“There’s this idea among too many people that there’s these sacred subjects that you can’t joke about,” says Fox News contributor Kat Timpf. “And I think that those are actually the most important subjects to be able to joke about because those are the ones that need healing the most.”

Timpf’s new book, the bestselling You Can’t Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together, is a full-throated defense of free speech and a compelling argument for humor as the best possible coping mechanism. After stints at National Review, Barstool Sports, and roast chicken purveyor Boston Market, Timpf is now a regular panelist on Gutfeld!, America’s most-watched late-night show.

In June, Reason’s Nick Gillespie talked with Timpf live at the Reason Speakeasy in New York about her life as a standup comedian, her career, what it’s like to be a libertarian at Fox News, and how her mother’s untimely death convinced her that humor can be a powerful tool to bring a fragmented country together.