Maeve Higgins, an Irish immigrant comedian and writer, uses humor to tackle tough topics like immigration and borders. She discusses how personal stories can reshape comedic narratives and critiques societal views on immigration classifications. Higgins emphasizes comedy's role in fostering community and the importance of diverse voices in a male-dominated industry. With a mix of laughter and poignant anecdotes, she advocates for empathy and understanding in exploring the complexities of immigration in our world.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Hamilton Award Joke
Maeve Higgins jokes about winning the Alexander Hamilton Immigrant Achievement Award.
She humorously compares her contributions to Hamilton's, highlighting the pressure on immigrants to prove their worth.
insights INSIGHT
Ranking Immigrants
Maeve Higgins questions the idea of ranking immigrants based on extraordinary abilities.
She contrasts her comedic work with the potential contributions of an astrophysicist in a refugee camp.
insights INSIGHT
The Power of Comedy
Comedy can be a form of self-expression, offering valuable insights into individual perspectives.
Shared laughter creates a sense of community, although it can also be used negatively.
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Tommy Orange's novel follows twelve characters from Native communities as they travel to the Big Oakland Powwow. The story is a powerful exploration of violence, recovery, hope, loss, identity, power, dislocation, and communion, reflecting the complex and often fraught experiences of Native American life.
On a list of the least funny topics imaginable, the global refugee crisis, border disputes and questions of citizenship are probably close to the top. And yet comedian Maeve Higgins has spent her career finding ways to make jokes about (and make sense of) the ways we draw lines across the globe. She's a stand-up comedian and writer who speaks from the point of view of an Irish immigrant in the United States. In this excerpt from How to Be a Better Human, a TED Audio Collective podcast hosted by Chris Duffy, Maeve talks about ways we can find funny and eye-opening vantage points to look at the realities and borders of the world, our place in it and how imagination and laughter can help us through tough times. We asked Chris to select a book that he thinks explores these topics more deeply, and he selected "There There" by Tommy Orange. Listen for his recommendation and why he thinks it's "like the best action movie and one of the smartest sociological and historical essays paired together." This episode is part of the TED Talks Daily summer book club, a series featuring talks and interviews to inspire your next great read.
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