Professor Nick Marx from Colorado State University will present his paper about how liberals lost comedy and helped Trump win.

Now more than ever, nearly a year into the second Trump presidency, this paper urges renewed attention to the hegemonic pull of right-wing politics on United States' and Global North comedy, humour, and satire. With late-night luminaries like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel, liberals have long assumed they own political satire and humour.

Marx's paper argues that it is both an intellectual and politically strategic mistake to assume that comedy has a liberal bias. For years, the right has been slowly building up a comedy-industrial complex, utilising the humorous, irony-laden media strategies of liberal comedians to garner audiences and supporters. Even though liberals struggle to acknowledge conservative humour – or dismiss it out of hand when they do – right-wing comedy has been hiding in plain sight, finding its way into mainstream conservative media through figures ranging from Fox News's Greg Gutfeld to libertarian podcasters like Joe Rogan.

For progressives, right-wing comedians may seem utterly appalling, sometimes surprisingly funny, or just plain weird. They are all, however, culturally and politically relevant, as the American right seizes spaces of comedy and irony previously held firmly by the left.

Please join us for an event featuring Nick Marx, Professor of Film and Media Studies at Colorado State University, followed by a discussion moderated by USSC Academic Director and Senior Lecturer in American Studies, Dr Rodney Taveira.

Register now