Humor and Health in the Media

Malynnda A. Johnson (PhD, University of WI–Milwaukee, 2012) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication. She primarily teaches health communication and media studies and various courses, including interviewing and counseling, persuasion, interpersonal communication, media criticism, and cross-cultural communication. She has authored three books on media representations of health topics, including her most recent examining humor's role in our health. Additionally, she is actively working within the medical field, training patient advocates and providers on ways to improve their communication when working with minority groups (specifically, neurodiverse and transgender populations). Both professionally and personally, her goal is to help all people feel their voices are heard and to help make difficult conversations less difficult.

• PrefaceChapter One: How and Why We Experience HumorChapter Two: A History of Humor and HealthChapter Three: Laughing Through the Pain Benefits of HumorChapter Four: The Dangers and Dark Sides of HumorChapter Five: Humor and Stand-Up: Healing Through StorytellingChapter Six: Serious Illness, Silly ConversationChapter Seven: That’s Not Funny: When Comedy Misses the MarkChapter Eight: I Got a Joke for You: Building Community through Social Media PlatformsConclusion