AdrianoJul 20, 2025
Josh Sutphin
This rules so hard ❤️
https://www.status.news/p/the-onion-ben-collins-interview
Jul 8, 2025 at 3:21pmWeb
Show threadThadJul 8, 2025

@joshsutphin When the buyout was announced my reaction was "The Onion has been bought out by people who actually like and understand it."

It's a delight every month to see the big white envelope in my mailbox.

Show threadJosh SutphinJul 8, 2025
@Thad I somehow missed all of that. I'd been aware of The Onion of course, but never followed it closely, nor subscribed; that may be about to change though!
Show threadThadJul 8, 2025

@joshsutphin Here are a couple of good articles from last year:

https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/the-onion-sold-global-tetrahedron-1235982383/

https://www.theverge.com/24225592/the-onion-new-owners-print-newspaper-digital-media-gawker-ben-collins-decoder-interview

The Onion Sold to Global Tetrahedron, Owned by Twilio's Jeff Lawson

The Onion was sold to "Global Tetrahedron," owned by Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson and led by CEO Ben Collins, former NBC News internet reporter.

Variety
Show threadJosh SutphinJul 8, 2025

@Thad Oh, this is like *recent*.

(I mean, okay, it's at least six major epochs in Internet Time, and even in meatspace time last year feels like a decade ago, but still.)

Getting them out from under private equity is real good. This news makes me happy.

Show threadThadJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin AV Club seems to be doing okay too, though they got bought out by a different company and aren't part of the Onion anymore.
Show threadmarmartaJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin what a lovely piece. I wish we-as-society normalized having companies that have as a goal "do a neat thing in a way that allows the people doing the thing to live normal, decent lives". Not accumulate more and more wealth, just: do a neat thing. Have a liveable wage.
Show threadJosh SutphinJul 8, 2025
@marmarta I also really appreciate his point about letting the people who do the thing, *do the thing*. Too many companies' upper leadership constantly interfere, instead of letting the experts they hired actually apply their expertise. Applying one's expertise gives joy and fulfillment and self-worth! All of this is (or can be) a virtuous cycle!
Show threadrfJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin something i greatly value is the many years my work ran as a small company as a reference point for how that way of doing things absolutely can work (and profitably!)
Show threadJosh SutphinJul 8, 2025

@rf My whole game dev career before 2020 was at small(ish) studios, and they were *so much better* than the big corporate studio I worked for afterward.

My wife and I are running a small press now to get back to this kind of vibe. The corporate world is a mess.

Show threadlemgandiJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin Aright, I am convinced. Just kicked $99 for a hard-copy subscription.
Show threadRobin BartonJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin Very perceptive stance and one I find I support
Show threadnantucketlitJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin My mom had a copy of an Onion omnibus at home when I was a kid. Looking back, I learned a lot about critical thinking and media literacy from reading The Onion. Same goes with Mad Magazine.
Show threadDavid Palk#RejoinEU 💖🇪🇺🕊🌈Jul 8, 2025
@nantucketebooks @joshsutphin O the halcyon days of MAD . We were all so innocent back then. ✊ 😎
Show threadHey GusJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin we are approaching the farmer’s market era of tech and I ain’t sad about it.
Show threadPatrick HogenboomJul 8, 2025
@joshsutphin Thanks so much for pointing this out! Subscribed :D
Show thread6DoF MotionJul 11, 2025
@joshsutphin This popped for me, RE business, and in my case software development: "You actually can do this, you know. You can just try to highlight the beauty of things you like and not try to vampirically extract value at every step."
Show threadAnthony BakerJul 29, 2025
@joshsutphin @mako Good lord this is so good.