December 6, 2014

"A Callow, Clickbait-Obsessed Millionaire Bought Their Magazine. What These Writers Did Next Was Amazing."

Most-liked comment at the Facebook post by Julia Ioffe (joined by 11 other TNR writers) that begins:
Today, I did something I thought I'd never do and quit The New Republic. It has been, hands down, the happiest, most satisfying, most intellectually stimulating place I've ever worked and my colleagues were, hands down, the most competent, talented, and decent people in the business....
AND: At another Facebook post about the TNR shakeup, my son John has this comment:
When I was growing up, my mom (Ann Althouse) subscribed to TNR, the New Yorker, Harper's, the Atlantic Monthly, the Nation, the Utne Reader, and the New York Times. So those were always around the house, and I read all of them. TNR stood out as the best.
Could you possibly make me look more liberal? Yes! I also subscribed to The New York Review of Books.

38 comments:

The Godfather said...

Althouse subscribed to "TNR, the New Yorker, Harper's, the Atlantic Monthly, the Nation, the Utne Reader, and the New York Times". Not a bad selection from the deadtree media. There was a time when the NYT really did provide excellent news coverage; long ago. I was a regular reader of the New Yorker for years, mostly for the cartoons and to find good restaurants and shows to go to on twice a year trips from DC to the big apple.

But off and on for years I regarded the New Republic as the place that an intelligent conservative could find intelligent liberal commentary. Now I will just have to rely on the comments at Althouse.com for that.

SteveR said...

It has been, hands down, the happiest, most satisfying, most intellectually stimulating place I've ever worked and my colleagues were, hands down, the most competent, talented, and decent people in the business....

Well that's just super. Someday she might have to get a job like most people get.

Ann Althouse said...

I still subscribe to The New Yorker, The New Republic, and Harpers. I read The Atlantic and The Nation on line, and I have a web-only subscription to the NYT.

cubanbob said...

Maybe AA ought to suscribe to the WSJ, NR and perhaps the Weekly Standard for balance.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

I've subscribed to all of these except the Utne Reader, and we still have the Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker, and the NYT (online). It wasn't entirely a liberal lot; First Things and National Review balanced the scales somewhat :-) Besides, TNR was not then (early 90s) an especially liberal zine.

The Godfather: But off and on for years I regarded the New Republic as the place that an intelligent conservative could find intelligent liberal commentary. Now I will just have to rely on the comments at Althouse.com for that.

Oh, there are a few other blogs. Megan McArdle springs to mind.

Ken B said...

How sharper than a serpent's tooth to have an honest child.

Ron said...

"Son outs fauxservative blogger Mom!"

Saint Croix said...

The New Republic was a great magazine back in the day. Fred Barnes, Mickey Kaus, Michael Kinsley. And you could not find a harder line on Israel. They frickin' loved Israel. It was neocon utopia for like a decade.

Achilles said...

I am sure the quality of TNR will improve now there is a different rich progressive in charge.

Quaestor said...

Had a lot of caged birds and fish to wrap, is that the reason?

Ann Althouse said...

I subscribed to National Review after 9/11. I think I've had a Weekly Standard subscription. I read both magazines on line. Neither fits closely to my blogging predelictions, which, politically, have mostly to do with liberals annoying me. I don't feel as much pressure to monitor conservatives. That doesn't mean I like them.

George M. Spencer said...

Ah, but did you subscribe to The Whole Earth Review!

David said...

You could look at it as a tribute to your capacity for independent thought that you overcame all that propaganda.

madAsHell said...

People still subscribe to magazines??

Sebastian said...

"I don't feel as much pressure to monitor conservatives. That doesn't mean I like them."

We know . . .

But we do appreciate your willingness to keep up a conversation of sorts with conservatives. It's rare.

Fred Drinkwater said...

I got Utne Reader for a year or so in the 90s, and gave it up. I LIVED on Scientific American in the 60s and 70s, but had to give that up when they started pandering to the politically inclined. I read The New Yorker for McPhee and a couple others, but no longer. I replaced Scientific American with The Economist at age 40. I still look at the Atlantic on occasion. The last print rag I habitually read from cover to cover was a little 12-page thing called Aviation Safety, full of incident reports and the like. Good times, but I'm not flying anymore and can't justify the anxiety energy it takes to get though it.
Customers change, of course, but I've concluded that editorial policies change faster, and generally in an unfavorable direction (from a purely business strategy POV).

Jason said...

The TNR staff was so brilliant and competent they couldn't put out a profitable magazine?

Anonymous said...

I wonder why these people quit so quickly. Why not think about your future? Who is going to pay your rent (for example)? I mean, Frank Foer is rich. Leon is super rich. They have career savings. These new journos quit after 3-4 years at TNR. What now? Are they going to move in with their parents? I mean there is a story here.

Who is the most saddest on this event: Hillary!

The Take-Back-The White House campaign depended on free support. They have from NYT. TNR , the in-flight magazine of Air Force One during the Clinton House years , could have been a great source.

Skeptical Voter said...

Ms. Althouse we'll cut you some slack on looking liberal.

I understand that tomorrow will be "Mouning in Madison" after Urban Meyer's boys get through with the Wisconsin football team tonight.

William said...

I still subscribe to The New Yorker. They have a liberal slant, but there's always at least one article worth reading. And bad writing is more annoying than a liberal bias. I sporadically subscribe to the New York Review of Books. Some of their stuff is almost interesting, but tilts over to the boring when you're halfway through. Then you feel vaguely guilty for not finishing it. The New York Review is like a foundling home for abandoned articles. .....The Smithsonian is pretty good. They always have lots of interesting pictures........I suppose in their years and years of history Harper's, The Atlantic, TNR, and the Nation must have been occasionally interesting, but who can live that long waiting for the next good editor,

sean said...

Wow, I read all those magazines once, but I was an undergraduate. I would have thought someone with a doctorate would read scholarly journals and real books.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

The New Republic was worth reading, the Atlantic was a good collection of diverse voices with longer-form content, and the NYRB featured some interesting takes from a wide range of intellectual heavyweights once, long ago...the Nation, though, I'm not sure how to save that one.

Wayne said...

Could you make Althouse look MORE liberal? Let's see. UW professor. Obama voter. Hm...

Skipper said...

Sooner or later, the truth will out.

Skipper said...

Not to forget, TNR was in the capable editorial hands of Michael Straight, an avowed, somewhat repentant, Communist spy.

Scott said...

"[TNR publisher Guy] Vidra’s general vision of what TNR will look like going forward does read like someone went to a TED talk in Palo Alto and mined every business cliche possible..." Dan Drezner, WaPo

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Maybe AA ought to suscribe to the WSJ, NR and perhaps the Weekly Standard for balance."

If you have common sense and sanity you already know what the conservative mags are saying. I've always found the lefty mags far more entertaining. Once The National Lampoon cratered, The Nation was the logical replacement.

Michael K said...

I read TNR for years. Ditto for Scientific American until they veered left. I used to read lefty blogs like Kevin Drum and Washington Monthly. They started deleting my comments and then they got boring (not just my comments but any that did not follow the party line) and I gave up. I kind of enjoyed the debates but they don't want debates.

I read City Journal and Claremont Review. The NYRB lost me when I read the classifieds one time and the personals said "No Republicans." Women who are reduced to advertising for dates should not be so choosy and I quit reading it.

Trashhauler said...

"Neither fits closely to my blogging predelictions, which, politically, have mostly to do with liberals annoying me."

So, you subjected your son to all those liberal magazines because you preferred to read annoying stuff about liberals and you planned to start a blog after he entered college? You're right. He does make you sound pretty liberal.

Ctmom4 said...

The Nation? For shame . Was that before the odious Katrina Vanden Heuvel?

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tim in vermont said...

We all knew you were liberal Althouse, we appreciate that you don't delete our comments.

Conservatives often annoy me too. I can't stand Fox News, for example. Even if finding lies on there is pretty hard, despite what many liberals often say. National Review, the Weekly Standard, The Blaze? I don't read them. It is far more entertaining to read liberal news sources.

kcom said...

It's rare.

Indeed.

James Wolf said...

What I find interesting reading the comments from the liberal side is all the vitriol directed at Peretz's tenure. I guess the despise heretics.

George M. Spencer said...

And the there is Slate.

What junk it has become.

Current head lines there: "My Wife is a Spendthrift" and "Can Whole Foods Help Detroit's Poor Eat Better"

But, hey, it's the only way to go to stay in business, unless you have people/institutions backing you for ideological reasons.

Jupiter said...

tim in vermont said...
"It is far more entertaining to read liberal news sources."

When you stare into the abyss ...

Jupiter said...

St. George said...
And the there is Slate.

What junk it has become.

Current head lines there: "My Wife is a Spendthrift" and "Can Whole Foods Help Detroit's Poor Eat Better"

Actually, that Whole Foods one was pretty funny. The author followed the hippies at WF around while they try to convince the denizens of Detroit to buy organic food at twice the price because it is better for them. The insufferable attempting to mislead the oblivious.

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