The Illuminated Donkey

Ken Goldstein: the Reader Magazines Can’t Afford to Lose! Back in December I wrote a sort of farewell to Harper’s, bemoaning the fact that they are filling their pages with predictable screeds and running fewer interesting, unusual articles, specifically mentioning James McManus’ "Fortune’s Smile: Betting Big at the World Series of Poker" as an example of the type of article I missed. After I wrote that post I traded subscriptions with my friend Mike, with him getting my Harper’s and me getting his to The Atlantic. Recently, in what must have been seen by the magazine publishing community as a veiled threat, I mentioned that over the past few months I had let a number of my subscriptions lapse. So what happens today? My friend Christine sends me a link to an article from The Atlantic, "Tells: the Fine Art of Losing at Poker," by World Series of Poker competitor Andy Bellin. It’s refreshing to finally see a company with the business savvy to understand what they need to do to keep those Ken Goldstein checks pouring in!