Issue Fifteen is here!
Our fifth anniversary edition
When one door closes, another one opens. Exactly five years ago, on June 24, 2020, Segway Inc. announced that it would cease production of its flagship self-balancing scooter, and the first issue of The Drift made its way into the world. This coincidence was inauspicious: few new ventures have ever failed to live up to their initial hype as much as the Segway, which Steve Jobs infamously predicted would be “as big a deal as the PC.” Luckily, distracted as the world was by a myriad of intersecting crises, the expectations that greeted the launch of The Drift were not nearly so lofty. By making it five years we have, with your support, exceeded our own.
Issue Fifteen of The Drift may or may not be as big a deal as the PC, but it is unquestionably special, brimming with insight and artistry from many past contributors to the magazine, who have returned to mark this anniversary with us — and some new voices we’re thrilled to welcome into our pages. Inside, you’ll find a collection of interviews and essays analyzing the current political moment, as well as new fiction, poetry, and more:
Piper French on the Department of Justice and its contradictions
David Klion on what Trump has borrowed from the War on Terror
Becca Rothfeld on how misogyny structures the right’s political worldview
Elisa Gonzalez on the new regime’s attack on birthright citizenship
Mitch Therieau on the White House’s disturbing memes
Jake Bittle on the rapid nullification of Biden’s climate policy
Gaby Del Valle on pronatalism and the fissures within the MAGA coalition
Nick Bowlin on how economic exploitation transcends geography
Rhiannon Hamam on our constricted understanding of the First Amendment
Jamie Hood on the decline of the movement against sexual violence
Tope Folarin on Trump’s perverse faith and the Democrats’ faithlessness
Interviews with Wendy Brown, Nikhil Pal Singh, Eman Abdelhadi, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, and Adam Tooze
Fiction by Owen Park, Matteo Ciambella, Stephanie Wambugu, Mariah Kreutter, Samuel Jensen, and Solvej Balle
Poetry by Jessica Laser, Benjamin Krusling, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, and T. J. Cusano
Extremely abbreviated reviews of a grisly piece of dance theater, the aesthetics of asset management, dressing room lights fit for a starlet, and more
And an Editors’ Note reflecting on the magazine’s first five years
If you’re a subscriber, you can expect the issue to arrive in your mailbox within the next few weeks. Print copies are stocked in Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, and sixty-plus independent bookstores in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
You can also buy individual copies in our online shop, along with totes, tees, caps, and more.
Thanks for reading The Drift — here’s to five more years.
