Cutting Edge

Episode hosts: Ben Nickl and Alberto Godioli

About our guest on this episode:

João Paulo Capelotti is a Brazilian legal scholar and humour studies researcher with a PhD and Master of Laws from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). João is a member of the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS) and the International Society for Luso-Hispanic Humor Studies. His work explores humour and the law, focusing on Brazilian court cases and their treatment of humour. His recent publications include chapters in Judges, Judging and Humour (SpringerLink) and the DeGruyter Handbook of Humor Studies. João’s work bridges legal theory, humour, and conflict, highlighting the intersection of laughter and jurisprudence in the Global South.

Alberto Godioli is Associate Professor in European Culture and Literature at the University of Groningen and founder of the Forum for Humor and the Law (www.forhum.org). His research focuses on humor and free speech jurisprudence, and he is leading a five-year project on this topic (Humor in Court, NWO Vidi grant, 2022-2027). In 2023 he co-authored the report Humor and Free Speech: A Comparative Analysis of Global Case Law (Columbia Global Freedom of Expression). In dialogue with experts from UNESCO and the African and European Human Rights Courts among others, Alberto is currently finalizing the toolkit What’s in a Joke? Assessing Humor in Free Speech Jurisprudence (Spring 2025).

Acknowledgement of Country:

We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which the University of Sydney has been built, and which were taken from them without their consent, treaty or compensation. Most episodes of this podcast were recorded on this land.
This land has always been a learning space for many Aboriginal nations, and as teachers and students, and people of all kinds of origins, we can draw strength and guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, one of the oldest knowledge systems in the world.

Want to come on as a guest or co-host, or get in touch about something else? Simply email [email protected] (AHSN research coordinator and ‘Cutting Edge’ host), visit the AHSN website https://ahsnhumourstudies.org/ and follow/subscribe to us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AHSNHumour/, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ahsnconference or Twitter/X @AHSN_Humour.

Special thanks and all credit for editing and sound engineering goes to Jacob Craig/USYD FASS media room studios.

Episode hosts: Ben Nickl and Jessica Milner Davis

About our guest on this episode:

Professor Goh Abe is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering and Design at Kagawa University, Japan. He is a long-standing member of the Japan Society for Humour and Laughter Research and has presented at many conferences of the JSLHS as well as the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS)as well as at the AHSN in Australia. His own research interests include rituals of laughter in Japan, ethnic jokes, intercultural communication between African-Americans and Anglo-Americans in the USA, and an anthology of anthropological knowledge. In this episode, Goh talks to us about Australian humour from the perspective of a cultural anthropologist and why developing one’s intercultural awareness is so important for researchers in the field of humour studies.

About the episode hosts:

Ben is a Senior Lecturer in The University of Sydney’s Department of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies. He works on popular technologies of mediation like humour and laughter and is the research coordinator for the Australasian Humour Studies Network. His latest book is called Moral Dimensions of Humour (Tampere University Press, open access, 2024).

Jessica is an Honorary Associate in the School of Art, Communication and English, University of Sydney, and coordinates the AHSN. She is a member of Clare Hall, Cambridge and Research Affiliate with Brunel University London’s Centre for Comedy Studies Research. She has been Visiting Scholar at many universities in Europe and the USA, Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (2012) and Senior Visiting Fellow at Bologna University (2013). Her interdisciplinary work on humour was recognised with Fellowship of the Royal Society of NSW in 2017 and the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the ISHS. An editorial board member for leading humour research journals and book series, her latest book is “Humour in Asian Cultures: Tradition and Context” (Routledge, 2022).

Acknowledgement of Country:

We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which the University of Sydney has been built, and which were taken from them without their consent, treaty or compensation. Most episodes of this podcast were recorded on this land.
This land has always been a learning space for many Aboriginal nations, and as teachers and students, and people of all kinds of origins, we can draw strength and guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, one of the oldest knowledge systems in the world.

Want to come on as a guest or co-host, or get in touch about something else? Simply email [email protected] (AHSN research coordinator and ‘Cutting Edge’ host), visit the AHSN website https://ahsnhumourstudies.org/ and follow/subscribe to us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AHSNHumour/, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ahsnconference or Twitter/X @AHSN_Humour.

Special thanks and all credit for editing and sound engineering goes to Jacob Craig/USYD FASS media room studios.

Episode hosts: Ben Nickl and Geoffrey Lee

About our guest on this episode:

Mark is an Honorary Lecturer with the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, where he taught. He is keenly interested in Australian politics, rhetoric, propaganda, political satire, American politics, populism, and political leadership. Some of his recent publications include: ‘The idea of national humour and Americanization in Australia and Britain’, in the European Journal of Humour Research (2022); ‘The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives’, in the European Journal of Humour Research (2021); ‘Is this a Dagg which I see before me? John Clarke and the politics in his political humour’, in The Journal of Comedy Studies (2019).

About the episode hosts:

Ben is a Senior Lecturer in The University of Sydney’s Department of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies. He works on popular technologies of mediation like humour and laughter and is the research coordinator for the Australasian Humour Studies Network. His latest book is called Moral Dimensions of Humour (Tampere University Press, open access, 2024).

Geoffrey Lee is a first-year PhD student at the University of Sydney. His thesis will explore how humour is transferred from the livestreaming platform Twitch onto other connected social media platforms.

Acknowledgement of Country:

We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which the University of Sydney has been built, and which were taken from them without their consent, treaty or compensation. Most episodes of this podcast were recorded on this land.
This land has always been a learning space for many Aboriginal nations, and as teachers and students, and people of all kinds of origins, we can draw strength and guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, one of the oldest knowledge systems in the world.

Want to come on as a guest or co-host, or get in touch about something else? Simply email [email protected] (AHSN research coordinator and ‘Cutting Edge’ host), visit the AHSN website https://ahsnhumourstudies.org/ and follow/subscribe to us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AHSNHumour/, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ahsnconference or Twitter/X @AHSN_Humour.

Special thanks and all credit for editing and sound engineering goes to Jacob Craig/USYD FASS media room studios.

Episode hosts: Ben Nickl and Suchi Chowdhury

About our guest on this episode:

Kerry is an Associate Professor at RMIT in Melbourne and teaches French language and culture at all proficiency levels, and sociolinguistics. Her main research interests are cross-cultural communication and differing interactional styles – particularly those of French and Australian English speakers. She also researches in the areas of intercultural pragmatics, discourse analysis, language teaching and conversational humour. Kerry also heads the board of the global Australasian Humour Studies Network and talks to us about the research that its members do, how one can join, and what to expect from the annual network conference.

About the episode hosts:

Ben is a Senior Lecturer in The University of Sydney’s Department of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies. He works on popular technologies of mediation like humour and laughter and is the research coordinator for the Australasian Humour Studies Network. His latest book is called Moral Dimensions of Humour (Tampere University Press, open access, 2024).

Suchi is a PhD student at RMIT University, Melbourne, researching stand-up comedy in India and its engagement with the political. She is creating her data through interviews with comedians, the ethnographic study of live comedy shows, and textual analysis of comedic material. Born and raised in India, Suchi moved to Melbourne 18 years ago and has worked in professional roles in TAFE and tertiary education. In her other life in India, she worked in advertising, journalism, and public relations.

Acknowledgement of Country:

We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which the University of Sydney has been built, and which were taken from them without their consent, treaty or compensation. Most episodes of this podcast were recorded on this land.
This land has always been a learning space for many Aboriginal nations, and as teachers and students, and people of all kinds of origins, we can draw strength and guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, one of the oldest knowledge systems in the world.

Want to come on as a guest or co-host, or get in touch about something else? Simply email [email protected] (AHSN research coordinator and ‘Cutting Edge’ host), visit the AHSN website https://ahsnhumourstudies.org/ and follow/subscribe to us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AHSNHumour/, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ahsnconference or Twitter/X @AHSN_Humour.

Special thanks and all credit for editing and sound engineering goes to Jacob Craig/USYD FASS media room studios.

Episode hosts: Ben Nickl and Will Visconti

About our guest on this episode:

Anna-Sophie is a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science of the Australian National University, and the founder and head of the ‘Popsicule– ANU’s Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub’. Her research explores the cultural meanings of science, the history of (violent) clowns and mad scientists, science and humour, and the interface between science and (public) art, which is what we talk to her about in this episode.

About the episode hosts:

Ben is a Senior Lecturer in The University of Sydney’s Department of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies. He works on popular technologies of mediation like humour and laughter and is the research coordinator for the Australasian Humour Studies Network. His latest book is called Moral Dimensions of Humour (Tampere University Press, open access, 2024).

Will is the coordinator of the Italian major at the University of Technology Sydney. His research focuses primarily on gender, sexuality, representation and transgression, and his first book, Beyond the Moulin Rouge: The Life and Legacy of La Goulue, was published in 2022 by the University of Virginia Press. Will’s current research projects include examinations of obscenity in Victorian literature, the material culture of nineteenth-century sex work, and the comic potential of the cancan. He is also co-editor and co-author of the forthcoming study Comedy, Humour, and Laughter: A Documentary History, 1800-1920 (Routledge).

Acknowledgement of Country:

We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which the University of Sydney has been built, and which were taken from them without their consent, treaty or compensation. Most episodes of this podcast were recorded on this land.
This land has always been a learning space for many Aboriginal nations, and as teachers and students, and people of all kinds of origins, we can draw strength and guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, one of the oldest knowledge systems in the world.

Want to come on as a guest or co-host, or get in touch about something else? Simply email [email protected] (AHSN research coordinator and ‘Cutting Edge’ host), visit the AHSN website https://ahsnhumourstudies.org/ and follow/subscribe to us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AHSNHumour/, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ahsnconference or Twitter/X @AHSN_Humour.

Special thanks and all credit for editing and sound engineering goes to Jacob Craig/USYD FASS media room studios.