Onion holds up mirror; society flashes big smile (with green stuff in teeth)
Christine Wenc. Photo by Alexander Andre Nation & World Onion holds up mirror; society flashes big smile (with green stuff in teeth) How some students at University of Wisconsin-Madison created satiric cultural institution Liz Mineo Harvard Staff Writer June 17, 2025 6 min read The Onion has been making fun of human folly since its founding by two undergrads at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. The mock news site has created satiric pieces so smart some believed them real, others that were just plain silly, and one headline (“‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens”) that has achieved a dark fame after being reposted after each U.S. mass shooting since 2014 Isla Vista, Calif., attack. In this edited interview, Christine Wenc, A.M. ’08, talks about her new book “Funny Because It’s True,” on the origins of the newspaper that proclaims itself “America’s Finest News Source.” Wenc spoke about the legacy of The Onion,...