Funny Politics

Join professional comedy writer Joel Morris on a hilarious journey into the hidden world of shared laughter, where he reveals the mechanisms that make jokes work and what comedy can teach us about ourselves. Offering astute analysis of everything from stand-up to slapstick and sitcom to spoof, Morris examines comedic patterns, rhythms, and dynamics to uncover the algorithms that secretly underpin comedy.

Who doesn’t love random facts and odd trivia? Have fun learning weird and curious facts in this audiobook of unusual knowledge and funny trivia. Discover fun and interesting facts about the world and our fascinating history. An amazing facts book for kids and teenagers of all ages, full of fascinating facts and trivia to educate and stimulate young minds. Discover fascinating new knowledge you will keep forever!

Charles Portis, author of True Grit, got John Wayne his only Oscar. He once had Karl Marx’s old gig (as the London bureau chief for the New York Herald-Tribune). He’s written four other novels, three of them masterpieces, though which three is up for debate. Here’s 7,000 words about a guy you’ve never heard of. But should, we say.

A follow-up to the New York Times best-selling The New Rules, The New New Rules delivers a series of hilarious, intelligent rants on everything from same-sex marriage to health care, from Republican agendas to celebrity meltdowns, with all the razor-sharp insight that has made Bill Maher one of the most influential comedic voices shaping the political debate today.

For almost a decade, Richard Herring has been answering sexist trolls on International Women's Day when they ask 'when is International Men's Day?' in the mistaken belief there isn't one. If only the trolls had learned to use Google they'd realise that there is an International Men's Day - it's on November 19th. In The Problem with Men Richard expands on his Twitter discussions and tackles some of the big questions surrounding the problems of toxic masculinity - for women, but also for men.

In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father's glowing memories of his graduate school years here.

Did you know that a measles outbreak led to the assigning of phone numbers? How about the fact that pirates are the reason we don’t use the metric system in the United States? Or that there’s actually a reason why stepping on a Lego hurts so damn much? Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?! is the ultimate challenge for even the biggest trivia buff. Based on the very popular newsletter, you are guaranteed to learn something new despite how much you already think you know.

Perfect the art of Schadenfreude from your own armchair as you wonder who left the lid of the idiot box open. Laugh at the dumb and dumber from the comfort of your own toilet seat. Wonder at the stupidity of man with hilarious anecdotes spanning time and history and culture.

The ultimate guide on how to use grudges to be your happiest, most optimistic and most forgiving self! Being someone who holds grudges is seen by many as a bad thing, but what if our grudges, when managed correctly, are good for us? What if they can act as a series of stepping stones, pointing us in the right direction? What if they can ward off danger, like charms on a charm bracelet? Look no further for the ultimate guide on how we need to acknowledge, examine and sometimes embrace our grudges in order to live our best possible lives.

Today’s gay youth have dozens of queer peer heroes, both fictional and real, but former gay teenager Grace Perry did not have that luxury. Instead, she had to search for queerness in the (largely straight) teen cultural phenomena the aughts had to offer: in Lindsay Lohan’s fall from grace, Gossip Girl, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl”, country-era Taylor Swift, and Seth Cohen jumping on a coffee cart. And, for better or worse, these touch points shaped her adult identity. She came out on the other side like many millennials did: in her words, gay as hell.

In Planet Funny, Ken Jennings explores this brave new comedic world and what it means - or doesn’t - to be funny in it now. Tracing the evolution of humor from the caveman days to the bawdy middle-class antics of Chaucer to Monty Python’s 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.

"Why do conservatives hate comedy? Why is there no right-wing Jon Stewart?" These sorts of questions launch a million tweets, a thousand op-eds, and more than a few scholarly analyses. That's Not Funny argues that it is both an intellectual and politically strategic mistake to assume that comedy has a liberal bias. Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx take listeners—particularly self-described liberals—on a tour of contemporary conservative comedy and the "right-wing comedy complex."

You may know Jimmy Failla as the best dressed man in cable news. A force multiplier of positive energy on the radio who sounds like he gets paid in Tequila and Tide Pods. But he’s also a former New York City Taxi Driver who’s spent countless hours conversing with people from all over this planet and several planets you’ve never heard of. It’s those chats with hobbits, hookers, and time travelers that fill The Cancel Culture Dictionary with the unique perspective and savage self-awareness we need to escape the outrage era society is stuck in.

These 75 flash nonfiction pieces, written by internationally celebrated women authors and dazzlingly hilarious newcomers, are no flashes in the pan: They provide a feast of insights, generously garnished with wit, spice, and an exhilarating attention to craft. In Fast Funny Women, you'll find everything you want from thoughtful essays in a short, delicious form. Perfect for students of writing, writers of humor, and all fans who welcome laughter, insight, and perspective into their lives.

From FDR to Harry Truman to JFK to George W. Bush, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House captures the wit and humor of the campaign trail - a place where levity is always welcome. Osgood includes fragments of speeches, interviews, and press conferences, as well as articles written by and about the candidates - no source is left untapped.

In the age of Trump and Brexit, every crisis is instantly overridden by the next. The turbulent political weather of the 21st century generates anxiety and makes it difficult to know how to react. Laing makes an inspiring case for why art matters more than ever, as a force of both resistance and repair. Art, she argues, changes how we see the world. It gives us X-ray vision. It reveals inequalities and offers fertile new ways of living. Funny Weather brings together a career's worth of Laing's writing about art and culture, and their role in our political and emotional lives.

Will Rogers - pithy, political, and plainspoken - was one of the finest entertainers of his generation. As a great American humorist, it was considered an honor to be made fun of by him. By the time of his death in 1935, he had traveled the globe three times, written some four thousand articles, and was one of America's highest-paid film stars. He began his act in Vaudeville by saying, "All I know is what I read in the papers," while idly swinging a lasso he used for rope tricks.

Did you know that, as of 2013, it is illegal to unlock your smartphone in the United States? Not only is it illegal, you may be fined up to $500,000 and/or be imprisoned for up five years. Crazy? Maybe. I stumbled across this unique (AKA crazy) law while reading a newspaper article. I have since found that there are hundreds of laws like this one, not just in the United States but all over the world.

Marjorie J. Preston and her friends compiled a bunch of the best Ohio jokes and spun them into a little joke book! Some they wrote, and others have been passed around for years. Old gems, new twists on old themes, plays on words, and local Ohio color are all here. This book is a perfect gift for die-hard Buckeyes, as well as for those just passing through.

An all-star team of 18 conservative writers offers a hilarious, insightful, sanctimony-free remix of William Bennett's The Book of Virtues - without parental controls. The Seven Deadly Virtues sits down next to listeners at the bar, buys them a drink, and, an hour or three later, ushers them into the revival tent without them even realizing it.