EP.30. Satire & Moral Purity: Cancelling, Karens & Covid-19 (with Leigh Stein)

Smith & Waugh Talk About Satire

In the second half of Adam and Jo's wide-ranging conversation with poet/novelist/journalist/satirist Leigh Stein, they turn their attention to the target's of satire in Leigh's latest collection: What To Miss When? (Penguin, 2021). Did the "cancel culture" phenomenon intensify during the pandemic because a lot of people were locked down with nothing to do but manufacture outrage and demand moral purity? Is there a difference between a Karen and a B*tch? And was there more to our intense but fleeting obsession with Tiger King than met the eye? Jo and Adam also take a look at Bo Burnham's Netflix musical special, Inside, and wonder whether or not they've missed something crucial... Check out the episode show-notes.