Wired executive editor Brown leaving for Popular Science

Joe Brown, the executive editor of Wired magazine, is leaving to run Popular Science, reports Peter Kafka of Recode.

Kafka writes, “Brown started his tech journalism career at PopSci, where he was an assistant editor in 2002. Since then, his resume includes two stops at Wired and one at Gizmodo, where he ran Gawker Media’s tech site.

“This move may be less obvious on paper. That’s because PopSci, owned by Bonnier Corp., is not killing it, as evidenced by the frequent masthead turnover.

“That’s the appeal, Brown says: He wants to take the publication, which is close to 150 years old, and turn it around.

“‘That team has had so many foster parents at this point. And I’m not a fool about what I’m walking into,’ Brown said via IM. ‘But that is part of why I’m walking into it. I asked a lot of candid questions during the interview process, and I wouldn’t be taking the job if I hadn’t gotten some really impressive answers. … This is the kind of situation where you, as an editor and a person driven by creativity, can really make a mark.'”

Read more here.