Co-Founder of The Onion Scott Dikkers to deliver Carleton convocation
Dikkers is the owner, co-founder and editor in chief of The Onion, the original “fake news” platform that has become an iconic brand in American comedy.
Scott Dikkers, co-founder of The Onion, one of today’s most recognized satirical media companies, will deliver the convocation address on Friday, Jan. 27 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel.
Dikkers is the owner, co-founder and editor in chief of The Onion, the original “fake news” platform that has become an iconic brand in American comedy. The platform often features a dark sense of humor, which Dikkers shares, using comedy to find solace and inspiration after growing up surrounded by poverty, divorce and bullying. Dikkers has made it a point to bring together staff at The Onion who come from similarly unstable pasts and share his comedic sensibilities, thereby cultivating the creative freedom that has allowed The Onion to stand out against the modern media landscape.
Dikkers is the author of numerous books, including the best selling “How to Write Funny,” which has also inspired a podcast and website full of free resources for up-and-coming comics. A collection of Dikkers’ Jim’s Journal cartoons, “I Went to College, and It Was Okay,” was an Amazon best seller, and the first book in the collection was partially inspired by Carleton’s residential college atmosphere. He is also a novelist, with his latest fiction book, “The Joke at the End of the World,” published in 2020. Over the course of his career, he has been honored with a Peabody Award, dozens of Webby Awards and the Thurber Prize for American Humor, one of the highest recognitions of the art of humor writing in the United States.
Dikkers is also a skilled voice actor who has featured in a variety of national commercials, cartoons and video games in addition to Saturday Night Live’s “TV Funhouse.” He has been a film writer and director as well, with multiple award-winning short films and two feature films.
Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.