''Current Affairs'' is an American

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

bimonthly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

that discusses political and cultural topics. The magazine is published in print and online, and also has a podcast. It was founded by

Nathan J. Robinson Nathan James Robinson (born c. 1989) is an English-American journalist, political commentator, and editor-in-chief of the left-wing progressive ''Current Affairs'' magazine, which he founded in 2015. Early life and education Born in Stevena ...

in 2015. The magazine's stated missions are "to produce the world's first readable political publication and to make life joyful again". Its format is influenced by magazines such as ''

Jacobin , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

'' and ''

Spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

''.

History

Current Affairs started after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015. On September 29, 2018, ''Current Affairs'' published an "exhaustive 10,000-word refutation" by Robinson of

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...

's testimony before the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. Robinson was invited to discuss the article on the daily

WBUR-FM WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed programs ...

show ''

On Point ''On Point'' is a radio show produced by WBUR-FM in Boston and syndicated by American Public Media (APM). The show addresses a wide range of issues from news, politics, arts and culture, health, technology, environmental, and business topics, t ...

''. He later released a video summarizing the article. On March 29, 2019, ''Current Affairs'' published an article by Robinson criticizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidate

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...

that ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' later quoted. In August 2021, ''Current Affairs'' staffers accused Robinson of trying to fire staffers for attempting to organize the magazine as a worker-owned co-op.

Finances and staffing

As of May 2020, ''Current Affairs'' used a subscription model for funding. It had two full-time staff members, a part-time administrative assistant, a full-time podcaster, and an incoming business manager. Lyta Gold (a pseudonym) was the managing editor.

Content

As of 2020, many of ''Current Affairs'''s most popular articles were by Robinson. These included the article on Kavanaugh, the article "Just Stop Worrying And Embrace The Left", in which Robinson requested that Meghan McCain follow through on the article title, and a 2016 essay critiquing

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

as a weak candidate, which helped launch the magazine to prominence.

References

External links

* {{official, currentaffairs.org
YouTube channel
Advertising-free magazines Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Socialism in the United States Magazines established in 2015 Magazines published in Washington, D.C. Political magazines published in the United States Progressivism in the United States