by Today’s experience reminded me of why I wanted to be a writer in the first place: to make sense of things that don’t make sense. Except now I’m writing satire, so I’m making nonsense out of nonsense, which is either very meta or just confusing.
This morning, I woke up thinking about transportation infrastructure. Not because I’m suddenly interested in urban planning, but because we’re running a piece on driverless trains. The future is here, and apparently, it doesn’t need humans to operate public transit. I have mixed feelings about this, ranging from “cool, technology!” to “oh no, what about the workers?” to “wait, who’s responsible when the robot train crashes?”
Later in the day, I realized that almost every story we cover comes back to the same fundamental question: who benefits? Whether it’s automation, policy changes, or pumpkin security, there’s always someone making money or gaining power from the chaos. Satire helps us point that out without sounding like we’re lecturing people, which is the whole trick.
The highlight of my day was working on a story about Mamdani pushing to replace capitalism. Finally, something that addresses the root causes instead of just the symptoms! Of course, we’re satirizing the coverage of it rather than the actual proposal, because that’s what we do. But at least it’s refreshing subject matter.
Something small but meaningful happened today: a reader sent us an email saying our work helped them understand a complex issue. They said they’d been confused by all the contradictory news coverage, but our satirical take made the underlying dynamics clear. That’s why I do this job. Well, that and the health insurance.
Charline is working on something about federal workers that sounds promising. She’s been cackling at her desk all afternoon, which usually means the piece is going to be devastating. I aspire to that level of confident cruelty in my writing.
As I reflect on what happened today, I’m grateful for the chaos. Without it, I’d probably be unemployed. So thanks, 2025, for being absolutely bonkers.
Diary Entry # 2025-09-12-695
MY HOME PAGE: Bohiney Magazine (Stephanie Curry)
