Summary
Overview
Jimmy Carr returns to Trigonometry for a wide-ranging conversation about cultural shifts, revolution, and societal transformation. They explore everything from the death of traditional institutions to AI's impact on society, touching on comedy, mental health, immigration, taxation, and the future facing young people. Carr argues we're at the start of a revolution - a replacement of elites across media, politics, and academia - while proposing radical solutions like eliminating tax for people under 30 and building sovereign wealth funds.
Revolution and the Replacement of Elites
Carr argues we're witnessing a revolution defined as the replacement of elites, pointing to turmoil at institutions like the BBC, the collapse of traditional media, and the impending political shift in the UK. He traces this back to demographic and economic cycles described in Neil Howe's "The Fourth Turning," noting parallels between 1929 and 2008, and how societies lose faith in their foundation myths. The conversation explores how this transformation is already visible across media, politics, and academia.
- Revolution is defined as a replacement of the elites, happening across BBC, media, and politics
- The Fourth Turning theory suggests history rhymes - 1929 crash parallels 2008, leading to revolutionary periods
- We've lost faith in our foundation myth (World War II), which previously held society together
- Late night TV and traditional comedy institutions are collapsing as comedians prefer independence
" If we were going to define a revolution, right, it's a replacement of the elites. "
" The biggest drug in America is not fentanyl. It's not opium. The biggest drug is attention. "
" You can be fantastically talented at something, famous for that. You could be infamous, or you could be a victim. "
Play, Comedy, and Human Connection
The conversation explores comedy's role in society, with Carr explaining how jokes create a "benign violation" that processes trauma and expands the Overton window of acceptable conversation. He discusses how comedy gives perspective, why live performance matters over screens, and how everything we care about - sports, theater, podcasts - is fundamentally play. He argues play is upstream of cooperation, which is what civilization is built on.
- Benign violation theory: jokes take violations (bad things) and make them benign, processing trauma
- Comedy expands the Overton window - changes what you can talk about with your partner afterward
- Everything we care about is play - sports, comedy, theater, podcasts all share spirit of play
- Play is upstream of cooperation, which is what society is built on
" Jokes cannot be offensive because anything that's a violation... you make it benign by making a joke about that thing. "
" The social media stuff has been a real... We're not playing in the same way. Social media weirdly just lacks the social. "
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