Exploring Satire with The Onion and The New Yorker

Thursday, August 6 6:00-7:00 pm
Buy Tickets General: $30 | Member: $25 | Student: $20

Step into the sharp, subversive world of satire, past and present, in this lively panel inspired by the Driehaus Museum’s exhibition Ink & Outrage: 18th-Century Satirical Prints in London & Dublin. Using the exhibition as a springboard, writers and contributors from The Onion and The New Yorker will bring the conversation into the present day, exploring how satire is crafted, circulated, and received in today’s fast-moving media landscape.

This discussion focuses on the enduring mechanics of satire, its targets, its techniques, and its cultural impact. Panelists will reflect on how their own practices echo (or diverge from) historical traditions, revealing how, in many ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Moderated by Colin Barr of the University of Notre Dame, whose scholarship bridges Irish and English history, the conversation offers audiences a unique opportunity to connect the incisive humor of the 18th century with the satirical voices shaping public discourse today. Whether you’re a longtime fan of contemporary satire or newly curious, this program invites you to see both past and present with fresh eyes.

Your ticket includes admission to the Museum. The Museum is open to the public 11am-5pm on Thursday, August 6 and will remain open until 6pm for guests with tickets to this program. If you are unable to visit the Museum before the program, your ticket is good for entry once until the Ink and Outrage exhibition closes on September 13.

About the Panelists
Colin Barr (Moderator) is professor of modern Irish history in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and the Thomas Moore and Judy Livingston Director of the Keough School’s Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies. Barr was born in Canada and raised in the United States. He holds a B.A. from Stonehill College and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and has held academic appointments in Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom. Barr’s work seeks to place the history of the island of Ireland and its peoples in the widest possible context, including that of the United Kingdom, the continent of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church and the global Irish Diaspora.

Tom Bachtell is a freelance cartoonist and caricaturist and illustrator. His distinctive drawings appeared in The New Yorker’s Talk of the Town section for 25 years, and he contributes regularly to the New York Review of Books. His work also appears in Politico and i-D Magazine. Tom illustrated Bag Man (Crown 2020) by Rachel Maddow, and recently published his first children’s book, The WhyBecause Book – Das Warum-Weil Buch in Germany (Tanja Langer 2025).

Mike Gillis is head writer for The Onion. He’s also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Tricycle, ClickHole, and the Supreme Court (in the form of a recent amicus brief in defense of parody and free speech).

Rob Knoll is a staff writer at The Onion. He has also written for the website ClickHole.

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Tags: Chicago, Colin Barr, Exploring Satire with The Onion and The New Yorker, Mike Gillis, Rob Knoll, The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Tom Bachtell