Culture Archives - Page 4 of 31 - Postcards from The Pug Bus

Postcards from The Pug Bus

Lifting a satirical leg on popular culture

Persons in the Ether

Question of the Week

Would you rather live in a treehouse or in a cave?

Lorraine Mudgett, 61, municipal permit folder

Allegedly residing at 27 Wren Ladder Road, Scranton, PA

Treehouse. At least when society collapses, I’ll have a view. A cave feels like giving up with stone furniture.

Calvin Tress, 48, assistant pudding logistics coordinator

Allegedly found at 904 Fern Sink Lane, Tulsa, OK

Cave. No gutters, no ladders, no raccoons judging my curtains. Humanity went indoors for a reason, even if it has since misused the privilege.

Denise Palko, 36, freelance receipt interpreter

Allegedly located at 116 Mossy Bureau Avenue, Boise, ID

Treehouse. A cave says “feral emergency.” A treehouse says “whimsical emergency,” which feels slightly better on a lease application.

Political cartoon depicting Gandhi’s shortcomings, showing Gandhi engaged in several of them..

History remembers the halo. The footnotes remember the man.

Culture

Speaking Ill of the Dead: Gandi’s Shortcomings

philmaggitti cultural commentary 3 months

The question of Gandhi’s shortcomings is, for many, an unwelcome one. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948) occupies a position in the global imagination normally reserved for… Read More

People sitting in a circle of folding chairs at a support group meeting while one person stands and speaks about the personal consequences of going viral online.

Going viral wasn't such a good idea after all.

Culture

When Going Viral Ruins Your Life

philmaggitti cultural commentary 3 months

One tweet about sandwiches should not ruin a life. Unfortunately, social media excels at turning small accidents into permanent identities via the phenomenon known as… Read More

Cartoon illustration of a dog ghostwriting your autobiography at a desk with a typewriter, surrounded by papers, coffee, and beef jerky in a cozy home office.

He insisted on final cut and premium jerky.

Culture

How to Tell If Your Dog Is Ghostwriting Your Autobiography

philmaggitti cultural commentary 4 months

1. Trash as Origin StoryThe first red flag is your memoir’s sudden fixation on garbage. If your formative years are catalogued not by events but… Read More

A vintage 1930s rubber hose animation style illustration featuring a sentient mindfulness app personified as a smartphone with a worried expression, pie-cut eyes, and beads of sweat. The character has exaggerated, bouncy limbs and is surrounded by anxious alarm clocks and coffee mugs against a grainy, black and white film texture background.

This sentient app is now so present in the moment that it is having a full-scale panic attack.

Culture

Mindfulness App Achieves Sentience: Immediately Develops Anxiety

philmaggitti cultural commentary 4 months

The trouble began on a Tuesday morning in Portland, Oregon, when Serenity Now—the world’s most downloaded mindfulness app, with 47 million active users and a… Read More

A satirical cartoon of Ozzie Nelson captures him in a sanitized 1950s living room. He wears his signature brown cardigan with a tie, displaying an unctuous grin that suggests a man holding his family in a polite hostage situation. The illustration is framed like a television set. Since a drawing cannot sue for libel, this image accurately reflects the control freak who engineered a fictional reality while dictating the unscripted lives of his family.

A man who spent fourteen seasons doing nothing on camera so he could spend twenty-four hours a day controlling everything off camera.

Culture

Speaking Ill of the Dead: Because They Cannot Sue for Libel

philmaggitti cultural commentary 4 months

This is the first installment of Speaking Ill of the Dead, a column born of the belief that just because someone has taken the long… Read More

A satirical image of a couple, Megan and Tyler, attempting to manage an open relationship as a corporate startup. Tyler stands before a whiteboard labeled "Henson Relationship Ventures" covered in complex flowcharts and the phrase "Open to New Energy," while Megan sits on a rug with a laptop, looking distressed.

While many individuals are theoretically interested in an open relationship, few are interested in an open spreadsheet.

Culture

Couple Announces Open Relationship, Can’t Find Any Takers

philmaggitti cultural commentary 4 months

Megan and Tyler Henson, of no particular place worth mentioning, announced last week that they were launching an open relationship available to the general public,… Read More

An image of meteorologist Courtney Stratus sitting in a red booth at the Pancake Palace while providing her unique fashion tips. She wears a slate-gray cardigan and a light blue blouse,

Courtney Stratus dictates her fashion tips with the rhythmic monotony of a weather broadcast.

Culture

Local Weather Forecaster Shares Fashion Tips

philmaggitti cultural commentary 4 months

Meteorologist Courtney Stratus does not simply enter a booth at the local Pancake Palace; she propagates into it. At twenty-four, she possesses the kind of… Read More

Illustration for Returning Valentine Presents showing three adults solemnly gathered around a small, carefully contained fire made of curling paper receipts, one holding a long match like a ceremonial torch.

Nothing says closure like combustion.

Culture

Book of Daze: Returning Valentine Presents Day

philmaggitti cultural commentary 4 months

The annual tradition of Returning Valentine Presents is marked by a fevered procession to the customer service counter of every department store in the nation.… Read More