Press release
Thomas Frank Joins Harper’s Magazine as Columnist
New York City, August 2, 2010—Harper’s Magazine today announced that Thomas Frank has joined the magazine as its monthly columnist. Beginning with the December issue, Frank will pen The Easy Chair column, which will replace the Notebook. The Easy Chair was published from October 1851 to February 1984, focusing on politics, the events of the day, culture, as well as literary topics. The column reflects the great legacy and tradition of Harper’s Magazine.
Ellen Rosenbush, editor of Harper’s Magazine, said, “Tom is the most incisive political observer and cultural critic of our time and we are absolutely overjoyed that he will be writing for us on a regular basis.”
Frank said, “It is a great honor to be invited to write the longest-running column in American journalism. I look forward to following in the tradition of William Dean Howells, Bernard DeVoto, and Lewis Lapham.”
Frank, who has been a contributing editor to Harper’s since 2004, was most recently an opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal since 2008. His last column for the Journal will appear on August 11.
Frank is the author of four books, all of them having to do with the cultural inversions of our times: The Conquest of Cool (1997), about the advertising industry; One Market Under God (2000) concerning the myths of the New Economy; and What’s the Matter With Kansas? (2004) about the red-state mindset. His book about conservative governance, The Wrecking Crew, was published in 2008. Frank founded The Baffler magazine in 1988, and he edits it to this day. Born 1965 in Kansas City, Missouri, Frank grew up in the suburbs of that city. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia (1987), and a PhD in American History from the University of Chicago (1994).
