I’ve long hoped that print magazines would rise like the proverbial phoenix, but I didn’t envision it quite this way: W Magazine, a relatively avant-garde fashion publication, is launching a twice-annual “teenage sister publication” in September 2026.
On the surface, it tracks. Teens are buying cassettes and CDs, inexplicably, and since as far back as 2021, they’ve been scouring eBay for vintage iPods to replace the all-in-one convenience of their phones. Someone’s 128 GB black scroll-wheel model is going for $225 on eBay. Smoking is back (gross, you dummies, don’t do this). It tracks that there’d be a fascination with yesteryear that might extend to printed materials, and as much as I balk at and reject the idea that my youth is somebody’s kitschy retro playground, I would love to see magazines return and if they’re willing to shell out for tape decks then maybe Kids Today will learn the wonders of bringing a glossy onto an airplane for entertainment.
But in this scenario, I imagine a …