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March 18, 2025

The Onion Origin Story You Haven't Heard

City Cast Madison

The Onion Origin Story You Haven't Heard

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Everyone knows the satirical news outlet The Onion. But did you know that The Onion’s roots are in Madison? The online behemoth was started in 1988 by a group of UW-Madison students and their friends simply as a way to earn some extra cash. But little did they know it would grow to be something so much bigger than they could have ever imagined. To get the details on the origins of The Onion and why it still strikes a nerve with folks, we sat down with Christine Wenc, author of “Funny Because It's True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire” and one of the original Onion staffers.

Catch Christine in conversation with Steve Paulson, executive producer of To the Best of Our Knowledge, March 18 at the Art Lit Lab.

Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram

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