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Whoops! Explainer begs Buckley's forgiveness

Bruce Gottlieb
Posted Wednesday, July 22, 1998, at 6:40 PM ET

William F. Buckley, Jr. complains that a 7/1 item entitled "New York Magazines That Matter" neglected to mention the National Review (founded in 1955 by Mr. Buckley and edited by him for 35 years). Since 1) the National Review matters and 2) it is located in New York, it doesn't look like Explainer is going to wriggle out of this one. Sorry, Mr. Buckley!

It's true, it's true. Critics and admirers agree: since the 1950s, the NR's pages have deeply influenced conservative politics. It's also true--though Explainer isn't off the hook--that since Rupert Murdoch and his millions conceived the Weekly Standard three years ago, the NR has had to share the conservative laurels.

While we're at it, the article also incorrectly omitted Foreign Affairs (brought to Explainer's attention by Prof. Paul Krugman, a regular Slate and occasional Foreign Affairs contributor). Published by the Council on Foreign Relations, this bimonthly contains long, serious essays on, well, foreign affairs. The most celebrated example is George Kennan's 1947 article on containment (published under the pseudonym "X") which defined United States's strategy for the Cold War. Krugman, who'd know, reports that writing for Foreign Affairs "yields paltry rewards like $40,000 speaking engagements in Singapore rather than more concrete ones like good tables at 44."

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Bruce Gottlieb is a law student and a former Slate staff writer.
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