Jonathan Waterlow

Throughout history, dark humour has helped us cope in a crisis

There’s power in laughing in the face of fear

(Getty Images) 
issue 11 April 2020
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In these strange times, people naturally turn to the past for orientation: Londoners recall the spirit of the Blitz, while citizens of St Petersburg look back to the Nazis’ Siege of Leningrad to remind themselves what they can overcome. But tales of suffering and heroism take us only so far.

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