Excerpts from Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best

IIlustrations by Ellie Hajdu.- - -Wi-FiToad was writing an email.Suddenly, the Wi-Fi disconnected.Toad restarted his computer.The Wi-Fi still... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Things My Dog Says That Make Me Regret Training Him to Talk with Buttons

“More lockdown please.”“Mom look bad. Need bath. Why sleep clothes? Hmmm?”“Mom pants please walk.”Looks at large hole in the yard next to Mom“C... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Academic Job Ads: What They Say vs. What They Mean

What they say: 2/2 teaching load.What they mean: It will actually be a 4/4 after two years of budget cuts and faculty attrition.What they say: S... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Hello, We Used to Know Each Other and Now I’m a Toxic Presence on Your Social Media Feeds

Hello, I’m someone you used to know. Pretty well, in fact. We had some good conversations. We saw eye to eye on all the important things. We laughe... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

“We Should Absolutely Tax the Rich,” I Say as I Sail Away on My Yacht

“I agree with you one thousand percent. We’re all on the same page, gang.” — Senator Joe Manchin, from the top of his yacht yesterday, responding ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Karl Marx Pitches His $3.5 Trillion Budget Plan

“The $3.5 trillion Biden plan isn’t socialism, it’s marxism.” — Sen. Marco Rubio, Twitter, 9/30/21- - (Karl Marx addresses a large crowd)KARL MA... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Have Decided to Live the Remainder of My Life as a Simple Woodland Creature

Admittedly, this plan raised some eyebrows when I brought it up with my husband.First just: “What?”Then: “Seriously, what the hell are you talkin... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

This Is Your Kid’s School and Even Though the Emergency Contact Form Lists Your Husband, We Need You, the Mom

Hello, this is your kid’s school calling. So, your kid said her daddy dropped her off today. I could still see him if I stepped outside, but I know... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Dispatches from an Indian Casino (2009)

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@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Rick Steves Casually Reviews Dangerous Fantasy Locations

The Shire from Lord of the RingsThe Shire used to be the best-kept secret of Middle Earth, but tourists have been flocking there lately because of... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Kraft Dinner Flavour Boost Packet: Cotton Candy

There’s a reason why boxed macaroni and cheese is cheese-flavored. And it has nothing to do with “mac and cheese” being a perennially beloved comfo... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

GUESS WHO?: Aches and Pains of an Aging Body Edition

Is your pain in your ankle?No.Did your pain appear after sleeping weirdly one time in your thirties and then stay with you for the rest of your... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The Introduction from the Texas Abortion Bounty Hunter’s Handbook

Thank you for your interest in saving the lives of precious, little six-week-old embryos all across our great state of Texas. By committing to join... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Why I’m Doing My Own Research Before Using a Seat Belt

Experts, the CDC, and the media keep telling us that seat belts dramatically reduce the risk of death and serious injury when using a car. But I’ve... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Excerpt from My New Anxiety Dream Where I Personally Break the Global Supply Chain

“When it comes to the current state of the global supply chain, weakness is everywhere. Massive dislocations are present in the container market, ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Quiz: Can You Get Your Invoice Paid?

As a freelancer, there are a few key ways to ensure your invoices get paid on time. Consider the following options to find out whether or not you h... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

There’s Never Been a Worst Time in History to Be a Man (Stuck in a Hole)

Fellas, it’s tough out there. After going unchecked since the onset of time, a day of reckoning has come for men. More than just being held account... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Guide to Making Friends as an Adult, According to Hades, Greek God of the Underworld

Making friends as an adult can be challenging. Especially if, like me, you’re the celestial ruler of Tartarus, the abode of the damned. I spent so ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Every Asian American Celebrity Interview

INTERVIEWER: So your movie is a huge box office and critical hit.ASIAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY: It is, it’s insane.INTERVIEWER: How do your parents fe... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Bruce Springsteen, Renaissance Poet

“To His Coy Mistress”Baby, if we had more time,This coyness, Mary, ’d be no crimeWith nowhere else on earth to goWe’d drive around and take it ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Am an Anti-Racist Feminist, Except When It Interferes with My Career as an Academic

My unwavering commitment to the equality of all people, to dismantling the hegemony that has kept so many oppressed for so long, is my raison d’êtr... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

A Middle of the Date Questionnaire

Thank you for joining us for a date this evening. Before we move forward in the process, we’d like you to fill out this brief survey. We’re asking ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Scenes from Overlook Elementary

Scenes from Overlook Elementary | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Dear McSweeney’s Crossword Puzzle

In honor of the release of Dear McSweeney’s: Two Decades of Letters to the Editor from Writers, Readers, and the Occasional Bewildered Consumer, cr... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Fourteen Short Obituaries for the Modern Woman

1. Lily passed peacefully, immediately after her therapist finally laughed at one of her jokes.2. After a valiant battle with imposter syndrome, O... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

McSweeney’s Books: An Interview With Shelly Oria, Editor of Indelible in the Hippocampus: Writings from the Me Too Movement

Originally published October 1, 2019.- - -Amanda Uhle spoke with Shelly Oria on the WCBN podcast Living Writers about the collection Oria edited, ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Introducing Manlight: The Nightlight for Men Who Aren’t Afraid of the Dark

Here’s the thing about men. We’re fearless.We punch through BRICKS with our BARE HANDS. We ride DIRT BIKES and eat SALTY MEATS. We’re also not eve... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Our Faculty Success Initiative Redefines Everything You Thought You Knew About “Faculty” and “Success”

Thank you, everyone, for completing the Faculty Success Survey. During these challenging times, we understand that many of you are feeling great st... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Adam and Eve Decide Who Should Be in Charge of Childbirth

God came to Adam and Eve and said that one of them would have to bear children. Adam puffed his chest out and answered in a tone of cocky confidenc... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The Founders Would Like to Remind You They’ve Been Dead for Nearly Two Hundred Years

In the current era of hyper-partisanship, many have taken to using out-of-context quotes by us and asking what we would think of pretty much any po... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Short Conversations with Poets: Eleanor Wilner

When I was in college I found my way to the study of history because I’m interested in what and how we remember, but I found my way to poetry—or po... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

So You Just Announced Your Divorce Bingo

- - -Preorder Kimberly Harrington’s new book BUT YOU SEEMED SO HAPPY. You can also buy a version of this BINGO card at Sapling Press. | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Hercule Poirot Joins Nextdoor

GUN WITNESSHeather Chapman | 5 Bradford LaneSubject: Loud bang at 11:28 p.m.?Did anyone else hear a series of loud bangs last night? It woke my... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Beaver of Fine Arts: Pop Quiz: A Beaver’s Study Guide to Art History

Beaver of Fine Arts: Pop Quiz: A Beaver's Study Guide to Art History | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Excerpts from McSweeney’s Quarterly: Delandria

Art by Fritz Lang- - -This piece, selected by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for the 2021 O. Henry Prize, originally appeared in McSweeney’s 55. To get... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Excerpts from McSweeney’s Quarterly: Becoming the Baby Girl

This piece, selected by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for the 2021 O. Henry Prize, originally appeared in McSweeney’s 56. To get stories like this on yo... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The Sixth Circle of Hell Will Be Closed Tuesdays Due to a Shortage of Workers

The Sixth Circle of Hell will be closed Tuesdays until further notice. Due to government handouts, no one wants to dangle you heretics over lakes o... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Short Conversations with Poets: Sandra Lim

Heat, in Sandra Lim’s stunning new collection The Curious Thing, is understandable. Can be described. “Our bodies swelled and stank,” she writes of... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Welcome to A Musical Theater Program That Is Now Accepting Multiple People of Color

Dear BIPOCStudent6,Congratulations! You have been accepted into A Musical Theater Program That Is Now Accepting Multiple People of Color! Yes, yes... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

A Note to My Remaining Students at the Close of the 2021 Fall Semester

Dear class,I am extremely pleased with the work you all were able to accomplish this semester. I know we all faced some adversity over the past fe... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Miss Trunchbull Asks That You Reconsider Her Methods, Post-Pandemic

Years ago, as many of you know, I, Agatha Trunchbull, was driven from my career in education by a telekinetic pest with a vendetta against me. I ha... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Never Forget: The Other 9/11 Kids

Muslims will “never forget” 9/11 for very different reasons. The fact that even writing that sentence feels blasphemous speaks to the guilt that Mu... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Hadn’t the Slightest Idea That My Life Would Change

I hadn’t the slightest idea that my life would change. It was two weeks into my freshman year of college. I was living away from home for the first... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The Film Treatment for Ingmar Bergman’s Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

1.In a remote community in nineteenth-century Sweden, a husband and wife—the grocer Johan (Max von Sydow) and the pianist Karin (Liv Ullmann)—deba... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Teachers, Are You Fed Up? Become a School Administrator and Experience a Different Kind of Fed Up

Teachers: COVID has thinned the applicant pool for administrator positions. YOU can fill the need for fresh educational professionals TODAY. Simply... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

9/11 Narratives Like My Own Are Usually Silenced

As the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, I recognize that our country should learn about those tragic events, but I take i... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Ted Lasso Is a Shining Example of Kindness and Decency, and Critics Who Disagree Should Burn in Hell Forever

“Despite the irony of furious takedowns and defensiveness inspired by a show about treating people with respect, Ted Lasso has become a shibboleth ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Neo, You Can Take the Blue Pill or You Can Take the Red Pill. Either is Fine, Honestly. Just Don’t Take the Ivermectin

Neo, this is your last chance. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take th... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago