Humour me: why we laugh and what counts as fu...

Our brains are easily distracted or overwhelmed. And that can make getting stuff done harder than it needs to be. This week, we look at methods and strategies for avoiding unnecessary stress by managing your priorities, your focus, and your energy with organisational psychologist ...  Show more

Imagine getting a diagnosis in adulthood that suddenly made so much of your life make sense. It explains why you’ve always had trouble being on time, starting things you don’t finish, avoiding difficult projects. Producer Jennifer Leake explores the impact of an ADHD diagnosis in ...  Show more

The Science of LaughterBrian Cox and Robin Ince return for a new series of science/comedy chat. They are joined on stage, appropriately enough, by comedian Frank Skinner, as they look at the science of what makes us laugh, why we laugh at all, and whether humour and laughter are ...  Show more

What is it about puns that tickles our funny bone? Or dad jokes? How about a person slipping on a banana peel? What could possibly tie all these very different things together under the heading “humor”? Just in time for April Fool’s Day, we explore that question with Peter McGraw ...  Show more

Why do we laugh? Why do you feel ticklish when someone tickles you? Why can't you tickle yourself? We learn about how humor develops with Gina Mireault of the Infant Laughter Project at Northern Vermont University.

Laugh and the world laughs with you, or so you might think. But watch any good comedian on TV by yourself and chances are you’ll laugh a lot less than if you were sat in a lively comedy crowd watching the same comedian in the flesh.

But why is that? Do people from diffe ...