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Planet Funny
Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture | Ken Jennings
8 posts | 3 read | 6 to read
From the brilliantly witty and exuberant New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings, a history of humorfrom fart jokes on clay Sumerian tablets all the way up to the latest Twitter gags and Facebook memesthat tells the story of how comedy came to rule the modern world. For millennia of human history, the future belonged to the strong. To the parent who could kill the most animals with sticks and to the child who could survive the winter or the epidemic. When the Industrial Revolution came, masters of business efficiency prospered instead, and after that we placed our hope in scientific visionaries. Today, in a clear sign of evolution totally sliding off the rails, our most coveted trait is not strength or productivity or even innovation, but being funny. Yes, funniness. Consider: presidential candidates now have to prepare funny "zingers" for debates. Newspaper headlines and church marquees, once fairly staid affairs, must now be clever, stuffed with puns and winks. Airline safety tutorialsthose terrifying laminated cards about the possibilities of fire, explosion, depressurization, and drowninghave been replaced by joke-filled videos with multimillion-dollar budgets and dance routines. In Planet Funny, Ken Jennings explores this brave new comedic world and what it meansor doesntto be funny in it now. Tracing the evolution of humor from the caveman days to the bawdy middle-class antics of Chaucer to Monty Pythons game-changing silliness to the fast-paced meta-humor of The Simpsons, Jennings explains how we built our humor-saturated modern age, where lots of us get our news from comedy shows and a comic figure can even be elected President of the United States purely on showmanship. Entertaining, astounding, and completely head-scratching, Planet Funny is a full taxonomy of what spawned and defines the modern sense of humor.
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britt_brooke
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy fame, explores the history of humor and how comedy has evolved, permeating into all aspects of modern life. Super interesting! Jennings delivers a perfectly inflected, and humorous, narration. Don‘t let the silly cover and title deter you. It‘s a fun, witty, and educational listen!

87 likes2 stack adds
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AmberWB
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😁😁😉

JoScho I follow this artist on Instagram. He is so creative. I haven‘t seen this one but I love it! 5y
41 likes2 comments
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CBee
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heidisreads 😂😂 that‘s so funny! 5y
CoffeeNBooks 😂🤣😂 5y
MrBook 😂👏🏻 Aww, thank you for sharing! 🤗🤗🤗 5y
52 likes3 comments
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emilyrose_x
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🤣🤣🤣 5y
SW-T Love it 😂 5y
vkois88 😂😂😂 5y
63 likes4 comments
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ReadingEnvy
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Luke and Juliane are back to chat books, comedy, and library apps. I admit I'm a bit out of practice with three people, so this episode is a bonus fifty percent longer than a normal episode. You're welcome. https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy125

saresmoore Yay, bonus! 6y
Lindy Many comments, starting with apps: Libby/Overdrive titles are renewable (if there isn‘t a hold list) and holds can be paused (so they don‘t come in all at once). Libby is EASY!
It‘s good to have options because my library has Hoopla limit of 5 per month.
Hoopla titles are searchable in my public library‘s main catalog, as are titles in Overdrive and RB Digital. Maybe it depends on what software is used by your library?
6y
Lindy I like the umbrella term ‘speculative fiction‘ because it includes so many subgenres like fantasy, science fiction, horror and alternate history. (edited) 6y
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Lindy Okorafor not being able to publish under the title Akata Witch in Nigeria reminds me of Lawrence Hill‘s experience, which was not being able to publish his book under the title The Book of Negroes in USA. 6y
ReadingEnvy @Lindy re:apps I will let Juliane know about renewing! Our records aren't in the library catalog unfortunately. From an academic side I know what that looks like and it involves massive cost to purchase Marc records or a discovery tool, plus people who know how to make it go. That would help for sure. 6y
ReadingEnvy @Lindy re: spec fic most of the time I like speculative fiction as a term too but then there is always that guy who will argue that all fiction is speculative.... 6y
ReadingEnvy @Lindy It does make it confusing! 6y
63 likes7 comments
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McGonagall
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McGonagall
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Two of my #goodreadsgiveaway #arcs arrived today!

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McGonagall
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This looks like a fascinating read! Can‘t wait to get my #goodreadsgiveaway copy!!