Comedians and late-night hosts have increasingly been pausing the jokes to sincerely address events and issues. This raises interesting questions about humor. What is the relief of laughter, and is that enough for a hurting world? Have we been asking too little of comedians, or are we now asking too much?

Written and recorded by Ben Fort.
Produced by Jonathan Clauson.
Art by Seth Hahne.
Music by Ben Fort.

In this episode:

Seculosity by David Zahl

On Living by Alan Noble

Irony and Outrage by Dr. Dannagal Young

The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic by Sam Anderson

This episode first appeared as a written post at Mockingbird.