92: Laughing Matters

Host: Dick Meyer
I’ve gotten interested in humorlessness.
I’ve come to believe that politics has become less funny, more humorless. I think this is certainly true of professional politicians and their henchmen and henchwomen. I think it is true of pundits and talking heads.
Most important, I think it is true of regular civilians who like to talk – and argue – about politics over dinner or at a bar. Stridency is up; the capacity to take teasing is down. At least that’s my hunch. There is no national gag-o-meter to measure such things.
The absence of laughter and humor is something to worry about. So on this week’s podcast, we paid a visit to Dr. John Morreall, now retired from William & Mary University in Virginia, a scholar of the philosophy of humor and author of several books on the subject.
As a consultant, he has helped businesses and leaders learn to use humor as a helpful tool. Morreall is also a very funny guy, but I’m funnier.
Morreall agrees that politics has gotten more humorless to the extent it has gotten more ideological, polarized and doctrinaire. But he isn’t even mildly concerned about the national funny bone.
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Dr. John Morreall's website: http://humorworks.com
This week's sponsors: MarketingProfs (Marketing Bootcamp) http://mprofs.com/decodedc &
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Music by: Thijs Bos http://soundcloud.com/thijs-b-1
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Trazer http://soundcloud.com/trazermusic
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