Magazine

Nathan J. Robinson: Editor In Chief

Nathan J. Robinson is the editor in chief of Current Affairs. He has a BA and MA in Politics from Brandeis University, a JD from Yale Law School and a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University. His published books include Why You Should be a Socialist, Trump: Anatomy of a Monstrosity, Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments, and (with Noam Chomsky) The Myth of American Idealism. He is a former columnist for The Guardian, as well as having written for The Washington Post, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Nation, The New Republic, Al Jazeera, and Boston Review.

Sonya Eugene: Development Director

Sonya Eugene is the Development Director for Current Affairs, spearheading efforts to secure grants and funding for our magazine. A native of Moscow, Russia, she has cultivated a diverse career background over her fourteen-year tenure in New Orleans, merging her work in the film industry with a passion for labor organizing. Sonya holds a BA in Visual Arts from The New School and an MA from Tulane University’s School of Architecture.

Alex Skopic: Associate Editor

Alex Skopic is an Associate Editor at Current Affairs. He has previously worked as a poetry critic for the Cleveland Review of Books, along with freelance writing for Protean and a variety of other national and international publications. He holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Reading, where he competed on the BBC’s University Challenge.

Emily Topping: Associate Editor

Emily is an Associate Editor of Current Affairs. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon and has contributed to progressive media outlet The Young Turks, freelanced for NPR and BBC Radio 4, and served as the Life & Culture reporter for LonestarLive and GulfLive in New Orleans.

Cali Traina Blume: Graphic Designer

Cali Traina Blume is the lead graphic designer for Current Affairs. She is a passionate designer and educator born and raised in the vibrant city of New Orleans. Cali has a BFA in graphic design from Loyola University New Orleans, where she also currently serves as an adjunct professor.

John Ross: Digital Editor

John Ross is the Digital Editor of Current Affairs, overseeing social media, video production, and podcast operations. He has over five years of experience in progressive independent media and got his start in the field through volunteering with the Bernie 2020 campaign. In addition to content strategy, John also assists with subscriber relations and community management. He holds an AA from Miami Dade College and a BA from Florida International University.

Emily Carmichael: Writer & Researcher

Emily Carmichael is the writer and researcher for the Current Affairs News Briefing (Subscribe Here!). Her political and cultural writing have appeared in The Washington Post, The Believer, Outside Magazine, The Gambit, Scalawag Magazine, The Connecticut Examiner, and more. Previously, she was the managing editor of Fifty Grande Magazine. She holds a BS from Tulane University and a MFA in Literary Reportage from New York University.

Yasmin Nair: Editor at Large

Yasmin Nair is a writer, activist, media and cultural critic, and academic. She is a co-founder of the radical queer editorial collective Against Equality. Her work has appeared in publications like The Baffler, In These Times, Vox, and Electronic Intifada as well as in several anthologies including Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, False Choices: The Faux Feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies. She holds a PhD in English from Purdue University.

Katherine Krueger: Contributing Editor

Katherine Krueger is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. She’s a co-owner of the co-operative site Discourse Blog and has previously been the Managing Editor of Splinter and features editor at ELLE magazine.

Briahna Joy Gray: Contributing Editor

Briahna Gray is a journalist and former attorney who served as National Press Secretary for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign and Senior Politics Editor at The Intercept. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, and The Week, among others. She holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Harvard College. She is the creator and host of the Bad Faith podcast.

“I felt politically homeless until I found Current Affairs.”

Gabriel Fouason

“As a highly effective, Effective Altruist, I give all my post-sustenance income to Current Affairs Magazine. What better way is there to do the most good?"

Stephan Shaw / Unemployed Philosophers Guild

“I credit Current Affairs, alongside the likes of Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, for expanding and clarifying my moral thinking over the past several years. Not only is the writing cogent, but it comes wrapped in a stylish package that is sorely lacking in left media. I support CA because I think it has the right stuff to engage readers of (nearly) all ages and make a forceful case for socialist ideas and ideals.”

Victor Goforth

“I read Current Affairs because its writers are extraordinarily well-informed and articulate, their facts and logic are solid, and they are free from the taboos, censorship and conventions that limit the ability of most mainstream media writers to honestly and directly speak truth to power and the people. The other crucial feature is that the opinions are based on concern for all the people of the world, including the most vulnerable and unpopular people. They promote kindness, critical thinking, humor, democracy, peace, justice and protection for the environment.”

Michael B. Freeman

“Current Affairs embodies the fact that politics doesn't have to be a soul-sucking descent into the abyss. It's the roses alongside the bread. It's the one political outlet out there working to ensure that when the time comes, Emma Goldman will get to dance."

Ryan Learn

Noam Chomsky: Linguistics professor and social critic

“Nathan Robinson’s articles, and Current Affairs generally, have been consistently challenging and thought-provoking, with incisive critique and informative discussion, lucid and provocative, and focused on well-chosen issues of major significance. I find myself regularly recommending Robinson’s articles to others, and re-reading them myself. Unusually valuable contributions.”

Dr. Cornel West: Philosopher and activist

“Current Affairs is one of few superb places to go to get moral and spiritual depth combined with crucial progressive analysis and vision in a decadent American culture! The rich legacies of Martin Luther King, Jr., Noam Chomsky and Barbara Ehrenreich are alive in this marvelous magazine.”

Ella: Beloved subscriber

“My name is Ella and I am currently a senior in high school. I submitted my first college application last week and I wanted to let the CA team know that I wrote my personal essay about my journey of embracing socialism after discovering Current Affairs! I was raised in an Obama-loving household, and Current Affairs has played a transformative role in exposing me and drawing me to the left. Since I started reading Current Affairs in 2017, my understanding of the world and my vision for the future have radically changed. Love the magazine, podcast, everything!! Thank you for all that you do!”

Glenn Greenwald: Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and co-founder of The Intercept

“Nathan J. Robinson and Current Affairs are consistently excellent, writing at a very high standard, and offering serious and compelling alternative perspectives. Very worth following and reading.”

Adolph Reed, Jr.: University of Pennsylvania

“Current Affairs is an important breath of fresh air. It stands out as by far the most intellectually sophisticated, thought-provoking, and politically astute among organs of left commentary directed toward a popular audience that have appeared in recent decades.”

Michael Moore: Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker

“This is one of the best magazines in this country, I encourage you to read it. I’m a big fan of it, I learn things I don’t know and I read their analysis and it’s very enlightening… I couldn’t believe it when I read the first issue of it, both the subjects that were being covered or being written about are being said in a very different way than what you’re used to… [N]ot only highly readable, it’s inspiring… I will continue to be a reader and a subscriber and I bought a subscription for all my crew on my last movie. It’s a real gift to have Current Affairs…”

Krystal Ball: Host of “Rising” on The Hill

“Current Affairs is a critical island of dissent from a left perspective in a sea of conformist mediocrity. This publication is an ally to the independent thinker, and a threat to the status quo.”

The Daily Beast: “Not all ‘Bernie Bros’ are ‘angry young men.’ Meet Nathan J. Robinson.”

“In a difficult time for the digital media landscape and a dire one for print, Current Affairs has achieved things that seem all but unheard in the modern age. It balances take-no-prisoners leftist political writing with a whimsical, often militantly silly sensibility reminiscent of Dave Eggers’ Generation-X touchstone Might, Carter’s own ’80s satirical staple Spy, and every website you once loved that has gone out of business in the past five years. It has achieved this while exhibiting a Fugazi-level dedication to independence, as neither the magazine nor the website accepts advertising, though the magazine is littered with faux ads and public-service announcements, including pleas to not put an octopus on one’s head.”

Adam McKay: Academy Award-winning director of Don't Look Up and The Big Short

“In a news media landscape where ad dollars and clicks trounce the truth on a daily basis, Current Affairs operates from a place legacy media should visit more often: Reality.”