In this premier episode, I introduce both the podcast and the website by reading the introductory article titled "Why Write Satire?" while adding a considerable amount of commentary on the philosophical figures and ideas referenced therein. Medical metaphor after medical metaphor is employed to cast satire as a kind of medicine for morals. Examples from James Frazer, Socrates, Lucretius, Juvenal, and Hagop Baronian are used to illustrate this view. Open up and say ha!...
In the not so distant past, it was taboo in many cultures to so much as lay a finger on the body of a king for any reason. Sir James Frazer tells us that in the year 1800, the reigning monarch of Korea died of a tumor growing on his back though lancing it with an iron needle would've probably saved his life. Another king was suffering from an abscess on his lip and was on his way to share the fate of his predecessor, until, that is, his doctor made the fateful decision to call in the court...
