Comedy often persuades. How does it do that? Why does it do that? Should it even do that? (Does it have to?)

On this April Fool’s Day, we’re taking a look the role of humor in politics - which we all know is a serious issue these days. When exactly does comedy cross the line? Or is it not funny unless it crosses the line? Humor can and does flourish even under totalitarianism, and it’s often a method serious resistance to oppressive regimes. But it also plays a part in the political culture of essentially all societies. What is that part, and how should we think of it?

This month we’ve invited libertarian comedian Jeremy McLellan to write a lead essay that explores these topics. Responding to him will be another libertarian comedian, Lou Perez. To give the issue a little bit of intellectual heft - but only a little bit - we’ve invited economist Michael Munger, whom you may know from Kids Prefer Cheese, and Nick Gillespie, who used to write at Suck and also at someplace called Reason, I think.