EP.26. Satire, Comedy & Mental Health

Do you ever wonder... what's the point? Liars and cheats prosper and gain power, the hypocritical, the criminal, the venal, the self-interested, the arrogant and the cruel seem to get away with whatever they want. Statistics and figures are cynically manipulated for cynical ends. The average person has no voice and no power, no real chance to change anything or be heard. Everything gets worse and worse, we’re all afraid, nothing really seems stable, and nobody with power can be trusted. Well, satire can help! Adam and Jo are joined by Dr Dieter Declercq, author of Satire, Comedy and Mental Health: Coping with the Limits of Critique, to talk about the extent to which satire can help sustain good mental health in a trouble socio-political world. We mention: 1984 A Bit of Fry and Laurie A Modest Proposal Alexander Pope Animal Farm Balms Bernard Williams Bon Jovi Boris Johnson Brass Eye Brexit anxiety Catharsis Climate change and climate grief Covid Depression Dominic Cummings Dustin Griffin Hello Tushie Bidets Horace John Dryden John Wright Jonathan Swift Juvenal Medical models of satire Michael Gove Mock the Week Nietzsche Political burnout Rain Rishi Sunak Satire and magic Satirical poetry The Handmaid’s Tale Theme tunes (US sitcoms) Trump blimp Read the full show-notes.