CrossTalk: Humor and Creativity feat. Chris Duffy & Ori Amir

Chris Duffy is a comedian, television writer, and radio/podcast host. Chris currently hosts the hit podcast How to Be a Better Human. You can watch his comedic TED talk, “How to find laughter anywhere” online. He has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC News, NPR, and National Geographic Explorer. Chris wrote for both seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO, executive produced by John Oliver. He’s the creator/host of the streaming game show Wrong Answers Only, where three comedians try to understand what a leading scientist does all day, in partnership with LabX at the National Academy of Sciences. Chris is both a former fifth grade teacher and a former fifth grade student. 

Check out Chris’  website, instagram, and sign up for his newsletter!

Ori Amir is a neuroscientist who studies the neural basis of a sense of humor, for which he has been featured in Forbes, Reader’s Digest, the Guardian, Miami Times,  LiveScience, and Nature. He also does stand-up comedy about science, Americans, & being a creepy, lovable foreigner in America (or, as he likes to think of it – conducting scientific experiments on audiences). You may have seen him on Comedy Central and CMT!

Check out Ori’s scientific work, especially his papers “Ha Ha! Versus Aha! A Direct Comparison of Humor to Nonhumorous Insight for Determining the Neural Correlates of Mirth” and The neural correlates of humor creativity.

And check out some of his stand-up videos!

He’s also writing a satirical book:  “Rig your Way to the Top! The 1st Honest Self-Help Guide for the Aspiring Elite”