A Note from Your Friends at Federal Student Aid

Hi EMILY,Due to COVID-19, your friends here at Federal Student Aid kindly paused your student loan payments and set your interest rate to 0%. But ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I’m Your Pediatrician and I’m Worried You’re Not Growing Up to Be a Hardbody

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@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Are You Listening to a True Crime Podcast or Floundering at the Automated Supermarket Checkout?

1. Ambient beeps2. Seems like it would be more fast-paced than the others3. You get it, and then, all of a sudden, no, you don’t4. Special codes... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Afternoon with Me, the Man in an REI Print Ad

Oh hello, I didn’t see you there. I’ve been busy crouching here perilously on a snow-capped tree stump, staring into the craggy cavern below, and t... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Ten Albums to Listen to Before You Die Tomorrow

10. Purple Rain, Prince and the RevolutionThis amazing album from one of music’s true visionaries has it all: legendary ballads, top-notch funk, a... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

This Haunted New England Fishing Village Used to Be a Lot Cooler 175 Years Ago

Honestly, this sleepy New England fishing village with a dark past was so much better 175 years ago when I started haunting it. It was this malevol... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Know You’re Probably Still Traumatized from the Halloween Night Spree-Killings, But Are You Available to Babysit This Weekend?

Hi Laurie,I feel terrible even asking this right now. I know you’ve been having a difficult time after what that awful Michael Myers did to you an... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Short Conversations with Poets: Paul Muldoon

“Scintillate” is a word Paul Muldoon uses in the third line of his fourteenth collection, and though he’s talking about light oscillating and flick... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

What the Cat Will Do

What the cat will do is lose its mind trying to fit into the tightest, narrowest space. The cat will scoop dry food out of its dish with its paw an... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Am Proud to Announce That Starting Today, Our Company Still Sucks Shit

“To reflect who we are and the future we hope to build, I’m proud to share that our company is now Meta.”— CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing Facebook’... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

We Cannot Refer to These Victims of Murder as Victims of Their Own Murder

“Men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse can be called ‘rioters’ and ‘looters’ but not ‘victims,’ judge rules.” — Washington Post, 10/26/21- - -The most imp... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Notes from the Infusion Center: An Excerpt from Flowers in the Dark

- - -Flowers For Sick People is a multimedia art and health project by McSweeney’s friend and author Tucker Nichols.Sickness can be a deeply isol... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Literary Desserts of the Damned

Literary Desserts of the Damned | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Beaver of Fine Arts: Your Costume Says It All: The Six Creative Types on Halloween

Beaver of Fine Arts: Your Costume Says It All: The Six Creative Types on Halloween | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Halloween Costumes We Already Have in Our Closet

The Two A.M. Instagram ShopperPaying-for-Two-College-Educations BarbieThe Person Whose Fucking Pants Used to FitMare of Easttown But WorseBig E... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Short Conversations with Poets: Diane Seuss

If Frank O’Hara were a salt-of-the-earth, lightning-struck woman with a master’s in social work who’d grown up in the middle United States and wrot... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Open Letter to Tiffany & Co. About Their Advertising Campaign for the Ring That Helps Women Remember They Survived Cancer

Dear Tiffany & Co.,I’d all but given up on ever being able to remember the time I had a life-threatening disease when, lo and behold, the ad f... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Quiz: Is Your Child Two Years Old?

1. Did you just look at the clock thinking it was 3 p.m. to discover it’s only 9:40 a.m.?2. Do you have half a bag of freeze-dried mango in your p... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

To Win in 2022, Republicans Must Fight Cancel Culture and Fire Anyone Who Teaches Critical Race Theory

There’s a lot of speculation in the mainstream media about which issues will dominate the 2022 midterms. But as usual, the press is clueless about ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Are You in a Haunted House or the State of Texas?

Are the lights flickering?A. Yes, that is a special effect to create a fun spooky atmosphere.B. Yes, the power grid is failing, and we aren’t goi... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Short Conversations with Poets: Nate Klug

There’s a moment in Nate Klug’s most recent collection, Hosts and Guests, in which he gives a supercharged—and very personal—gloss on the word quie... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Jim, We Need to Talk About the Serial Copy-and-Pasting in Your Work Emails

Hello Jim. Nothing says “hello and goodbye” as succinctly as a message that begins confidently in black and is otherwise entirely copy-and-pasted f... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Actually, Sandworm Attacks Have Only a One Percent Death Rate

Those leftist Atreides weirdos are politicizing sandworm attacks on Dune to control us and keep us in lockdown forever!Okay, clearly the sandworms... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Halloween Costume Ideas for New Parents

Mario, Luigi, and ToadBased on the classic video game characters, this group costume perfectly encapsulates your life—both because your baby, like... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

It’s Time We Get Back to the Traditional Family Values of Absentee Fathers

The left is playing morality police once again, attacking the core principles Americans hold dear. They have assaulted the traditional family value... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Interview with Farah Ali About Her New Book, People Want to Live

Farah Ali is the author of People Want to Live (McSweeney’s 2021). Set in Pakistan, this debut collection features award-winning short stories abou... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Due to Current Travel Mandates We’ve Decided to Make COVID-19 Testing at Our Airport a Complete Nightmare

Thanks for choosing to fly overseas during one of the most challenging times in recent history. Since every state and country has its own complicat... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

It Would Be Un-American to Support Legislation That Doesn’t Directly Benefit Me

“Manchin, a centrist Democrat, has objected to key provisions of a multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill that would slash planet-heating emissi... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Your Essay Shows Promise But Suffers from Demonic Possession

I appreciate the hard work that went into this essay. It has many merits, but it also has something profoundly and disturbingly wrong with it. In f... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

A Morally Injured Healthcare Worker’s Recommendations for Updating Your Advanced Medical Directives During the COVID-19 Pandemic

If your oxygen levels are depleted, will you consent to supplemental oxygen via nasal tubing? If you’re acting like a dog in a cone and do not unde... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Tragedians in Cars Getting Coffee

1.JERRY SEINFELD: This is a 1995 Land Rover Defender, and everything about it says adventure. Which is perfect, because today I’m getting coffee w... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The University Will Be Answering Questions About Its New Budget Plan Only with Direct Quotations from Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons

Q: Will there be a hiring freeze?A: The change has come. There is no search. But there is, there is that hope and that interpretation and sometime... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

My Existentialist Life Hacks

My first task of the day is always something hard but important: I murder God.When I get a job interview, a first date, or a shot at sex, I look t... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

FAQ About Your CSA

Welcome to the Rockcrop Farms Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Thank you once again for supporting your local farm. Here are some answers to ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Scooby-Doo Refuses to Get the Rabies Vaccine

Roh way, Raggy. Roh way on your rife am I retting raccinated. Rot on your rife, Raggy!Why? Why? First, ris is my rody. And because it is my rody I... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Academic Job Market or Squid Game?

1. You and 500 other people compete for the chance at one prize due to the rigged economic system and bad life decisions that have landed you in a ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Am Worried That My Fifth-Grade Research Report on Abraham Lincoln Will Have No Lasting Impact

I have been assigned the important task of researching our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, and presenting my findings to my colleagues in Ms.... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Foraging in my local Trader Joe’s, my face reflects the orange hue of its seasonal displays as I wander the aisles on a hunt for a new fall item to... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

As a Teacher, I Agree With Mitch McConnell: Parents Should Tell Schools What to Teach

“Mitch McConnell on Saturday told Attorney General Merrick Garland that parents ‘absolutely should be telling’ local schools what to teach amid a ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Open Letter to Paul Simon on His Misleading Song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”

Dear Mr. Simon,Let me begin by saying that I am generally a fan of your work. My mother used to sing me “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme” as a ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The FBI Builds a Case Against the Baby-Sitters Club Crime Family

FBI CASE FILE 19-86:Operation “Say Hello to Your Little Friends”The BABY-SITTERS CLUB (“BSC”) is an organized-crime enterprise that rose to power... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Do You Love Pointless Situations and Children Shrieking Imperatives at You? Apply to Be a Childcare First Responder

Do you love to be interrupted during a rare moment of respite? Can you plaster on a smile and generate impromptu dialogue? Do you enjoy small peopl... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

A Typical Friday in Oregon, as Imagined by My East Coast Friends

I wake up in my log cabin. The first thing I do is pop outside to forage for some breakfast mushrooms. Once I’ve got a good handful, I roast them o... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Things That Are OK in Addition to “Not Being OK,” According to Your Newly Minted Chief Wellness Officer

1. COVID-19 and the related lockdowns have been hard on all of us. We want you to know: it’s OK to not be OK.2. If you need to work through your l... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

A Brief History of the Fate of Beowulf’s Homeland for Bostonians

Art by Matt Smith- - -Fuckin’ hwæt!Ah some shit, right? I don’t really know, but that’s how all those ancient Brahmin rat bastahds talked back i... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Pseudo-Intellectual Man Comment Generator

FOR USE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, ZOOM, AND REPLY-ALL EMAILS. | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Well, Now I Don’t Even Know if I Want This Kidney Anymore

“You’re gonna want to set aside the next 20 minutes to read this NY Times Magazine piece about a complicated ‘bad art friend’ relationship involvin... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Job Opportunity: Join the Facebook Apologies Team

The Facebook Apologies team is at the forefront of navigating a wide array of global atonements. As a member of the Apologies team, you’ll find inn... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago