# The Onion's Ben Collins finds hope online again

> The Onion CEO says satire offers catharsis in dark times, and hints at buying a college football bowl game.
- Title: The Onion's Ben Collins finds hope online again · WIRED
- Summary: The Onion CEO says satire offers catharsis in dark times, and hints at buying a college football bowl game.
- Keywords: the onion, ben collins, satire, infowars, alex jones, wired world fair, patti harrison, social media, college football, WIRED
- Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/wired-world-fair-2026-ben-collins-the-onion
- Author: Manisha Krishnan
- Published: 2026-11-05T15:38:07.563+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: the onion, ben collins, satire, infowars, alex jones, wired world fair, patti harrison, social media, college football
## The Onion tried to buy Infowars
Two years ago, after Donald Trump won his second presidential election, The Onion CEO Ben Collins and researcher Kat Abughazaleh decided to try taking over Alex Jones' media empire during what felt like a hopeless…

> Yeah. Nobody else is going to do this.
## The deal fell apart in court
The Onion won the media network in a bankruptcy auction, but a federal judge in Texas struck the deal down. The legal battle is still ongoing.
## Collins feels hopeful after midterms
Speaking at WIRED World Fair in Miami on Wednesday, Collins said Democrats' midterm wins changed things. He noted Texas has a new attorney general who might make a different decision about Infowars.

> I want people to feel hope today because things changed last night.
## The Onion is buying a college football bowl
Collins cagily mentioned The Onion's interest in sports during the panel. On Thursday he posted on Bluesky that The Onion is extremely close to buying a Division one college football bowl series bowl game.

> The Onion is extremely close to buying an honest-to-goodness, Division 1 college football bowl series bowl game.
## Satire cuts through the noise
Collins, a former extremism reporter, said satire lets The Onion state things plainly and get to the heart of the matter faster.Many of The Onion's headlines, including almost everything about RFK Jr.

> We don't need three sources to write down the perfect sentence about what's wrong in the United States.
## The internet needs fixing, Collins says
Collins called the current internet a joy vacuum that takes away anything that could be fun.

> You kind of need to find ways to stay sane when things are so messed up.
## Key takeaway

Ben Collins told an audience at WIRED World Fair that The Onion's satirical approach to politics offers hope and catharsis when things feel hopeless.