the onion

gawker links to an interview with the onion's senior editor, carol kolb.

also, here's a 'fresh air' interview with kolb and onion editor-in-chief robert siegel, but it's not as good.

The emails I like the best are the ones where someone believes The Onion is real, or someone doesn't really get a straight-faced or sarcastic article and soapboxes to us the very point that we were trying to convey with the article. The emails are really hilarious, actually. When we did this op-ed, "Mary Kate Is Dragging Ashley Down" and we got 800 emails in big pink letters protesting this. They were the best thing ever.
[...]
HB: You've been involved with the publication since 1996, which I believe qualifies you as a "seasoned veteran" in the world of humor writing. Are there any tips or words of advice you can offer to all the budding satirists out there?

CK: Yeah, have a really awful childhood. Get fingered by your uncle when you're eight or something like that. No, I think that it helps to just write a lot. Try not to fall in love with your writing. Find some people that you think are funny and find out what they laugh at. But ignore the advice of everyone else. If you're trying to be funny, then make sure you complete that job. Don't let the "point" drag the piece down. Don't shy away from controversial topics, but be careful who ends up as the target of your joke. You know, there's no reason not to make a joke about homelessness or whatever, but making fun of a bum for stinking probably isn't the way to go. Well, unless the joke has funny wording. Ah, I don't know. Listen to me talk. What do I know?