In Praise of Satire

Living in New York during lockdown, Adam Gopnik spent his time enjoying the escapism of foreign TV shows - like the BBC's W1A and 2012.While these shows were unapologetically British, chock-full of alien cultural references to Frankie Howerd and Dad's Army, Adam says these shows helped him appreciate the universal language of satire.'I'd say we enjoy satire more when we don't know the things being satirized' he writes, 'and so cannot protest their portrayal'.He says we 'depend on the satirist for all our information, both for the ground and for the graffiti he scrawls upon it.' Producer: Sheila Cook Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross