Is laughter really the best medicine? In 1964, Norman Cousins checked out of the hospital, moved into a hotel room with a projector and a stack of Marx Brothers films, and became the man who laughed himself well. His story is still repeated everywhere, minus one detail that was in the room the whole time.

In this episode, I follow the phrase from a biblical proverb about grief to a medieval surgeon's bedside orders, a Reader's Digest joke column, Patch Adams, and the rise of Laughter Yoga, paid certifications, humor consultants, and wellness apps. Along the way, I look at how toxic positivity turns burnout and chronic illness into an attitude problem.

Then the science gets its turn, from a 2023 PLOS ONE meta-analysis on laughter and cortisol to Robin Dunbar's research on pain tolerance and a 2024 study on medical clowns in a children's hospital. The receipts hold up better than you might expect, and they still stop short of the word "best."

I'm very much pro-laughing. This one is about who started charging for it.

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