Slate Culture artwork

Working: How Late Night Writer Karen Chee Generates Punchlines

Slate Culture

English - January 30, 2022 08:00 - 48 minutes - ★★★★ - 1.9K ratings
Arts TV & Film culture interview comedy politics armchair expert books entrepreneurship interviews health news Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed


This week, host Karen Han talks to comedy writer Karen Chee, who works as a writer and performer for Late Night With Seth Meyers. In the interview, Chee discusses her early work writing humor pieces for the New Yorker before landing a job writing for the Golden Globes. Then she breaks down her joke-writing process for Late Night, which involves generating dozens of setups and punchlines every day. 
After the interview, Karen Han and co-host June Thomas discuss the challenges of producing a large volume of work under a tight deadline. 
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Chee talks about her taste in movies. Then she shares more secrets from the Late Night writers' room. 
Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to [email protected] or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews.
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Karen Han talks to comedy writer Karen Chee, who works as a writer and performer for Late Night With Seth Meyers. In the interview, Chee discusses her early work writing humor pieces for the New Yorker before landing a job writing for the Golden Globes. Then she breaks down her joke-writing process for Late Night, which involves generating dozens of setups and punchlines every day. 

After the interview, Karen Han and co-host June Thomas discuss the challenges of producing a large volume of work under a tight deadline. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Chee talks about her taste in movies. Then she shares more secrets from the Late Night writers' room. 

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to [email protected] or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices