Sam Friedman

Dr Friedman has a long-standing interest in the study of cultural taste. He is the author of Comedy and Distinction: The Cultural Currency of a ‘Good’ Sense of Humour (2014, Routledge), which examines the relationship between social class and the consumption of comedy. Representing the first ever exploration of British comedy taste, the book explores what comedy people like (and dislike), how comedy taste lubricates everyday interaction, and whether some comedy tastes are valued higher than others in British society - representing a new resource of contemporary cultural capital.

Outside academia, Dr Friedman is also the publisher of Fest (www.festmag.co.uk), an arts magazine that runs during the Edinburgh Festivals. The magazine is a reviews guide which covers every inch of the world's largest arts Festival. Now in its twelth year, Fest has a circulation of over 150,000. Dr Friedman has also written freelance for a number of other publications, including The Guardian, The Sunday Herald and The Big Issue.