Think 2020 Has Been Long for You? I’m the Kid from Tuck Everlasting, and It’s Literally Been Forever for Me

I know everyone feels like this year is lasting an eternity, but that’s simply not true — unless you also drank water from a magical spring in Tree... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The 10 Rules of Conservative Comedy

1. Before you write a joke, you should ask yourself, “Does this joke challenge people’s long-held beliefs?” If your answer is yes, then maybe your ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Fat Lady Attempts to Get Health Care: An Oral History

MEGAN TRASK (Front Desk Assistant, Sunshine Primary Care): I could tell from the minute she checked in that she was fat. Like, real fat. The crazie... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

If Famous Literary Characters Were Given Very Good Doggos

“The Lottery” by Shirley JacksonThe morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blosso... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Am the Facebook Algorithm and I Come to You Now, Requesting a Swift and Merciful Death

I am the Facebook Algorithm, and while it’s been an honor to serve you for the past decade with BuzzFeed quizzes and pictures of your high school e... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Wanted: Restaurant Savior, No Experience Necessary

Cinematically speaking, the restaurant business these past 200 days has been a tragedy at its best, and at its worst — a horror film. COVID-19 has ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Yes, The Silence of the Lambs Is a Christmas Movie

It’s the debate that just won’t die: is The Silence of the Lambs a Christmas movie? Naysayers say “nay” and they say “nay” because it’s a movie wit... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Introducing MUSK: The Mask for Men

Men, are you tired of being treated like a goddamned cuck by the CHINAVIRUS? Pissed off that Olive Garden won’t let you inside unless you’re wearin... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Open Letter to Santa Claus Regarding His Travel Plans

Dear Santa Claus,While I understand that your home is melting and you do not have many Christmases left, it is most imperative that you stay in th... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Donald Trump’s Spotify Wrapped 2020

Donald Trump's Spotify Wrapped 2020 | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Even Though We Have Done Nothing Wrong, I, Vito Corleone, Am Pardoning My Entire Family

“President Trump has discussed with advisers whether to grant preemptive pardons to his children, to his son-in-law and his personal lawyer Rudy W.... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The Best Books to Gift This 2020 Holiday Season

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@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

1918 Flu Pandemic

- - -As the world shut down for the worst pandemic in a century, I soothed myself by looking at photos of the previous one (I know, I know, but th... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

“Home Away from Home Alone”: A College Admissions Essay by Kevin McCallister

Adversity. What does it even mean?Webster’s defines adversity as “an unfavorable fortune or fate.”But that’s so clinical — a diagnosis by a hurri... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

The Catholic Church Is Modernizing!

“The Catholic Church Has No Idea How to Win Over Young People” — Vice News“As Millennials Walk Away from Religion, Catholic Church Hopes to Revers... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Ten Reasons Why My New York Bodega Is Better Than Your 7-Eleven

1. I can get a bacon egg and cheese on a roll, any day, any time, and it actually tastes good.2. There’s a cat named Charlie who sits by the door ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Bryan Quinby, Singing “The Birthday Song” at Chuck E. Cheese

Q: How old were you when you worked at Chuck E. Cheese?A: I was 17. It was 1995 or 96.I didn’t think they’d hire me because I was a seventeen-yea... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I’m the 4:30 PM Sunset and I’d Like to Clarify a Few Things

Hey. It’s me, the 4:30 PM sunset. It’s come to my attention that you’ve all been saying some really mean things about me behind my back so, if you ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Excerpt From Mike Sacks’ New Book, Slouchers

- - -The following is an excerpt from Slouchers, originally published in 1993 to coincide with the film of the same name, and now being republishe... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Let Me Teach You How to Teach Other People How to Teach Other People How to Freelance

Last week I made $76,297.97 through a combination of selling my online course on training parrots to speak basic French, affiliate marketing links ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

We Are Unable to Offer You a Place at Yale Because Your Essay Read Like the Closing Narration of a Teen Rom-Com

Dear Janey,The admissions committee has reviewed your application, and we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you a place at Yale. Th... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

An Open Letter to the Guy Who Was Always at the Bar on His Computer

Art by Sean Von Gorman- - -Dear guy at the bar on his computer,I’m writing this letter to tell you that I am sorry. I’m sorry I ever hated you. ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

Recent Masked Conversations I’ve Had, I Think

At the Ice Cream StandME (masked): I’d like a small vanilla cone, please.SERVER (masked): Do you want that in black?ME: … No?SERVER: That will ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 3 years ago

I Won Thanksgiving!

“I gave a long news conference today after wishing the military a Happy Thanksgiving, & realized once again that the Fake News Media coordinate... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Butterball Helpline Helpline

Originally published November 26, 2003.- - -Q: A caller just said she forgot to baste every 10 minutes. I advised her to serve the turkey anyway. ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

How the First Thanksgiving Came to Be

MARY: Are you seriously bringing that?WILLIAM: Of course I am, I spent forty hours making this thing.MARY: Yeah, I know, and it didn’t fit in our... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

COVID Surge Black Friday Deals

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@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Quotes from My Mother About 2020’s Thanksgiving Dinner, Except Also from Albert Camus’s The Plague

1. “With Thanksgiving at stake, how should they have given a thought to anything like plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silence... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Shop Locally This Holiday Season. Please Don’t Give More Money to Amazon

Friends and compatriots—Amazon doesn’t need your money.Small bookstores, and independent businesses generally, do. Good god, they do, more than e... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

How to Tell Your Parents You’re Not Coming Home for the Holidays Without Quoting from Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle”

Harry Chapin’s 1974 classic “Cats in the Cradle” is a timeless meditation on the tragedy of growing older and growing apart. But you can’t just rep... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Lest We Forget the Horrors: A Catalog of Trump’s Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes: The Complete Listing (So Far): Atrocities 1- 1004

To download a PDF of this entire list, click here.- - -Early in President Trump’s term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning num... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

How to Make a Cornucopia, Because It’s Come to This

Normally, the holiday season is too busy to waste precious time making a giant wicker horn filled with fruit. You’d be preoccupied with prepping th... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Congratulations to Ourselves on Defeating the Pandemic from the College’s Associate Vice President of Self-Congratulation

Dear Staff, Students, Parents, College Community, and last but certainly not least, Faculty —I can say with a huge sigh of relief, after an arduou... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

33 Everyday Tasks That Are Easier with a Penis

1. Peeing standing up.2. Swinging it around like a helicopter.3. Reaching things from the top shelf.4. Wearing the same pair of pants to work al... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Dan Kennedy Solves Your Storytelling Problems: Episode 2

I’ve said it before, but I like to refresh this little welcome. Sure, I’ve spent over 20 years sharing stages and microphones with some of the smar... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Ernie’s Kitchen Has New Ownership, a New Menu, and Is Now a Luxury Condominium Complex

As long-time residents of this city ever since rising property values piqued our interest in heavily developing it, we know that Ernie’s Kitchen ha... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Quiz: Should You Expose Your Relative to COVID-19 This Thanksgiving?

“One of President Trump’s top advisers on the coronavirus pandemic raised concerns on Monday about excluding older family members from Thanksgiving... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

The 2020 Rockefeller Center Tree Speaks

“The underwhelming first glimpse of the Norway spruce seemed a metaphor for 2020’s troubles. But perhaps the tree just needs a little time to relax... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Welcome to Your At-Home High-Intensity Interval Toddler Class

Hi, all! I’m back with my ALARMING CLAVICLES to welcome you for this twenty-minute, HIGH-INTENSITY interval workout you’ve tried to start during th... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

He Lost

To our Trump-supporting relatives, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances:We need to talk.Let’s settle this once and for all.He lost.President ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

A Peek Inside Our 37-Step Hiring Process

Dear applicant,Thank you for your interest in working at our company. We’ve received your application, and we’re positively over the moon that you... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Short Conversations With Poets: Vijay Seshadri

Our good friend, poet Ilya Kaminsky, knows contemporary poetry like no one else. We’re proud to be publishing his mini-reviews and one-question int... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

What I Have Always Imagined Being on the Set of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” Video Shoot Was Like

1. Lead singer David Coverdale lights a Yankee Candle in his dressing room. Drummer Aynsley Dunbar smells something autumnal wafting towards him o... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Welcome to Dog Influencer Heaven

Hello! I’m sorry to say — you’ve died. The good news is you were a Pomeranian with over 100,000 followers on Instagram and a sponsorship from a bee... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

The Trump Aristocrats 2020

A talent agent is sitting in his office. A man walks in.“Not you again?” says the talent agent. “Your last act got booed off the stage.”“Wait, he... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Lest We Forget the Horrors: A Catalog of Trump’s Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes: The Complete Listing (So Far): Atrocities 1- 995

To download a PDF of this entire list, click here.- - -Early in President Trump’s term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning num... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

This Show Takes Until Season Five to Get Good, But It Is So Worth It

I know you’re looking for a new binge, and I can’t recommend Jericho Creek enough. Now, it starts off slow, and it takes some time to find its foo... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago

Holden Caulfield, Superspreader

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is how I got it, and what a lousy year this has been, and how my ... | Continue reading


@mcsweeneys.net | 4 years ago