It's easy to listen to the news and conclude that we have never been more gripped by the so-called “Culture Wars.” But Kliph Nesteroff argues just the opposite: today’s conflict isn’t a fluke, it’s part of a long history of conflict, controversy and recrimination.

Canadian comic Kliph Nesteroff is, according to the New York Times, the “premier popular historian of comedy.” He has authored two books since starting out as a stand-up comic, including “The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy” and “We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans and Comedy.” His work has been praised by comedy legends from Gilbert Gottfried to Mel Brooks to Norm Macdonald. His forthcoming third book is titled “Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars.”