Jason Jones's Last Report From Iran: Football, Hip-Hop, And A Genuine Plea For The Iranian People (VIDEO)

Jason Jones aired his last report from Iran last night which was both hilarious and surprisingly touching. He began by teaching Iranian children how to play American football, and despite the over-the-top indictments of their skills, it looked like they had a lot of fun. Jones then interviewed Iranian rapper Hichkas about his music and took the opportunity to launch into his own rap, the highlight of which was:

"I'm the world's greatest rapper in English and Farsi, I've got more rhymes than tabbouleh's got parsley."

Jones wore green at every chance during the rap video, an obvious nod to the revolution under way in Iran. He ended the segment by saying:

"As I watch what's happening there now, I know that somewhere in that sea of faces are the same people I had met, people who were gracious enough to take me into their homes, and schools, and coffee shops, people who indulged my assanine questions, people I hope will be safe and not be harmed or arrested for the simple act of wearing green and wanting a voice."

Jones was in Iran the week before the elections and ensuing protests began. He interviewed men that would later be arrested by an oppressive government, and gave us a view of Iranians not often portrayed in the American media.


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Comments

[tlgeiger62]

03:54 PM on 06/27/2009

I had thought about it during the week...how he'd gone there for a "schtick" piece and ended up being there at a moment in time that could prove to be so pivotal. And for him to have had the experience of meeting some very average human beings who welcomed him and then to find those same people are now in prison and that some might very well have been involved in the violence.

He had quite the unexpected brush with history. His plea was moving considering his typical role as one of the very talented goof balls on The Daily Show.

[ChairmanOfTheBoard]

05:07 PM on 06/26/2009

Daily Show is the best show on T.V. The moment of zen to this episode made me teary eyed and I'm not the one who shed a tear easily, it was like leaving a new family that you've grown to love and having to say goodbye.

[TheyCalledMeSandN]

05:00 PM on 06/26/2009

jason jones is a hot bear daddy.

[washlib]

04:18 PM on 06/26/2009

This series was amazingly funny, empathetic and real. People around the world want the same things, safety and freedom for their families, a roof over their head, food to eat and a community they can be a part of.

Wonderful to see real Iranians, who imho are open, intelligent and humble people.

[boxman15]

03:47 PM on 06/26/2009

Jason Jones and the crew who did these pieces really deserve a lot of credit and will hopefully get an award of some kind. Not only was it funny, it was very eye-opening. While I didn't think everyone in Iran was a terrorist like some would have you believe, I was not expecting to see such an advanced country and how Iranians are so open and knowing of other cultures. It really makes us look even worse. They know more about our country and government than half of us do. We, as a whole, need to stop being so ignorant.

[Dan311]

03:05 PM on 06/26/2009

Rick Steves, the PBS travel guide guy, did an excellent show on Iran a while back. He traveled all over Iran and met and spoke with a lot of the locals. Basically he humanized the Iranian people, for me, in a way that no western 'journalist' ever had before.

The thing that made me smile most - Steves spent a good deal of time in Tehran and ultimately in one of Tehran's parks. Families eating ice cream, kids on swingsets, adults talking, just basically families and friends enjoying a beautiful afternoon at the park - the same thing Jones saw with the kids playing soccer.

If you enjoyed seeing Jones's work for the Daily Show, I urge you all to check out Steves's Iran piece, as well.

[in4success]

02:47 PM on 06/26/2009

and these are the peoples the neo-cons want to carpet bomb with their SHACK AND AWE in order to gain control of iran's oil reserves -- the exact reason, along with military contractor profits pay for by the US tax payer, we invaded iraq. ---keep in mind the citizens of pre-war iraq had far more in common with the citizens of iran than they did with afghanistan or, say SAUDI FRIGGIN' ARABIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

neo-cons are the biggest danger and most tyrannous entity on this planet -- if they are ultimately successful with their master plan any doubts will be lay to rest.

[in4success]

03:13 PM on 06/26/2009

what the neo-cons didn't want us to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CLdt5ERVFk&feature=related

[in4success]

03:25 PM on 06/26/2009

JFK warned us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj6bk66SuMc&feature=related

[RG5626]

01:44 PM on 06/26/2009

Darn, how are we going to bomb them now that they have a human face? First we find out after the election that they crave democracy and now TDS demonstrates that they can take a joke. I wonder if Megan McCain has told her dad about this?

[roger37]

01:26 PM on 06/26/2009

This series was, I must admit, a little humbling, because I didn't expect to see such a modern society, nor a society that speaks fluent English and has the awareness of the US and it's government that Iran has.

If we're not careful, we're going to wind up looking like bumbling, ethnocentric Ugly Americans (referring to the book).

Oh, wait---we've already done that.

Never mind.

[Furby]

01:48 PM on 06/26/2009

Humility, the final lesson toward restoring America to its former greatness.

[washlib]

04:16 PM on 06/26/2009

Humility, the FIRST lesson toward restoring America to a new greatness, as an equal among the world community.

[BarelyLucid]

12:10 PM on 06/26/2009

I think Jason and the Daily Show did a great series on Iran. I was both educated and entertained and my views of that country are changed. I hope they get some sort of acknowledgments for their work and I hope the Iranians find peace and freedom.

[AngieMom57]

01:08 PM on 06/26/2009

I second that

[Lesley Stern]

12:09 PM on 06/26/2009

Somebody should win an award for this series. Sooooo good. Makes me wish I were a journalist...or better yet, a comedian.

[audadvnc]

01:03 PM on 06/26/2009

Yeah, we wish you were, too!!! Hahahah!!!!

[gwhizz]

01:06 PM on 06/26/2009

Agreed. This was some of the best "coverage" of Iran I've ever seen.

[bassmodel]

12:07 PM on 06/26/2009

such a well done series from Jones. he handled things with the care and depth of a serious journalist without losing the edge The Daily Show has been known to carry.

kudus to him and to his production team.

[Hass]

11:54 AM on 06/26/2009

There's no actual evidence of fraud in the Iran elections. Every claim about vote rigging has a perfectly reasonable and rational counter-claim. See IranAffairs.com for more FACTS about the alleged election fraud in Iran.

Don't believe what you're told. THINK: WHY WOULD THEY RESORT TO FRAUD when the opposition leader, Mousavi, is very much a regime insider and hardly a threat to the system?

[roger37]

01:21 PM on 06/26/2009

Hey, they announced the outcome of a paper ballot election 3 hours after the end of voting. There were 40 million votes. Don't you think it's a bit naive to think they could have possibly counted the votes in 3 hours?

We can't even do that with machines. It's amazing to me how some people defend the status quo no matter what the facts say.

[viennawoods]

10:11 PM on 06/26/2009

DO NOT take this as a defense of the government in Iran, because I think that what is happening is horrible but...
We use paper ballots here in Canada. We are actually able to count them very quickly and efficiently. I have been a scrutineer overseeing the counting of ballots, and believe me it is possible for the polling station staff to get the ballots added up within a half hour of the closing of the polls. We routinely know who has been elected in each riding and who has formed the government by 11 o'clock the same night.

I'm not saying that there isn't fraud on the part of the government, because that's very likely, BUT the speed of the ballot counting is not proof of that.

[Phil22]

01:29 PM on 06/26/2009

You're right. Maybe the Achma-whatever did win. However it's gone way beyond fraud. It's about people wanting to be free to say what they want, when they want. It's about young people not wanting to be told how to dress, think and be. And now it's about a government that is willing to murder the future of their country in order to win an argument.

[Ice9]

02:58 PM on 06/26/2009

That's a powerful statement: "And now it's about a government that is willing to murder the future of their country in order to win an argument."

I couldn't agree more. There seems to be a type of person in many countries around the world that sees even their fellow citizens as just pieces of meat - a means to further their ends. Expendable if they don't go along with the scheme.

And if the election was fair (as Hass claims), why have they expelled foreign journalists, closed down websites, arrested people for using cameras and randomly shot people on the street. It's easier to commit a crime if there are no witnesses or they are too terrified to speak.

[BachelorJohnnyCool]

11:54 AM on 06/26/2009

One of the best series the Daily Show has ever done. I'm normally not a big fan of Jason Jones, but he did an outstanding job on this one.

[AddyGmom]

12:09 PM on 06/26/2009

Co-sign. I loved it when JJ ate the shave gel! And the football game with the kids. And the wearing of the green.

[MNinWI]

12:13 PM on 06/26/2009

This whole piece should win JJ & TDS some awards, that's for sure.

[TexGator]

11:00 AM on 06/26/2009

Jones hit the nail on the head exposing American arrogance and ignorance in a way the traditional media fears to do. These pieces (while admittedly not the funniest of Daily Show pieces) did more to humanize the Iranian people and show that other than a different language and majority religion they are pretty similar to us.

To think that we almost had a President whose Iran policy was "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran".

My vote for Pulitzer for Jason Jones.

Go Green

[AddyGmom]

12:10 PM on 06/26/2009

Yep. Too many Americans are proud to be ignorant --- Trickle down affect from dubya.

[TreadingWater]

12:33 PM on 06/26/2009

American's love of ignorance has been around since long before W. At heart, we are an anti-intellectual nation.