For September 23-29, 2026

Hello and welcome to A Newsletter of Humorous Writing, a roundup of the week's finest short humor pieces and funny articles, and a celebration of the fantastic writers who wrote them. This Monday was the nine year anniversary of this Newsletter! This project is now old enough to drive in states where underage driving is a real problem!

We love doing this, and we’re thinking of all of you and especially of Brian this week. Thanks for letting us into your inboxes for so many years.

What We Enjoyed This Week

I’m Going to Have a Third Cup of Coffee, and I Need Everyone to Respect My Decision by Aliza Zelin Neidich (McSweeney’s) Aliza’s formatting choice for this one is very fun. Pulling in so many different characters in the narrator’s life really shows the massive impact this extra cup of coffee has. It’s a fun way to heighten: this small decision is incredibly consequential.

GIRL CODE: What He Texts vs. What He Really Means by Layne Dixon (McSweeney’s) We love how weird this one gets, especially because there are so many directions Layne could have taken this idea. We won’t spoil it, but this piece bifurcates—one half staying in reality while the other rockets off into a surreal trance—making for a wild juxtaposition.

How to Read Good or Maybe Great by Marco Kaye (McSweeney’s) It’s a real feat to find a fresh angle on a topic that’s been discoursed nearly to death. In this piece, Marco finds a new angle on the endlessly-discussed reading crisis by taking us 15 minutes into the future. The slight distance between now and the future Marco is proposing opens up space for lots of fun jokes. (This piece is also relevant to Luke’s newsletter piece about the interesting overlap between sci-fi and short humor.)

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An Old Favorite

This week's Old Favorite is a Brian Agler Selection (TM)--a piece whose accompanying note was written by Brian--from Newsletter #115.

Unfortunately, We Will Be Unable To Publish Your Crossword Puzzle: “The One Thing I’m Afraid Of” by Dan Caprera (The Big Jewel)

We're big fans of Dan Caprera here, and the reason why is that he takes big swings. He's constantly experimenting with different formats and voices, and never relies on easy tropes in order to get a piece over the finish line. Also, he's prolific. There are literally dozens of pieces we could have chosen, but this one stood out. When you read it, you'll see why. He establishes the premise, sticks to the voice, does an expert job building, and manages to keep things logical even though it gets supremely weird by the end. Also, and this is just a bonus tidbit, Dan actually did publish a crossword...so you know the piece comes from a real place.

Do you have an Old Favorite of your own? Let us know by filling out this form and we may run your pick in a future edition of the newsletter.

Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show

There’s still time to get in on two of Luke’s short humor workshops starting next week! Writing from past workshops has gone on to be published by The New Yorker (print and online), McSweeney’s, and more!