Following a recent incident in a London theatre where, it appears, Jewish Israelis were targeted by a comedian because they wouldn't stand for a Palestinian flag, Howard Jacobson reflects on the power of mockery and the liberation of laughter.
'Do the best comedians truly turn the world upside down', Howard asks, 'or do they merely strap us into a fairground roller-coaster so that we can feign fear and scream in unison?'
He argues that the norms of outrage have been jettisoned in the reaction to events in Israel on October 7.
'Once the world is turned upside down,' he writes, 'humanity and justice fall like loose change from our pockets.'
Producer: Adele Armstrong Sound: Peter Bosher Production coordinator: Liam Morrey Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Dangerous places, libraries
Democracy is not in crisis
Tackling homelessness
What Would Darwin Do?
Get Mad, Then Get Over It!
After the Fire
Automation...and a packet of frozen peas
On Holding Forth
Brexit: Failure to compromise
Where there's muck there's art
So Many Kinds of Britons: Who Knew?
A Sense of Chaos
Calling a spade a spade
Cookery shows...and hungry people
Humour that's worth its name
The Organ Recital
The Sea Is Back
The trouble with referendums
Brexit and the English Revolution
Have we reached Peak Stuff?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins