(Newser) – Not sure what or who a Brexit is? John Oliver understands why a good number of Americans may not, and so the HBO talk-show host took it upon himself to educate the US of A in an "epic" rant that Mashable calls a "thing of beauty." In Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver first offers a basic primer on Brexit—a nickname he describes as something that sounds like a "s----y granola bar you buy at the airport"—explaining how the UK's "in/out" referendum taking place Thursday will determine whether the UK leaves the European Union.

story continues below

Oliver then dives into why Americans should even care, citing the "wide-ranging implications" a British exit could have for not only that country's GDP, but also the global economy. Although he acknowledges that the EU is "large, confounding, and relentlessly bureaucratic" (and he somehow compares this to Gerard Depardieu), he also believes Britain taking its leave would be a "huge destabilizing decision." Instead, Oliver has another proposal for the British people—one that both "relentlessly insults Europe and quietly acknowledges how lost we'd be without it." Enjoy that proposal here. (At least Oliver has moved on from insulting Chechen leaders.)

