I had a blast talking with @leev.bsky.social on his great STS Peoples & Things podcast. Topics discussed: Firesign Theatre, the history of recording, Trevor Pinch, obscure robot statues. @ucpress.bsky.social @firesigntheatre.bsky.social newbooksnetwork.com/firesign

One last tempo session with the lovely #AdidasRunners bunch yesterday and… I am marathon ready! I am so excited to run the @manchestermarathon.bsky.social for #TeamMND @mndassoc.bsky.social. Here is the link to my fundraiser: www.justgiving.com/page/benedet... Please help us reach the goal ❤️

A wonderful conference comes to an end. We laughed, we learned, we ranged across media, languages, periods. It was such a pleasure to listen to our participants and their groundbreaking research. Deep thanks to them, to our audience, to @durhamuniversity.bsky.social and @durhamhistory.bsky.social!

And the last speaker of our conference on “Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism”: Aidan Jones! Aidan is presenting on “The Death Penalty, Humour, and the United States.”

A. Austin Garvey deepens our focus on Ukraine, comparing wartime Punch cartoons and contemporary Ukrainian memes in “Visual Humour in European Home Fronts: Britain and Ukraine.”

Zlata Osipova speaks first, on “We Against Them: Humor as a Unifying Force in Ukraine’s Resistance.” How does humour build solidarity and a collective opposition?

The final panel begins! “Humour in Extremis” will go from Ukraine to the United States, with presentations from A. Austin Garey, Zlata Osipova, and Aidan Jones.

Such an engaging, illuminating panel! (And we’re all still laughing.)

Simbarashe bringing the house down with popular Zimbabwean jokes from Whatsapp and Facebook (social media a release for so much pent-up expression)

Rounding off our panel, and taking us into the world of social media, Simbarashe Marowa and Ushe Kufakurinani present on “Social Media and Playful Engagements on the Political Economy: The Case of Zimbabwe”!

Radio comedy gave listeners a way to address the past and negotiate the transition to the postwar world, Katharina argues in her terrific paper.

Katharina Friege picks up the baton and brings us to radio comedy (and the postwar scene): “Broadcasting Humour: Rubble, Reconstruction, and the Radio in Great Britain and Western Germany, 1945-1960.” Humour on the airwaves brought people into the society after the war

Sophie Dubillot kicks things off with “Visual Humour by Returning French Prisoners of War and Forces Workers in Liberation France.” A complex history of return, disappointment, and critical humour

Lunch over, coffee cups refilled, we begin again with our panel on Postfascism. Our featured speakers are Sophie Dubillot, Katharina Friege Simbarashe Marowa and Ushe Kufakurinani (sadly, Xiaofei Tu withdrew because of illness). From France to Zimbabwe, visual humour to radio!

The panel sums up!

Paolo and Raquel take us from the Civil War to Franco’s regime and onward to the return of democracy, tracing the fate of the Catalan avant-garde through Brossa’s life and work

Finally, direct from Barcelona, Paolo Scotton and Raquel Cercós speak about the Catalan writer Joan Brossa and “When Poetry Turns Into Revolt”!

Our third speaker is Natalie Schwabl, presenting on “Coping with Fascism through Humour: Anticlerical Caricatures in Post-War Croatia (1945-1946).” Another fascinating paper, another era and area illuminated

Oeser’s remarkable presentation explores the varieties of laughter, from mockery that can be turned against other victims to mockery that targets the powerful

Alexandra Oeser speaks next, tackling one of the most difficult subjects: laughter in concentration camps. Through the life and work of Nina Jirsikova, Oeser delves into laughter as a weapon of oppression as well as laughter as resistance

As Jessica says, the conference is now exploring cinema as well cartoons, magazines, graphic novels, and radio!

Introduced by Jessica Wardhaugh, Francesco Saccà begins with comic writing and satire in Marc’Aurelio, an Italian anti-fascist magazine. A fascinating examination of Fellini’s early career in its pages (and other film directors too)

And now the first panel of the day! “Fascism and Dictatorship,” with Francesco Saccà, Alexandra Oeser, Natalie Schwab, and Paolo Scotton and Raquel Cercós. Their talks will range from Fellini’s antifascist writing to caricatures in Croatia, from poetry to laughter in the camps.

We started day 2 of the ‘Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism’ conference with Alya Aglan’s wonderful keynote, translated in English by @benfried.bsky.social. Alya tells us that wartime humor changes the unbearable reality. Without words, humor captures the essential @durhamhistory.bsky.social

Loved this example of "Laughter as Coping Mechanism" in one of today's talks @durhamhistory.bsky.social by Vincent Scotto. Especially enjoyed this US First World War satirical cartoon depicting the fear of German invasion, in which Canada is left to its "barbaric" ways 😂🇨🇦 #VisualSatire #History

"Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism" begins at @durhamuniversity.bsky.social! All thanks to @benecarnaghi.bsky.social, @drhelenroche.bsky.social , and @durhamhistory.bsky.social. Two days of terrific papers: check out the schedule for today and join us!

‘Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism’—a conference that @drhelenroche.bsky.social and I are organizing on March 28-29 for @durhamhistory.bsky.social—now has a website: laughterasapoliticalcopingmechanism.wordpress.com Huge thanks to #ASMI and @germanhistsoc.bsky.social for their sponsorship 🙏

Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Website of the international conference taking place at Durham University on 28 – 29 March 2025

laughterasapoliticalcopingmechanism.wordpress.com

I will be in Durham for this vital, timely (to say the least) conference, ready to learn and laugh. Two days' worth of terrific talks, with the sessions open to all!

Benedetta Carnaghi@benecarnaghi.bsky.social · last yr.

Here's the schedule for 'Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism', a conference that @drhelenroche.bsky.social and I are organizing on March 28-29 for @durhamhistory.bsky.social. We'll spark fresh conversations about resistance to power—and have a few laughs too! Please join us!

We accepted 24 papers out of almost 100 submissions from a truly global array of scholars. Prof. Alya Aglan from the Université Paris 1 will serve as the external keynote speaker: she is a world-renowned specialist of WWII and the Resistance. So much to look forward to!

Here's the schedule for 'Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism', a conference that @drhelenroche.bsky.social and I are organizing on March 28-29 for @durhamhistory.bsky.social. We'll spark fresh conversations about resistance to power—and have a few laughs too! Please join us!