Book excerpt: This volume surveys political satire as a journalistic genre in Iran since the latter days of the Qajar dynasty to the present, thus spanning one century and more. It is an important resource, but it also provides an analysis. Moreover, this volume is a rare effort to answer a question that looks simple but is very complicated: “Why would someone produce satire, knowing that this act might be followed by dangerous consequences?”, and to find out what motivates political satirists. For this aim, nine prominent political satirists have been interviewed: writers and cartoonists, men and women, those who live abroad and those who still live in Iran. The author analyses this data in relation to, among other things, the main theories of humor to provide a descriptive report for each satirist’s motivations as well as the strength of each motivational element in a general comparative context.