You can now subscribe to a beautiful print edition of Works in Progress.
Ever since we started Works in Progress, people have asked us, again and again, if we would produce a print edition. We never wanted to. We thought it was a bit obvious of us to produce a print edition, and we thought it would be a radical and alternative design choice to be an online-first, online-only and online-forever magazine.
We held onto our cherished little belief for years. Nick Whitaker, our only Generation Z colleague, wore us down steadily over time, arguing that the ephemeral digital world was really a cringe millennial, gen X, and boomer thing, and that youngsters these days had a strong affinity for the tangible and physical. Evidence kept accumulating that he was right, but we kept resisting his message, though he told the truth.
Eventually we gave in. I prefer to read absolutely everything on my phone. I gave away most of my physical books over the last ten years, having held onto only the ones that work as wallpaper. Even if I own a book, I will buy the epub to read it, as I prefer the experience. I acknowledge that this is a strange preference, and that most of our readers, especially the younger generation, strongly prefer to read things in physical print. So I am excited about better reaching that audience.
There is another benefit. In once realised, during the time I worked for UK think tank Policy Exchange, that I had a chance to put a research paper in the hand of then-Prince now-King Charles. I had reason to believe that that paper, Strong Suburbs, would be something he would like, given its tilt towards popular design, traditional urbanism, and the Great Estates. But I could hardly hand him a QR code, or get the Prince of Wales to Google my paper! So we rushed out a whole print run of 1,000 in order to have them in time to get three handed over to this important individual. I have no reason to believe that it made any difference, but it was a worthwhile gamble. I think the same will be true of the new print Works in Progress: it will be something I can hand over to Prime Ministers and Presidents, should I meet them.
I think there is a third reason why print is good, as well as pleasing zoomers and VIPs. Banks are said to have grand headquarters because it was a credible, unfakeable signal that they had a lot to lose by taking risks and going bankrupt, or by running off with depositors’ savings. Beacon, a gorgeous town about an hour north of New York City, through which I travelled to escape New York (via Stewart International Airport and Iceland) during the Heathrow fire earlier this year, has an old bank HQ that is literally just a giant triumphal arch. It is a common form for American small towns. I think our physical magazine will perform a similar function for some people, proving that we are a real organisation, rather than ‘just an online blog’.
If you are a fan of what we do, I can promise you that you will want to read the physical magazine. All of our main articles will still go onto our website and Substack, and if that’s your preferred way to dip in and out of what we do, then nothing will change. But I am confident that the extra content and the presentation will make our magazine the ultimate version of Works in Progress. If you are interested, then subscribe now, and you will receive the first issue in November, as soon as it is printed, and the following five issues as well. I am very excited for our next chapter!