Well, comedy isn't just punchlines, it's social math.

In one sentence, a comic can expose what we're afraid to say, what we secretly believe,

and where the culture's tripwires are.

Now my guest today is comedian, actor, Emmy-nominated SNL writer, Rob Snyder, author of You Can Do It, Speak Your Mind, America.

It's a funny, blunt argument that open dialogue is becoming a lost art.

Now, I'm going to just fess up from the beginning. I am a huge fan. I was just

talking to my son, Jordan, on the phone, and he cannot believe I didn't tell him before today

that you were here, because he would have been here in a heartbeat. We're going to talk about the

psychology of comedy.

Why your brain laughs, why groups get offended, and why some people stay silent even when

they disagree, and we'll get practical.

How to speak your mind without losing your mind and without treating other people like they're

disposable. Thank you for being here.

It's nice to be on. I've been watching your show for years and it was just always fun to see

people talking. But you're what I would call one of the positive elites. And I would say you

have to judge the elites in the culture, not that they're all bad thing, but does this person in the culture improve the lives of everyday people? And you're one of the people that have. So thank you. Well, I try to do that. I really do. In fact, we, you know, my staff, particularly my executive producers,

the supervising producers have all been with me for like 25 years.

And they know when they bring a topic, the first line they have to fill out is, what's the takeaway?

What's anybody going to get out of doing this show?

Because we don't want to do voyeuristic television.

If there's not some takeaway to help people with their family, their marriage, their quality of their life, then we don't want to do it.

That's true.

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