The hottest Comedy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Culture Topics

The Hard Road to Responsibility

Glenn Loury • 317 implied HN points • 31 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. It’s tough to ask people from struggling communities to take responsibility when they face so many challenges. We need to find a way for them to improve their situations without excusing harmful behavior.
  2. Having discussions about individual responsibility can be complicated, especially when many feel stuck in difficult circumstances. We should aim for a society that encourages better choices.
  3. While there are jokes about selling out for money, staying true to one's beliefs and values is important. It's better to hold onto integrity than to compromise for financial gain.

A few choice words for SNL (Odds and Ends #89)

Odds and Ends of History • 737 implied HN points • 04 Mar 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. There’s a small reader meet-up in Manchester tomorrow night, and both free and premium subscribers are welcome to sign up.
  2. The YIMBY Pod highlights that Cornwall could become a lithium superpower, Oxford Street is getting pedestrianised, and funding for curiosity‑driven astronomy is under threat.
  3. This issue rounds up short reads on culture (including a notably bad SNL sketch and a short AI film), energy and gas price outlooks, the mostly‑fake AI backlash, street and roadwork fixes, government use of mobile data for surveillance, and a handy war‑monitoring website.

The Greatness of Catherine O’Hara

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 941 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Her sudden death at 71 was especially shocking. She had been consistently brilliant in every role across a long career.
  2. She never had a single peak or a career lull, making it hard to point to one best performance; she was exceptional throughout. This steady excellence is particularly rare for a female comedy performer.
  3. She stayed active and delivered strong work into her seventies, including a notable recent role on Seth Rogen's show The Studio.

Why the Drunken, Brawling Irish Got Me Thinking About Hannah Gadsby

I Might Be Wrong • 9 implied HN points • 20 Mar 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. St. Patrick’s Day commonly leans on flamboyant, non-PC Irish stereotypes—heavy drinking, fake accents, and leprechaun imagery—that most people treat as harmless fun.
  2. Because Irish people in America and Ireland have largely become socially and economically successful, those stereotypes are often shrugged off rather than seen as problematic.
  3. That contrast highlights Hannah Gadsby’s point in Nanette: self-deprecating humor can humiliate people who already exist on the margins, so marginalized comedians may rightly refuse to keep using it.

Doomscroll: Peter James Fowler

Joshua Citarella's Newsletter • 198 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
🎙 Podcasts Comedy
  1. Young people can influence politics online, even starting at a very young age. It's surprising how a kid can run a political meme account with thousands of followers.
  2. The early internet had culture wars influenced by new atheism and the rise of conservative movements shaped by evangelical Christianity. These battles still affect us today.
  3. Our beliefs are influenced by our personal experiences and the political environment around us. It's important to recognize where our views come from.
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The Ancient Greek Play That Hilariously Mocked Collectivism and Democracy

The Take (by Jon Miltimore) • 138 implied HN points • 13 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Aristophanes' play "The Assemblywomen" cleverly mocks democracy and the absurdities of life in Ancient Athens. It shows how sometimes people in power can be foolish and self-serving.
  2. The play presents a humorous twist where women take over the political scene, highlighting the chaos that can come from trying to enforce equality and collectivism.
  3. The humor exposes the flaws of democracy—where not everyone making decisions may have the best interests of society in mind, showing how majorities can be just as dangerous as tyrants.

Ancient Wisdom: Dick Van Dyke Is (Almost) 100 and He’s Still Having Fun

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2652 implied HN points • 07 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. A performer can stay active and joyful even at 100, still dancing, singing, and embracing life every day.
  2. The 'old man' comic persona grew out of watching and learning from elders in the family, showing how personal history shapes performance.
  3. Iconic character roles can be easily forgotten, and credits or pseudonyms sometimes obscure who actually played them.

Hands up, who likes me?

Wrong Side of History • 479 implied HN points • 19 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Threatening suicide is often used as a way to negotiate or emotionally manipulate others, and it’s common among teenagers and in online culture where dramatic disclosure brings attention.
  2. Some psychologists view suicidal behaviour as a costly signal — a bargaining tactic that pressures others to change, which helps explain why many attempts are survivable and chosen for leverage.
  3. Cultural and religious norms shape how suicide threats are treated: some societies historically used them to force outcomes, while others condemn them, creating very different incentives.

The deep structures of human history, a reality comedy game show that make me hurt myself laughing, and more

Read Max • 605 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. This weekly roundup recommends a slim, erudite book about the deep structures of human history, a hilarious reality-comedy game show, and four great albums from last year that the author missed.
  2. The newsletter is paid and subscription-based, with subscribers getting weekly emails, curated master lists of good movies and books, and discounts on merchandise.
  3. The author encourages reader recommendations, offers a free preview of the post, and notes he may earn small commissions on book purchases through linked recommendations.

Is the artist crying?

Austin Kleon • 5775 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Citrus plants do not grow true from seeds, which means planting an orange seed could result in a grapefruit tree instead. This shows how surprising and diverse nature can be.
  2. Some slugs and snails can sleep for a very long time, which is a reminder that patience and slowing down can be important, especially during tough times like winter.
  3. Finding inspiration in conversations and interviews, like those with artists or comedians, can help renew our creative energies and give us new perspectives on our own work.

Two Drinks with. . . Bill Maher

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 853 implied HN points • 19 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. His home podcast studio is very casual and cannabis-friendly — he smokes during recordings and prefers getting high over having drinks.
  2. He just got his first Golden Globe nomination but says he won’t go to the ceremony and would be annoyed by a room full of "super-woke" Hollywood people.
  3. He projects a provocative, irreverent persona, shown by keeping an anatomically correct Whitney Cummings sex doll in his studio and making blunt, playful remarks.

Cross A Bob It’ll Cost Ya

Hung Up • 5051 implied HN points • 06 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Katt Williams gives blunt critiques of other comedians in a podcast interview.
  2. Williams is unapologetically funny and straightforward in his opinions.
  3. Having a bob like Katt Williams means you should think twice before crossing paths with someone.

Escape velocity

Austin Kleon • 4656 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Many people leave their hometowns but often return, struggling to find their own path away from familiar comforts.
  2. The word 'enshittification' was chosen as the word of the year for 2023, highlighting a trend in our society.
  3. Cool events are coming up in Austin, especially related to the solar eclipse, with art exhibitions worth checking out.

Why Maron vs. the bro podcasters matters

The Rubesletter by Matt Ruby (of Vooza) | Sent every Tuesday • 2138 implied HN points • 11 Aug 25
😂 Humor Comedy
  1. Comedians and podcasters have different skills. Standup comedy requires crafting jokes for a tight set, while podcasts need more spontaneous content. They shouldn't be viewed the same.
  2. The idea of being a hack in comedy is important. Comedians used to call each other out for using cliché or low-quality material, but this critiquing culture seems to have faded.
  3. Talking about sensitive topics in humor can be okay if approached thoughtfully. The focus should be on delivering fresh perspectives rather than rehashing old, cruel jokes.

Whitney Cummings has lost the plot

Taylor Lorenz's Newsletter • 7733 implied HN points • 01 Jan 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Whitney Cummings made controversial jokes during a live New Year's Eve special that many found inappropriate. People are worried about her spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories.
  2. There was a viral trend of unfollowing Vexbolt on social media, aimed at making him less popular. It's a humorous way for the internet to play with fame but raises questions about its impact on creators.
  3. The photo dump trend replaced traditional year-end recap videos this year. It seems people are looking for simpler ways to share their memories without making complicated edits.

The Freaks Are the Last to Go

Working Theorys • 276 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Some creators—"freaks"—encode meaning so tightly that you have to work to understand it, and that effort is part of the pleasure.
  2. Modern culture prizes legibility and frictionless consumption, which flattens art and flattens us. Freaks deliberately keep mystery and timing so meaning arrives later and feels deeper.
  3. Freaks resist being named or sanitized by success and are rare, so find and support them early—they are the stubborn keepers of cultural depth.

The Audacious Roundup

The Audacity. • 2653 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Book club selection for January is 'Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook' by Sohla El-Waylyy.
  2. Professional conundrums? Send questions to [email protected].
  3. Issues discussed include dire situation in Gaza, eviction of Bluestockings bookstore, and controversies around Substack platform.

The Colbert Cancellation and Why Comedy Must Now Be Political

Richard Hanania's Newsletter • 2121 implied HN points • 28 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. What people find funny is mostly shaped by their values and beliefs. Different groups will laugh at different things based on their political and social views.
  2. Comedy today is more divided than before because people's opinions on what’s funny often clash. This means comedians can't appeal to everyone like they used to.
  3. The rise of political media has created a deeper divide in comedy. Comedians now often respond to political issues, making it hard for them to reach a wide audience without being polarizing.

Say His Name: Rupert Pupkin

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 102 implied HN points • 05 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Comedy is time-sensitive: most jokes only work in the present, so observational humor ages quickly and can go stale.
  2. American comedy changed deeply between the 1960s and 1980s, moving away from social observation toward a mentality built more on shared delusion than on making sharp, timely observations.
  3. Cultural and political shifts both reflect and drive changes in humor; the election of Ronald Reagan came to symbolize that new comedic era, though performers’ mindsets had already begun to shift earlier.

Focus!

Austin Kleon • 4316 implied HN points • 22 Sep 23
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Music memoirs can be a great way to relax and unwind, especially if you've read something heavy. They're often fun and refreshing.
  2. It's really important to focus on the learner in the education process, as they're the ones truly driving their learning journey.
  3. Getting creative and organizing your space can help spark new ideas and inspiration, like the concept of 'knolling'.

Empty Laughter

Where's Your Ed At • 16914 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Art should be unique and come from personal experiences, not generated by AI or copied from others.
  2. Creativity is limited by the individual, and the magic of art comes from the context and experiences of the artist.
  3. Plagiarism and reliance on generative AI for art creation show a lack of curiosity, entitlement, and a desire to imitate rather than create.

How to Become a Professional Writer

Shades of Greaves • 1946 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. There are various paths to becoming a professional writer, such as pursuing a career in novel writing, freelancing, television writing, or teaching writing.
  2. Writing professionally requires patience and perseverance; it is a challenging, unpredictable, but rewarding journey.
  3. To excel as a writer, you need to master the craft, be willing to break and rewrite rules, and navigate the complexities of the modern publishing landscape.

Who was the Prince of Ancient Comedy?

Classical Wisdom • 1847 implied HN points • 17 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Comedy in ancient Greece was not just for laughs, but a tool for satire and social commentary.
  2. Aristophanes was regarded as the Prince of Ancient Comedy, known for his humorous insights on history and humanity.
  3. Studying Aristophanes and his works can provide valuable lessons about women in ancient times and his views on war.

Daily Show Creator Freaks Out Over Gutfeld Ratings, But Says Audience is 'Gross' Anyway.

Raheem Kassam's Substack • 3026 implied HN points • 14 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Comedy
  1. The Daily Show creator expressed strong negative feelings towards Greg Gutfeld's ratings and his audience.
  2. The creator's remarks were filled with profanity and elitism, criticizing Gutfeld's humor and his viewers.
  3. Despite criticizing others, the creator's own dietary habits were revealed to include indulgence in unhealthy foods.

Why We Can't Stand Up

The Reclamation Era • 99 implied HN points • 13 Aug 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Women in comedy often struggle to take up space and feel confident on stage. They sometimes feel they need to apologize or shrink themselves, which can hold them back.
  2. It's important for women to embrace their voices and power. By doing this, they can inspire others and feel more connected to their true selves.
  3. Creating safe spaces for female performers leads to more honest and relatable entertainment. It's crucial for women to support each other in the industry and share their stories without fear.

Why Colbert got canceled

Silver Bulletin • 1289 implied HN points • 21 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Comedy
  1. Colbert's show got canceled for a mix of reasons, like budget issues and changing audience tastes. Some believe politics played a part, while others think it was simply not making enough money.
  2. The late-night comedy scene has struggled since the rise of Trump and has been affected by the decline of mass culture. Shows like Colbert's face pressure to adapt to different viewer expectations.
  3. Overall, late-night hosts are dealing with tough competition and the challenge of navigating a politically sensitive landscape. Their ability to resonate with audiences is critical for survival.

Party Animals

Mister Slang • 2378 implied HN points • 14 Jul 23
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. The 'party record' genre, featuring raunchy adult content, was popular in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
  2. Prominent entertainers in this genre included African American and Jewish comedians, who pushed boundaries with their humor.
  3. These comediennes were highly successful and played at top venues, challenging societal norms and providing a platform for risqué humor.

‘South Park’ Knows How to Mock Donald Trump

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1038 implied HN points • 28 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Many late-night comedians have struggled to make people laugh about Donald Trump, and some have even lost their shows because of it.
  2. Comedy became very political during Trump's presidency, making it hard for comedians to joke freely without taking sides.
  3. Shows like SNL focused too much on serious themes instead of funny sketches, which changed the way viewers enjoyed comedy.

A Series of "Parodies," If That's the Right Word, of Podcasts on the Ringer Podcast Network

Freddie deBoer • 2722 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
🎙 Podcasts Comedy
  1. Podcasts can be both entertaining and repetitive. It’s easy to notice when hosts keep saying the same phrases or jokes.
  2. Hosts often joke about the pressure to create content and meet audience expectations, feeling like they're stuck in a loop.
  3. There's a lot of fun in playful banter among podcast hosts, showing that behind-the-scenes discussions can be just as amusing as the main content.

Colbert and the slow death of dissent

The Rubesletter by Matt Ruby (of Vooza) | Sent every Tuesday • 855 implied HN points • 20 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Colbert's performance on _The Colbert Report_ was truly exceptional and demanding, showcasing his skills as a solo performer. He was known for his sharp wit and ability to improvise brilliantly in front of the audience.
  2. His memorable appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner, where he directly mocked the president, is still talked about today and highlights his fearless approach to comedy.
  3. Colbert's transition to CBS raised questions about whether it was driven by financial reasons or a desire for political correctness, especially since his comedy often criticized powerful figures and institutions.

A Fun (And Predictable) New Zealand Flick

Life Since the Baby Boom • 922 implied HN points • 06 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. The movie 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' is a comedy from New Zealand that is fun and entertaining, even if it isn't an art film.
  2. The main character, Ricky, goes from being a troubled kid to finding friendship and adventure while on the run with an old man, Hector.
  3. The film has humorous moments and a predictable plot, but it still delivers enjoyable entertainment with charming characters.

Reclamation: The Fempire Strikes Back

The Reclamation Era • 79 implied HN points • 05 Aug 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Women are speaking out about topics that are often seen as taboo, like relationships and aging. This honesty helps to break down barriers and opens up important conversations.
  2. Supporting female-led performances and productions is a way of resisting the suppression of women's voices. Events like 'Reclamation: The Fempire Strikes Back' celebrate women's stories through comedy and storytelling.
  3. The focus of these discussions is on real-life experiences, including motherhood and identity. Sharing personal stories allows women to connect and support each other in navigating life's challenges.

1,000 Words About A One-Liner

Technohumanism • 79 implied HN points • 28 Jul 24
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Even with new technology, old writing lessons are still important. It's key to understand the basics of humor for effective writing.
  2. Humor can be challenging, but learning from failed attempts can help improve skills. Just like understanding a joke, getting good at writing takes practice.
  3. Making connections between topics can inspire creativity. For example, thinking about whales and AI sparked a unique comedic idea.

What Tom Lehrer Left Us

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 644 implied HN points • 28 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Tom Lehrer was a fun and sharp satirical songwriter and mathematician known for his music from the 1950s.
  2. The influence of Lehrer’s music can be felt even today, despite many not growing up in musical families.
  3. Listening to Lehrer’s songs brings nostalgia and a unique blend of humor and intellect to the musical landscape.

Life imitates comedy

Austin Kleon • 3397 implied HN points • 13 Jan 23
🎭️ Culture Comedy
  1. Life often reflects comedy, showing how funny situations can mirror our daily experiences.
  2. Reading multiple books at once can spark creativity, as different ideas interact and inspire new thoughts.
  3. The acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes highlighted themes of resilience and the importance of perseverance in life.

Things I Love To Say Shortly Before Being Murdered

The Chatner • 1336 implied HN points • 09 May 23
😂 Humor Comedy
  1. The author discusses phrases they love to say before being murdered.
  2. They mention scenarios like a disrupted social gathering, a cocktail reception, and a heated board room discussion.
  3. The phrases range from attempts to reason with individuals to expressing determination or defiance.