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The Ethics of Humor

Damon Wayans performing comedy in 2007.
Wikipedia

For some Oscar viewers this year, host Chris Rock’s jokes about race crossed a line. But in the world of humor, is there a line?  

Do certain comedians have greater license to make jokes that might be offensive if delivered by others? And does the composition of the audience matter?

Host Frank Stasio talks with Luvell Anderson, philosophy professor at the University of Memphis, and Jeff Sebo

associate director of UNC’s Parr Center for Ethics. Sebo and Anderson are participants in a panel called, “The Ethics of Humor: Navigating Racial Satire,” on Saturday at 2:15pm as part of UNC’s Interdisciplinary Approaches to Humor.  The conference is free and open to the public. 
Laura Lee was the managing editor of The State of Things until mid February 2017. Born and raised in Monroe, North Carolina, Laura returned to the Old North state in 2013 after several years in Washington, DC. She received her B.A. in political science and international studies from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2002 and her J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law in 2007.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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