"Every fact in the New Yorker is checked. Every fact. Every name, every place, every price, every noun, every adjective… (even) the cartoons are checked." In a good-humoured and lively session, New Yorker staff Hendrik Hertzberg, James Surowiecki, Judith Thurman talk with Rhonda Sherman about the history of the leading USA magazine. They share anecdotes and reminiscences, exploring how the 85-year-old institution has changed in recent years. The difficulty of being positive, how President Obama is being covered, and the role of the magazine as a sophisticated guide to politics and culture is discussed. The issue of duration is also analysed, given the New Yorker tradition of very long-form stories. The writers also share their favourite piece of reading in the New Yorker.
Recent stories from Writers and Readers Festivals
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- Word Christchurch Festival 2018: A family memoir jolted into being by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
- Word Christchurch festival 2018: Ed Husain debates his book The House of Islam
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