37 Things you need to know about modern Britain "What's a liberal allowed to laugh at?"

Analysing a joke is like dissecting a frog – you don’t learn anything, and the frog dies. But shouldn’t we try, at least? From US comedian Daniel Tosh suggesting his audience should rape a heckler – ‘only a joke’, he said later – to comedy’s new legion of stadium-selling stand-ups; from the ROFLs and LOLs driving internet trolls to the tabloid frenzy over Reginald D Hunter’s use of ‘the N word’, we are living in a time where funny is not just big business but a contemporary cultural battleground. Do comics have a jester’s licence to say anything as long as it’s funny? Or are there jokes we SHOULDN’T laugh at?

Bridget Christie – winner of last years Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award with her feminist show A Bic For Her – and Richard Herring – whose recent shows tear into death, Christ, race and love – discuss the new comedy with journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer.