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Podcasters Josh and Chuck discussed editorial cartoons during the April 9, 2025, episode of the Stuff You Should Know podcast. Josh stated how political cartoons represent an opinion humorously, making them easily recognizable to readers.
"You don't have to know how to read, which was for a long time the point of political cartoon. It's presented in a way so that it takes everything you know. It makes assumptions about what you know. But usually they're pretty good at that," Josh explained.
Josh Clark and Charles Wayne Bryant (Chuck)'s podcast, Stuff You Should Know, began in 2008 to educate listeners on various topics, often using popular culture as a reference. In the latest episode, the two hosts discussed the significance of political cartoons, their origins, and how they're used as tools to criticize government policies and public figures.
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"It takes everything you know and can turn it on its head, can point out the folly, the ridiculousness of usually governments, politicians, policies, that kind of stuff," he remarked.
The podcaster then explained how the unique art style used in political cartoons has a neurological impact on people. Unlike a "photograph," which is a true representation of an image, he said political cartoons hit people different. Chuck elaborated on Josh's point using the example of drawing a caricature of someone to "exaggerate something."
"That's right… (it) has more of a like neurologically more of an impact than an actual photograph of somebody doing something even ridiculous," he explained.
Josh then summed up his partner's explanation, stating that caricatures create something called a "supernormal stimulus or a super stimuli" in the brain. Such exaggerated images hit the "brain that much harder," and people can easily recognize them without even understanding the detailed context.
"It (is) just something people just figured out over time, building little by little to create like the optimal political cartoon which popped up around the 1950s," he added.
Podcasters Josh and Chuck discuss present-day political cartoonists during Stuff You Should Know podcast
During their April 9 podcast episode, titled Editorial Cartoons: Art as Satire, podcasters Chuck and Josh delved into the world of political comics, focusing on the state of the profession and how cartoonists are adapting today.
Chuck began the discussion by explaining the terminology surrounding the art form. He stated that "editorial cartoons" and "political cartoons" were "one in the same," and traditionally, these artworks appeared in the "editorial section or the opinion section of newspapers." However, he admitted that his initial research on the topic led him to believe the profession was dwindling.
"If you look at the number of editorial cartoonists that are like full-time staffed at major newspapers right, uh, because there used to be more than 2,000 about a hundred years ago, now there's less than 20," Chuck explained.
However, after diving deeper into the topic, the podcaster realized that the decline in full-time newspaper positions didn't reflect the overall health of the field. The "stat" that he had discovered only represented "full-time staffers on newspapers."
"But there are still plenty of editorial cartoonists and political cartoonists, uh, mainly working online," he explained.
Josh expanded on his co-host's explanation, stating how the present-day political cartoonists had shifted platforms to work for "syndication." Here, these artists could "work for a syndicate" that would then distribute their work to newspapers that wished to publish political cartoons.
Chuck agreed with his co-host's statement, concluding that while the industry has changed, neither the art (political cartoons) nor the artist (political cartoonists) has fully disappeared.
"I won't say like it we're at peak, uh, the golden age of it but it's still alive and well and just sort of a different form," Chuck remarked.
Josh and Chuck share new episodes of their podcast, Stuff You Should Know, twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. Viewers can listen to it on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcast.
