We interviewed James daSilva, who writes The Onion: 20 Years Later, a publication that re-examines the humor and cultural impact of satirical print newspaper The Onion.
This is a fun idea. I grew up in Madison WI (where The Onion started) and my first job out of college was at The Onion in Milwaukee from 2006-2010. So, my love for The Onion runs deep and is embedded in my personal and professional life. It’s changed so much from what it started as. A 20-year retrospective is a cool approach.
Oh wow, that's awesome. Yeah, I definitely write this as a longtime reader, not someone with inside info. But even then, it's fun to see an old story, try to remember how I took it 20 years ago, and whether my feelings changed.
This is awesome! I will have to remember to subscribe to James’ newsletter and follow him on Twitter when I get power back and I’m not on limited internet access. As kids, my sister and I had a book of Onion issues from like 1999. To this day, that’s some of the best Onion material, in my opinion. Also a good way to learn about what life was actually like when I was 3 years old.
The most interesting thing about humor is that whatever is considered funny during an era ceases to be funny later. Does this ever change or do we just progressively become sensitive to whatever we don't fully understand?
Depends, in my opinion! Some stuff ages badly because of cultural changes, for sure. But a lot of humor has inside jokes attached to it, and that'll look less funny outside that circle. Sometimes this is conscious, as in two friends laughing over shared references. Sometimes, it's less obvious at the time. There's a network that airs old Johnny Carson episodes, for instance. A lot of that humor doesn't connect now not because it was bad, but because it's about some long-forgotten celebrity's foibles in March 1982 or whatever.
Wonderful observation! The context changes and the inside joke has fewer insiders to make the connections as time passes. Another interesting dynamic is time sensitivity to an event. "Too soon" is a oft used phrase when we see humorous takes around an unfolding tragedy. In that sense, humor may have a multispecific role in coping with psychological stress as well as drawing attention to what we consider absurd.
"Don't Look Up"--a recent film--accomplishes these goals. Best of it's sort since "On the Beach," in our view. It isn't so much about humor in these days as it is about cutting through the conditioning that's so pervasive. Thanks for this interview.
I don't know how long I've been here. I don't know if anyone reads my stuff. I have no interest in getting paid. I do like this platform, however. I check out the things I've stuck up here periodically and leave a comment on occasion. Check more on https://heartofgodchurch.org/governance
Thank you for sharing James daSilva for the personal insight to your personal endeavors aka " the Onion ". My personal thought on your sharing as being a journalist is the integrity of being a journalist. What is journalism integrity TODAY...is journalism integrity shared worldwide on the same integrity basis? How does a reader/consumer of journalistic resources " come to trust what one is reading to be TRUE ? ". ..A example I am constantly bringing up within my own inner circle is this.... the media... journalists ( especially here in America ) CONSTANTLY make reference to Trump's " base ".... base this...base that... it's always dependent on the " base ". And then we get our societal statistics on hate crime and the obvious that " hate crime " escalated in astronomical numbers during Trump campaigning and DURING Trump's presidency. And the public wants to react startled...amazed.... shocked that this crime hate numbers exist and why ? WHY? because journalists FAILED to DEFINE this " base " ... journalists became impotent pertaining to NOT DEFINING " base "... when in hidden reality..." the base " consists of HATERS....WHITE SUPREMACY.... EXTREME RIGHT ALT GROUPS...PROUD BOYS....KKK....etc.and ETC..... THIS IS THE BASE OF DONALD TRUMP and journalists FAILED to DEFINE this base; which led the public to ignorance. When America's society could have been able to educate and eradicate such evil societal behaviors and FORCING accountability towards stoking that " base " . JOURNALISTS FAILED AT EDUCATING AND WARNING THE DANGERS OF DONALD TRUMP'S " base " ....
This is a fun idea. I grew up in Madison WI (where The Onion started) and my first job out of college was at The Onion in Milwaukee from 2006-2010. So, my love for The Onion runs deep and is embedded in my personal and professional life. It’s changed so much from what it started as. A 20-year retrospective is a cool approach.
Oh wow, that's awesome. Yeah, I definitely write this as a longtime reader, not someone with inside info. But even then, it's fun to see an old story, try to remember how I took it 20 years ago, and whether my feelings changed.
This is awesome! I will have to remember to subscribe to James’ newsletter and follow him on Twitter when I get power back and I’m not on limited internet access. As kids, my sister and I had a book of Onion issues from like 1999. To this day, that’s some of the best Onion material, in my opinion. Also a good way to learn about what life was actually like when I was 3 years old.
Hang in there with the power! We had snow where I am and some outages nearby, but thankfully I was spared.
And yeah, I have a couple of those old Onion books, too. So much fun to look back on
Thanks!
The most interesting thing about humor is that whatever is considered funny during an era ceases to be funny later. Does this ever change or do we just progressively become sensitive to whatever we don't fully understand?
Depends, in my opinion! Some stuff ages badly because of cultural changes, for sure. But a lot of humor has inside jokes attached to it, and that'll look less funny outside that circle. Sometimes this is conscious, as in two friends laughing over shared references. Sometimes, it's less obvious at the time. There's a network that airs old Johnny Carson episodes, for instance. A lot of that humor doesn't connect now not because it was bad, but because it's about some long-forgotten celebrity's foibles in March 1982 or whatever.
Wonderful observation! The context changes and the inside joke has fewer insiders to make the connections as time passes. Another interesting dynamic is time sensitivity to an event. "Too soon" is a oft used phrase when we see humorous takes around an unfolding tragedy. In that sense, humor may have a multispecific role in coping with psychological stress as well as drawing attention to what we consider absurd.
"Don't Look Up"--a recent film--accomplishes these goals. Best of it's sort since "On the Beach," in our view. It isn't so much about humor in these days as it is about cutting through the conditioning that's so pervasive. Thanks for this interview.
Thank you! Yeah, I've heard a bit about that film but haven't seen it myself
Loyola?
Hi Professor! Yup, it's me. Good to see you here, and I hope you're well.
This was a great article! Please check out my blog! :)
I don't know how long I've been here. I don't know if anyone reads my stuff. I have no interest in getting paid. I do like this platform, however. I check out the things I've stuck up here periodically and leave a comment on occasion. Check more on https://heartofgodchurch.org/governance
Thank you for sharing James daSilva for the personal insight to your personal endeavors aka " the Onion ". My personal thought on your sharing as being a journalist is the integrity of being a journalist. What is journalism integrity TODAY...is journalism integrity shared worldwide on the same integrity basis? How does a reader/consumer of journalistic resources " come to trust what one is reading to be TRUE ? ". ..A example I am constantly bringing up within my own inner circle is this.... the media... journalists ( especially here in America ) CONSTANTLY make reference to Trump's " base ".... base this...base that... it's always dependent on the " base ". And then we get our societal statistics on hate crime and the obvious that " hate crime " escalated in astronomical numbers during Trump campaigning and DURING Trump's presidency. And the public wants to react startled...amazed.... shocked that this crime hate numbers exist and why ? WHY? because journalists FAILED to DEFINE this " base " ... journalists became impotent pertaining to NOT DEFINING " base "... when in hidden reality..." the base " consists of HATERS....WHITE SUPREMACY.... EXTREME RIGHT ALT GROUPS...PROUD BOYS....KKK....etc.and ETC..... THIS IS THE BASE OF DONALD TRUMP and journalists FAILED to DEFINE this base; which led the public to ignorance. When America's society could have been able to educate and eradicate such evil societal behaviors and FORCING accountability towards stoking that " base " . JOURNALISTS FAILED AT EDUCATING AND WARNING THE DANGERS OF DONALD TRUMP'S " base " ....