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In Praise of Satire

During lockdown in New York, Adam Gopnik spent his time enjoying the escapism of foreign TV shows like W1A, which he says helped him appreciate the universal language of satire.

Living in New York during lockdown, Adam Gopnik spent his time enjoying the escapism of foreign TV shows - like the 大象传媒's W1A and 2012.

While these shows were unapologetically British, chock-full of alien cultural references to Frankie Howerd and Dad's Army, Adam says these shows helped him appreciate the universal language of satire.

'I'd say we enjoy satire more when we don't know the things being satirized' he writes, 'and so cannot protest their portrayal'.

He says we 'depend on the satirist for all our information, both for the ground and for the graffiti he scrawls upon it.'

Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross

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9 minutes

Last on

Sun 16 Apr 2023 08:48

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  • Fri 14 Apr 2023 20:50
  • Sun 16 Apr 2023 08:48

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