''Current Affairs'' is an American bimonthly
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
that discusses political and cultural topics from a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
perspective. It was founded by Oren Nimni and
Nathan J. Robinson in 2015. The magazine is published in print and online, and also has a podcast.
It does not feature advertising, and is funded by subscriptions and donations.
Its political stances have been described as
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
,
, and broadly leftist.
The magazine's stated mission is "to produce the world's first readable political publication and to make life joyful again."
Its format is influenced by magazines such as ''
Jacobin
The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...
'' and ''
Spy''.
History
''Current Affairs'' started after a successful
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign in 2015.
On September 29, 2018, ''Current Affairs'' published an "exhaustive 10,000-word refutation" by Robinson of
Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh (; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oct ...
's testimony before the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
. Robinson was invited to discuss the article on the daily
WBUR-FM
WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. Its programming is also known as WBUR News. The station is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and W ...
show ''
On Point
''On Point'' is a radio show produced by WBUR-FM in Boston, Massachusetts, and syndicated by American Public Media (APM). The show addresses a wide range of issues from news, politics, arts and culture, health, technology, environmental, and bu ...
''. He later released a video summarizing the article.
On March 29, 2019, ''Current Affairs'' published an article by Robinson criticizing
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...
, which ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' later quoted.
In August 2021, five ''Current Affairs'' staffers accused Robinson of trying to fire most of the workforce for attempting to organize the magazine as a
worker cooperative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a Company, firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one ...
.
The staffers were later given severances totaling $76,014 for the perceived firings.
Finances and staffing
, ''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.
Lyta Gold (a pseudonym) was formerly the managing editor.
Content
, 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
Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American television personality, columnist, and author. She has worked for ABC News (United States), ABC News, Fox News, and MSNBC. She is the daughter of politician John McCain and diplomat ...
follow through on the article title;
and a 2016 essay critiquing
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
as a weak candidate, which helped launch the magazine to prominence.
References
External links
* {{official, currentaffairs.org
YouTube channel
Advertising-free magazines
Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
Socialist magazines
Magazines established in 2015
Magazines published in Washington, D.C.
Political magazines published in the United States
Progressivism in the United States
Socialism in the United States
Far-left politics in the United States
501(c)(3) organizations