profile

Josh Knox

Just Joshin' (Issue #2)

Published almost 2 years ago • 1 min read

1 Family Photo:

Calvin 'fishing' with his friend Reggie.

1 Dad Joke:

twitter profile avatar
Dad Jokes
Twitter Logo
@Dadsaysjokes
October 24th 2021
407
Retweets
3,396
Likes

Highlights:

Almost 20 years ago, Jon Stewart appeared on Crossfire pleading that Tucker Carlson's debate news show was "hurting America".

It's an interesting clip in retrospect*. Who knew that the alternative programming to political pundits talking past each other wasn't more honest debate, but rather political pundits not talking to each other at all. The information echo chambers have gotten worse since 2004, but TV debate shows are not the culprit. Back then, Jon Stewart seemed to win the exchange, and I don't think Crossfire lasted much longer, but did he improve the discourse?

Reading the essay below on Jon Stewart made me think about another comedian, the star of a political sitcom where a high school teacher is elected president. That comedian went on to run for president in real life - and won! Now Volodymyr Zelensky has to figure out how to lead Ukraine through an existential war.

Zelensky isn't a fair comparison to Stewart, but what do our smartest entertainers owe something to public service? Anything at all?

​Who’s Laughing Now? by Devin Gordon​

For the past six years, during one of the most torturous periods in recent American memory, Stewart was taking his victory laps and frittering away a cushy HBO deal while Carlson devoted himself to polishing his act, live on prime-time television, five days a week, for an audience far bigger than Stewart’s Daily Show ever drew.

​Who Will Win Ukraine's Presidential Election? by Simon Shuster​

“It seems clear that people want the President from the TV show,” says the Western diplomat. “We don’t know if Zelensky will be that President.”

​What Do We Owe The World? by Robin Hanson​

It seems to me unfair to demand far more efforts by others than you are willing to make.
twitter profile avatar
Agnes Callard
Twitter Logo
@AgnesCallard
April 30th 2022
30
Retweets
279
Likes

*including at 9:20, when Wolf Blitzer, pumping the next segment, asks if "flu vaccine shortage is a grim warning about America's vulnerability to bioterrorism"

Josh Knox

Hi! I am Josh Knox. Read more of me here: 👇

Read more from Josh Knox

1 Family Photo: Endurance "I'm tired," said Calvin. "I know you're tired, but if you can still put one foot in front of the other then you can keep going. Don't worry about anything else. Don't worry about how far we've gone or have to go — let's just try to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Does that make sense?" "Yeah Dad," Responded Calvin. "But I'm still tired."—"Will you carry me?" And that's how our family walked/scootered/carried almost a fifth of the Bob Jones Trail. --- As...

6 days ago • 3 min read

1 Family Photo: Humor Why did Joshua have no parents?Because he was the son of Nun. This joke is not funny. Its premise describes some sad orphan situation. Its punchline relies on bible trivia. It was also my favorite joke when I was 6. This is worse when I think about confused strangers assuming the setup was autobiographical. I'm lucky we didn't send kids to therapy back then. It reminds me of another piece of poorly constructed humor. In Albert Brooks' Looking for Comedy in the Muslim...

13 days ago • 3 min read

1 Family Photo: Pleasure On the first day of college, my economics professor lied to me. He said economics is a positive science—it describes the world as it is rather than how it ought to be. Then he explained utility—valuing all the pleasure and future pleasure in a thing. He said we can't see inside people's heads to sum up all that pleasure, so instead economists assume people are rational, count the dollars they're willing to pay for things, and approximate value that way. Then I spent...

20 days ago • 5 min read
Share this post