Learning to Laugh with Nuar Alsadir

Why do humans laugh? What effect does laughter have on the body? What is its role in a social setting? What does it communicate, and why does it matter? Poet and psychoanalyst Nuar Alsadir uses psychology, philosophy, history, personal experience, and more to answer these questions in new book Animal Joy. A whimsical, wide-reaching meditation upon the power of laughter, populated by figures ranging from Donald Trump to Alsadir’s classmates at clown school, the book reveals hidden dimensions to humor, while highlighting the challenges of defining what humor is. More than an expression of amusement, it can be wielded as a political tool, poetic instrument, and therapeutic mechanism. 

Learn More:

For a sample of Alsadir’s poetry, check out her poem titled “Invertebrate.”

For a preview of Alsadir’s meditations on laughter and its various forms, check out her essay “Corpsing: On Sex, Death, and Inappropriate Laughter” in The Paris Review.

About the speaker:

Nuar Alsadir‘s most recent book, Animal Joy: A Book of Laughter and Resuscitation was a TIME Magazine must-read of 2022 and a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2022. She is also the author of two poetry collections: Fourth Person Singular, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Forward Prize for Best Collection, and More Shadow Than Bird. She is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities and a member of the curatorial board of The Racial Imaginary Institute. She works as a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York.