This story originally appeared on the Gents Cafe Newsletter. You can subscribe here.
With Wes Anderson’s French Dispatch being released this month, there is a resurgence of appreciation for journalism. I am quite thankful for that. Magazines have never lost their romanticism to me.
There needs to be a place for magazines in a gentleman’s life. It shouldn’t be usurped by its more convenient (and often more affordable) digital cousin. I still believe that print has a space in our world today and, quite frankly, so should you. To me, nothing is more urbane than to open a newspaper and, between swigs of coffee, discuss the local news. And how delightful it is to open one’s mailbox and find a stack of magazines folded around the electric and water bill. I’d argue there’s even a bit of sophistication in underlining headlines and dog-earing magazine pages while on a flight (even if, as it often is the case, the magazine is a tabloid).
But it also has to do with contrasts for me. Most of my life is digital. I work from home as a marketing manager. I write, on a rotating basis, for about seven digital publications (including this one!). I post photos of my dogs on Instagram. I sign up for coupons and text updates on my food deliveries. Everything I do is on the phone or my laptop.
And, quite frankly, emails get lost. I forget what I have bookmarked and never look at the website again. To hold something in my hand, somehow, makes reading an action for me, not a passive experience, like when I am on my phone and am scrolling on social media between Zoom calls.
Reading a magazine anchors me to the real world. There is gravity in print. There is a ritual to the moments I am dog-earing articles to save for later. I tear recipes from magazines to take with me to the grocery store. I may never get through this stack of magazines on my desk, but to have them around makes me feel like I always have an excuse to take 15 minutes for myself.
And, oh, I am happy about that.
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