meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
ManTalks Podcast

Dr. Peter McGraw - The Science (and Art) of Humor

ManTalks Podcast

Connor Beaton

Health & Fitness, Society & Culture, Education, Mental Health, Relationships, Self-improvement

4.8 • 591 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2018

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Peter McGraw is an expert in the interdisciplinary fields of emotion and behavioral economics. His research examines the interrelationship of judgment, emotion, and choice, with a focus on the production and consumption of entertainment. In recent years, McGraw has been a leading force in moving the study of humor from the niche to the mainstream. One advantage that he has over his predecessors is his ability to conduct state-of-the-art experiments with the help of the team he directs at the Humor Research Lab (HuRL), a laboratory dedicated to the experimental study of humor, its antecedents and consequences. Another advantage is his willingness to leave the ivory tower to delve more deeply into research questions – whether trying his hand at stand-up at a dive bar, attending a funeral director convention, posing as a shopper at a gun show, or singing hymns at a fundamentalist Baptist church. In 2014, McGraw co-authored The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny. McGraw is a professor at the Leeds School of Business and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at CU Boulder. He teaches MBA and PhD courses in marketing management and behavioral economics. His work has been covered by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, BBC, TIME, and CNN. For more information about ManTalks or to join a ManTalks Mastermind: Click Here Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Android For more episodes visit us at ManTalks.com Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Did you enjoy the podcast?If so please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. It helps our podcast get into the ears of new listeners, which expands the ManTalks Community!   Thank You to the Team:Editing & Mixing by: Aaron Johnson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome guys and gals to the MANT Talks podcast. I'm Connor Bieden, the host and founder of

0:14.9

Man Talks. This podcast brings together some of the best thought leaders, teachers, and

0:20.0

extraordinary individuals to

0:21.7

help teach and mentor you on how to be a top performer in life, love, and business.

0:27.8

Joining me today is Dr. Peter McGraw, and he's an associate professor of marketing and psychology

0:33.5

at the University of Colorado in Boulder's Leeds School of Business.

0:38.8

He's a behavioral scientist and as such, his research examines the interrelationship of judgment,

0:45.0

emotion, and choice with a focus on the production and consumption of entertainment.

0:51.0

He directs the human research lab, or sorry, humor research lab. That's right.

0:55.9

I said that right the second time, humor research lab and is the co-author of a book called

1:01.8

The Humor Code, a global search for what makes things funny. His research has been covered by the New

1:07.4

York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, NPR, BBC, and CNN. His work appears in the Journal of

1:14.0

Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Psychological Science, and the

1:20.4

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He is currently trying to kick a sweater vest habit. Oh, man. He's currently trying to kick a sweater vest habit.

1:29.0

Oh, man.

1:30.0

He's currently trying to kick a sweater vest habit, even if it does get him kicked off the

1:35.6

stylish scientist list.

1:37.4

So clearly the guy's got a sense of humor.

1:39.2

That's his official bio.

1:42.6

And we are going to talk not just about, obviously, we touch on his book, the humor code,

1:48.5

but we're going to talk and dive into whether or not humor is something that we can learn,

1:54.7

how we can learn humor, how we can learn to be funnier, how it impacts other people's

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

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

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

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.