New Books in Literary Studies Jeff Jarvis, "Magazine" (Bloomsbury, 2023)
Jan 3, 2026
Jeff Jarvis, a veteran journalist and professor who created Entertainment Weekly, dives into the fascinating history of magazines in his latest work. He explores the cultural significance of early magazines, the transformation of advertising, and the impact of the internet on the industry. Jarvis discusses how magazines became struggling businesses and missed opportunities to build communities online. He also calls for modern curators to elevate diverse voices in the digital age, while hinting at his future projects examining the internet's role in society.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Magazines As Personal Treasures
- Jeff Jarvis recalls buying magazines by the pound and treasuring their smell, feel, and presentation.
- He left buying them yet wrote the book to understand their arc from beloved object to diminished product.
Magazines Built The Public Sphere
- Early magazines like The Spectator and Harper's helped form a public sphere and curate national culture.
- Mechanization and cheap paper around 1850 enabled mass circulation and a stronger curatorial role.
Advertising Made Mass Magazines Viable
- Magazines became viable when publishers sold copies at a loss to attract audiences and made money from advertisers.
- That 1893 shift created the mass-media model that treats audiences as commodities in an attention economy.
