Ken Jennings - Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture

Show #210 | Guest: Ken Jennings | Show Summary: Angie’s guest is Ken Jennings – he parlayed his long run as a Jeopardy champion into success as an author, podcaster, and online wise guy. He sees humor everywhere – so much so that he says it’s nudging serious issues and real human interaction aside. Ken Jennings joins Angie with his book, Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture.     From John Stewart to Donald Trump, Chaucer to Sumerian Tablets, fart jokes to Cable TV “zingers,” Ken Jennings lends his signature wit and whizzing, encyclopedic perspective to the history of humor and how it came to dominate our modern world. Today, an unprecedented number of people get their news from comedy shows. Newspapers race to find the catchiest headline with an avidity that forgets the need to inform. In our democracy, showmanship has replaced good-nature debate. Jennings looks at the foundations of these current manifestations, and what that says for our future.