Episode 112: Navigating Dark Comedy

“Dark comedy is very difficult. You have to bring the audience in and push them away at the same time.”
— Pierce Brosnan
“Black Comedy is a farce that is played in the dark, as you know, with the lights full on. It’s the Chinese convention of reversing light and dark, and exactly where anybody is at any given moment is the play.”
— Peter Shaffer

While joke-telling and humor form essential bonds in a community or culture, the types of jokes we tell and those we appreciate or avoid say a great deal about our perspectives as people. In particular, dark comedy or humor approaches socially taboo or emotionally heavy topics in a playful or lighthearted way. This week Mike Jest returns as a guest to help explore the consequences of dark humor and its foundation in personal observation. Some may cringe or present vocal concern or protest, but the presence of dark jokes as both a means and a topic of social commentary is worthy of consideration. Does dark comedy reveal areas in which we are not an empathetic or sensitive society? Do we need dark jokes to cope with the gravity of controversial issues and tragic events? And is dark comedy a label we broadly apply to some subjects which me exclude or alienate us but promote bonds within other groups of people?

Episode 111: The Broken Grading System

“Something I want tattooed on my forehead is “grades don’t matter.” The current perception of the importance of grades in academia dumbfounds me, because I think that by caring too much about grades, most students are missing the point of education.”
— Lauren Schuhmacher, The Huffington Post, February 14, 2013.
“Regardless of the method used, grading and reporting remain inherently subjective. In fact, the more detailed the reporting method and the more analytic the process, the more likely subjectivity will influence results (Ornstein 1994). That’s why, for example, holistic scoring procedures tend to have greater reliability than analytic procedures.”
— Thomas R. Guskey, ASCD, "Making the Grade: What Benefits Students?" October 1994.

While school and the larger education system have become core pillars in the mainstream narrative of our culture, many have emerged to criticize various aspects of modern education. One aspect in particular, the grading system, poses certain dangers and pitfalls that we rarely acknowledge. On the outside, grades appear to provide an objective metric and offer a standardized approach to learning. But the effects of grading on a student's self-esteem, relationship to learning as a form of personal and intellectual development and on how society denotes individual worth are all worthy of consideration. Are we too quick to abandon students who receive low grades time and again? How might our predisposition to grades as an end goal distract from the process and benefits of learning? Could we find a more thorough, human-based means of assessing individual needs, concerns and aptitudes?

Episode 110: Our Second Anniversary

Two years ago, we had the distinct pleasure of introducing this podcast to you, our growing audience of listeners. In marking this second anniversary, we would like to thank you for your willingness to engage with our ideas, to help us explore further and to share your own perspectives. The show has always been firmly rooted in a commitment to mutual understanding, community and the profound beauty of genuine conversation. As in our first year, this second year has taught us a great deal and we will make good use of this knowledge in crafting and planning future episodes. As we enter our third year, we have nothing but tremendous gratitude for the opportunity to speak with and to you.

Sincerely,

Kip Clark and Caroline Borders

Episode 109: "How Do You Get Your News?"

“47 percent of a group Pew identifies as “consistent conservatives” say Fox News is their main source of information on government and politics. “Consistent liberals” rely on a mix of sources including CNN (15 percent), NPR (13 percent), MSNBC (12 percent), and The New York Times (10 percent). Pew also found that 44 percent of consistent liberals on Facebook claim to have blocked, hidden or unfriended someone whose posts they disagreed with, compared to only 31 percent of consistent conservatives and 26 percent of all Facebook users.”
— Justin Ellis of Nieman Lab on October 21, 2014.
“Facebook now has a fifth of the world — about 1.3 billion people — logging on at least monthly. It drives up to 20 percent of traffic to news sites, according to figures from the analytics companySimpleReach. On mobile devices, the fastest-growing source of readers, the percentage is even higher, SimpleReach says, and continues to increase.”
— Ravi Somaiya of The New York Times on October 26, 2014

With the various tools and technologies available to many of us in the twenty-first century, how have our habits related to the news changed? Many studies show shifts between among media such as radio, television, online publications and print. How do younger generations behave differently than their older counterparts? This week, we react and respond to a 2014 New York Times article entitled "How Do You Get Your News?" Are there more traditional, socially-minded methods which have been discarded in favor of more convenient and fast-paced alternatives? We examine our own habits and discuss the trends and preferences we observe around us.

Episode 108: Mass Shootings in America

As a troubling pattern appears to have emerged, we have long felt it would be necessary to discuss the recurrent issue of mass shootings in the United States. Though there is tremendous controversy surrounding the solutions to the problem, the greater issue draws widespread concern and doubts about our nation as both a political and social entity. This week, we welcome Alex Piper to share some of his perspectives after working with Everytown for Gun Safety, as well as his opinions on the larger issue as portrayed by mass media. Are there solutions to the stalemate in dialogue? Are there cultural factors which allow for these incidents in the United States in particular? How does one cope with the tremendous emotional weight associated with such tragedies and also contribute to the larger conversation or effort?