David Graeber “defiantly having fun” at The Baffler no. 22 Release Party

“They’re trying to get back to the idea of having actual intellectuals again.” Contributing editor David Graeber discusses the current state of the American intellectual at the April 6th launch party for Baffler no. 22 and his new book, The Democracy Project.

May 2, 2013

Richard Stallman responds to Morozov’s “Meme Hustler”

Richard Stallman

Dear Editor,

I am honored by Evgeny Morozov’s description of the Free Software Movement, but I would like to correct a few specific points.

1. “Open source” did not replace the Free Software Movement. We are still here, still spreading the idea that the users of computing deserve to control their computing. We have more influence in some other countries than in the US. See gnu.org and fsf.org.

April 22, 2013

Ira Glass’s fact problem

Eugenia Williamson

A year after This American Life retracted Mike Daisey’s partially fabricated story about visiting an Apple manufacturer in China, the public radio program once again faces charges of lackadaisical fact-checking. This time around, the allegations concern a recent story This American Life aired as part of an NPR series from Planet Money reporter Chana Joffe-Walt. “Trends with Benefits” (such a clever title!) looked at the increasing number of Americans on federal disability assistance.

In her report, Joffe-Walt says disability is rising as a means for the federal government to subsidize workers whose skills don’t align with the current industrial climate and as an appealing way for states to sweep former welfare cases under the rug. Disability claims are, after all, a federal expense. “There are now millions of Americans who do not have the education or the skills for the current economy,” Joffe-Walt says, and “disability programs have become the default plan” to help them.

April 12, 2013

April 4 mail date

Good news from our indomitable publisher: The Baffler 22, Modem and Taboo, hits the mails on Thursday (April 4) and will begin reaching you, our subscribers, three or four business days later.

March 29, 2013

Baffler party

The Baffler and MAKE present “Don’t Forget to Eat!” at the Plough & Stars this Friday, March 8 from 5:30 p.m. till 7 p.m., in honor of AWP 2013.

March 6, 2013

Žižek on seduction

Hey, Valentine, here are a few snippets from an interview with Slavoj Žižek conducted by Baffler editor in chief John Summers and contributing editor David Graeber. SUBSCRIBE NOW and be the first to read the rest in the upcoming issue.

February 13, 2013

Love stories: Anna Summers at Harvard Book Store this Monday

The Baffler’s literary editor Anna Summers will be at Harvard Book Store this Monday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., to present There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.

February 5, 2013

Aaron Swartz, 1986–2013

John Summers

To us, he was a friend, colleague, and inspiration.

January 12, 2013

Ken Kurson, just-named editor of the New York Observer

This salvo by Josh Mason from Baffler No. 9 in 1997 discusses former punk rocker Ken Kurson and his career pitching stock picks and mutual funds.

January 4, 2013

From 2001 Baffler No. 14: Mike Newirth on gun control

Here’s an extraordinary essay by Mike Newirth on the gun culture, the massacre culture, and the Market, tragically relevant today even though we published it in The Baffler way back in 2001.

December 16, 2012

Baffler’s holiday sale!

December 14, 2012

Baffler 21 release party — Nov 27 in NYC, with John Summers, Thomas Frank, and Julie Klausner

On Tuesday, November 27 at 7 p.m., Baffler editor JOHN SUMMERS will host a release party for issue 21 at Housing Works Bookstore (126 Crosby Street New York, NY 10012) featuring a round of “Ayn Rand: The Game Show.”

November 15, 2012

Flying cars — and a progress report on our summer issue

What’s the difference between an iPhone and a flying car? David Graeber can tell you in his great Baffler 19 essay, “Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit,” which you can read now, for free, on this site.

June 4, 2012

I was a teenage Gramlich

This week, The Boston Phoenix published an edited version of Jim Newell’s essay from our current issue, “I Was a Teenage Gramlich.” You can read the story here.

March 30, 2012

The Baffler on Kickstarter

Donate to our Kickstarter campaign and help support The Baffler. There are tote bags involved!

March 27, 2012

New issue out now!

Baffler 19, the first from new editor in chief John Summers, alights on the bloodless crossroads of technology and culture with salvos by founding editor Thomas Frank, Barbara Ehrenreich, Rick Perlstein, David Graeber, and Maureen Tkacik, plus a dazzling array of poetry, fiction, documents, interviews, and satirical art. Click here to read the Table of Contents or here to read Thomas Frank’s salvo.

March 20, 2012