On January 30th, 1962, an all-girls boarding school in Kashasha, Tanganyika, witnessed one of the oddest types of mass hysteria ever recorded in human history: The Laughter Epidemic. This epidemic, ...

My husband, Don, likes to say that he needs to laugh every day (but only cry once or twice a year). I appreciate and admire his good nature, and I’m sure his ability to see the humor in life helps him ...

Matilda, Roald Dahl’s unnaturally brillant and well-read little girl, who is lighting up the London theatre this week – reviews are embargoed until Friday – is asked by her teacher, Miss Honey, which ...

When I was little, I tended to fall into bouts of uncontrollable laughter. Basically, once I started laughing, I found it very difficult to stop. The problem was particularly acute in contexts where I ...

Albert Ofosu Nketia had the world cracking up as he went from tears to hysterical laughter in a video that’s been circulating TikTok. With all the horrible things going on in the world, we deserve a ...

The US in 2023 seems increasingly to consist of those who live in fear of giving offense, and those ready to take it. Today’s heightened sensitivity can catalyze a valuable raising of consciousness.

The "mutual vulnerability theory" I have been promoting in this blog series defines laughter as a vocal affirmation of mutual vulnerability. In the previous posts, in order to account for the ...

“Beetlejuice” is based on the 1988 Tim Burton film of the same name. For those who have seen the movie, don't expect a rerun … the characters are the same, but the plot shifts are fairly enormous.