Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas || How Humor Can Save The World

Feb 11, 2021

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Today it’s great to chat with Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas on the podcast. Dr. Jennifer Aaker is the General Atlantic Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a leading expert on how purpose and meaning shape individual choices and how technology can positively impact both human well-being and company growth. Her work has been widely published in lead in scientific journals and featured in The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Science. A recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award and the MBA Professor of the Year, Aaker counts winning a dance-off in the early 1980s among her greatest feats.

Naomi Bagdonas is a Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an Executive Coach. She helps leaders be more creative, flexible and resilient in the face of change by facilitating interactive sessions for Fortune 100 companies and coaching executives and celebrities for appearances ranging from Saturday Night Live to the Today Show. Formally trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Bagdonas performs at comedy venues and teaches improv in San Francisco’s county jail. Her constant stream of foster dogs describe her as gullible and full of treats.

Topics

[3:15] Why the world needs more humor

[6:06] Humor at the expense of others/4 Styles of humor

[8:49] Origin story of “Humor, Seriously”

[12:51] The bottom-line value of humor

[18:19] How to infuse humor in the workplace

[22:05] Jennifer’s thoughts on humorlessness

[24:58] Cultivating the comedian’s toolbox

[28:30] How to create your own signature joke

[30:17] Scott and Naomi’s experiences at Upright Citizen’s Brigade

[34:11] The link between humor and mental health

[37:45] The relationship between status and humor

[42:17] The value of self-deprecating humor

[44:10] The importance of context in humor

[50:22] One of Jennifer’s pranks on her students

[51:21] Biological vs cultural dimensions of humor

[54:58] How humor reflects elements of our society

[58:27] Should there be moral rules for comedy?

[1:03:13] Why truth and misdirection are at the core of comedy

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