In January 2024, The Oh Well was born out of necessity. This isn’t the first brave attempt someone has made at launching this sort of publication at UNC: there was the Literary Trumpet of 1846, which was a handwritten, front and back piece of paper containing at least one joke. There was the campus magazine Tar Baby, followed by the Carolina Buccaneer and Yellow Journal in the 1930s, and a slew of other satirical magazines that came in their wake. What each one had in common is not just their lively jokes and hard hitting commentary, but their mortality: each only lived for a handful of years before falling off the map.
The Oh Well plans to live for 100 years. It was born out of necessity—campus needed a space for writers who have more to say than what current publications can or want to handle—but we hope it stays out of pure delight, indulgence: wreaking havoc on our institutions and pooping in the pants of everyone who tells us no.
Thanks for reading.
Hannah Kaufman, Founder
