We take a look at laughter and its connection with humor. Nick is interested in laughter because it is one of those phenomena, like aging, that is “hiding in plain sight”. Not traditionally considered a fit subject for scientific investigation, we run through some ideas that have arisen from relatively recent studies of laughter. Laughter is found to serve many purposes and to come in several forms. Contagion becomes an unexpected theme: from laugh tracks and social laughter to Kuru and laughing epidemics (really!).

Nick’s sources for this episode:

Laughology

Thumbnail DALL·E prompt: "Generate a picture of a happy goose with a big smile on its face and tears of laughter streaming down its cheeks, cartoon style"

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