Satire has long been part of discourse, with written records going back to the Ramesside Period of Ancient Egypt, and two primary classifications of satire originate with the Roman satirists Horace and Juvenal. Other notable historic figures have also been authors of significant satire, but not always with much appreciation. News satire furthers the awkward stance with public, as the public may read satire as an outrageous truth, and be angered instead of amused. The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart in specific, ranks well in the fractured world of current news programming, and the show was noted in the New York Times as "a genuine cultural and political force" (previously), but you don't have take their word for it. Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism studied the content of The Daily Show for an entire year (2007), providing interesting (if slightly dated) details on the show. That year included their much-viewed coverage fo the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. And in poll results published July 24, 2009, Jon Stewart was voted America's most trusted newscaster, apparently filling the position previously held by Walter Cronkite. But is it because Stewart is one of the few journalists willing to ask the hard questions or has America been won over by "cheap laughs"?
posted by filthy light thief on Nov 6, 2009 - 54 comments

"One more murder, and he's earned himself a detention." Were the movies, the books, the fan-fiction, and the squealing not enough for you? Then perhaps it is time to see Stephanie Meyers's tour de force parodied in musical form. Previous Twilight posts here and here and here.
posted by schroedinger on Oct 11, 2009 - 57 comments

There's an app for everything. Even when there shouldn't be. [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Sep 30, 2009 - 21 comments

Zombie World News
posted by netbros on Sep 24, 2009 - 26 comments

Dudes! Did you see the library they've got here? Dude, they've got the latest computerized catalog system—just roll right up to a terminal, type in your search terms, and it gives you a list of titles and call numbers, plus a little map to show you where they all are. Fucking Dewey decimal, man. It's tight. (SLMcSweeney's)
posted by l33tpolicywonk on Sep 8, 2009 - 80 comments

The Gonzales Cantata — A cantata based on the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "I Don't Recall."
posted by netbros on Sep 3, 2009 - 19 comments

Sitcom Idea #2 from the folks at The Blogulator.
posted by dersins on Jul 31, 2009 - 35 comments

How to Get Rid of Things — a do-it-yourself guide dedicated to helping you prevent, eliminate or remove common annoyances from your life. For example: How to Get Rid of Voles. "Once you have the vole in hand, simply squeeze until you hear the pop." [more inside]
posted by netbros on Jul 20, 2009 - 34 comments

World War III Propoganda Posters. Someone tweeted!
posted by crossoverman on Jun 25, 2009 - 35 comments

Life imitating art [more inside]
posted by numberstation on Jun 16, 2009 - 13 comments

Following in the fine tradition of The Nietzsche Family Circus (previously), Pearls Before Swine, And the Dysfunctional Family Circus, comes Scott Meets Family Circus ( via and self-salvaged from metachat)
posted by The Whelk on Jun 11, 2009 - 87 comments

"Whoever said the early bird gets the worm could have been talking about me, only I’m a person, not a bird, and I’m not interested in getting worms, more like getting things done. But I do get up early." The secret to success in the wired age, according to Andy Borowitz [previously, 2].
posted by l33tpolicywonk on May 25, 2009 - 16 comments

Flutter, a new company that is taking microblogging to the next level with 26-character limit. [SLYT]
posted by rageagainsttherobots on Apr 6, 2009 - 66 comments

Trailer for Brüno, the upcoming film by Sacha Baron Cohen, formerly known for his characters Ali G and Borat.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Apr 2, 2009 - 140 comments

With threats of strikes and an emergency budget due you might assume the Irish government would be more concerned with economics than artwork. You’d be wrong. After discovering the two “uncomissioned” portraits of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen the gardaí (Irish police) have gotten involved. [more inside]
posted by Fence on Mar 26, 2009 - 14 comments

Julie Brown, Chris Elliott, Kathy Griffin, Bobcat Goldthwait and others spoof Madonna in Medusa: Dare To Be Truthful: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Mar 26, 2009 - 9 comments

Frank Miller's Charlie Brown. [via Andrew Sullivan]
posted by LarryC on Mar 11, 2009 - 30 comments

"The Jedi Knights are known for their supposed ability to perform "miracles." They can influence others' thoughts with a wave of their hand, use a slender light saber to deflect blaster bolts with their eyes closed, jump great heights in full gravity, move objects without touching them, see into the future, and do many other things that normal people can't. Or so they claim."
posted by Pope Guilty on Mar 3, 2009 - 42 comments

Scott Summit, a self-anointed solution engineer and life hacker, shows you how to beat the traffic system at its own game.
posted by rageagainsttherobots on Mar 2, 2009 - 42 comments

'If you value nothing, then nothing you value can be taken from you.' William Donaldson, the author of the infamous Henry Root Letters led a life more colourful than any of his literary inventions. [more inside]
posted by ob on Feb 20, 2009 - 12 comments

Henry Hey's new Bush Song. (SLYTP; previously; via waxy.) [more inside]
posted by progosk on Jan 30, 2009 - 14 comments

In 1982, the comedy team of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker introduced Police Squad! to network TV viewers. It lasted six episodes before being cancelled. What, you missed it? You weren't even born? Here are episodes two, three, and four. [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Jan 27, 2009 - 84 comments

SatiricalCzechArtFilter: A massive art installation at the European Council building in Brussels has raised hackles. Bulgaria, in particular, is not pleased at being represented as a "Turkish Toilet." [more inside]
posted by LMGM on Jan 14, 2009 - 37 comments

"Did you hear a stalk of celery being cut? If you did, you understand the magic of the Foley Artist." A short film that is just too long about silent films from the previously mentioned podcast You Look Nice Today
posted by Del Far on Jan 8, 2009 - 19 comments

Play board games during the holidays? Try an updated version of an old classic. You can indulge in as much sex, drugs, crime, and rock and roll as your health will handle, just don't roll a 1 on your first turn or you'll be aborted before you get started. [more inside]
posted by mrmojoflying on Dec 27, 2008 - 6 comments

Online Dating Commercials. Like the girl who says, "Of course I didn't put chlamydia on the profile, I put smoker." Or this gem, "I used to have to wait for days for my friends to tell me he wasn't interested. Now I get an automated email right away." [more inside]
posted by netbros on Dec 18, 2008 - 6 comments

Jon Swift, satirist blogger (previously on MeFi), has identified an important new school of film criticism. He calls it Derrièrism—since all schools of film criticism must have French names—and asserts that the main criteria a movie should be judged by is whether the viewer's ass shifts in his or her seat while watching it. He claims Derrièrism is on the rise, citing Andrew Breitbart's soon-to-be-launched Big Hollywood, a site that will include film reviews and criticism by thoughtful cinéastes like House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, Reps. Thaddeus McCotter, Mary Bono Mack and Connie Mack, former presidential candidate Fred Thompson, MSNBC correspondent Tucker Carlson and conservative commentators Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and others. [more inside]
posted by defenestration on Dec 15, 2008 - 23 comments

"She let out a rich, powerful moan, like the sound of a passing diesel train in the night." Jeremiah Tucker updates Ayn Rand's objectivist novel for the current financial crisis. [more inside]
posted by LMGM on Nov 28, 2008 - 47 comments

Christians AGAINST Cartoons!
posted by defenestration on Nov 23, 2008 - 93 comments

TV Offal's songs and the US radio jingles which inspired them. "It's nice in Detroit." "It's nice being Esther." TV critic Victor Lewis-Smith's late night comedy show was short lived but well remembered by those of us who saw it on Channel 4in the UK (cf, Google Video and YouTube).
posted by feelinglistless on Nov 15, 2008 - 6 comments

As a Conservative, I Must Say I Do Quite Like the Cut of this Obama Fellow's Jib
posted by 445supermag on Nov 1, 2008 - 93 comments

Melted street signs, Art + Auction = Obama 08, Mr Brainwash's political satire, Amused Loon, Tyler Stout, and Robert Williams's Dream Detective video (parts 1, 2, 3, 4). All adds up to the latest art, courtesy of Juxtapoz magazine.
posted by internationalfeel on Oct 19, 2008 - 7 comments

The ailing economy has given rise to excellent gallows humor. [period is NSFW, MLYT/MLNews]
posted by Korou on Oct 16, 2008 - 3 comments

Why I'd Be a Better VP than Sarah Palin
posted by AstroGuy on Oct 11, 2008 - 59 comments

Chris Onstad's online comic Achewood has recently gotten some semi-mainstream media attention: A Salon piece and an NPR interview with the author related to the publication of a print version of the ultra-violent epic The Great Outdoor Fight of 2006. The online version in its entirety begins innocently enough here. previously.
posted by longsleeves on Oct 7, 2008 - 74 comments

Thomas Nast, Honoré Daumier, Bill Mauldin, David Low, Theodor Geisel, Herblock, and good grief, more Herblock! In honor of some sort of election that's apparently coming up, Comics Should Be Good! will be featuring one ink-stained satirist every day this October! Visit the Stars of Political Cartooning Month Archive for daily updates.
posted by Alvy Ampersand on Oct 7, 2008 - 12 comments

Massive Poetry Bailout in the works [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Sep 28, 2008 - 52 comments

Mock the Vote: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert interviewed.
posted by Artw on Sep 25, 2008 - 41 comments

With all this talk of Sandy Smith (epilepsy warning on that last link), his greatest project still wants for submissions. Smith: In May 2007 I commissioned an essay from a supplier of tailor-made academic essays. I requested a 1500 word essay that was to "prove that Junior... is the best film ever made." This essay was to make reference to various writers including Freud, Barthes, Baudrillard and Jameson in proving it's case. Yes, that Junior. [more inside]
posted by nímwunnan on Sep 21, 2008 - 9 comments

Magic: The Election . Part 2. [more inside]
posted by casarkos on Sep 15, 2008 - 48 comments

"We don't vote for them, we don't even know their names and we're not quite sure what they do. But they wield enormous influence. They are the power behind the power. They are The Hollowmen." You can watch the Australian Broadcasting Company's new political satire The Hollowmen [warning: sound] on the web. Or you can find it via Bittorrent. (Or if you live down under I suppose you could watch it on ABC 1 Wednesdays at 9pm or ABC 2 Thursdays at 8:30pm.) It's worth a look because it may be the funniest new satire on any English-language network. [more inside]
posted by sdodd on Sep 12, 2008 - 18 comments

mySQLgame. Naturally, it's an alpha build. [via]
posted by Smart Dalek on Aug 28, 2008 - 33 comments

Satirical maps of Europe from 1914-15.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Aug 6, 2008 - 25 comments

Narayan, Narayan. I was Atal Bihari some time back, now I am Manmohan. I may be Manmohan now but sometimes I am Sonia. I am the variable constant in Indian politics the Prime Minister, Pradhan Mantri. Soon I may be Advani or Rahul or Modi. Or maybe I may become Laloo…that will be the day of prayer in India. But if I become Mayawati will I need a surgery... A log of the nation in hypertext marked lies.
posted by hadjiboy on Jul 29, 2008 - 4 comments

In the summer of 1897, the Devil transported a minor Decadent poet named Enoch Soames one hundred years into the future to see what posterity would make of his work. The only witness to the affair was the parodist Max Beerbohm, whose account of Soames and his journey ensured that at 2:10 P.M. on June 7, 1997, some dozen pilgrims waited in the Round Reading Room of the British Museum to see the poet appear...
posted by Iridic on Jul 22, 2008 - 26 comments

If the Tiber rises so high it floods the walls, or the Nile so low it doesn't flood the fields, if the earth opens, or the heavens don't, if there is famine, if there is plague, instantly the howl goes up, "The Christians to the lion!" What, all of them? To a single lion? So wrote Tertullian. In the huge intellectual project that was the foundation of the Christian Church he was the great wit, most powerful rhetor and finest writer. Starting out as a pagan delighting in adultery and gladiator combat he became a great champion of martyrdom, defender of Christianity against its malefactors and heretics. His most famous contribution to our culture is undoubtedly the doctrine of the trinity. Towards the end of his life he threw his lot with a small group of hardcore ascetics called Montanists and was denounced as a heretic. Ending his life among the defeated of ecclesiastical history he was forgotten for a millennium until rediscovered during the Renaissance. The Tertullian Project collects all his extant writing and information about his lost texts as well as biographical information, selected quotations and much more.
posted by Kattullus on Jul 15, 2008 - 14 comments

Join the Apathy Party 08 campaign and make sure that nobody decides or makes a difference, because we couldn't care less. Americans everywhere will make their voices heard and their voices will say, "Whatever."
posted by netbros on Jul 14, 2008 - 76 comments

Canadian freelance writer and comic-book vandal Chris "MGK" Bird surveys the field of Obama's potential running mates.
posted by camcgee on May 19, 2008 - 36 comments

The $3 Trillion Shopping Spree. "The occupation of Iraq will cost $3 trillion, America's most expensive conflict since WWII. Can YOU spend that money better? Here's your chance to go on a virtual $3 trillion shopping spree and prove it!" [Via Gristmill.]
posted by homunculus on May 10, 2008 - 66 comments

Jonathan "King of Hits" King is a former pop impresario now best known for his conviction and imprisonment for having sex with teenage boys. He has turned his experiences into a satirical musical, Vile Pervert [NSFW], and released the film for free online. In one number, adopting the persona of Oscar Wilde, King asserts that "there's nothing wrong with buggering boys".
posted by jack_mo on May 9, 2008 - 71 comments