Bold choice to write a satire in 2026 is a sentiment I’ve come across more than once lately. Boldness is inherent in the act of writing satire, and always has been. But in the context of the present moment, what I take this to mean is that it is difficult, maybe impossible, to outdo for artistic effect the absurdity of our current socio-political reality.

Article continues after advertisement

In other words: satire is dead.

It is true that a writers’ room might struggle to comically exaggerate the events of the last week alone. The President of the United States shared an AI-generated image that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ.…