September 25, 2012

With the iPhone 5, Has Apple Lost Its Edge?

“With the release of the iPhone 5, the promise back in 2007 of the iPhone becoming an ever expanding mobile media machine might have come to a halt. At least temporarily.”—Pelle Snickars The following post is by Pelle Snickars, co-editor...

September 25, 2012

Daniel Herwitz on What Makes Heritage Worth Talking About

“Through heritage, marketed in political campaigns and filtered through dense layers of American media both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin become celebrity figures gifted with special powers.”—Daniel Herwitz In this first part of a two-part interview, Daniel Herwitz discusses one...

September 25, 2012

New Book Tuesday — A History of Christian Missions in the Middle East and More!

The following books are now available: Conflict, Conquest, and Conversion: Two Thousand Years of Christian Missions in the Middle East Eleanor H. Tejirian and Reeva Spector Simon Traditional Japanese Literature, Abridged Edition: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600 Edited by Haruo...

September 24, 2012

Interview with A. Azfar Moin, author of The Millennial Sovereign

The following is an interview with A. Azfar Moin, author of The Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship and Sainthood in Islam Question: “The Millennial Sovereign” sounds like a Christian theme. What does it have to do with Islamic kingship? A. Azfar...

September 21, 2012

Victor Navasky to Discuss The Art of Making Magazines at the Brooklyn Book Festival

This week we’ve been featuring The Art of Making Magazines: On Being an Editor and Other Views from the Industry and this Sunday, you can hear Victor Navasky talk more about the book at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Navasky will...

September 20, 2012

Erica Chenoweth: Why civil resistance trumps violent uprisings

“Nonviolent resistance of some sort is almost always possible, and armed uprisings are never inevitable. Instead, violence may be a method people choose because they don’t know there is a realistic alternative.”–Erica Chenoweth With a variety of protest movements erupting...

September 20, 2012

Robert Gottlieb on Editing at Knopf Versus The New Yorker

“When you’re the editor-in-chief of a magazine, as I was of The New Yorker … You are the living god.”—Robert Gottlieb, “Editing Books Versus Editing Magazines” In his essay, “Editing Books Versus Editing Magazines,” from The Art of Making Magazines:...

September 19, 2012

Jonathan Lyons – Islam, Violence, and the West: It’s Not the Video, Stupid

Jonathan Lyons makes the case that there is a great deal more going on in the recent protests in the Muslim world than simple outrage about a film.

September 19, 2012

Victor Navasky and Evan Cornog on the Art of Making Magazines

The following is an interview with Victor S. Navasky and Evan Cornog, editors of The Art of Making Magazines: On Being an Editor and Other Views from the Industry. As the subtitles suggests, The Art of Making Magazines features the...

September 18, 2012

Gary L. Francione: Irreconcilable Differences

Gary L. Francione explains why he doesn’t support the HSUS in response to James McWilliams’ recent article.

September 18, 2012

Michael Kelly on Writing for Playboy and What It Taught Him about Magazines

“Any magazine is, in the end, what a very small, self-selected group of people—its readers—wants it to be. And the magazine is shaped to that.”—Michael Kelly, “Editing a Thought-Leader Magazine” The following is an excerpt from Michael Kelly’s essay in...

September 18, 2012

New Book Tuesday: Pregnancy on Film, The Homoerotic Photograph, and More

Our weekly list of new books: Knock Me Up, Knock Me Down: Images of Pregnancy in Hollywood Films Kelly Oliver The Homoerotic Photograph: Male Images from Durieu/Delacroix to Mapplethorpe (Now available in paper) Allen Ellenzweig Queer Cinema: Schoolgirls, Vampires, and...