Baratunde Thurston

Director of Digital, The Onion

Half comedian, half political beast, half tech strategist. Yes, Baratunde is 1.5 people. He performs, writes, blogs and more. Love is life. Loves his friends. Loves his job. Definitely in the top five percent of luckiest, most satisfied people in the world!

As Director of Digital for The Onion, one of the world's funniest and most successful satirical news brands, Baratunde manages overall web strategy for theonion.com (includes design advice, user experience, special online content features, outside partnerships, social media presence); help coordinate online political coverage across video, audio and print; member of the editorial staff (i.e. be funny!).

He is also the Co-Founder of Jack and Jill Politics, a blog offering what Baratunde describes as a Black Bourgeois perspective on American politics. writing under the name "Jack Turner".  Among mainstream sites, Jack and Jill is referenced heavily by The Washington Post, Politico and Andrew Sullivan. Jack and Jill is a proud member of the Afrosphere. For Jack and Jill, Baratunde attends press calls for the White House and other government/political entities; coordinates event coverage (Democratic National Convention, Inauguration), appears regularly on broadcast media, including ABC News, CNN, MSNBC and NPR and speaks at conferences.