This being Thanksgiving week, I want to give thanks for the arrival of an exciting new publication that's just hitting newsstands, The American.
The brainchild of TCS Founder Jim Glassman, The American is a business magazine, but unlike one you've ever seen. Glassman describes it as a "magazine of ideas" and models it on the original Fortune magazine. You can find it online at www.American.com.
Right out of the gate it features a hard hitting look at the life experiences that have shaped business-pundit-turned-populist Lou Dobbs; counterintuitive pieces on CEO pay and on soon-to-be Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Charlie Rangel; a penetrating interview with Craig Barrett of Intel; and columns on the economics of football, human organ markets, and African entrepreneurs (The American will also feature a column by me about the intersection of technology and ideas). The magazine is handsome and a pleasure to look at and hold. It's a fun read.
You'll find no laments from me about the arrival of the Internet age. I've made a living as a web journalist for the better part of the last decade. We have access to more information than ever before thanks to the Web. But there's still no substitute for a meaty, substantive dead-tree publication. The American will come out six times a year, and if the first issue is any indicator, it will be producing must-read pieces.
The future of serious journalism in our celebrity-saturated age remains uncertain. But the birth of any new publication that understands the power and importance of ideas should be a cause for celebration. Give thanks this week for a great American.