 | |
 August/September 2019 issue ofReason | |
| Editor-in-Chief | Katherine Mangu-Ward |
|---|---|
| Categories | General interest, public policy |
| Frequency | 11 issues annually |
| Circulation | 50,000 |
| First issue | May 1968; 56 years ago (1968-05) |
| Company | Reason Foundation |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | reason |
| OCLC | 818916200 |
Reason is anAmerican libertarian monthly magazine published by theReason Foundation, with the tagline "Free Minds and Free Markets".[1] The magazine aims to produce independent journalism that is "outside of the left/right echo chamber." As of 2016, the magazine had a circulation of around 50,000 and received about 2.5 million monthly unique website visitors.[2][3]
Reason was founded in 1968 by Lanny Friedlander (1947–2011),[2][4] a student atBoston University,[5] as a more-or-less monthlymimeographed publication. In 1970, it was purchased by Robert W. Poole Jr., Manuel S. Klausner, andTibor R. Machan, who set it on a more regular publishing schedule.[4][5] During the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine's contributors includedMilton Friedman,Murray Rothbard,Thomas Szasz, andThomas Sowell.[6] In 1978, Poole, Klausner, and Machan created the associatedReason Foundation, in order to expand the magazine's ideas into policy research.[4]Marty Zupan joinedReason in 1975, and served through the 1980s as managing editor and editor-in-chief, leaving in 1989.[7]
Virginia Postrel was editor-in-chief of the magazine from July 1989 to January 2000. She founded the magazine's website in 1995.[8]Nick Gillespie became editor-in-chief in 2000.[9]
In June 2004, subscribers toReason magazine received a personalized issue that had their name, and asatellite photo of their home or workplace on the cover. The concept was to demonstrate the power of public databases, as well as the customized printing capabilities of Xeikon's printer, according to then editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie.[10] The move was seen by David Carr ofThe New York Times as "the ultimate in customized publishing" as well as "a remarkable demonstration of the growing number of ways databases can be harnessed."[10]
In 2008,Matt Welch became magazine's editor-in-chief, with Gillespie becoming editor-in-chief of reason.tv.[9] In 2011, Gillespie and Welch published the bookThe Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America, which they co-wrote.[11]
Katherine Mangu-Ward became the magazine's editor-in-chief in June 2016, with Welch moving to an editor-at-large position.[12] Nick Gillespie is the other editor-at-large ofReason.
Hit & Run wasReason's groupblog. It was maintained and written by the staff of the magazine. It was started in 2002 and discontinued on April 14, 2019, with reason.com's site redesign. Then-editor Gillespie and then-Web editorTim Cavanaugh, both veterans ofSuck.com, modeled the blog in some ways after that website: they brought along several other Suck.com writers to contribute, fostered a style in the blog matching that former website'ssarcastic attitude, and even the name "Hit & Run" was taken from what had been a weekly news roundup column on Suck.com.Reason editors referred to this co-opting of the former website as the "Suck-ification ofReason".[13]
In 2005, Hit & Run was named as one of the best political blogs byPlayboy.[14]
Reason TV is aYouTube channel affiliated withReason magazine that produces short-form documentaries and video editorials.Nick Gillespie is editor-in-chief. The site produced a series of videos calledThe Drew Carey Project hosted by comedianDrew Carey.[15]Reason TV teamed with Carey again in 2009 to produce "Reason Saves Cleveland", in which Carey suggested free market solutions to his hometown's problems.[16]
Since 2010, comedianRemy Munasifi has partnered withReason TV to produce parody videos.[17] Since 2017,John Stossel has produced more than 100 commentary segments published on theReason TV YouTube channel.[18]
Reason TV has a playlist called "Great Moments in Unintended Consequences" which examines historical and contemporary examples of government regulations producing unintended consequences.[19]
Reason has multiple podcast series,[20] includingReason Roundtable, a weekly podcast in which the editors "discuss and debate the week’s biggest stories and what fresh hell awaits us all".
The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie, is a podcast series in which editor at large, Nick Gillespie interviews activists, artists, authors, entrepreneurs, newsmakers, and politicians on current issues such as free speech, censorship, gun control,COVID-19 regulations, institutions such as theFBI, geopolitics and more. The podcast occasionally focuses on historical topics, such aspacifism during World War 2 and the philosophical views ofAdam Smith andAyn Rand.
The Soho Forum Debates is moderated by Gene Epstein and features live debates between public intellectuals on current issues such as bitcoin, electric vehicles, government debt, illegal drugs, robotics, and sex work.
The podcast seriesWhy We Can't Have Nice Things is a six part series aboutAmerican trade policy and its impacts on the economy, such as the2022 United States infant formula shortage.
