Kurt Andersen ~ journalism

Time articles

New York articles

pieces elsewhere

I WENT TO WORK for Time in 1981 and wrote about politics, criminal justice, and culture, including 15 cover stories. In 1985 I became the magazine’s architecture and design critic – and although I left the magazine in 1986 to co-found Spy, I stayed in the architecture-and-design slot as a contributor through 1992. And in 1993 I returned to Time for one year to write a column called “Spectator.”

Not counting my third-grade Thanksgiving essay on the importance of God and oxygen and freedom that the Omaha World-Herald printed, my first published, paid article was for the New York Times' s Travel section, about a cross-country hitchhiking trip, at age 17. Since then I’ve written more for the Times -- a few Op-Eds, a few book reviews and some pieces for the Magazine.

During the late 1990s I was a staff writer for The New Yorker , where I contributed a regular column called “The Culture Industry” as well as longer pieces.

On my radio show, Studio 360, I used to deliver three- or four-minute commentaries, which are better heard than read.

And I now write a monthly column for New York called "The Imperial City."

In addition, I’ve written for Architectural Record, The Atlantic Monthly, Metropolis, Rolling Stone, Slate and Vanity Fair, among other publications.