Is Larry David the Last Man?
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Daniel Bessner talks about Jewish comedy, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Larry David on April 18, 2024, in Hollywood, California.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)As cocreator of Seinfeld and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David has dominated American television for more than three decades. The recent airing of the final episode of Curb, which mirrored the plot of the final episode of Seinfeld, marks the end of the era.
To discuss Larry David’s legacy on The Time of Monsters, I was joined by historian Daniel Bessner, who wrote an essay about the comedian for The Nation. In a wide-ranging talk, Daniel places David’s career in the trajectory of Jewish American comedy, looking at both predecessors (Mel Brooks, Woody Allen) and successors (Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen). We take up the comedy of rudeness and the humor of shared frailty, as well as the question of David’s somehow evading cancel culture. Tying in with Daniel’s earlier writings on Francis Fukuyama, we also ask if David is the singular comedian of the end of history and the embodiment of the “last man” that Nietzsche feared would one day dominate the world.
Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts
Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign
With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.
As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.
We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.
It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation
