Contra Theodor Adorno, it is mercifully untrue that the writing of poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. Nevertheless, modes of artistic expression do rise and fall as history shuffles from one corridor ...

In two recent posts, I touched on both nonverbal and verbal types of formal humor. In this one, I continue our review of the latter category by discussing two styles of humor seen quite regularly in ...

In a National Rifle Association (NRA) TV ad from February of this year a man stands in front of a TV screen that airs a series of clips. Among them is a shot of John Oliver saying the words “National ...

In our digital times as we are inundated with YouTube videos, memes and social media, satire is everywhere, but it can be more damaging to people's reputations than direct criticism, according to new ...

Since Snopes' start in the mid-1990s, our fact-checkers have alerted readers to numerous pieces of satire. That's many decades of "jokes" targeting politicians and celebrities, or putting twists on ...

Half-baked thoughts, then, toward an AWP presentation that won’t be: Jokes, the good Dr. Freud said famously, are often “hostile.” (That, or obscene: the jokes of “exposure.”) Aggressiveness, satire, ...

“I was just kidding,” is probably one of the most common refrains uttered when someone gets busted. Even President Donald Trump tried to back out of his infamous “pussy grabbing” comment saying it had ...

Offensive games are touchy subjects, and the concept of "offense" itself is a tricky, fluid thing. What offends one person doesn't offend another, and occasionally offense can be used as a tool for ...

I have often had occasion to bemoan the sad lot of the satirist in contemporary society. Satire depends for its bite on a discrepancy between the satire and reality. The satirist presents an ...

Liam Kennedy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

How often have you asked someone, “Isn’t that ironic?” While ironic is used to describe certain situations, many times, it’s actually misused and misunderstood. To start off, it’s important to know ...