Dear wonderful Current Affairs readers,

The Current Affairs offices in New Orleans are a whir of activity these days, and I have much to tell you. First, we’ve just sent a gorgeous new issue off to press, our 47th edition. If you’re not a print subscriber, become one today for immediate access. It’s got mesmerizing cover art by the incomparable painter Nicole Duennebier, and contains essays on child liberation, literacy campaigns, what capitalism is doing to journalism, Islamic finance, the movie Poor Things, and much more. Plus some proposed Biden 2024 bumper stickers, an ad for Luxury British Pants, a visit to the Manos-Fair, and 20 new exercises you can try at home. It’s jam-packed with wonderfulness and original illustrations by our impeccable team of freelance artists.

Oh, but that’s not all we’ve been up to. In the Online Department, I worked with my colleagues Lily Sánchez and Alex Skopic to write a deep dive into the moral premises of the New York Times’ Ethicist column. As it turns out, they’re bad! (Also in Times-bashing, I looked at Nicholas Kristof’s recent column on how activists should Do Protests Better.) The brilliant economics writer Grace Blakeley explained how to think about capitalism more intelligently, and Alberto Medina made a powerful case for Puerto Rican independence. Over at the podcast, I’ve released an audio documentary on the recent student protests for Gaza, in which I look at parallels between today’s activists and anti-war students in the Vietnam era. I’ve also released one of our oddest episodes ever, “American Radio,” a satirical parody of the last 80 years of radio programming featuring fake jingles, news reports, presidential speeches, songs, and more. It’s weird and wild and was a hell of a lot of fun to make. (I just hope it’s as fun to listen to). 

We’ve also made a few small changes to the Current Affairs website that you should know about. First, we’ve made our issue archive up through the end of last year completely public. It’s available here. That means you no longer have to log in to read old issues. We’re thrilled to be sharing these wonderful magazines with everyone and we hope you’ll show them to your friends (and then tell them to subscribe for more!) Second, our News Briefing (the paid newsletter, which rounds up interesting news stories from across the world) will no longer be issued through Substack. It’s now going to be on the CA website itself. If you’re already subscribed through Substack, don’t worry! Nothing will change, and you’ll still receive the newsletters. (They’ll look prettier, though.) But we wanted to consolidate our offerings onto our main site rather than sending people to a different platform. 

One final bit of news: Current Affairs is one of the nonprofits participating in GiveNOLA Day, which raises money for local New Orleans organizations that do good work. We’d be delighted and gratified if you would donate to us (and other groups you like!) We’re working hard to build a sustainable independent media organization here in New Orleans, at a time when journalism is struggling more than ever (and is also more necessary than ever). We are the only national news operation based in New Orleans, and we are trying to build a powerhouse independent media outlet outside the usual NYC-DC corridor. As you know, we’re ad-free and entirely reader-funded, and all the money we get goes to paying for more and better writing, editing, and art. Thank you for your ongoing support of our work! (Also, if you’d like to support Current Affairs regularly, for as little as $3 you can become a monthly donor through our website.)

We’ve got so much more excellent stuff planned for you this year. Stay tuned for information about our 50th issue celebration, which will be held in New Orleans in October, around the time of the release of my new book with Noam Chomsky, The Myth of American Idealism. And check our website regularly for new high-quality analysis and commentary on some of the most important issues in the world.

In solidarity,

Nathan J. Robinson

Editor in Chief