Why is it so hard to draw the line between what’s funny or offensive? We love to laugh and we prize a good sense of humor in ourselves and others. But the ancient Greeks – Aristotle and Plato – said humor was bad for society: they thought of it mainly as mockery and laughing was a loss of self-control. When you consider how quickly humor can go wrong in the hands of a bully or an edgy standup routine, you have to wonder - were the Greek philosophers right? In this podcast episode we meet a biracial standup comic who jokes often about race and thinks comedians should be able to joke about anything, so long as it’s funny, original and authentic to their experiences. We also consider the difference between racist humor and humor that’s racially insensitive or “merely racial” with a leading expert on the ethics of racial humor. And then we ask what it would take to maximize the benefits of humor in every day interactions, where you could argue the goals and rules are different.

Podcast Guests:

Isak Allen, Los Angeles-based standup comedian (https://www.drybarcomedy.com/isaka)

Luvell Anderson, professor of philosophy at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Mike Cundall, a professor of philosophy at North Carolina A&T State University, author of The Humor Hack, and founder of Mirth Management consulting. (https://www.mirthmanagement.co/)