Stephanie Coontz was a guest on the colbert report several times. She says there is something ambiguous about Colbert's satire. The show has been studied by social scientists who study how humor operates in popular culture. Colbert made fun of people like ruchlamba and bill riley as left wing journalists, but his liberal friends love him to death,. she writes.
In the political turmoil of mid-1990s Britain, a brilliant young comic named Harry Enfield set out to satirize the ideology and politics of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His parodies became famous. He wrote and performed a vicious sendup of the typical Thatcherite nouveau riche buffoon. People loved it. And what happened? Exactly the opposite of what Enfield hoped would happen. In an age dominated by political comedy, “The Satire Paradox” asks whether laughter and social protest are friends or foes.
To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, visit www.RevisionistHistory.com
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.