Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Satire: Laughter in the dark
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Satire: Laughter in the dark
“But it’s satire!” says every Twitter lout, demagogue or disinformationist to justify their abuse, pile-ons or straight-up lies. But what IS satire? How does it work? What distinguishes it from bullying? Does it even have to be funny? Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey go in search of the truth of satire on a journey that takes in The Thick Of It, Basil Fawlty, Jonathan Swift, Succession, Lenny Bruce, trickster gods, Boris Johnson, Peter Cook and Beyond The Fringe, Spitting Image and more… all the way back to the origin 1.4 million years ago of laughter itself.
Help Ian and Dorian develop Origin Story by backing us on Patreon. You’ll get the show early and without ads, plus extra good stuff too.
“Wait… this word that I’ve been using all of my life, nobody knows what it means?” – Dorian Lynskey
“Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own” – Jonathan Swift
“Satire tells you more about its era than any other literature.” – John R Clarke
“Laughter is a response to frustration, just as tears are. And it solves nothing, as tears do.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Audiences like to think satire is doing something but mostly it’s making them satisfied – rather than angry, which is what they should be.” – Tom Lehrer
Picture: The Thick Of It, BBC
Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production and music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
View all episodes
By Podmasters
4.8
9393 ratings
“But it’s satire!” says every Twitter lout, demagogue or disinformationist to justify their abuse, pile-ons or straight-up lies. But what IS satire? How does it work? What distinguishes it from bullying? Does it even have to be funny? Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey go in search of the truth of satire on a journey that takes in The Thick Of It, Basil Fawlty, Jonathan Swift, Succession, Lenny Bruce, trickster gods, Boris Johnson, Peter Cook and Beyond The Fringe, Spitting Image and more… all the way back to the origin 1.4 million years ago of laughter itself.
Help Ian and Dorian develop Origin Story by backing us on Patreon. You’ll get the show early and without ads, plus extra good stuff too.
“Wait… this word that I’ve been using all of my life, nobody knows what it means?” – Dorian Lynskey
“Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own” – Jonathan Swift
“Satire tells you more about its era than any other literature.” – John R Clarke
“Laughter is a response to frustration, just as tears are. And it solves nothing, as tears do.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Audiences like to think satire is doing something but mostly it’s making them satisfied – rather than angry, which is what they should be.” – Tom Lehrer
Picture: The Thick Of It, BBC
Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production and music by Jade Bailey. Logo art by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More shows like Origin Story
View all
Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast
393 Listeners
The Politics Show
140 Listeners
The Two Matts
66 Listeners
Oh God, What Now?
190 Listeners
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
54 Listeners
The Bunker – News without the nonsense
97 Listeners
This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler
153 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics
3,336 Listeners
The News Agents
1,183 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics: Leading
797 Listeners
The News Agents - USA
386 Listeners
Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell
45 Listeners
American Friction
37 Listeners
Quiet Riot
43 Listeners
Strong Message Here
69 Listeners