Eugene Mirman - Comedy Under Fire: On Kimmel, Colbert, Trump’s Attacks on Free Speech

About this episode

Paul Rieckhoff and comedian Eugene Mirman discuss the challenges comedians face in the current political climate.

Comedians are under attack. The MAGA machine has pushed Stephen Colbert off the air, gone after Jimmy Kimmel, and skipped a comedian at the White House Correspondents Dinner for the first time in memory. That's not an accident — it's the playbook of every authoritarian regime that ever feared a punchline. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with his old college friend, beloved comedian and actor Eugene Mirman — Bob's Burgers, Flight of the Conchords, and the new special Here Comes the Whimsy — for a candid, funny, and unexpectedly moving conversation about what it means to make people laugh while the rigged two-party system burns and Trump and the executive branch goes all gas, no brakes.

People in this episode

Host: Paul Rieckhoff

Guest: Eugene Mirman

Topics covered

• comedy
• free speech
• politics
• authoritarianism
• media
• entertainment

Keywords

• comedy
• free speech
• Eugene Mirman
• Trump
• Stephen Colbert
• Jimmy Kimmel
• politics
• authoritarianism

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Bob's Burgers, Flight of the Conchords, Here Comes the Whimsy

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