Dina Gusovsky was an award-winning investigative reporter before she put that career aside to pursue comedy in 2016, joining Late Night with Seth Meyers. Not because she wanted to move away from the news, but the opposite—she saw comedians doing deeper dives than journalists.

In the second episode of “Take a Joke,” an SLR series on the mixing of humor and reporting, Jacob Feldman talked to Gusovsky about that decision and the adjustments she had to make in her new role. Gusovsky also discussed how her personal back story—her family fled Soviet Russia when she was a child—has influenced the perspective she brings to the show, to comedy, and to her stories.

➢ Death & Dishonor: Crisis at the VA (2013)

➢ Why Everyone Should Be Raised By Immigrants (2019)

➢ Dina Gusovsky on Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine (2022)

➢ Dina Gusovsky on Cockroach Sex (2022)

Take a Joke is sponsored by Funny Girls, a program from The Harnisch Foundation that helps third through eighth graders to develop their leadership skills.