I listen more than I should to Conan O’Brien, whose father once said to him after he had attained great success as a talk show host that the success was based on a condition that might otherwise be “treatable.” His dad, a microbiologist, wasn’t joking. Conan says that in any other era, he would lack the basic talents necessary to live well and prosper. He would be doing grunt labor in fields or factories, and annoying everyone around with his humor. His would be a difficult and short life.
I’ve not been posting much here, and in part it is because I have removed the one topic that I write so easily about, climate change. Indeed I had gotten highly repetitive, and I could put up a climate piece with one hand tied behind my back. Conan has been asked about the current cancel culture and how humor has to be so carefully structured so as not to bring down the wrath of the embedded liberal censors all around us. He says that is a good thing, maybe somewhat overdue, as once upon a time it was too easy to make fun of gays, cross-dressers, trannies and the like.

