When we’re exhausted, overworked, or just going through a difficult time, our instinct is often to put our heads down and simply focus on getting through it. But those serious moments may actually be when we benefit from a little silliness and absurdity the most.
Laurie explores the science of humor with comedian Chris Duffy, host of How to Be a Better Human and author of the new book Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy. Chris shares what he’s learned about how to find humor in almost any situation — and how embracing the funny can improve our wellbeing in surprising ways.
Experts Mentioned:
- Chris Duffy, comedian, author, and host of How to Be a Better Human
- E. B. White, writer and essayist
- Mimi M.Y. Tse, Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Ross Gay, poet, essayist, and Professor of English at Indiana University
- Annie Rauwerda, creator of “Depths of Wikipedia”
- Aparna Nancherla, comedian and author
- Greg Bryant, Professor of Communication at UCLA
- Adam Mastroianni, experimental psychologist and author
Resources Mentioned:
- Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy, by Chris Duffy (2026)
- How to Be a Better Human, TED podcast hosted by Chris Duffy
- “The impression management benefits of humorous self-disclosures: How humor influences perceptions of veracity,” by T. Bradford Bitterly and Maurice Schweitzer (Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2019)
- “The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness,” by Elliot Aronson, Ben Willerman, and Joanne Floyd (Human Learning and Thinking, 1966)
- “Humor Therapy: Relieving Chronic Pain and Enhancing Happiness for Older Adults,” Mimi Tse, Anna Lo, Tracy Cheng, Eva Chan, Annie Chan, and Helena Chung (Journal of Aging Research, 2010)
- The Book of Delights: Essays, by Ross Gay (2019)
- Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, directed by Owen Reiser (2025)
- “Depths of Wikipedia”
- “Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one,” by Juliana Schroeder, Donald Lyons, and Nicholas Epley (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2022)
- “The Perception of Spontaneous and Volitional Laughter Across 21 Societies,” by Greg Bryant et al. (Psychological Science, 2018)
- “Neural substrates of spontaneous musical performance: an FMRI study of jazz improvisation,” by Charles Limb and Allen Braun (PLoS One, 2008)
- “Good conversations have lots of doorknobs,” by Adam Mastroianni (Experimental History, 2022)
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