Planet Funny
How Comedy Took Over Our Culture
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 3 months for $0.99/mo
Planet Funny
Buy Now for $25.69
-
Narrated by:
-
Ken Jennings
-
Written by:
-
Ken Jennings
About this listen
The witty and exuberant New York Times bestselling author and record-setting Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings relays the history of humor in “lively, insightful, and crawling with goofy factlings,” (Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go Bernadette)—from fart jokes on clay Sumerian tablets to the latest Twitter gags and Facebook memes.
Where once society’s most coveted trait might have been strength or intelligence or honor, today, in a clear sign of evolution sliding off the trails, it is being funny. Yes, funniness.
Consider: Super Bowl commercials don’t try to sell you anymore; they try to make you laugh. Airline safety tutorials—those terrifying laminated cards about the possibilities of fire, explosion, depressurization, and drowning—have been replaced by joke-filled videos with multimillion-dollar budgets and dance routines. Thanks to social media, we now have a whole Twitterverse of amateur comedians riffing around the world at all hours of the day—and many of them even get popular enough online to go pro and take over TV.
In his “smartly structured, soundly argued, and yes—pretty darn funny” (Booklist, starred review) Planet Funny, Ken Jennings explores this brave new comedic world and what it means—or doesn’t—to be funny in it now. Tracing the evolution of humor from the caveman days to the bawdy middle-class antics of Chaucer to Monty Python’s game-changing silliness to the fast-paced meta-humor of The Simpsons, Jennings explains how we built our humor-saturated modern age, where lots of us get our news from comedy shows and a comic figure can even be elected President of the United States purely on showmanship. “Fascinating, entertaining and—I’m being dead serious here—important” (A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically), Planet Funny is a full taxonomy of what spawned and defines the modern sense of humor.
You may also enjoy...
-
Pump
- A Natural History of the Heart
- Written by: Bill Schutt
- Narrated by: LJ Gasner
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
"Fascinating . . . Surprising entertainment, combining deep learning with dad jokes . . . [Schutt] is a natural teacher with an easy way with metaphor.”—The Wall Street Journal In this lively, unexpected look at the hearts of animals—from fish to bats to humans—American Museum of...
Written by: Bill Schutt
-
An Anatomy of Pain
- How the Body and the Mind Experience and Endure Physical Suffering
- Written by: Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen
- Narrated by: Russell Bentley
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4
-
Performance4
-
Story4
An illuminating, authoritative, and in-depth examination of the fascinating science behind pain that “combines a career’s worth of expertise with a long history of pain treatment” (GQ)—from one of the internationally leading doctors in pain management. Pain is a universal human...
-
-
Excellent Tool for anyone dealing with pain
- By Sher on 2021-05-25
Written by: Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen
-
Why Dinosaurs Matter Volume 17
- Written by: Kenneth Lacovara
- Narrated by: Kenneth Lacovara
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
What can extinct dinosaurs teach us about our future? Plenty, according to paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, who has discovered some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth. By tapping into the ubiquitous wonder that dinosaurs inspire, Lacovara weaves together the stories of our...
Written by: Kenneth Lacovara
-
Your Second Act
- Inspiring Stories of Reinvention
- Written by: Patricia Heaton, Full Cast
- Narrated by: Patricia Heaton
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall9
-
Performance7
-
Story7
An entertaining book “filled with inspirational anecdotes” (People) about second acts in life and reinventing yourself from beloved television actress Patricia Heaton—Emmy Award–winning star of Everybody Love’s Raymond, The Middle, Patricia Heaton Parties, and most recently, Carol’s...
-
-
Inspiring stories!!
- By jefferson perico on 2020-08-24
Written by: Patricia Heaton, and others
-
How to Hold a Grudge
- From Resentment to Contentment—The Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life
- Written by: Sophie Hannah
- Narrated by: Sophie Hannah
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2
-
Performance0
-
Story0
NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME MAGAZINE The first and only comprehensive examination of the universal but widely misunderstood practice of grudge-holding that will show you how to use grudges to be your happiest, most optimistic, and most forgiving self. Secretly, we...
Written by: Sophie Hannah
-
Of Dice and Men
- The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
- Written by: David M. Ewalt
- Narrated by: Rob Brinkmann, Pavi Proczko
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall1
-
Performance1
-
Story1
Updated with an introduction by Joe Manganiello and extensive new content for the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, the fascinating and authoritative history of Dungeons & Dragons that “tracks D&D’s turbulent rise, fall, and survival, from its heyday in the 1980s…to the 21st...
Written by: David M. Ewalt
-
Pump
- A Natural History of the Heart
- Written by: Bill Schutt
- Narrated by: LJ Gasner
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
"Fascinating . . . Surprising entertainment, combining deep learning with dad jokes . . . [Schutt] is a natural teacher with an easy way with metaphor.”—The Wall Street Journal In this lively, unexpected look at the hearts of animals—from fish to bats to humans—American Museum of...
Written by: Bill Schutt
-
An Anatomy of Pain
- How the Body and the Mind Experience and Endure Physical Suffering
- Written by: Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen
- Narrated by: Russell Bentley
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4
-
Performance4
-
Story4
An illuminating, authoritative, and in-depth examination of the fascinating science behind pain that “combines a career’s worth of expertise with a long history of pain treatment” (GQ)—from one of the internationally leading doctors in pain management. Pain is a universal human...
-
-
Excellent Tool for anyone dealing with pain
- By Sher on 2021-05-25
Written by: Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen
-
Why Dinosaurs Matter Volume 17
- Written by: Kenneth Lacovara
- Narrated by: Kenneth Lacovara
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
What can extinct dinosaurs teach us about our future? Plenty, according to paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, who has discovered some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth. By tapping into the ubiquitous wonder that dinosaurs inspire, Lacovara weaves together the stories of our...
Written by: Kenneth Lacovara
-
Your Second Act
- Inspiring Stories of Reinvention
- Written by: Patricia Heaton, Full Cast
- Narrated by: Patricia Heaton
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall9
-
Performance7
-
Story7
An entertaining book “filled with inspirational anecdotes” (People) about second acts in life and reinventing yourself from beloved television actress Patricia Heaton—Emmy Award–winning star of Everybody Love’s Raymond, The Middle, Patricia Heaton Parties, and most recently, Carol’s...
-
-
Inspiring stories!!
- By jefferson perico on 2020-08-24
Written by: Patricia Heaton, and others
-
How to Hold a Grudge
- From Resentment to Contentment—The Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life
- Written by: Sophie Hannah
- Narrated by: Sophie Hannah
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2
-
Performance0
-
Story0
NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME MAGAZINE The first and only comprehensive examination of the universal but widely misunderstood practice of grudge-holding that will show you how to use grudges to be your happiest, most optimistic, and most forgiving self. Secretly, we...
Written by: Sophie Hannah
-
Of Dice and Men
- The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
- Written by: David M. Ewalt
- Narrated by: Rob Brinkmann, Pavi Proczko
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall1
-
Performance1
-
Story1
Updated with an introduction by Joe Manganiello and extensive new content for the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, the fascinating and authoritative history of Dungeons & Dragons that “tracks D&D’s turbulent rise, fall, and survival, from its heyday in the 1980s…to the 21st...
Written by: David M. Ewalt
-
Einstein's Fridge
- How the Difference Between Hot and Cold Explains the Universe
- Written by: Paul Sen
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4
-
Performance3
-
Story3
This entertaining, eye-opening account of how the laws of thermodynamics are essential to understanding the world today—from refrigeration and jet engines to calorie counting and global warming—is “a lesson in how to do popular science right” (Kirkus Reviews). Einstein’s Fridge tells...
Written by: Paul Sen
-
Yours Cruelly, Elvira
- Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark
- Written by: Cassandra Peterson
- Narrated by: Cassandra Peterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall140
-
Performance119
-
Story120
The woman behind the icon known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story filled with intimate bombshells—told by the bombshell herself. On Good Friday in 1953, at only 18 months old, 25 miles from the nearest hospital in Manhattan, Kansas...
-
-
Mistress of Positivity
- By Byron Whissell on 2025-11-11
Written by: Cassandra Peterson
-
Remembering Peasants
- A Personal History of a Vanished World
- Written by: Patrick Joyce
- Narrated by: Philip Bird
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
“I had been waiting for much of my life to read this extraordinary book…there are clues and messages for every fortunate reader who picks it up.” —Annie Proulx *A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice* A landmark history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of...
Written by: Patrick Joyce
-
The Big Bang Theory
- The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series
- Written by: Jessica Radloff
- Narrated by: Jessica Radloff, Fleet Cooper, Abhay Ahluwalia, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall43
-
Performance35
-
Story35
The definitive, behind-the-scenes look at the most popular sitcom of the last decade, The Big Bang Theory, packed with all-new, exclusive interviews with the producers and the entire cast. The Big Bang Theory is a television phenomenon. To the casual viewer, it’s a seemingly effortless comedy...
-
-
Disappointing
- By Tricia McCaw on 2023-09-17
Written by: Jessica Radloff
-
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
- Written by: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall52
-
Performance44
-
Story44
For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.
-
-
Like A short story collection, but Scalzi
- By Cameron Turner on 2025-03-29
Written by: John Scalzi
-
How to Survive History
- How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes
- Written by: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall9
-
Performance8
-
Story8
A detailed guide to surviving history’s most challenging threats, from outrunning dinosaurs to making it off the Titanic alive History is the most dangerous place on earth. From dinosaurs the size of locomotives to meteors big enough to sterilize the planet, from famines to pandemics, from...
-
-
Thought provoking
- By MR on 2024-02-21
Written by: Cody Cassidy