Edward Snowden's quandary, as described by John Oliver

At the beginning of his interview with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in Moscow, HBO host John Oliver set the stage: He asked the 31-year-old how much he missed certain things in America, including "truck nuts."

Snowden, who did not know what truck nuts are, said: "You really thought ahead."

"Well, at least one of us did," Oliver replied. "You know because of the um, quandary, the Kafkaesque nightmare that you're in."

Snowden, who has been living in an undisclosed location in Russia after flying from Hong Kong to Moscow on June 23, 2013, could do nothing but take the jab and nod.

The US government reportedly charged the 31-year-old with three felonies, including two under the World War I-era Espionage Act, after he stole up to 1.77 million classified NSA documents and fled from Hawaii to Hong Kong and eventually Moscow.

Given his value to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the unlikelihood that he would get a favorable deal to return home, Snowden is a self-avowed human rights activist living under the watchful eye of Putin's intelligence services.

One could say he's stuck in a "nightmarish situation which most people can somehow relate to, although strongly surreal. "

After the quip, Oliver started the interview.

Here's the clip. It all starts around 16:10:

 

 

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