KYLE SMITH: Old University, New Problem.

A lot of funny guys are associated with the University of Cambridge, such as alumni John Cleese, Eric Idle, Stephen Fry, Douglas Adams and Sacha Baron Cohen. Today, though, one of the ancient university’s faculty is inspiring as much laughter as any of them at their best. Meet Jason Arday, the most hilarious storyteller alive.

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It has become a reflex in academe to question the motives of those who discover evidence that endangers the reputation of favored scholars, the ones the university really wants to succeed. Naturally, Mr. Arday’s response to one professor who in 2023 brought up passages from Mr. Arday’s work that strongly resembled previously published writing was to claim that he was being wronged by the questions. “Instead of spending your time trying to dismantle racism and ableism, you have spent what I assume is hours combing through my work looking for mistakes,” he replied, adding, “anything further from you will be considered bullying and harassment.”

Sorry, but questioning the character of an accuser isn’t how truth is found. “You’re racist” may be one of today’s most favored epithets but it still isn’t an argument. Picture a toddler putting his fingers in his ears and yelling “La la la” when being told it’s bedtime, and you’ll have some sense of how our supposed guardians of truth react to unwelcome information. As one long-ago Cambridge figure, Bertrand Russell, wrote in 1942, “People’s opinions are mainly designed to make them feel comfortable; truth, for most people, is a secondary consideration.”

Exit question: “Are congratulations in order for Sacha Baron Cohen? The more I read about Jason Arday, the Cambridge sociology professor and DEI poster boy caught up in a plagiarism row, the more convinced I am he’s the comedian’s greatest creation.”