Alexandra Petri Joins The Atlantic, Wins 2025 Thurber Prize for Humor
Satirist Alexandra Petri joined The Atlantic as a staff writer in 2025 and won the Thurber Prize for a book of invented U.S. history documents.
Alexandra Petri joined The Atlantic as a staff writer in 2025, moving from the Washington Post, where she had written a long-running humor column. The transition coincided with a career milestone: she won the 2025 Thurber Prize for American Humor for her book AP's US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up).
The move places one of American political satire's more prolific voices at a magazine that has expanded its comedy and ideas coverage. Petri's Atlantic output has stayed close to her established beat, skewering Washington institutions and national political theater through short, format-driven pieces.
What she is writing
Her recent columns for the publication take familiar targets and run them through absurdist premises. One July 2026 piece, "If Other Jobs Were Like a U.S. Senator's," imagines everyday professionals adopting the habits of lawmakers, including a dentist who disappears for months while continuing to trade stocks. Another, "No Worries! Trump Will Make a Call and Fix It," applies mock reassurance to U.S. soccer fans.
The range across her Atlantic archive is narrow by design. Entries include reflections on a state fair, a satirical guide attributed to the Supreme Court majority on drawing congressional maps, and a recurring device of ventriloquizing historical figures, such as former presidents commenting on a UFC event. The through-line is procedural satire: taking the language of press releases, official guidance, and campaign messaging, then pushing it slightly past plausibility.
The Thurber Prize book
The 2025 Thurber Prize, awarded for AP's US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up), recognized a book built entirely on invented primary sources, a parody of how national history gets packaged and taught. It is her third book, following Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why: Essays and A Field Guide to Awkward Silences.
Beyond her column work, Petri's writing has appeared in McSweeney's and the New Yorker's Daily Shouts.
Why the hire matters
Staff satire remains a small category at general-interest outlets, and dedicated humor columnists with national reach are rare. Petri's arrival gives The Atlantic a consistent comedic voice attached to its political and cultural coverage, a lane the magazine has signaled interest in through its comedy section. For readers, the practical shift is where to find her byline: the same style of Washington-focused parody now runs under a different masthead.
