Satiric Nature

Mike Gillis ’12 slices and dices the news as head writer at ‘The Onion.’

“There’s purity and elegance to writing a great headline—you’ve got to sell it right away,” says Gillis of his work directing a group of 10 writers at the Chicago-based publication famous for its biting, off-kilter humor.

Is there pressure to be funny? “We’re very meticulous and detail-oriented and obsessive and neurotic,” says Gillis. “If your idea is met with devastating silence, get used to it. We try to stop caring so much about being funny—we view satire as a pressure valve in pointing out the flaws and foibles of society.”

The former DAM intern has worked at The Onion—his dream job—for 10 years. He recently branched out to produce movie review parodies for the 35-year-old institution, whose Latin motto, Tu stultus es, means “You are dumb.”

Gillis majored in creative writing and cognitive science, an odd pairing: “I assumed I would work in the neuroscience lab because I’d never make any money as a writer.” It’s safe to say he found his calling. “I gravitate toward the really absurd,” he explains. 

 

Portfolio

Book cover for Conflict Resilience with blue and orange colors
Alumni Books
New titles from Dartmouth writers (May/June 2025)
Woman wearing collard shirt and blazer
Origin Story
Physicist Sara Imari Walker, Adv’10, goes deep on the emergence of life.
Commencement and Reunions

A sketchbook

Illustration of baseball player swinging a bat
Ben Rice ’22
A New York Yankee on navigating professional baseball

Recent Issues

May-June 2025

May-June 2025

March-April 2025

March-April 2025

January-February 2025

January-February 2025

November-December 2024

November-December 2024

September-October 2024

September-October 2024

July-August 2024

July-August 2024