The Pope, The Wrestler and The Terrorist

·38 min·3 clips

Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver dissect the election of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit Pope from South America, with biting humor about his reactionary views.

The episode opens with Andy Zaltzman explaining it's a sub-episode due to unforeseen circumstances, promising full episodes with guests like Anuvab Pal and Hari Kondabolu next week. It then jumps to a March 2013 archival clip with John Oliver discussing the papal conclave that elected Pope Francis, mocking his reactionary views and Spanish-speaking novelty. The hosts list Pope Francis's firsts, including being the first Jesuit Pope and having one lung, with jokes about snakes relating to him. They invent absurd papal stats, like firing 32 prayers a minute, and discuss betting on the conclave. The segment critiques Pope Francis's warning about the Church becoming a 'compassionate NGO,' using dark humor about sandcastles and child abuse scandals. It touches on his humble lifestyle in Argentina contrasted with Vatican opulence. The Iron Sheik's tweets about the Pope are highlighted, including threats and bizarre statements. Mahmoud Azab's generic statement on Vatican relations is mocked for its repetitiveness. Pope Francis's sister's comment about his 'lifetime of infinite loneliness' is satirized. The episode transitions to Osama bin Laden's death, with John Oliver delivering a comedic eulogy. Reactions are explored, including the Mets-Phillies game continuing and John Cena's WWE announcement. Newspaper headlines and operation codenames are joked about. The segment ends with a link to the royal wedding. Alice Fraser's sci-fi show preview discusses 4chan being hacked, planet K218b possibly harboring life, and dire wolves not being real. Andy closes with a subscription pitch for The Bugle's premium content.

As heard by us

A papal conclave bit turns Vatican ritual into profane Bugle absurdity.

The Bugle's papal-conclave episode finds its best joke in the unlikely collision between Vatican ceremony and the Iron Sheik's profanity-laced Twitter persona.

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Why you'd press play

You get a papal conclave, imagined Latin profanity, and the Iron Sheik's Twitter confidence in one unruly detour.

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