A group presentation on The Atlantic publication.

1. The Atlantic
Group members: Lauren Karbula,
Morgan Bierbaum, and Hannah
Armfield

2. General Information
• The Atlantic was founded
in 1857 in Boston.
• It started out as a purely
literary magazine, but has
since changed formats to a
general editorial
publication.
• Original sponsors and
contributors included
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Harriet Beecher Stowe,
Oliver Wendell Holmes,
and Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow.

3. • 20 National Magazine Awards
• 10 publications/year (used to be
monthly)
• Covers business, tech, travel, food &
drink, and long-form journalism
• #1 magazine for influential people
• #4 magazine for tech enthusiasts
• #1 for readers with a college or
graduate degree
• #1 for print subscribers (477,000)
• Sister media productions: Citylab
and theatlantic.com
• Departments for theatlantic.com
include politics, business, tech,
entertainment, health, education,
sexes, national and global
• ~100 pages an issue, $7.99/issue

4. • “Entertainment” section is the only
one that focuses purely on arts and
humanities
– Includes film, books, television,
music and design
– Focuses mainly on pop culture and
doesn’t tend to deviate into the
“highbrow” arts and literature
• Articles in every other section,
however, often look at things
through the lens of humanities
• Criticism is difficult to find on the
website and there is not much
criticism in the print version
• Articles are accessible and easy to
read – not very complex and give a
lot of background info

5. Purpose
• “The Atlantic is America’s leading
destination for brave thinking and bold
ideas that matter. The Atlantic engages
its print, online, and live audiences with
breakthrough insights into the worlds of
politics, business, technology, and
culture. With exceptional talent deployed
against the world’s most important and
intriguing topics, The Atlantic is the
source of opinion, commentary, and
analysis for America’s most influential
individuals who wish to be challenged,
informed, and entertained.”
– 2014 Media Kit
• “[Working for The Atlantic is] a chance
to help, encourage and preserve the
practice of serious, long-form
journalism."
– James Bennett, editor-in-chief and co-
president of The Atlantic

6. How does The Atlantic meet the needs
of arts/humanities enthusiasts?
• Most of the articles in The Atlantic have an American
political background, and therefore, offer a politicized
perspective in articles on the arts and humanities.
--For example, television is a prominent topic in
the publication and the majority of those
articles relate to politics in some way. (Ex. Article on
how “Television Loves Female Presidents, as Long
as They're Republican.”
• The articles are diverse in content and appeal to a
wide range of tastes within the arts and humanities.
--Politics, history, literature, television,
pop culture, and music are all discussed
throughout the magazine.

7. • The articles in The
Atlantic offer deliberate
and topical news.
--In the most recent
publication of The
Atlantic, most articles
offer serious information,
rather than appealing to
humor or emotion.
--In this sense, The
Atlantic provides
entertainment comparable
to an episode of 60
Minutes, rather than The
Daily Show.

8. • The articles are written
with clear and accessible
language, often about
complex political subjects.
--Offers anyone who is
interested in learning about
current events the chance to
obtain and understand
important and global
information.
• The magazine includes a
balance of lengthier, in-
depth articles and shorter,
concise articles to suit
different reading styles.
--this allows
enthusiasts to read
according to their
preferences and leisure.

9. • Relating the arts and humanities, The
Atlantic is a publication that heavily
discusses books, television, and popular
culture.
--Enthusiasts would look for these
subjects when reading this publication rather
than searching for articles on fine art, dance, or
theater.
• Includes excerpts from published texts for
enthusiasts interested in contemporary
literature.
--These excerpts may serve as samples to
introduce enthusiasts to writers or works they’ve
potentially never heard of before.
• Features reviews, critiques, and
advertisements on new literary publications
or television shows, offering information
about what is popular or topical in the world
of contemporary literature and TV.
• Contains articles on famous writers,
appealing to enthusiasts who may or may
not have heard of their contribution to
literature.

10. Criticism
• Subjects include politics, popular culture,
books, movies, television, poetry, essays,
and current events

11. The Culture File: “Endless Love” by
James Parker
• Parker’s article on Ted Gioia’s Love Songs: The Hidden
History is both a critique on this book and on the universality
and influence of love songs.
• This exemplifies arts and humanities criticism in its analysis
of modern and historical music ,and how the love song genre
provides a specific form of joy for enthusiasts.
• Parker includes criticism of Love Songs when he discusses
how “a joke in Chapter 1 nearly derailed [him] . . . But [he]
pressed on, and [he] was rewarded.”
• Provides historical information as well as concrete discussion
of Gioia’s work, inviting enthusiasts of music and
contemporary literature into reading his book.

12. “Wu-Tang Clan and Hip-Hop's Obsession With
the Art World
A $5 million auction is the wrong way to prove
rap is worthy of respect
• Spencer Kornhaber argues
that Wu Tang Clan’s decision
to wait 88 years to release the
sole extant recording of their
newest album promotes the
elitism of Modernism in a
Postmodern world.
• He claims that hip-hop was
an art form based on the
premise that art is for the
people and should be
accessible to the people. Wu
Tang Clan’s attempt to
elevate the status of hip-hop
instead alienates the very
people who the music was
made for.
Kornhaber discusses Wu Tang Clan’s stunt in terms of
Modernism, elitism and the history of rap, making this
article much more intellectual than an average album
review. He puts the recording into a social and
historical context that asks what the appropriate way is
to earn respect in the high-art world for rap music.

13. Finally I Hear a Politician Explain My
Country Just the Way I Understand It
• James Fallows’ article critiquing
President Obama’s Selma speech is
a great article for political
enthusiasts because it references
many earlier political events both in
the life of Obama and of the United
States as a whole.
• He also references many direct
quotes from the speech, but
assumes most “enthusiasts” have
watched the speech already and so
they know what Fallows is talking
about

14. Works Cited
Fallows, James. "Finally I Hear a Politician Explain My Country Just the Way I
Understand It.” The Atlantic. Ed. J. J. Gould. N.p., 8 Mar. 2015. Web. 12
Mar. 2015.<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/
finally-i-hear-a-politician-explain-my-country-the-way-i-understand-it/
387178/?utm_source=btn-facebook-ppr>.
Kornhaber, Spencer. "Wu-Tang Clan and Hip-Hop's Obsession With the Art
World." The Atlantic. Ed. J. J. Gould. N.p., 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Mar.
2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/wu-
tang-clan-method-man-and-hip-hops-misguided-obsession-with-the-art-
world/386842/>.
Parker, James. "Endless Love." The Atlantic Mar. 2015: 40-42. Print.

15. • http://advertising.theatlantic.com/static/img/
upload/pdfs/The_Atlantic_Media_Kit_-
_2014_-_Marketing_Site.pdf
• http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/ar
chive/2015/03/wu-tang-clan-method-man-
and-hip-hops-misguided-obsession-with-the-
art-world/386842/