In 2024 a team of scientists with a dry sense of humor announced the name of a newly discovered but extinct species: the obliterated whitefish.
Extinction is deadly serious, but you have to admit that’s a brilliant name for a species — a name that makes us sit up and take notice of the fact that we wiped that creature out of existence.
Wordplay like that, along with other forms of comedy and satire addressing critical issues, can cut through the crap and make us think about things from angles we hadn’t considered.
They can also help release some of the damned tension and get us out of our seemingly endless cycles of doomscrolling.
Plus, sometimes it feels like laughter itself is an endangered species. In a world where political lampoons, criticism of authority, and free speech are increasingly under threat — just look at the void left by the end of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show — we need the edginess of humor more than ever.
The Revelator isn’t a comedic publication, but over the past nine years we’ve used humor more often than most other environmental publications to mock, educate, inform, or blast through the noise. Obviously all humor is subjective — one person’s comedy is another’s tragedy, or a demagogue’s perceived insult — but here are some of our favorites:
Living Will Template for Critically Endangered Species by Elizabeth Preston — Satire wielded like a scalpel.
Wasted Water: The Crappiest Places in America — Literally by Dipika Kadaba — Visuals that go a long way toward making a distasteful story more palatable.
Pattie Gonia: Nature’s Warrior Queen by Gabrielle Faust — This climate-fighting drag queen is a hoot (and a force of nature).
Critical Critters Call for Gonzovationists — Artist Ralph Steadman and writer Ceri Levy make us laugh while worrying about extinction.
Global Warming Funnies — An interview with cartoonist Tom Toro discussing humor as fuel for resistance. (For ongoing Tom Toro cartoons, subscribe to our newsletter.)
Time to Let This Conservation Jargon Go Extinct? — In which I mock some overused but underdeveloped language to make a point or six.
A Cartoonist Finds Hope Amid the Apocalypse(s) — A dual interview with Peter Kuper about his two new environmental books.
A Gulf of Misunderstanding by Karl Meyer — A journalist blasts righteous anger as President Trump tries to rebrand the Gulf of Mexico.
Here There Be Monsters (Made of Coal, Plastic and Pesticides) — Artists Laura and Gary Dumm challenge viewers with images of pop-culture monsters facing ecological collapse.
Comics for Earth: Eight New Graphic Novels About Saving the Planet and Celebrating Wildlife — The reviews aren’t so funny, but check out the books.
‘Three Rivers of Woe’ — David Quammen on Climate Change, Extinction, and Epidemics — Okay, I’ll admit it, this one doesn’t sound like a laugh riot, but Quammen (a bestselling author) talks about the value of humor in getting readers to care about environmental issues. (Similarly, wildlife journalist Jason Bittel discussed the role of humor in his writing when I interviewed him about his book, Grizzled.)
Let’s Rename the Day After Thanksgiving ‘Extinction Friday’ — Commercialism seen through the lens of its inanity.
Let’s Put More Effort Into Investigating and Prosecuting Environmental Crimes — Sometimes the photo accompanying an article serves an extra purpose.
A Steal of a Deal: How Ranchers Take Advantage of Public Lands by Dipika Kadaba and John R. Platt — A fun video on an unfun practice.
The Earth Reviews Her Activists by Rev. Billy Talen — One of many essays we’ve published by this singular activist, who headlines an artistic activist group and choir. Talen, whom we’ve also interviewed, and his partner Savitri D are masters at using confrontational humor.
Finally, here are some book columns that include a few tomes satirizing the people and systems causing climate change and other environmental problems:
What are your favorite examples of using humor to help the planet? Send your suggestions to [email protected] — and look forward to (or look out for) more satire or outrage from us in the weeks ahead.