Miscellaneous
Ode's list of favorite funny movies
Editors | August 2009 issue Watching Marx Brothers movies helped Norman Cousins cope with a painful illness, a process he described in Anatomy of an Illness. Here are Ode’s recommendations if you’re feeling sick, tired, or just plain in need of a pick-me-up: Bridget Jones's Diary Mark Darcy to Read More...
Video: Rats laugh when you tickle them
Ode Editors | August 2009 Read More...
A field guide to the different forms of laughter
Editors | August 2009 issue Image: istockphoto.com/JoanVicent Belly laugh: Involuntary and intoxicating paroxysm that bypasses the laughter centers of the brain to go directly to the funny bone, in the vicinity of the solar plexus. Cackle: Especially pronounced in cartoon witches and villains, Read More...
Videos: The secret science of whoopee cushions
Ode Editors | August 2009 issue How does a whoopee cushion make sound? Does whoopee cushion size matter? Man or woman which is Read More...
Share your favorite funny videos
Ode Editors | August 2009 issue To share your favorite funny videos, join Ode’s YouTube group at http://www.youtube.com/group/OdeLaughter. Here’s a selection of footage that’s sure to raise a Read More...
Mocking the news is hard work at satirical newspaper The Onion
Carolyn Steel | August 2009 issue Onion writer Todd Hanson, in a lighter moment. Photograph: Carol R. Hartsell How do humor writers deal with the constant pressure of trying to be funny on deadline? "Mocking each other and having dangerous levels of psychiatric pathologies is probably the main Read More...
Videos: Jos Houben in The Art of Laughter
Ode Editors | August_2009 issue Clip 1: The Art of Laughter Clip 2: The Art of Laughter Clip 3: The Art of Laughter Clip 4: The Art of Read More...
Fat is where it's at
Janet Paskin | June/July 2009 issue Jenny Matthau stands in front of hundreds of students at the Natural Gourmet School and speaks heresy. The New York City culinary program specializes in "health-supportive, whole-foods cuisine" with a "plant-based curriculum." Beef and pork aren’t on the Read More...
Video: Dave Eggers wish to creatively engage inner-city students
Marco Visscher | June/July 2009 issue Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open their Read More...
Lester Brown's plan to stop climate change
Pioneering environmentalist Lester Brown has a plan to stop climate change, and save civilization in the process. Marco Visscher | June/July 2009 issue Lester Brown has always been skilled at taking the lay of the land. As a teenager, he grew tomatoes in New Jersey and went on to earn a degree in Read More...