The Onion: 20 Years Later

In March 2006, The Onion's website quoted Ellie Kemper Also, jokes about Vince Young, J.J. Redick, Linda Cohn, the Sex Pistols, the World Baseball Classic and much more.

20 years ago, The Onion's website quoted Ellie Kemper.

Also, jokes about Vince Young, J.J. Redick, Linda Cohn, the Sex Pistols, the World Baseball Classic and much more. onion20.substack.com/p/the-onions... #theonion #satire

20 years ago, The Onion mocked the Democrats Plus, man defeats machine! The Earth plunges into darkness! And jokes about the Kennedy Center, Chris Penn and frustrated copy editors

20 years ago, The Onion reimagined John Henry as a man fighting Excel by hand.

What is the 2026 version? Hand-coding vs. OpenClaw?

This and much, much more from 20 years ago today

onion20.substack.com/p/2006-the-o...

20 years ago, The Onion mocked the Democrats Plus, man defeats machine! The Earth plunges into darkness! And jokes about the Kennedy Center, Chris Penn and frustrated copy editors

20 years ago, The Onion mocked the Democrats.

Plus, man defeats machine! The Earth plunges into darkness! And jokes about the Kennedy Center, Chris Penn and frustrated copy editors onion20.substack.com/p/2006-the-o... #theonion #satire

Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy: 'We'll Go Through Iran' WASHINGTON, DC—Almost a year after the cessation of major combat and a month after the nation’s first free democratic elections, President Bush unveiled the coalition forces’ strategy for exiting Iraq...

Along with this 2005 article theonion.com/bush-announc...

This 2004 Onion article might be relevant all of a sudden theonion.com/radicals-ext...

20 years ago, The Onion mocked Kobe Bryant, Harrison Ford and more All the web-only jokes from Feb. 22-28, 2006, including some you can't find anywhere else!

20 years ago, The Onion mocked Kobe Bryant and Harrison Ford.

All the web-only jokes from Feb. 22-28, 2006, including some you can't find anywhere else! onion20.substack.com/p/the-onion-... #theonion #satire

A newspaper scrap titled "Your Birthday Today" with the following description: A male stripper, hired by your friends after no small amount of girlish giggling, will appear at your birthday party this weekend. Unfortunately, due to outstanding and insurmountable gambling debts, this erotic dancer, with each article of clothing he removes, will expose not only his flesh but also the horrid physical details of his recent encounters with three rather large and persuasive loan sharks.

Fun Easter egg from theonion.com print edition 20 years ago (Feb. 22, 2006) is this special birthday horoscope.

If you only read The Onion online (like me), you never saw this!

I think it’s also the 1st time such a birthday horoscope appeared in print.

111 Years Ago Today: The Onion February 19, 1915 Frontpage

111 Years Ago Today: The Onion February 19, 1915 Frontpage

In February 2006, The Onion mocked Cheney's hunting accident Plus, jokes about cloning, Bin Laden, George Jefferson, Betty Friedan and the importance of time management

20 years ago, The Onion mocked Dick Cheney's hunting accident.

Plus, jokes about cloning, Bin Laden, George Jefferson, Betty Friedan and the importance of time management onion20.substack.com/p/february-2... #theonion #satire

20 years ago, The Onion reviewed Jude Law's reign as Sexiest Man Alive Let's also revisit 2005 jokes about "Minnesota nice," drinking responsibly, Dave Eggers, Chris Rock hosting the Oscars and supporting the troops.

This time last year, I looked back at one of my favorite Onion gimmicks: Treating People's Sexiest Man Alive like the presidency.

Plus, a simpler time when joking about Minnesota and its federal funding wasn't a fault line in the culture wars.

20 years ago, The Onion’s website shared audio of Dick Cheney explaining why he shot that guy — but added cannibalism.

Plus, so much more from The Onion’s web-only content of 20 years ago. onion20.substack.com/p/reviewing-...

Reviewing The Onion's website: Feb. 15-21, 2006 The Onion shares Dick Cheney's version of shooting that guy. Plus, jokes about Dale Earnhardt, Bob Costas, Jerry Lewis, Wilt Chamberlain and more.

Reviewing The Onion's website: Feb. 15-21, 2006.

The Onion shares Dick Cheney's version of shooting that guy. Plus, jokes about Dale Earnhardt, Bob Costas, Jerry Lewis, Wilt Chamberlain and more. onion20.substack.com/p/reviewing-... #theonion #satire

Favorite Onion headline: Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Dept.

In tandem with the photo collage, this remains my favorite Onion headline of all time.

@bencollins.bsky.social watching you on On with Kara Swisher right now, and I wonder: is the person who came up with my personal, evergreen, favorite Onion headline still with y'all?

"President Bush addresses nation in tears after watching 'Field of Dreams'"

still makes me laugh.

Miracle Of Birth Occurs For 83 Billionth Time HOPE SPRINGS, AR—The holy and sacrosanct miracle of birth, long revered by human civilization as the most mysterious and magical of all phenomena, took place for what experts are estimating "must be a...

My second-favorite Onion headline.

theonion.com/miracle-of-b...

Onion headline from October 7th, 1998: "On-Line Gambling Too Depressing To Even Think About." Photo is a behind the shoulder shot of a person using an old 90s desktop computer to visit a web 1.0 gambling site. They're clearly at The Computer Desk: there's also a Magic 8 Ball and a box of tissues.

I remember this Onion headline striking me in 1998: wow, that really IS depressing; people do that? I've thought of it frequently in the intervening decades, especially these past few years as everything in the world becomes "On-Line Gambling"

Gallup ends its presidential tracking poll, the latest shift in the public opinion landscape | CNN Politics Gallup, one of the country’s most well-known polling firms, announced Wednesday that they will no longer track presidential approval or favorability of political figures. The move ends the longest-run...

This seems shortsighted in so many ways. Gallup's polling is a go-to for my work covering The Onion’s past because of its long history in pinpointing, with reasonably certainty, how the public felt about issues at the time, including the president's performance.

www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/p...

20 years ago, The Onion wrote about Hamas and Israel Let's revisit the least controversial topic possible. Plus, jokes about the Senate, dolphins, Denny's, podcasts, Millard Fillmore and more.

20 years ago, The Onion wrote about Hamas and Israel.

Let's revisit the least controversial topic possible. Plus, jokes about the Senate, dolphins, Denny's, podcasts, Millard Fillmore and more. onion20.substack.com/p/february-2... #theonion #satire

20 years ago this week, The Onion's website previewed a Winter Olympics in Italy.

Plus, remember when Dick Cheney shot that guy?

There's also jokes about Bush and "Die Hard," AOL, the NBA, "Sesame Street,” the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, and lots more!

onion20.substack.com/p/20-years-a...

20 years ago, The Onion previewed the Winter Olympics in Italy Plus, web-only jokes about Dick Cheney shooting that guy, AOL, the NBA, "Sesame Street" and more.

20 years ago, The Onion previewed the Winter Olympics in Italy.

Plus, web-only jokes about Dick Cheney shooting that guy, AOL, the NBA, "Sesame Street" and more. onion20.substack.com/p/20-years-a... #theonion #satire

20 years ago, The Onion turned Us Weekly into Harper's magazine The Onion mocks the Catholic Church, John Bolton, iPods and NASCAR. Plus, Jackie Harvey and Don Turnbee show up.

Look, I think this Onion joke about Barstool is solid, particularly the illustration:

theonion.com/barstool-spo...

But as I wrote last year, The Onion did the same joke about Us Weekly in June 2005! onion20.substack.com/p/20-years-a...

20 years ago, The Onion warned of death, romance and Wal-Mart What if Donald Rumsfeld hosted an informercial? Plus, jokes about Nancy Grace, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and much more.

20 years ago, The Onion warned of death, romance and Wal-Mart.

What if Donald Rumsfeld hosted an informercial? Plus, jokes about Nancy Grace, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and much more. onion20.substack.com/p/february-2... #theonion #satire

Reviewing The Onion's website: Feb. 1-7, 2006 Bush celebrates Groundhog Day in Iraq, plus jokes about Roger Federer, Roger Ebert, Ed Begley Jr., cartoons depicting Muhammad, and more.

20 years ago this week, The Onion mentioned Roger Federer for the 1st time.

Also, The Onion jokes that e-mail takes up 30% of the workday — 6 years before McKinsey confirmed this!

Much more in this look at The Onion’s web-only jokes from early February 2006.

open.substack.com/pub/onion20/...

Reviewing The Onion's website: Feb. 1-7, 2006 Bush celebrates Groundhog Day in Iraq, plus jokes about Roger Federer, Roger Ebert, Ed Begley Jr., cartoons depicting Muhammad, and more.

Reviewing The Onion's website: Feb. 1-7, 2006.

Bush celebrates Groundhog Day in Iraq, plus jokes about Roger Federer, Roger Ebert, Ed Begley Jr., cartoons depicting Muhammad, and more. onion20.substack.com/p/reviewing-... #theonion #satire

20 years ago today, @TheOnion.com imagined a federal Department of Corruption.

Plus, we learn about the dangers of network-TV violence invading our real lives, black boxes for balloons, BlackBerry’s legal troubles, and much more from Feb. 1, 2006!

onion20.substack.com/p/2006-the-o...

20 years ago, The Onion created a Department of Corruption Plus, jokes about TV causing violence, Michael J. Fox, Al-Qaeda No. 2s, BlackBerry, rival "dead kid foundations" and the idea of a wife.

20 years ago, The Onion created a Department of Corruption.

Plus, jokes about TV causing violence, Michael J. Fox, Al-Qaeda No. 2s, BlackBerry, rival "dead kid foundations" and the idea of a wife. onion20.substack.com/p/2006-the-o... #theonion #satire

20 years ago, The Onion redesigned its online sports section Let's look at the web-only jokes from Jan. 25-31, 2006!

20 years ago, The Onion redesigned its sports section.

Let's look at the web-only jokes from Jan. 25-31, 2006! onion20.substack.com/p/reviewing-... #theonion #satire

In 2006, The Onion imagined snowmen protesting global warming Plus, jokes about never retiring, Bush's ag secretary, Ariel Sharon, Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, zombies and more.

20 years ago in The Onion, snowmen protested global warming.

Plus, jokes about never retiring, Bush's ag secretary, Ariel Sharon, Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, zombies and more. onion20.substack.com/p/january-20... #theonion #satire

Nation's Snowmen March Against Global Warming WASHINGTON, DC—Braving balmy temperatures and sunny skies, millions of scarfless snowmen and snowwomen gathered in cities across the world Tuesday to raise public awareness about the heavy toll…

As many of us await this apparently massive winter storm, it's funny to see that this Onion article turns 20 years old on Sunday.

We'll cover it in the next newsletter. theonion.com/nations-snow...