by Today, something unexpected happened Actually, that’s a lie. Everything was entirely predictable, which is somehow worse.
This morning, I woke up thinking about Africa, which is not my usual first thought. But we’re covering Trump’s Nigeria crisis, and I needed to do research. International relations are complicated enough without adding unpredictable foreign policy decisions to the mix. My brain hurts from trying to follow the logic, which I suspect is the point.
I spent most of my morning reading about Nigeria and trying to understand the complexities of the situation. Then I spent the afternoon trying to satirize those complexities without being reductive or offensive, which is harder than it sounds. Satire requires nuance, especially when you’re writing about international issues. You can’t just make lazy jokes about foreign countries. Well, you can, but they won’t be good jokes.
Later in the day, I realized that we’ve been covering a lot of international stories lately. The Xinjiang tourism boom piece we published last week is still getting reactions. Some people loved it, some people thought we didn’t go far enough, and some people completely missed the satire and thought we were seriously promoting tourism to a region with documented human rights abuses. Reading comprehension is dead.
The highlight of my day was working on another tariff announcement story. We’ve covered tariffs so many times now that I have a template. “Trump announces [RANDOM PERCENTAGE] tariffs on [RANDOM COUNTRY] because [INCOHERENT REASONING]. Economists say [NEGATIVE PREDICTION]. Stock market [VOLATILE REACTION]. American consumers [SUFFER]. End scene.” It’s like Mad Libs but depressing.
Something small but meaningful happened today: a source actually responded to my interview request. Usually, people ignore emails from satirical magazines, which is fair. But this person not only responded but gave me really thoughtful quotes about government policy. They understood we’re doing serious work even when we’re being funny. That was nice.
This afternoon brought a surprising turn of events when our editor suggested I start developing my own beat instead of just covering whatever gets assigned. I’m thinking about focusing on domestic policy stuffimmigration, healthcare, that kind of thing. There’s certainly no shortage of material.
As I reflect on what happened today, I’m grateful for the weird career path that led me here. Five years ago, I never would have imagined I’d be writing satirical journalism about tariffs and international crises. But here we are, and honestly? I love it.
Diary Entry # 2025-09-23-752
MY HOME PAGE: Bohiney Magazine (Stephanie Curry)
