Episode 132 - Does Humor Have an Expiration Date?

[JulyDiaz 2797]

How long does language hold its value? Our guest co-host A.J. Jacobs wants to hear Stephen and James' answer to that question, especially pertaining to humor. Today's conversation spans a few millennia, starting with a Sumerian "fart joke" regarded as the oldest surviving joke, moving to whether Shakespeare's version of English is intelligible to modern Americans, then debating if the top stand-up comics of the last thirty years would be funny to people 100 years ago.