Segment 1: If laughter is the best medicine, can a doctor write a prescription for a joke?
In this conversation, we break down what makes a successful joke, and invite listeners to share a few wisecracks.
- Dan Margolies, pun enthusiast, KCUR's health and legal affairs editor
- Ameerah Sanders, stand-up comedian
Segment 2, beginning at 18:49: Books that tickle the funny bone.
The Ancient Greeks say comedy is one of the two pillars of storytelling; humor is still a big part of literature today. The Bibliofiles run through their list of recommendations of books that will make you LOL.
Kaite Stover
- "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
- "Honey, Hush: An Anthology of African American Women's Humor" edited by Daryl Cumber Dance
- "Last Cattle Drive" by Robert Day
- "New Hampshire" by Keith Jennison
- "Bosspyants" by Tina Fe
Jeffrey Ann Goudie
- "Today Will Be Different" by Maria Semple
- "Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York" by Roz Chast
- "Where'd You Go Bernadette" by Maria Semple
Mark Luce
- "Naked" by David Sedaris
- "Persuasion" by Jane Austen
- "Mr. Phillips" by John Lanchester
- "Veeck" as in Wreck by Bill Veeck
- "Florida Road Kill" by Tim Dorsey
KCUR staff recommendations:
Matthew Long-Middleton
- "Code of the Woosters" by P.G. Wodehouse
Dan Margolies
- "Right Ho, Jeeves" by P.G. Wodehouse
- Just about anything by David Sedaris
Michael Byars
- "The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach" by Peter Schickele
Linda Sher
- "Born A Crime" by Trevor Noah
- "Just The Funny Parts" by Nell Scovell
Melody Rowell
- "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling
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