Ira Flatow

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1,345 appearances 25 recordings 2 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 3d ago

Ira Flatow’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 25 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 6.

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Now, this feels like a very different kind of laugh than, let's say, how you might laugh making small talk with your neighbors or

chuckling at Flora's and my jokes.

This is called voluntary laughter.

And not only do these two types of laughs feel very different, but a new study found that they originate in different parts of the brain.

Joining me is study author Dr. Sophie Scott at University College London.

Dr. Scott studies how our brains process and produce speech.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Thank you so much.

Nice to have you.

Okay, Sophie, what did you find?

Where do these different laughs come from?

Was the discovery that there are two kinds of laughter and that they originate in two different parts of your brain, was that a surprising discovery?

How did you figure that out?

So you basically zap their brain and they start laughing?

Well, knowing all of this, do you think about your own laugh differently, I guess is how I would put it?

Well, we can certainly use a lot more of that laughter, Dr. Scott.

Thank you for taking time to be with us today.

Dr. Sophie Scott is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London.

This episode was produced by Rasha Aridi.

I'm Ira Flato.

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