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Go Home Leaving TNR

JONATHAN CHAIT SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

Leaving TNR

BY JONATHAN CHAIT

I don’t know how to say goodbye to a magazine that’s been my home since I was a 23 year old intern one year out of college, where I’ve made some of the best friends in my life, and whose identity has become almost indistinct from my own. Since deciding to accept a job at New York magazine, I’ve tried to write that goodbye, but nothing seems adequate to the scale of the task before me. So, as I’ve learned to do in the face of deadlines, I’m just writing.

My love affair with the New Republic began in college. I was a liberal on a radical college campus, amused and appalled by the political culture that surrounded me. I became enchanted, even obsessed, with this funny, whip-smart magazine that identified as liberal, and understood this to mean opposition to the conservatism that was beginning to dominate our national life as well as the left-wing orthodoxies predominating in small pockets of it. I would check the mailbox every hour on the first day the magazine might arrive, though it might take several days of checking before there would be a fresh issue in it. I would head to the library to study, and allow myself to warm up to the task by reading old bound volumes of TNR, sometimes until the whole evening had passed.

I decided I had to work for TNR, and I was turned down for the internship before my senior year of college, and after my senior year of college, before finally landing it after a year at the American Prospect. In my mind I had built it up into the greatest thing that could possibly happen to me, the way a kid might imagine being a sports star. The reality has been... everything I hoped for, and more. Nobody has a right to as much fun as I’ve had here. Who gets to live a professional life that exceeds their fondest dreams?

Why would I leave, then? I have an opportunity at New York magazine that’s so unbelievable I can’t walk away from it. I shouldn’t plump for another magazine in TNR’s space, but the magazine -- which my journalist friends all consider absolutely first rate -- and the structure of the job simply couldn’t be better. Starting Monday, September 19, I'll be writing for New York's addictive, outrageously fun blog Daily Intel, and -- for those who don't want to have more fun than necessary -- I'll also have just my blog items appearing on my own page. I’ll also contribute longer pieces for the print magazine.

In the meantime, when I informed Richard Just I was going to accept the job at New York, I suggested Tim Noah as a replacement. He’s a rightly well-regarded reporter/pundit with a deep understanding of politics and policy and a great sense of humor. When I came into the office on Tuesday, Tim was there. It was about the most obvious move you can imagine, and the readers here are going to see why. I’ll still contribute occasional book reviews, and of course I’ll always remain part of the extended family, like the many writers and editors who have come through this magazine over the years. I may pop my head in on the blog once or twice over the next few days, but Tim will be ready to step in very soon.

Over the years, I’ve had a lot of conversations with colleagues who have moved on to other places. When I ask them how the new place compares with TNR, almost invariably they say the same thing: “It’s very corporate.” I can only conclude from this that TNR is the least corporate place in American journalism. I suppose this is the appropriate description for a magazine where college interns in shorts and sandals challenge philosophical first principles of twenty-year veterans, and where senior writers inaugurate a move into new offices by wrapping themselves head to toe in bubble wrap and holding a gladiatorial bout in front of the entire staff.

I love it, I’ll miss everyone, and I’ll remain a faithful reader -- like, I hope, all of you.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

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69 comments

Good luck. We'll be following you as best we can, I'm sure. And I hope your replacement is as prolific as you have been.

- AllanL5

September 9, 2011 at 4:30pm

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Congratulations and best of luck. TNR and the rabble of blog commentators will miss you!

- polcereal

September 9, 2011 at 4:35pm

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There are so many alumni, so many great journalists, where does TNR have its reunions. I too became an avid reader in college, waiting for the latest issue to arrive at the college library, hoping to get it before any of the other students. And TNR shaped by brand of liberalism, the TNR brand. This was before MK, before MP, when Strout was still penning TRB. When Nixon was president, when liberals were proud to call themselves liberals. TNR is an American treasure, from Walter Lippman to MP. Even as great young journalists, Chait included, move on, as they should, there are others to come, to continue and build TNR.

- rayward

September 9, 2011 at 4:46pm

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Best of luck. Your blog is informative and great fun at the same time. I look forward to reading your more extended journalistic pieces. Don't listen to Joe Klein!

- propjoe

September 9, 2011 at 4:48pm

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Thank you for all you've written, especially your work during the health care battle. I'll definitely be checking your page in New York magazine several times a day. Here's hoping Noah will be as incisive and prolific as you. Cheers.

- tealeaves

September 9, 2011 at 4:50pm

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First and foremostly, thanks, Jon, for all the great writing you've given us over the years -- both your own, and the pieces you've pointed us to elsewhere. TNR became a daily must-read for me in the chaos of the 2000 Election That Never Ended, and yours is one of the names that's kept me loyal even in the face of a thoroughly broken website (and some questionable editorial positions in matters of war and peace) during the Bush Years. I've enjoyed Tim Noah's work at Slate as well, and completely agree he's a fine choice to step into the breach. But you'll be missed in these pages, so I suppose I'll have to amble over to New York Magazine when I need my fix of rabid Michigan fandom and anti-Ohio bias. :)

- austinexpat

September 9, 2011 at 4:51pm

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Well as a fuureigner and a hopeless political junkie. I went from believing the Saatchi and Saatchi stuff about Thacther in my early teens to thinking the Tories were the personification of evil and Kinnock's Labour where here to save us to thinking the Liberal Democrats were finally the answer to thinking critically about all political philosophies. It was arond about this time I came across a TNR article on the role of govt in society and thought it was smart and balanced. Exactly what I wanted to be (without a smidgen of success). Haven't stopped reading it since. I'm really going to miss Chait. He was witty, even laugh out loud funny at times, with a great talent for walking through illogical propaganda step-by-step. Invaluable.

- IggyPop

September 9, 2011 at 4:59pm

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One JC down, I hope not one more to go.... Best of luck in your new home JC. You will be sorely missed by your colleagues and by us regular readers here. I bookmarked the 2 links you listed. Gotta slip them in my 'must read' toolbar now.

- tmmats

September 9, 2011 at 5:17pm

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Jon, I thank you for the knowledge, insight and enjoyment you have brought to me and my household over the years. I'll continue to read your blogs and articles and wish you all the best.

- donzip

September 9, 2011 at 5:19pm

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Jon, you are a gentleman and a scholar, and a vital source of wisdom and humor in a world gone mad. We- all of us - have been made better by what you do. I look forward to reading you at NYM. God Bless.

- Tristan

September 9, 2011 at 5:21pm

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I look forward to continuing to read your work.

- Nusholtz

September 9, 2011 at 5:25pm

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We will miss you. My favorite political read, hands-down. Best of luck, and Go Blue!!

- bunthorne

September 9, 2011 at 5:28pm

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I will miss making fun of your arguments, Chait. You were the reason I subscribed, so perfectly wrong with such earnest prose.

- mr_rationale

September 9, 2011 at 5:41pm

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I will dearly miss reading your insights in these pages. You are a bright light in journalism, and I hope your new adventure allows you to continue to shine that light for the rest of us.

- joquilavab

September 9, 2011 at 5:55pm

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Good luck, Jon. I imagine TNR will miss you very much. I will be keeping my eye on you.

- VBKim

September 9, 2011 at 5:56pm

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you will be sorely missed, but congrats and good luck, I look forward to reading the best blogger out there at NyMag.

- pdx1

September 9, 2011 at 6:16pm

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Thanks for the very sharp up to the minute policy analysis you have treated us to for these years . I certainly have learned alot . Your blogging has often stimulated great commentary from the informed readers of TNR . I'll be certain to check out your new adventures at New York mag. Hoping for great work from Tim Noah.

- alanwilkov

September 9, 2011 at 6:25pm

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???? ... What happens to "Life in Ohio"??? I love your and will follow you to NYM. As for tnr I don't know. I threaten to unsubscribe all the time, but I'm not sure I really can.

- NR851651

September 9, 2011 at 6:28pm

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Best of luck in your new job, Jonathan, you'll be missed here. And, as a strange coincidence would have it, I'm teaching your well-known "Rogue State: The Case Against Delaware" as an exemplary piece of satirical writing in one of my classes next week. A fitting gesture, I hope.

- ironyroad

September 9, 2011 at 6:42pm

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Well done, Mr. Chait. The ability to post on TNR, and most specifically this blog, is what lured me into a subscription, even though I generally avail myself of the multiple institutional subscriptions. I also read New York Magazine, and gorge on Daily Intel from time to time. It's fun, incisive, and a credit to their site, but it's certainly not on the wonk level. [I mean, they feature a weekly sex diary, among other things.] Here's to hoping you (and maybe Frank Rich?) can make that happen. Definitely try to work with Dan Amira on the Absolute Moron's Guide series. It's hilarious, and I think right up your alley. And don't forget to start a Life in New Jersey series. Rabbis harvesting organs? I mean, that one just writes itself.

- chaitless

September 9, 2011 at 7:22pm

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Jonathan Chait is a fantastic writer and great voice for liberalism and he will be sorely missed at TNR. He combines many of the attributes of his great hero Michael Kinsley (a wonderful prose style; true wit; the ability to get into the nuts & bolts of math, stats and tax policy, a rare gift in the general population and an even rarer one amongst people as funny as Kinsley and Chait; a willingness to question orthodoxy; honest to God insight.) It's worth noting, too, Chait lacks a few of his hero's gadfly faults. One couldn't imagine Chait ever having supported John Anderson for President as Kinsley did. What's more, Chait has a knowledge of the bulk of the population - what people in this country are like - that his fellow Midwesterner Kinsley lacks. (One eg. Kinsely likes to go on about how the only snobbery in America is "reverse snobbery". Kinsley's evidently never been to Houston or Long Island or heard a hip-hop tune. Chait know better. He's much more in touch with contemporary culture and the citizenry than his hero ever was. Though I doubt Chait can bring himself to acknowledge the ways he's in fact better than Kinsley.) Chait's praise for Tim Noah, his replacement, is characteristic, too, of what a class act Chait is. Okay, I have too much respect for Chait not to, ahem, touch on a few things. 1) It's worth noting that Chait didn't often - ever? - feel the need to link to what he now tells us is New York magazine's "addictive, outrageously fun blog Daily Intel." Seems to have gotten a little more fun and addictive now that it's supplying his paycheck, huh? Can anyone think of a time when the "addictive, outrageously fun" blog of a New York magazine - a publication best know true crime stories about the wealthy and in-depth reporting telling its readership where they can get "bargain handbags" for "under $500" - was ever sited by Chait? You'd think if it was so gosh-darn outrageously fun and Chait was such addict it might've come up a bit more. 2) Chait tells us how much he wanted to work for TNR when he got out of college. After a few years he achieved his dream. What he glosses over: Chait, of course, didn't get to work for TNR right away because Marty Peretz was and is infatuated with Harvard and likes to pretend he was more than an assistant professor there. Peretz (the man behind the risible 'Cambridge diarist') got his undergrad degree from Brandies, but only seemed to select interns from Harvard. (An example, by the way, of NON-reverse, just outright brazen snobbery that, interestingly enough, escaped Harvard grad Michael Kinsley's notice!) 3) I'm guessing the little Chaits are getting up there in age. I'd hardly begrudge their father for wanting to supply them with the very best education and football pads he can. Who wouldn't want to make much more money and not have to deal with Marty? Well, we'll miss you, J.C. You were fantastic. Try to keep it at New York magazine.

- mtinora@me.com

September 9, 2011 at 7:56pm

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Good bye, good luck and thanks for all the fish ... er all the important topics you have brought to my attention.

- dirque

September 9, 2011 at 8:08pm

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I imagine when you say fantastic opportunity you mean bigger bucks so does this mean you will be voting for Perry? I hope it works out for you.

- blackton

September 9, 2011 at 8:09pm

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Jon, I can't thank you enough. You were the best part of TNR... Besides, anyone as insightful as you that can manage to reference the good ol' days of the Simpsons and Car Talk is just a hoot to read. Hopefully, your new platform gets more of your incisive commentary on cable.

- RJSampson1

September 9, 2011 at 8:09pm

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I can't say much after such an eloquent comment as Grimes', but I sort of grew up with The New Republic (well, even though I am 67 years old, it is obvious I am not very grown up). Life is movement; life is move and grow or die; thank you for your excellent work; you go boy.

- skahn

September 9, 2011 at 8:10pm

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I have to echo one of Grimes' points above. In my two decades of being a political junkie and one decade of addiction to political websites and blogs, not *once* has anyone ever linked to (or referred me to) an important, must-read article in New York magazine. This move feels a bit like Aaron Rodgers suddenly announcing he's leaving the Packers because he got an offer he couldn't refuse from the CFL. Regardless, I wish Jon all the best at his new gig. Already bookmarked the new place. As long as Mr. Chait is writing somewhere - anywhere - I'll keep reading.

- santoast

September 9, 2011 at 8:15pm

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I know full well how silly I'm being - but I'm just sad JC. I'm happy for you, but I will miss you so terribly.

- WandreyCer

September 9, 2011 at 8:31pm

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I've said many times that you're simply the best in the business and that I've always been so proud/relieved that you're on our side!! (I hate to say it but NY magazine is not TNR - I assume you will get there and up the ante for everyone).

- WandreyCer

September 9, 2011 at 8:34pm

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Time to start reading New York Magazine.

- dimbulb

September 9, 2011 at 8:36pm

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When I first read two days ago that Jon Chait was leaving TNR two days I had what can only be described as some kind of grief reaction. I started subscribing to TNR in 1997 when I went to college and in the ensuing years decided that if I ever needed to stop following politics I would just do whatever he told me. Good luck. I guess I need to shell out a little more for magazine subscriptions.

- cmrooney01

September 9, 2011 at 9:05pm

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I’ve seen love go by my door It’s never been this close before Never been so easy or so slow Been shooting in the dark too long When somethin’s not right it’s wrong Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go

- CRS9TNR

September 9, 2011 at 9:06pm

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We will miss you! PS, Aaron Rodgers should only get a contract in the CFL. Please? :)

- Sophia

September 9, 2011 at 9:16pm

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So the nation's most talented political journalist departs Can you now hear the breaking of our hearts? We wish you the best and even better yet But this is where we met - never forget.

- liberalref

September 9, 2011 at 9:16pm

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But goodbye’s too good a word, pal So I’ll just say fare thee well I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind You could have done better but I don’t mind You just kinda wasted my precious time But don’t think twice, it’s all right

- CRS9TNR

September 9, 2011 at 9:23pm

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I'll miss you Jonathan, and will follow you at your new location. Heck, it might even induce me to subscribe to New York Magazine. I don't think it's a back-handed compliment to tell you I consider you the left's second most indispensable commentator, after Paul Krugman. Good luck in your new job!

- bmoodie

September 9, 2011 at 9:26pm

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Thank you Jon for your thought provoking, witty and incisive commentary at TNR. Like others here have said with many flavors of eloquence, you will be missed and I will look forward to seeing your work in a new place.

- appleton

September 9, 2011 at 10:10pm

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You're about the only reason I gave Marty Peretz my money! (God knows his own writing doesn't merit it!) I'll miss you, though if you continue to blog I'll have the pleasure of re-adding you to my RSS feed.

- drwohl

September 9, 2011 at 11:04pm

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Jon - I wish you the best. I shall never forget that you went out of your way to personally autograph your book as a surprise gift to my friend and when my son and I rode up the building elevator with you to the tnr offices, you were so friendly and gracious. That said, I will miss your blog and your TRB columns. Your columns and your professionalism will be missed. Take care, KG

- MrCookie1

September 9, 2011 at 11:12pm

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Be careful of entering a higher tax bracket with your increased salary at your new gig, Mr. Chait. If there's one thing I've learned from your blogging here, it's that sometimes a raise causes you to make less money.

- Konstantin

September 9, 2011 at 11:16pm

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Thanks for all the great pieces (both blogging and in the magazine) over the years. I hope you can continue to cover the same propaganda/hack-pundits/fiscal issues beat over at NYM. If there's the occasional item thrown in about Ohio, all the better!

- SEBASTIANSALING@HOTMAIL.COM

September 10, 2011 at 1:24am

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Jon Chait, you're the best! This is for two reasons: your brilliant incisiveness, and your incisive brilliance. When I read your stuff -- usually alone in a room, such as my office -- I'm moved to audibly express my fervent agreement and feelings of personal validation with a hearty "Yes!" or "Thank you!" followed by a shake of the head or a sigh that your clarity, conviction, and correctness seem so far from the norm in the world of political journalism and commentary. I'm not especially prone to non-sexual fantasy, but I have one -- in answer to the question, "What would you do had you a massive fortune" -- and it involves buying a major metropolitan newspaper and making you its editorial voice. I would have bested New York's offer, but, as I have neither fortune nor paper, I will try to content myself chasing down the last best word from the world of the proud and proudly rational liberals at your new home and, on occasion, your spiritual home here. Congrats and best wishes. It won't be the same here without you.

- JakeH

September 10, 2011 at 2:40am

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More than 30 years of reading TNR here, and yours has been one of the best voices. Best of luck--I will certainly bookmark nymag and look forward to seeing you there.

- kkseattle

September 10, 2011 at 2:44am

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All the best to you. Go Blue!

- kras

September 10, 2011 at 3:31am

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I mean this as high praise...... you at least, more often than not, attempted to be fair. This imputes an integrity (self honesty) that is a rare commodity these days. That Mr. Chait is your long suit. Hang on to that. Good luck.

- jacko

September 10, 2011 at 9:36am

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Sorry you're leaving - will have to look at NY Magazine from time to time. I've been a TNR subscriber for about 30 years, and I too like the way it differentiates itself from the trendy left while offering the best criticism available of the greatest internal threat we face: the ascendance of a radical economic libertarianism which has completely taken over one party. The combo of its distinctive political stance with first rate literary and cultural comment makes TNR indispensable.

- bjones

September 10, 2011 at 10:41am

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Well done. At some point I hope you come back. Continuing to read your most excellently formed prose isn't a problem. I just prefer your home, well, to be here.

- Bukharin

September 10, 2011 at 12:40pm

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Jon, thanks for all you have done here and will do at NYMag. I'll miss you here, but I imagine NYMag will have to become another habit. Bye for now, but we'll catch you over there.

- ramcat

September 10, 2011 at 2:27pm

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In the words of Dag Hammarskjold, "for all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes". Good luck, Mr. Chait.

- wkwami

September 10, 2011 at 3:10pm

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Congratulations Jon, we'll miss you. Like you, I was a TNR addict from a very young age (in my case, I think I was a giant 8 year old nerd when I started reading it). My own ideological shifts have often followed this magazine's. Discovering your blog about 18 months ago really cemented my shift from the center further left. Your posts are insightful, but they are also wonderfully written. You deserve all the success you have achieved.

- nr124831

September 10, 2011 at 5:47pm

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Jon, you do realize that the tubes go everywhere. And just because you're leaving TNR doesn't mean you can hide from us. Honestly, after so long working from essentially one editorial perspective (I realize you've been at TNR through multiple editors, but New York magazine is an entirely different framework), this move is probably a good thing. I was also a Tim Noah regular reader when he was at Slate, so this is a nice handoff. Echoing the rest of the gang above, thanks for all the hard work for TNR Jon. Congrats and good luck in the new position. We'll be watching.

- jet

September 10, 2011 at 11:41pm

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Classy move by the Fighting Irish & Wolverines football teams to give you an instant classic tonight as a goodbye gift.

- Konstantin

September 10, 2011 at 11:49pm

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... your brilliant incisiveness, and your incisive brilliance... These are, as they say in Brooklyn, les mots justes...

- basman

September 11, 2011 at 12:01pm

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Best wishes with the new position, and thanks for all the smart writing here. I guess I'll have to add another blog or two to my regular reading, but it's not as though I needed to get some work done anyway.

- frippo

September 11, 2011 at 12:22pm

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All the best -- will miss you here. As you say, TNR is liberal in the best senses of that word.

- LISAH

September 11, 2011 at 12:32pm

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Jon, Nothin' much to add. You done good. My heartfelt thanks. Best of luck at your new gig. I will probably check it out. Jack Rosenblum

- JackR

September 11, 2011 at 12:43pm

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You're the man Chait!

- Pnaut

September 11, 2011 at 7:08pm

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jon - what can i say? i certainly didn't start reading tnr because of you, lo those many years ago... but it's certainly the reason i read it now... you are a beacon of light in the universe of opinion that we have to contend with on a daily basis. you are able to cut to the core of an issue or the core of an argument like no one else... makes me feel like someone out there understands where i'm coming from... someone has something to add to the conversation that is worth listening to. but there's no reason for despair... i'll just bookmark another url and the move to new york will have no effect on me... i guess the only question would be if the move to new york had some effect on you... but it's hard to see how that could ever happen. obviously they are hiring the best political blogger out there because they want what you will bring to the table. my ears did perk up when rich moved there from the times but it didn't cause me to start reading the magazine (which has always had good writing but i never spent much time with, even when i lived in "the city"). i guess now i'll have to give it another look. so in the end i just want to take this opportunity to say "thanks!" and all the best and say i'll keep reading. you rock!

- sephirothic77

September 11, 2011 at 10:49pm

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Personally, I think you deserve a column in the NYT but New York magazine will suffice. If Noah doesn't step up and fill your shoes, I might let my next subscription lapse. Unless Peretz and Wieseltier move on, I don't have a lot of hope for this magazine.

- Sancho

September 11, 2011 at 11:59pm

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A loss. Thank you for your work at TNR and all the best in your new job.

- Claris

September 12, 2011 at 5:06am

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Jon, I will miss you oh so much. You were absolutely the best on TNR. But you are leaving on a high note, basking in the glow of that amazing UM win over Notre Dame. Go Blue, and good luck! Wildboy, LS&A Class of 1993

- wildboy

September 12, 2011 at 10:17am

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Rarely have I found myself reading the daily blog of anyone or any magazine with as much regularity as TNR and Jon's posts. I became an avid reader of TNR in the summer of 2001 and have found Jon to be one it's most informative and entertaining contributors. Congratulations and cheers to the future.

- singlspeed

September 12, 2011 at 12:56pm

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I, too, started reading TNR in college in the mid 1990s. But I didn't really have a favorite TNR writer until I read a certain article on Delaware (still one of my all-time favorites). Ever since, JC's been my favorite political writer at TNR or anywhere else. Over the years, I've sent the links to thousands of JC's articles and blog posts to friends -- so often, that my friends (perhaps accurately) think I'm a bit JC-obsessed. Best of luck at the NY Mag gig, Jon, and thanks for all of the great writing you've given us at TNR over the years.

- JSAYKO@EXCITE.COM-old

September 12, 2011 at 1:47pm

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Thanks for years of good and insightful analysis.... and thanks for that link to your new site, because NEW YORK MAGAZINE has one of the most cluttered and busy frontpages around. I gave up looking for political commentary ther after a time digging through fluff pieces. I'm going to miss seeing your name on the right hand side of the NR page, hope I can continue to easily find you in NEW YORK.

- larryzab

September 12, 2011 at 1:54pm

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Jon, thanks for many edifying hours. Your writing has played a major role in shaping my political sensibilities these last several years. I will miss your steadfast articulation of balanced, achievable liberalism.

- frb631

September 12, 2011 at 4:40pm

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Jon, Congrats on the new position and Tim Noah is a class act you will be missed greatly your blog and writing kept me coming back to TNR even after some of its editorial positions missed the mark, I hope (although I doubt) that the magazine's quality will not lessen with your departure.

- jhdrocks

September 12, 2011 at 6:33pm

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So, it looks now as if Tim was taking Monday off. I guess he was sorting out his stuff in the new office. No biggie. Know the score. [impatient tapping of foot]

- ironyroad

September 12, 2011 at 10:18pm

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I will really miss your column. I read it several times a day. Oy vey. What will I do? -- Dave

- davidfass

September 14, 2011 at 9:38am

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For all your accumulated comments in TNR, and especially the long-overdue blast at supply-siders in"The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics," I will always be grateful. And, hey, you aren't dying or retiring, just moving on. And, via the magic of modern technology, voila . . . we can all continue to benefit from your insight. Farewell. . . and keep 'em coming!

- cforeman

September 16, 2011 at 8:29pm

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Best wishes, Jon!

- drheingold

September 17, 2011 at 8:13pm

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