'The Daily Show' recap 6/19: Obama visits Germany, John Hodgeman talks genes

The June 19, 2013 episode of The Daily Show discusses President Barak Obama’s popularity in the United States and abroad, the patenting of human genes, and Dawn Porter’s documentary, Gideon’s Army.

The episode begins with John Oliver talking about President Barak Obama’s recent troubles in United States, such as his failed push for gun control, and the NSA scandal. Oliver says that since he cannot find affection in the U.S. he must go abroad to find it. He has gone to Germany to give a speech. Obama has been extremely popular in Germany in the past, even before he was president. People are not predicting the same popularity this time. The NSA’s spying scandal has dampened his appeal, due to Germany’s history with secret police. Earlier he was in Ireland, but a new scandal of the U.S. and United Kingdom spying on foreign leaders broke. Oliver says the one possible bright spot could be the President’s relationship with Russian leaders. He explains that, after the Cold War, the U.S.’s relationship with Russian leaders has been great. That pattern does not appear to have held this time. Obama’s meeting with Putin was tense and awkward. Oliver links this tension with accusations that Putin stole a Super Bowl Ring.

The second segment focuses on the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision that companies cannot patent human genes. This decision seems obvious to Oliver, and he is not even sure how it got as far as the Supreme Court. So, he turns to the show’s resident deranged millionaire, John Hodgeman. Hodgeman explains, in his usual overblown way, that these companies want to make money. The argument against the Court’s decision is that without the ability to patent these genes and other discoveries, companies will not be able to make money. Without the promise of money, these companies will not invest in science. Oliver tells Hodgeman he is pretty sure that if a company cures cancer they will still make a lot of money. They may make a lot of money, Hodgeman says, but they will not make all the money.

The guest for this episode is Dawn Porter promoting her new documentary Gideon’s Army. The documentary is about public defenders in the south, their intense dedication, and their never ending hard work. The right to an attorney is only 50 years old, and it is a right many people skip over. 95% of people plead guilty to crimes and most of those people are poor. Porter and Oliver discuss some of the emotional scenes, and stories in the film. It sounds really great, and terribly sad. It premiers on HBO, and it sounds like something everyone should see.