A short podcast this week with just the hosts talking about the contests and their favorite cartoons from the current week's issue of the New Yorker.

Our scheduled guest, Shannon Wheeler had something come up at the last minute and had to drop out. We hope to have him on again sometime early in 2026.

We discuss the winning entry for Contest #969 (Ever see a bun dance?")

Finalists for Contest #971 (Get to the chopper.)

Current Contest #973 (Snowman is an island.)

Original New Yorker cartoon artwork can be found at:
https://www.curatedcartoons.com

Send questions or comments to:
Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com

Larry Wood joins us on the podcast this week to talk about the recent CartoonStock contest. There was some controversy with the cartoon in this contest with a happy family gathered together in their living room, with each of the family members holding a gun (including the cat, dog and potted plant). We discuss the use of humor to help make sense of sensitive subjects (particularly in the aftermath of the horrific shootings in the last few days) and when it is appropriate or inappropriate to do so.
We then talk about the actual contest and we all were impressed by the quality of captions that were entered. Larry also noted that this was the 200th contest since it started and it has given away $40,000 dollars since it started the cash prize.

You can order Larry's book, "Your Caption Has Been Selected: More Than Anyone Could Possibly Want to Know About The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest" here:
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Caption-Has-Been-Selected/dp/1250333407/

You can purchase original New Yorker cartoon art from Curated Cartoons here: https://www.curatedcartoons.com

Send us questions or comments to: Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com

Kate Isenberg Joins us on the podcast this week.
Kate is a New Yorker cartoonist, illustrator, animator and musician, but mostly she is a story teller. Along with the New Yorker, Kate's cartoons have appeared in The New Republic, Alta Journal, Air Mail, and Narrative.
We talk with Kate about her background and journey to becoming a New Yorker cartoonist and her cartoons that have been in the New Yorker and CartoonStock caption contests. We also talk a bit about the value of being a creative person.

You can find more about Kate at her website here:
https://www.kateisenberg.com
And follow her on Instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/thekateisenberg/

On Part 1 of the episode, we discuss the current contests:

Winning captions for New Yorker contest #968 (Global puppidemic.)

Finalists for contest #970 (Booked for murder.)

Current New Yorker contest #972 (Oh Godzilla.)

We also talk about our favorite cartoons from the current issue of the New Yorker.

You can buy original New Yorker cartoon art at Curated Cartoons:
https://www.curatedcartoons.com

Send us questions or comments to:
Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com