Some Disturbingly Relevant Legacies of Anticommunism

More than once, when i’ve been introduced to someone as the former longtime editor of The Nation, that person has asked me: “Did you found the magazine?” And more than once, I have resisted the temptation to denounce the questioner. I am old (82 last July), but not that old. However, the truth is that when, in the late 1970s, I had the …

A New Magazine for the 1%

On February 22, the New York Times breathlessly unveiled its redesigned Sunday magazine. The cover featured a globe in the blackness of space with the tagline “Hello, World.” “A Remade Magazine, Thinking Globally” the paper proclaimed on its front page, emphasizing that the new design would showcase international stories and embody “a renewed spirit of inquiry that is both subversive and sincere.” Better adjectives, once …

Are You Strong Enough to Unplug for 24 Hours?

I admit that the idea of disconnecting for National Unplugging Day makes me nervous. I feel as if I am almost always connected by one device or another and that seems necessary. Between taking care of your children, tending to responsibilities at work and keeping up with friends, there’s a good chance you own a cell phone, computer and/or tablet. …