Benjamin Nickl News Today

Dr Benjamin Nickl, a humour expert from the School of Languages and Cultures, and his co-author Dr Mark Rolfe, Honorary Lecturer at UNSW, discuss the

The Ethical Life podcast: The hosts also talk about whether what we laugh at has changed over the past several years.

What was it about this woman’s real-life story of a blown-up marriage that agitated so many people? And why was the overwhelming reaction to pile onto her? 

What was it about this woman’s real-life story of a blown-up marriage that agitated so many people? And why was the overwhelming reaction to pile onto her? 

OPINION: Last month, Netflix officially launched its new “Play Something” feature, a programme shuffle aimed at bypassing the indecisive endless scroll that plagues so many users who log on, spend hours searching for something to watch, and then log off without viewing a thing. In an age of viewer fatigue and a debilitating abundance of choice, it’s a nifty idea. Press the “Play Something” button and the Netflix algorithm will instantly start a show it thinks you’ll enjoy based on ...

Contagion and Outbreak in the immediate days following the COVID-19 shutdown last March, and was reiterated just last week with the viral response to the trailer for the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong, a movie monster that’s long represented post-Hiroshima anxiety over nuclear fallout. When the COVID-19 pandemic has made such disaster film scenarios uncannily real, what’s the lingering appeal of the genre? “I think we crave the structure to see something bad happen but not have to experienc...