Current Affairs is an American bimonthly magazine that discusses political and cultural topics from a left-wing perspective. It was founded by Nathan J. Robinson in 2015. The magazine is published in print and online, and also has a podcast.[4][5] It does not feature advertising, and is funded by subscriptions and donations.
 | |
 Cover of the May/June 2020 issue | |
| Editor-in-chief | Nathan J. Robinson[1] |
|---|---|
| Legal editor | Oren Nimni[1] |
| Former editors |
|
| Categories | Politics, culture |
| Frequency | Bimonthly |
| Circulation | 3,795[2] |
| Founder | Nathan J. Robinson Oren Nimni |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Company | Current Affairs Inc[3] |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Language | English |
| Website | currentaffairs |
| ISSN | 2471-2647 |
Its political stances have been described as socialist,[6] progressive,[7] and broadly leftist.[8] The magazine's stated mission is "to produce the world's first readable political publication and to make life joyful again."[1] Its format is influenced by magazines such as Jacobin and Spy.[9]
History
editCurrent Affairs started after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015.[5]
On September 29, 2018, Current Affairs published an "exhaustive 10,000-word refutation" by Robinson of Brett Kavanaugh's testimony before the United States Senate.[10][11] Robinson was invited to discuss the article on the daily WBUR-FM show On Point.[12] He later released a video summarizing the article.[13]
On March 29, 2019, Current Affairs published an article by Robinson criticizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg,[14] which The New York Times later quoted.[15]
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.[6][8][16]
Finances and staffing
editAs of May 2020[update], 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.[4] Lyta Gold (a pseudonym) was formerly the managing editor.[4]
Content
editAs of 2020[update], 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;[17] and a 2016 essay critiquing Hillary Clinton as a weak candidate, which helped launch the magazine to prominence.[4]