Recently, one of my papers, co-authored with Alex Todorov and Howard Kunreuther received some (good) press (NPR and Washington Post). The gist of the argument we make is that anti-terror policy in the U.S. (and I suspect elsewhere) is guided not only by a scientific assessment of risk, but also
With Joel Warner (Cross posted on The Humor Code’s Psychology Today blog) “Trying to define humor is one of the definitions of humor.” So said Saul Steinberg, someone who wielded humor so expertly that he became one of America’s most beloved cartoonists. If Steinberg didn’t need to define humor in
Next week, I start teaching my biennial PhD course in judgment and decision making. I asked a few friends who are scholars in the field to suggest what papers I should add and remove from the syllabus. They encouraged me to post the syllabus on my blog and solicit feedback
A lot can happen in one year. About this time last year I gave a TEDxBoulder talk, which helped attract attention to my emerging research on humor. A local writer, Joel Warner, penned two articles about my work – one in Westword and one in Wired. He documented my failed
With Joel Warner (Post on Wired) MONTREAL — At this year’s Just for Laughs festival, podcast poster boy Marc Maron painted a picture of a world in which the old rules of the stand-up circuit are being turned on their head thanks to the web. Maron, a longtime comic who
Post Mortem Part I With Joel Warner (Full post on Wired.com) Do you shun social situations to avoid ridicule? Do you struggle to engage in natural, easygoing conversations? When you hear others laughing, do you tense up and flail about in awkward, stilted mannerisms, practically popping and locking like a
While attending the International Society for Humor Studies conference last week, I had a chance to meet Gil Greengross of the University of New Mexico. He is an an evolutionary psychologist and anthropologist, and I asked him the question: How can evolution help us understand humor? His answer is a
I am at Boston University, attending the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS) annual conference. ISHS is an interdisciplinary group — psychologists, linguists, historians and many others — who are interested in the study of humor. Having never been to the conference before, I am eager to sample the wide
This episode seeks to explore the singles advocacy movement with Gordon Morris, who is aiming to breathe new life into Unmarried Equality, a nonprofit
Welcome to the final episode of I’M NOT JOKING. Comedian JD Lopez returns from Episode 1 to debrief and reflect on Peter’s experience building
