Before social media and smartphones, The Onion ruled satire

You know and love The Onion, with its smart, funny satire that skewers the real world while creating a brilliant universe of “Area Man” stories.

But a lot’s changed since The Onion became big in the 1990s. The Onion predates the modern internet, social media and smartphones. For many years, The Onion was a print newspaper that barely had a website.

In the 2020s, it’s about two decades since The Onion was at the height of its powers. So are we doing here? Each week, we look at The Onion from exactly 20 years ago.

So much can change in a single generation with humor or society. We’ll also discover what hasn’t changed and what parts of The Onion still shine today.

Sign up for a free Sunday email that shows what The Onion was doing 20 years ago.* Want a preview? Here’s the 9/11 issue and The Onion’s coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Kick back on the weekend with The Onion: 20 Years Later. It’s free and direct to your inbox.

*We publish most Sundays, except when The Onion itself took time off.

We also occasionally publish reviews of The Onion’s return to a monthly print newspaper starting in fall 2024. You can see that archive here.

Also, I’m not affiliated with The Onion. This is just for fun.

Affiliates Disclaimer

This site may contain links to affiliate websites, and we receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you on the affiliate website using such links.

I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated websites.