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The power of satire and the return of late night shows

Published October 11, 2023 at 5:40 AM PDT
Audience members line up outside of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on October 02, 2023 in New York City. This marks the first taping of the late-night talk show after the conclusion of the writers strike. Late-night talk shows are returning after going dark for five months during the Writers Guild of America strike. (John Nacion/Getty Images)
Audience members line up outside of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on October 02, 2023 in New York City. This marks the first taping of the late-night talk show after the conclusion of the writers strike. Late-night talk shows are returning after going dark for five months during the Writers Guild of America strike. (John Nacion/Getty Images)

Late-night talk shows are back on the air after months off because of the writers’ strike.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks about the power of satire with Sophia McClennen, professor of international affairs and comparative literature at Penn State University. She is the founder of the Penn State Center for Global Studies, and she is also an expert on satire. Her latest book is “Trump Was a Joke: How Satire Made Sense of a President Who Didn’t.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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