I have a fantasy. That one day print magazines will be treated with the same reverence as vinyl records or VHS tapes.
Why not? The tactile pleasure of kicking back with a magazine, ink on your fingers, isn’t so different from sliding a record out of its sleeve or popping A Nightmare on Elm Street into a VCR.
That’s the idea behind Geezer, a new quarterly print magazine created by Laura LeBleu and Paul von Zielbauer.
Both are Gen Xers who came of age during the height of print’s influence, and both felt what many Gen Xers feel now—largely ignored by today’s media.
And when the generation does get attention, it only arrives in the form of AARP Magazine that no one ever asked for.
I recently had Laura and Paul on Small Talk Live to talk about why they started the magazine, why they chose print over digital, and what they hope it can become.
More than 100 people showed up for the conversation. Here’s hoping that same enthusiasm carries beyond the screen. If my old record collection can make a comeback, there’s still hope for the stacks of magazines I never threw away.
PS. This is the part where I mention my own print project.
Write About Now is a collection of conversations with top writers and creators, such as Kristin Hannah, David Grann, and Betsey Johnson, about how they overcame obstacles and became successful.
It makes a great stocking stuffer!
