still plays
John Oliver turned late-night into a research department with punchlines: twenty-minute deep dives on net neutrality, prisons, and whatever lobbyists hoped you would never google. Civic homework disguised as comedy — explainer satire that actually moved petitions, and a host who treats footnotes like setups.
Sunday night, and the group chat is doing homework. After *The Daily Show*, John Oliver's HBO late-night series debuted April 2014 with Tim Carvell and James Taylor in the engine room: twenty-minute deep dives on net neutrality, prisons, and whatever lobbyists hoped you would never google. Segments sparked real petitions and news cycles. Multiple Emmys for variety talk. Footnotes as setups. (Spoiler-free: the joke comes with a syllabus.) Lana can have the tuxedo. **The ship is the explainer, and the replies are…
Open the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver package · Season 13 hub
Filed against
- John Oliver as Host
John Oliver’s correspondent weather on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart made a fake newscast feel like a civic classroom, then Last Week Tonight turned the same research into twenty-minute deep dives — 2000s catalog Stewart era, 2010s…