Reason (magazine)

Reason was founded in 1968 by Lanny Friedlander (1947–2011),{{cite book |first=Jennifer |last=Burns |title=Goddess of the market: Ayn Rand and the American Right |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-532487-7 |page=328}} a student at Boston University,{{cite news |url=https://reason.com/archives/2011/04/24/shine-on-you-crazy-diamond |title=Shine On, You Crazy Diamond |work=Reason.com |date=April 24, 2011 |first=Nick |last=Gillespie |authorlink=Nick Gillespie |accessdate=November 8, 2018 }} as a more-or-less monthly mimeographed publication. In 1970, it was purchased by Robert W. Poole Jr., Manuel S. Klausner, and Tibor R. Machan, who set it on a more regular publishing schedule. During the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine's contributors included Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard, Thomas Szasz, and Thomas Sowell.{{cite news |authorlink=Walter E. Williams |first=Walter E. |last=Williams |title=Bringing Reason to the People |newspaper=The Afro-American |date=June 18, 1983 |page=5 }} In 1978, Poole, Klausner, and Machan created the associated Reason Foundation, in order to expand the magazine's ideas into policy research. Marty Zupan joined Reason in 1975, and served through the 1980s as managing editor and editor-in-chief, leaving in 1989.{{cite web | authorlink=Brian Doherty (journalist) | first=Brian | last=Doherty | title=40 Years of Free Minds and Free Markets: An Oral History of Reason | work=Reason | date=December 2008 | url=http://reason.com/archives/2008/11/17/40-years-of-free-minds-and-fre/3 | accessdate=June 15, 2016}}

Virginia Postrel was editor-in-chief of the magazine from July 1989 to January 2000. She founded the magazine's website in 1995.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/tour/bios.html|title=Ideas Tour Speakers|work=The Atlantic|date=2006|access-date=2023-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911233802/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/tour/bios.html|archive-date=2023-09-11|url-status=live}} Nick Gillespie became editor-in-chief in 2000.{{cite press release |publisher=Reason Foundation |date=November 27, 2007 |url=http://www.reason.com/blog/show/123676.html |title=Reason Magazine and Reason.tv Announce New Editors }}

In June 2004, subscribers to Reason magazine received a personalized issue that had their name, and a satellite photo of their home or workplace on the cover. The concept was to demonstrate the power of public databases, as well as the customized printing capabilities of Xeikon's printer, according to then editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie.{{cite news |title= Putting 40,000 Readers, One by One, on a Cover |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E7D91139F936A35757C0A9629C8B63 |work=The New York Times |date=April 5, 2004 |first=David |last=Carr |accessdate=October 20, 2010}} The move was seen by David Carr of The New York Times as "the ultimate in customized publishing" as well as "a remarkable demonstration of the growing number of ways databases can be harnessed."

In 2008, Matt Welch became magazine's editor-in-chief, with Gillespie becoming editor-in-chief of reason.tv. In 2011, Gillespie and Welch published the book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America, which they co-wrote.{{Cite book|title=The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America |isbn = 978-1586489380|last1 = Gillespie|first1 = Nick|last2 = Welch|first2 = Matt|date = 2011-06-28| publisher=PublicAffairs }}

File:Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch.jpg, Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch]]

Katherine Mangu-Ward became the magazine's editor-in-chief in June 2016, with Welch moving to an editor-at-large position.{{cite news|last1=Warren|first1=James|title=Reason's new editor on politics, intern life and leading the magazine into its next 50 years|url=http://www.poynter.org/2016/the-new-boss-of-a-libertarian-bastion/417302/|accessdate=13 September 2016|publisher=Poynter|date=June 17, 2016}} Nick Gillespie is the other editor-at-large of Reason.

Hit & Run was Reason{{'}}s group blog. It was maintained and written by the staff of the magazine. It was started in 2002 and discontinued on April 14, 2019, with reason.com's site redesign. Then-editor Gillespie and then-Web editor Tim Cavanaugh, both veterans of Suck.com, modeled the blog in some ways after that website: they brought along several other Suck.com writers to contribute, fostered a style in the blog matching that former website's sarcastic attitude, and even the name "Hit & Run" was taken from what had been a weekly news roundup column on Suck.com. Reason editors referred to this co-opting of the former website as the "Suck-ification of Reason".{{cite news |first=Cynthia |last=Cotts |title=A Marriage Made Online: How 'Reason' Came to 'Suck' |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0304,cotts,41332,6.html |work=The Village Voice |date=January 21, 2003 |access-date=July 10, 2007 |archive-date=August 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830081649/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0304,cotts,41332,6.html |url-status=dead }}

In 2005, Hit & Run was named as one of the best political blogs by Playboy.{{cite journal | title=Top 10 Political Blogs |journal=Playboy |date=November 2006}}

Reason TV is a YouTube channel affiliated with Reason magazine that produces short-form documentaries and video editorials. Nick Gillespie is editor-in-chief. The site produced a series of videos called The Drew Carey Project hosted by comedian Drew Carey.{{cite web |url=http://reason.com/reasontv |title=Reason.tv |website=Reason |accessdate=July 27, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802081545/http://reason.com/reasontv |archive-date= Aug 2, 2013 }} Reason TV teamed with Carey again in 2009 to produce "Reason Saves Cleveland", in which Carey suggested free market solutions to his hometown's problems.{{cite web |url=http://reason.org/news/show/reason-saves-cleveland-drew-carey |website=Reason Foundation |title=Reason Foundation on Reason Saves Cleveland |accessdate=October 20, 2010|date=2010-03-15 }}

Since 2010, comedian Remy Munasifi has partnered with Reason TV to produce parody videos.{{cite news|last1=McDonough|first1=Megan|title=Remy Munasifi: From 'Arlington Rap' to opening for Ron Paul|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/remy-munasifi-from-arlington-rap-to-opening-for-ron-paul/2013/08/07/ec58016c-fe9c-11e2-bd97-676ec24f1f3f_story.html |url-access=subscription |accessdate=27 December 2015|newspaper=Washington Post|date=August 7, 2013}} Since 2017, John Stossel has produced more than 100 commentary segments published on the Reason TV YouTube channel.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/john-stossel-what-a-skating-rink-can-tell-us-about-life-and-government|title=John Stossel: What a skating rink can tell us about life (and government)|last=Stossel|first=John|author-link=John Stossel|work=Fox News|date=2016-12-14|access-date=2023-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911231156/https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/john-stossel-what-a-skating-rink-can-tell-us-about-life-and-government|archive-date=2023-09-11|url-status=live}}

Reason TV has a playlist called "Great Moments in Unintended Consequences" which examines historical and contemporary examples of government regulations producing unintended consequences.{{cite web|url=https://www.contrepoints.org/2022/04/10/425176-leffet-cobra-quand-les-initiatives-politiques-finissent-mal|title=L'effet cobra : quand les initiatives politiques finissent mal|language=fr|trans-title=The cobra effect: when political initiatives end badly|last=Meyer|first=Nathalie MP|work=Contrepoints|date=2022-04-10|access-date=2023-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911230723/https://www.contrepoints.org/2022/04/10/425176-leffet-cobra-quand-les-initiatives-politiques-finissent-mal|archive-date=2023-09-11|url-status=live}}

Reason has multiple podcast series,{{Cite web |title=Podcasts |url=https://reason.com/podcasts/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}} including Reason Roundtable, a weekly podcast in which the editors "discuss and debate the week’s biggest stories and what fresh hell awaits us all".

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie, is a podcast series in which editor at large, Nick Gillespie interviews activists, artists, authors, entrepreneurs, newsmakers, and politicians on current issues such as free speech, censorship, gun control, COVID-19 regulations, institutions such as the FBI, geopolitics and more. The podcast occasionally focuses on historical topics, such as pacifism during World War 2 and the philosophical views of Adam Smith and Ayn Rand.

The Soho Forum Debates is moderated by Gene Epstein and features live debates between public intellectuals on current issues such as bitcoin, electric vehicles, government debt, illegal drugs, robotics, and sex work.

The podcast series Why We Can't Have Nice Things is a six part series about American trade policy and its impacts on the economy, such as the 2022 United States infant formula shortage.

{{Portal|Libertarianism}}

• The Declaration of Independents (book)
• Reason Foundation

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://reason.com}}
• {{YouTube|u=ReasonTV|Reason TV}}
• {{cite news |url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/11/14/BU235867.DTL |title= Wired founder helps Reason }}
• [https://www.scribd.com/doc/234990104/Reason-February-1976 Reason Feb. 1976: Special Revisionism Issue]

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Category:American political websites

Category:Classical liberalism

Category:Libertarian magazines published in the United States

Category:Libertarian publications

Category:Libertarianism in the United States

Category:Magazines established in 1968

Category:Magazines published in California

Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States

Category:News magazines published in the United States