Dotan Oliar and Christopher Sprigman (Virginia): There's No Free Laugh (Anymore): The Emergence of Intellectual Property Norms and the Transformation of Stand-Up Comedy (and more). From Ode, a special issue on laughter, including a look at what makes the whoopee cushion so funny; and in the beginning was the joke: Why cheerfulness is next to godliness. The comedy scene has become the latest arena for the God debate with a new wave of irreverent, atheist stand-ups. From PopMatters, a review of Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far); a review of The Modern Wit by Shelley Klein; and a review of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein. A look at how sexist jokes favor the mental mechanisms that justify violence against women. As nasty as they wanna be: How the Friars Club roasts expanded the First Amendment. An interview with Paul Krassner, author of Who's to Say What's Obscene: Politics, Culture & Comedy in America Today. When humor humiliates: For gelotophobes, even good-natured laughter can sound a lot like ridicule. Political correctness used to rule comedy, but now comics routinely offend their audiences — how did things get so nasty? (and more from the Edinburgh Festival) Improbable research: An article on England as the birthplace of the sick joke. The dark knight: Merry prankster Sir John Hargrave is a square peg at a round table.
