In January, The Grolier Club in New York City opened a room-sized exhibit that’s a history of the United States as told through magazines. For the magazine fan, as myself, it’s one not to miss. While travel restrictions may keep you from an in-person visit, […]
I’ve worked at magazines for a large part of my career, and part of what I have enjoyed most is the feeling of accomplishment in seeing all of the work, writing and design come together to make the final printed product. I’ve even enjoyed watching […]
I’ve save the first of Robert Richardson’s trio of outstanding biographies for last: Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind. I would highly recommend William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism and Emerson: The Mind on Fire. The publisher’s description: “The two years Thoreau […]
I love the opening description in this story of news in the 19th century, Ghosts of Newspaper Row: “The reporters would pant up five flights of stairs to reach their dingy, dim newsrooms, where light eked through the dirt-cloaked windows and the green shades over […]
It goes without saying that we live in frenetic times. This article by Alan Jacobs in Harpers gets to the heart of how we live today. Quoting the work of German sociologist Gerd-Günter Voss, Jacobs highlights how three forms of life developed over centuries: traditional […]
I’m looking forward to reading Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s latest book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. The New York Times has already called it an instant American classic. A description from the publisher: “In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful […]
The New York Times has been having fun looking at celebrity bookcases that serve as backdrops during this era of Zoom videos. What does your bookcase say about you?
For a limited time, American Masters is streaming its latest documentary for free: Miles Davis: Birth of Cool. From the producer: “Discover the man behind the legend. With full access to the Miles Davis Estate, the film features never-before-seen footage, including studio outtakes from his […]
This is a documentary I can’t wait to see: The Booksellers. It opens March 6. From the producer’s description: “Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play […]
Can journalism be saved? That’s the question and the title of Nicholas Lemann’s new piece in the New York Review of Books. Lemann examines the issue by reviewing many of the recent books written on the crisis the industry has faced in recent years. One […]
Poynter has a good story that looks at how REI transitioned from using a traditional catalog to publishing a magazine called Uncommon Path. As the article points out, this “uncommon path” of producing a magazine may actually becoming more common as corporate marketers continue to […]
