210. What Makes a Good Sense of Humor?

What is the evolutionary purpose of laughter? What’s the difference between Swedish depression and American depression? And why aren’t aliens interested in abducting Mike?

• SOURCES:• Jennifer Aaker, professor of marketing at Stanford University.
• Judd Apatow, film director, screenwriter, and comedian.
• Fredrik Backman, author.
• Naomi Bagdonas, lecturer in management at Stanford University.
• James Corden, actor, comedian, and former late-night television host.
• Dick Costolo, former C.E.O. of Twitter.
• Carol Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford University.
• Jimmy Fallon, comedian and late-night television host.
• Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.
• Jimmy Kimmel, comedian and late-night television host.
• Larry LaPrise, 20th-century American singer-songwriter.
• Jerry Seinfeld, comedian, actor, and writer.
• RESOURCES:• "Fredrik Backman on Creative Anxiety and Procrastination," by Fredrik Backman (Simon & Schuster Centennial Celebration, 2024).
• "The Relative Importance of Joke and Audience Characteristics in Eliciting Amusement," by Hannes Rosenbusch, Anthony M. Evans, and Marcel Zeelenberg (Psychological Science, 2022).
• "The 100-Million-Year Origin Story of Laughter and Humor," by Dean Russell (Endless Thread, 2022).
• Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And How Anyone Can Harness It. Even You.), by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas (2021).
• "What Makes Things Funny? An Integrative Review of the Antecedents of Laughter and Amusement," by Caleb Warren, Adam Barsky, and A. Peter McGraw (Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2020).
• Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy, by Judd Apatow (2015).
• How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie (1936).
• EXTRAS:• "Can A.I. Take a Joke?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
• "The Comedian-Ophthalmologist Will See You Now," by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).
• There's Something About Mary, film (1998).

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