‘Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj’ is a variety talk show that airs on Netflix. Created by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam, the show first premiered on the streaming service on October 28, 2018. Although Netflix had initially announced that Season 1 would contain 32 episodes, it appears that the streaming service changed its mind and decided to present episodes using multiple volumes. Volume 1 of ‘Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj’ consisted of seven half-hour-long episodes.
Hasan Minhaj, who is the face of the show, is an American actor and comedian. He was given an opportunity to be one of the featured speakers in 2017 at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and made his debut with Netflix with his stand-up comedy show, ‘Homecoming King’. Minhaj is also a recent recipient of the Peabody Award, and is said to be the first Indian-American to host his own daily show. His distinctive comic voice and unique storytelling skills set him apart, and he uses the show to address pressing issues in contemporary culture and politics.
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Cast: Who is in it?
Owing to the show being a talk show, the titular character, Hasan Minhaj, is the only cast member. Since it is Minhaj’s show, he is expected to return for every season Netflix runs the show.
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Plot: What is it about?
The summary of the show reads, “Hasan Minhaj brings an incisive and nuanced perspective to global news, politics and culture in his unique comedy series.” Indeed, while the show does address contemporary social, political, and cultural issues, Minhaj manages to present these discussions with hilarious undertones. The show has excellent writing, and Minhaj makes it even better through his crisp delivery and hilarious jokes. Through quirky and genuinely funny storytelling, Minhaj thus manages to investigate issues of relevance with sincere depth, while ensuring that the show remains a laugh riot despite its serious content.
When Volume 1 premiered on October 28, 2018, it immediately caught the attention of critics and audiences. The seven episodes in the series focused on issues like affirmative action in the US, employee exploitation by Amazon, the consequences of the US’ burgeoning oil production, issues of immigration into the US, content moderation and free speech, and the dark side of Saudi Arabia in light of the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
However, controversy erupted when Saudi Arabian authorities claimed that Minhaj’s criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the episode on Saudi Arabia was in violation of the country’s anti-cybercrime law. Subsequently, Netflix pulled the episode from its streaming service in Saudi Arabia. Not one to take things lying down, Minhaj responded by publicly criticizing Netflix during the opening episode of Volume 2, which premiered on February 10, 2019.
