PS Picks: The 'Night Call' Podcast
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
Humor
PS Picks: Resistancehole and Political Satire of—and From—the Left
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
Smart, Emotionally Stable People Enjoy Morbid Humor
A taste for the grotesque is no reason for embarrassment.
The Serious Side of Comedy
By tracking the evolution of American humor, Kliph Nesteroff proves that comedians can do more than make us laugh. They can show us who we really are.
The Evolution of American Comedy
An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.
The Radical History of 1960s Adult Coloring Books
These subversive coloring books ridiculed pill-popping executives, hipsters, communist-hunters, and conspiracy theorists.
A Quick Wit and a Silver Tongue
Researchers link mental speed and charisma in a new study.
The Allure—and Danger—of Comedy Roasts
Deprecating humor is satisfying because it helps make people feel superior, but it can also help produce a social environment more accepting of intolerance.
The Long History of Satire in the Middle East
Contrary to a recent popular claim, Muslims—of course—believe in the freedom of expression. And they’ve been using it to some extraordinary ends.
Aziz Ansari vs. Rupert Murdoch: More Than Just Humor
Anziz Ansari's lengthy criticism of Rupert Murdoch over Twitter supplies more than laughs, research shows.
Darkness Laughable: The Comic Genius of Cormac McCarthy
As one of our greatest living writers has his work lifted into the ivory tower, let’s reflect on how it’s the light, not the darkness, that keeps us going back for more.
A Social Scientist's Plea for Humor
A new paper provides an epic theoretical defense of humor in sociological research.
Study: The Secret of Comedy Really Is Timing
New research suggests we do find humor in tragedy, but only during a specific, limited window of time.
Kidding Yourself Is No Laughing Matter
New research finds people who deny their darker impulses laugh less frequently.
The Cocktail Napkin -- A Scientist and Ewe Walk Into a Bar ...
It's no joke: Researchers give Viagra to pregnant sheep and find that the drug boosts vital nutrients needed for fetal development.
Self-Deprecation and the State of the Union
If you can't get a chuckle across the aisle, how could you have gotten health care reform across?
Talk About a Mash-Up
As the ink dries up in the newspaper industry, a humorous video clip shows the conflicting sensibilities of old and new media.
Take This Theory — Please!
Evolutionary theorist suggests humor played a key role in our development as a species.