satire

Jack Handey is a pro when it comes to interplanetary relations. In this essay from his collection What I’d Say to the Martians: And Other Veiled Threats, the humorist has some tough love for our enemies.

You can call Svetlana Maksimovoskaya an entrepreneurial Russian immigrant. But it might be easier to just call her madam. Kurt talks to the proprietor of the St. Petersburg House of Discreet Pleasure, who’s now the star of a new series on HDNet called “Svetlana.” (She’s really the alter ego of comedian and writer Iris Bahr.)

There were good things happening on the internet in 2014, from ClickHole to Kermit to a great new podcast called Serial. 

Political cartoonists, Haruki Murakami, Nicolas Cage, and emojis win the internet this week. 

Paul Beatty’s new novel, “The Sellout,” is a scathing take on race and self-righteousness in America today. And it might be the funniest book you read all year.