A picture of American comedian Hasan Minhaj. (@hasanminhaj/Twitter)
Hasan Minhaj, a renowned American comedian, discussed student loans in a Feb. 24, 2019 episode of his weekly comedy show on Netflix, “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.” The show, which is based in Manhattan, N.Y., is filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Patriot Act, which was created by Minhaj alongside Prashanth Venkataramanujam, deals with issues that are considered “timely” and “timeless.”
During the student loan episode, Minhaj focused on student loan servicers feeding on vulnerable Americans while they are in the process of paying off their draining student loan debt.
“In 2006, total student debt was under $500 billion,” Minhaj told the audience. “Now, it’s over 1.5 trillion, eclipsing both credit card debt and auto loan debt.”
According to Minhaj, 44 million Americans have student loans. The mean balance is over $30,000. The median balance is over $17,000. In all, the total student debt is $1.57 million.
Minhaj explained how loan servicers collect money, make sure folks are paying on schedule, and explains their repayment options.
“Student loans were supposed to be a way to invest in our citizens, reward public service, and flex on the Russians,” Minhaj said. “But now they’ve (student loans) become a minefield of misinformation where debt can follow you for life.”
The audience laughed when Minhaj discussed how game shows literally impose student debt on people without their even knowing.
The game show towards the end of the episode featured a contestant named Kathleen answering a question about naming four Ivy League universities. She got the question right but gained more debt in the process.
This game show cheated their contestants by changing the question while they answered the question itself, thus causing the contestants to incur more debt.
Before the show, each member of Minhaj’s studio audience were asked to answer several questions prior to coming to the studio for the taping of the student loans episode.
First, Minhaj opened the show by providing a summation of why student debt is an issue in the first place. “Student loans are crippling millions of people, many of them fresh out of college,” Minhaj said.
Then, to provide some context to this, Minhaj interspersed various bits of comedy to create a dual effect of seriousness and light-heartedness.
Next, Minhaj revealed the results of the survey that was conducted earlier on in the day. "76 percent of you are single,” Minhaj said. “17 percent of you have been to a Drake concert. And 23 percent of you are in favor of the death penalty.”
Meanwhile, Minhaj also conducted interviews with several newsmakers with several viewpoints on this issue regarding student loan debts that played at regular intervals throughout the duration of the program.
Minhaj’s interview subjects included a student named Ryan Betz and a former student loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Seth Frotman.
In between some of Minhaj’s interviews, Minhaj also described the reason why student debts are so difficult to pay back. Student loans are managed differently nowadays than they were just 10 years ago.
Minhaj explained that student loans used to be managed by government banks to make low-interest loans to students going to college. Banks, due to load management, had to re-assign the loan process to loan servicers.
After that, Minhaj dove into why some loan services are awful. Loan servicers, as Navient, sometimes cross the boundaries.
Navient, a company based in Wilmington, Del., which handles more than $300 billion in student loans.
Navient was accused of misreporting information, damaging credit of disabled borrowers and overcharging troops. In 2017, the CFPB accused Navient for failing borrowers during every stage of repayment thus verifying claims made against Navient.
Later, Minhaj continued talking about loan servicers enjoying collecting money from average Americans for their own benefit.
The second half of the show was devoted to loan forgiveness.
Finally, Minhaj wrapped up the show by emphasizing what a student loan used to mean to Americans and what student a loan now means to Americans. “Most borrowers want nothing more than to pay back their loans,” Minhaj said.
Hasan Minhaj's Patriot Act is a very, good source of comedic humor, information and analysis of today's important issues. Hasan is a great host and has a good sense of what's up in today's ever-changing world. I have attached a few of his episodes down below (more will be added at a later date):
* The Student Loan Episode:
Hasan Minhaj, a renowned American comedian, discussed student loans in a Feb. 24, 2019 episode of his weekly comedy show on Netflix, “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.” The show, which is based in Manhattan, N.Y., is filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Patriot Act, which was created by Minhaj alongside Prashanth Venkataramanujam, deals with issues that are considered “timely” and “timeless.”
During the student loan episode, Minhaj focused on student loan servicers feeding on vulnerable Americans while they are in the process of paying off their draining student loan debt.
“In 2006, total student debt was under $500 billion,” Minhaj told the audience. “Now, it’s over 1.5 trillion, eclipsing both credit card debt and auto loan debt.”
According to Minhaj, 44 million Americans have student loans. The mean balance is over $30,000. The median balance is over $17,000. In all, the total student debt is $1.57 million.
Minhaj explained how loan servicers collect money, make sure folks are paying on schedule, and explains their repayment options.
“Student loans were supposed to be a way to invest in our citizens, reward public service, and flex on the Russians,” Minhaj said. “But now they’ve (student loans) become a minefield of misinformation where debt can follow you for life.”
The audience laughed when Minhaj discussed how game shows literally impose student debt on people without their even knowing.
The game show towards the end of the episode featured a contestant named Kathleen answering a question about naming four Ivy League universities. She got the question right but gained more debt in the process.
This game show cheated their contestants by changing the question while they answered the question itself, thus causing the contestants to incur more debt.
Before the show, each member of Minhaj’s studio audience were asked to answer several questions prior to coming to the studio for the taping of the student loans episode.
First, Minhaj opened the show by providing a summation of why student debt is an issue in the first place. “Student loans are crippling millions of people, many of them fresh out of college,” Minhaj said.
Then, to provide some context to this, Minhaj interspersed various bits of comedy to create a dual effect of seriousness and light-heartedness.
Next, Minhaj revealed the results of the survey that was conducted earlier on in the day. "76 percent of you are single,” Minhaj said. “17 percent of you have been to a Drake concert. And 23 percent of you are in favor of the death penalty.”
Meanwhile, Minhaj also conducted interviews with several newsmakers with several viewpoints on this issue regarding student loan debts that played at regular intervals throughout the duration of the program.
Minhaj’s interview subjects included a student named Ryan Betz and a former student loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Seth Frotman.
In between some of Minhaj’s interviews, Minhaj also described the reason why student debts are so difficult to pay back. Student loans are managed differently nowadays than they were just 10 years ago.
Minhaj explained that student loans used to be managed by government banks to make low-interest loans to students going to college. Banks, due to load management, had to re-assign the loan process to loan servicers.
After that, Minhaj dove into why some loan services are awful. Loan servicers, as Navient, sometimes cross the boundaries.
Navient, a company based in Wilmington, Del., which handles more than $300 billion in student loans.
Navient was accused of misreporting information, damaging credit of disabled borrowers and overcharging troops. In 2017, the CFPB accused Navient for failing borrowers during every stage of repayment thus verifying claims made against Navient.
Later, Minhaj continued talking about loan servicers enjoying collecting money from average Americans for their own benefit.
The second half of the show was devoted to loan forgiveness.
Finally, Minhaj wrapped up the show by emphasizing what a student loan used to mean to Americans and what student a loan now means to Americans. “Most borrowers want nothing more than to pay back their loans,” Minhaj said.
Hasan Minhaj's Patriot Act is a very, good source of comedic humor, information and analysis of today's important issues. Hasan is a great host and has a good sense of what's up in today's ever-changing world. I have attached a few of his episodes down below (more will be added at a later date):
* The Student Loan Episode:
* Why Does Your Internet Suck? Episode:
* Content Moderation and Free Speech Episode:
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