Harper’s magazine announced Monday that it has hired Thomas Frank from The Wall Street Journal to write its “Easy Chair” column.
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 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.
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