Better off Read

Ep 120: Beyond a Joke 11 - Anna Pendergrast & Kelly Pendergrast talk with Pip Adam about The Laughter Lift from Kermode & Mayo’s Take

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Anna and Kelly Pendergrast’s latest work is More Zeros and Ones a book they edited which is published by BWB. This book brings together essays from incredibly interesting thinkers and doers who write about environmental science, law and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and recent developments in technology. I just can’t recommend this book enough. I love this blurb from BWB:

Many of today’s digital technologies inadvertently amplify the power structures and prejudices of wider society. By examining the way digital tools and platforms are designed, built, and maintained, this BWB Text aims to identify how we can do better for everyone in Aotearoa.

Anna and Kelly are founders of Antistatic a research and communications consultancy like no other I’ve come across. I got to talk to Anna and Kelly, as Antistatic, last year about their part in the Flat Earthers exhibition/book/event. Still one of the best things I’ve ever done.

I was interested in talking to Anna and Kelly about humour and laughter for several reasons. Anna and Kelly’s work is often playful and because of this I think, is able to say some pretty profound things about some of the power structures that sit in technology. Also, Anna and Kelly do a lot of work in communications - taking very complex ideas and structuring them for different purposes. I was interested in how this deep knowledge of communication gives an insight into what makes us laugh.

Ann and Kelly brought the perfect ‘thing that made them laugh’ for this kind of conversation. The Laughter Lift is a segment on the Kermode & Mayo’s Take podcast. I loved the way this opened up a conversation about jokes and the social act of telling jokes. One of the things I loved talking about was that because we often share an idea of the structure of ‘the joke’ with the people are telling jokes to, even when the joke goes wrong it is still funny because it becomes a subversion of the form.

This gives me immense hope as I am practicing my ‘bit’ for the Verb After Hours - Beyond A Joke night Thursday 3 November, 8.30pm at Meow in Wellington. To which there are still tickets available. This is a shameless self-promotion but also, the folk who are appearing in this event are amazing!!

 

Ep 119: Beyond a Joke 10 - Marolyn Krasner talks with Pip Adam about Hudson Valley Ballers: Lovers

Marolyn has been on the podcast once before in an episode we recorded about the show From the 4410 to the 4412 which Marolyn made with Helen Lehndorf and Charlie Pearson last year. In this episode we touch briefly on that show.

I loved recording this conversation because it made me think a lot about the joy of process.

I also loved the web-series Marolyn brought as a subject for our chat. Hudson Valley Ballers: Lovers is very funny and you can watch the rest of the series on YouTube as well.

Marolyn is currently making an incredible podcast called cyanutopia which is a podcast about cyanotype. I am so interested in cyanotype as an form and I think even if you weren’t, Marolyn’s podcast is such an amazing opportunity to listen to artists talk about their process and work.

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Ep 118: Beyond a Joke 9 - Rijula Das, author of Small Deaths, talks to Pip Adam about a New Yorker cartoon

Rijula Das’ award-winning novel Small Deaths is an amazing book. Set in Shonagachhi and orbiting the violent murder of a sex worker it is one of the most compelling and felt reading experiences I have had this year. It is astounding.

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Ep 117: Beyond a Joke 8 - Dominic Hoey tells Pip Adam a funny story and they talk about Poor People With Money

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Ep 116: Beyond a Joke 7 - Sarah Jane Barnett talks with Pip Adam about Michael Schur’s The Good Place

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Ep 115: Beyond a Joke 6 - Brannavan Gnanalingam talks with Pip Adam about Kira Muratova’s film The Asthenic Syndrome

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Ep 114: Beyond a Joke 5 - Rachel O’Neill talks with Pip Adam about Pockets and Everything Everywhere All At Once by the Daniels

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Ep 113: Beyond a Joke 4 - Anthony Lapwood talks to Pip Adam about ’Goethe in the Roman Campagna’ by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein

Anthony is an incredible fiction writer and you can read more about him and his work on his website www.anthonylapwood.wordpress.com

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Ep 112: Beyond a Joke 3 - Jordan Hamel talks to Pip Adam about his poem ’Death Coach’

Jordan’s new book Everyone is Everyone Except You is out in May 2022 with Dead Bird Books. Click here to read more

Ep 111: Beyond a Joke 2 - Jonny Potts talks to Pip Adam about Nikolai Gogol’s story ’The Nose’

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