What Is Lorin Stein Doing At "Tablet"?

"You can tell almost everything you need to know about Tablet's new monthly print magazine from its ads. The back cover of the first issue, published in June, features three torpedoes crashing through the waves. "Command the sea command the world," the ad declares. And, in smaller letters, "Rebuild the arsenal." It's selling Anduril, the Peter Thiel-seeded defense contractor with an Elvish name from The Lord of the Rings that translates to "Sword of the West.""

"Between the covers, the ads tend more toward culture war than military hardware. They include products like the transphobic athletic clothier XX-XY (which calls itself "the only brand with the ovaries to stand up for women's sports"); "Pirate Wires," a newsletter by Thiel protégé Mike Solana; the Dimes Square right's favorite fashion designer Elena Velez; and new CBS News editor in chief (and former Tablet writer) Bari Weiss's University of Austin ("Come to a school that doesn't hate you")."

"Most of the stuff in between the ads is likewise mindlessly provocative. A sidebar features a meme showing Osama bin Laden saying, "I have done nothing wrong, ever, in my life," and the 79-year-old actor Henry Winkler, labeled "Gen Z on TikTok," responding, "I know this and I love you." The front of the book has a piece interviewing Javier Milei fans in Argentina."

Tablet's new monthly print magazine foregrounds provocative, culture-war oriented advertising and editorial content. The inaugural back cover featured torpedoes and an Anduril ad declaring "Command the sea command the world" and urging "Rebuild the arsenal." Advertisements promote a transphobic athletic clothier called XX-XY; Mike Solana's newsletter Pirate Wires; fashion designer Elena Velez; and Bari Weiss's University of Austin with the slogan "Come to a school that doesn't hate you." Editorial pages include a meme juxtaposing Osama bin Laden and Henry Winkler, an interview with Javier Milei supporters in Argentina, and an essay alleging intelligence agencies could be manipulating online men into a "Nazi-satanist" cult. Later issues slightly dial back military imagery but retain a confrontational tone.

Read at The Nation