Chuckle, Snigger and LOL

Curious Cases

BBC

Technology, Science

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why do we giggle, snort, and bust a gut laughing? Is it just humans being weird, does it serve some higher function or do other animals crack up too? And, okay, Dara is a comedian, but has he ever really made anyone laugh, like properly?

With help from Professor Greg Bryant and Professor Sophie Scott, they dive into the science of LOLs, exploring how laughter bonds us, eases stress, and even spices up flirting. They uncover the difference between genuine belly laughs and those polite chuckles that pepper everyday interactions.

Contributors:

Sophie Scott - Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL Greg Bryant - Professor of Communication at UCLA Betty La France - Professor or Communication, Northern Illinois University

Producer: Ilan Goodman Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem A BBC Studios Audio Production

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, it's Lucy Worsley here and we're back with a brand new series of ladies swindlers.
0:07.5	Promise never to mention a word of what is going on.
0:10.1	Join me and my all-female team of detectives as we revisit the audacious crimes of women trying to make it in a world made for men.
0:19.5	This is a story of working class women trying to get by in a world made for men. This is a story of working-class women trying to get by.
0:24.4	This is survival.
0:25.3	Join me for the second season of Lady Swindlers,
0:28.2	where true crime meets history with a twist.
0:31.4	Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:36.3	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:40.3	I'm Hannah Frye. And I'm Dara O'Brien. And this is Curious Cases. The show will we take your quirkiest questions? Your crudious conundrums. And then we solve them. With the power of science. I mean, do we always solve them? I mean, the hit rate's pretty low.
0:56.0	But it is with science.
0:58.0	It is with science.
0:59.0	Are you smiling there, Dyer?
1:03.0	I am. I am. I think this is a really good topic.
1:07.0	A jolly topic.
1:08.0	It's jolly, certainly, but it's a really interesting topic. Yes. I mean,
1:11.9	I would hope it was something that you had a few things to say on. Because today, we've got a
1:17.2	question in from a listener in Oregon in the USA. Here she is. Hello, curious cases. My name is
1:22.9	Taylor, and I would like to know what science might have to say about the nature of laughter.
1:27.8	What is laughter? Why do humans laugh and why does it feel so good?
1:33.3	Do any other animal species have an equivalent of laughter or of humor?
1:38.3	And I've always assumed that biologically it probably had some kind of social bonding function, but it still seems
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 2 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.