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Related Pieces
Piece Description
We all laugh. But why? If you look closely, you'll find that humor has very little to do with it. In this episode, we explore the power of laughter to calm us, bond us to one another, or to spread... like a virus. Along the way, we tickle some rats, listen in on a baby's first laugh, talk to a group of professional laughers, and travel to Tanzania to investigate an outbreak of contagious laughter.
Is Laughter just a Human Thing? Aristotle thinks that laughter is what separates us from the beasts. That a baby does not have a SOUL, until the moment it laughs for the first time. Historian Barry Sanders, author of Sudden Glory, says that according to Aristotle, this moment of "human ensouling" is supposed to happen when a baby is 40 days old. We follow radio producer Amanda Aronczyk as she tests this theory on her newborn baby. Then we go to Bowling Green State University in Ohio, to tickle rats with psychobiologist Dr. Jaak Panksepp. It's his notion that laughter is found all across the animal kindgom. Boom, Aristotle! Then Dr. Robert Provine, author of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, shows us chimps who seem to be laughing. Boom Boom! We also get the giggles with a bit of archival tape from comedians Elaine May and Mike Nichols. And Tyler Stillman, a psychologist at Florida State University, eloquently delineates the awesomeness of laughter.
How Does Laughing Effect Us? In this segment, we explore the rise and fall of a group of professional laughers hired to laugh for money on Fran Drescher's show "The Nanny." Then JoAnne Bachorowski, a psychologist at Vanderbilt University, says that giggling girls have more power than you think. She studies the sound of laughter, and explains how we use laughter to manipulate other people, or, says Barry Sanders, to make ourselves feel safe.
Contagious Laughter We travel across the ocean and back to the year 1962, to a girl's boarding school on the outskirts of a rural village in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), where an epidemic of contagious laughter broke out. Producer Ellen Horne investigates and her search for an explanation brings us back to the idea that laughter is social mechanism that responds to more than comedy...communicates more than mere merriment.
Broadcast History
Programs in the TWO most recent seasons of Radiolab are available for broadcast to NPR member stations until a new season is posted. Broadcast rights to earlier seasons and programs, including this one, may be obtained by contacting Israel Smith at ismarketing@yahoo.com. Stations may not air earlier season prior to obtaining rights.
Non NPR stations MUST contact Israel Smith at ismarketing@yahoo.com or NPR Station Relations prior to broadcast of any Radiolab programs to obtain rights.
Timing and Cues
Radio Lab Show 401 - Laughter
TRT 59:00
*Breaks: Two 1:00 minute Station ID Breaks.
There is music under the break.
Segment A: 00:00 - 21:02
Incue: Jad? Yeah. Lemme play you this
Outcue: And distributed by NPR, National Public Radio. Mimi, you're so good. (phone click)
Break One: 21:02 - 22:02
Segment B: 22:02 - 38:33
Incue: This is Radio Lab. I'm Jad. And I'm Robert
Outcue: Thanks! Have a groovy day. (phone click)
Break Two: 38:33 - 39:33
Segment C: 39:33 -59:00
Incue: This is Radio Lab. I'm Jad Abumrad."
Outcue: ...and distributed by NPR, National Public Radio.
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steven mentor
Posted on February 02, 2008 at 08:58 PM | Permalink
Review of Radio Lab, Show 401: Laughter
This is a terrific piece, though it may be that this is also my first time listening to Radio Lab, so it may also be the backing music, cutting and overtalking that I like.
One interesting note: I listened to this show and then watched Groundhog's Day with about 40 people, and many of the insights of the show (especially gender and laughter, and the disconnect between "we laugh because it is funny" and the data that shows otherwise) seemed illustrated.
Great show!