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Showing posts from January, 2014

What the Jimmy Fallon/Bruce Springsteen "Gov Christie Traffic Jam" song says about Comedy and Politics

2014 means it's time to get back to blogging. Anyone who knows me well also knows it's no secret that I am a big Bruce Springsteen fan. It's kind of a pre-requisite if you grew up in New Jersey. Perhaps the best part of my ICA 2013 London conference trip was that it overlapped with the E Street Band's stopover at Wembley Stadium in London . The ticket stub is proudly displayed in our house. Those who know the academic me also know that I spend a good chunk of my time researching the impact of exposure to political comedy and entertainment. Over the years I've found that exposure to political comedy is positively related to feelings of internal political efficacy or the belief in one's ability to effectively understand and participate in politics, that political comedy content can act as a gateway encouraging young people in particular to seek out political information from traditional news sources, and that viewing interviews on political comedy programs