Sometimes, when a great man dies, you say something like “he’s gone to a better place.” As the clip below shows, I don’t think that’s an appropriate eulogy for Carlin. So the best you can say is that his untimely exit makes this place just a little bit worse.

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.