Richard Spencer Leaves Taki’s Magazine

Editor’s Note: Richard, best of luck with your new venture. I hope your new site becomes a place where the best people in the conservative and libertarian movements in the US can meet and mingle with writers on Human Biodiversity, White Nationalism, the European New Right, the Conservative Revolution, Traditionalism, agrarianism, Third Positionism, and right-wing anti-capitalists, ecologists, bioregionalists, and small-is-beautiful types.

Your talents and connections make you uniquely suited for such a venture. I will keep all of our loyal readers posted on the launch of your new site. I hope they become your loyal readers as well. Let a thousand flowers bloom!

“So long, farewell”
Richard Spencer
Taki’s Magazine, January 3, 2009

All good things must come to end, and so will my tenure as editor of Taki’s Magazine.

From the beginning, I thought of my role at Takimag as that of an impresario, my task being to surround myself with as many people who are smarter than I am as possible. (Whenever I’d mention this to my buddies, one would usually chime in with, “Well, Richard, that’s not too hard!” Hardy har har…)

Takimag was churning out great stuff before I arrived (with Paul Gottfried, Justin Raimondo, and John Zmirak leading the way), but I’m particularly grateful to those new contributors who helped me appear like an intelligent and well connected editor. These include, among others:

Doug Bandow, Thomas Bertonneau, Austin Bramwell, Gary Brecher, Peter Brimelow, Patrick J. Buchanan, Lee Congdon, Karen De Coster, Martin van Creveld, John Derbyshire, Marcus Epstein, Daniel Flynn, David Gordon, Nikolas Gvosdev, Kevin R. C. Gutzman, Leon Hadar, Jeffrey Hart, Grant Havers, James Kalb, S.T. Karnic, Bill Kauffman, Razib Khan, E. Christian Kopff, Mark Krikorian, Alex Kurtagic, Robert Stacy McCain, Gavin McInnes, Ilana Mercer, Charles Murray, Brendan O’Neill, Michael Scheuer, Peter Schiff, “Spengler” (David P. Goldman), Caleb Stegel, Jared Taylor, Derek Turner, Laurence Vance, Thomas E. Woods Jr., Tim Worstall, and Elizabeth Wright.

I’m even prouder of the younger writers I brought on board over the past two years, most of whom got their start blogging at Takimag:

Kevin DeAnna, Patrick Ford, Mark Hackard, Dylan Hales, Richard Hoste, Jack Hunter, Scott Locklin, Evan McLaren, Mike Payne, Keith Preston, Helen Rittelmeyer, and Devin Saucier.

And then there’s Steve Sailer, who began writing a weekly “Zeitgeist” column in the spring of 2009 and who’s done some of his most memorable, and hilarious, work at Takimag. Paul Gottfried deserves special recognition, too, not simply as a frequent contributor but as an advisor and éminence grise. Thanks go out as well to Angelo Matera, who ran Takimag’s finances during 2008, and Lew Rockwell and Peter Brimelow, who have been highly supportive of me and who have introduced tens of thousands to the website through generous linking.

And most of all, I’d like to thank Taki. My boss allowed me not to worry about finances for two years—quite a luxury among the blogging set!—and from the beginning, he gave me more editorial freedom than any 29-year could dream of. Taki has been an indispensable patron of and contributor to right-wing causes in America, Britain, and Europe, and I’m proud to call him a friend.

* * *

But never fear, loyal readers, Takimag won’t be going away—nor will I be severing my ties with the webzine.

Taki’s talented daughter, Mandolyna, who became a regular contributor, will be stepping into to fill my shoes and, no doubt, she’ll bring her own perspective to the webzine. Over the past month, Mandolyna has already taken on many of the tasks of editor, finding new voices and commissioning new pieces. And I’ll be sticking around, too, offering economic and political commentary on a regular basis.

* * *

And what else will I be up to? Well, I’m currently hard at work creating a new web project. Many of the themes that predominated at Takimag over the past two years will be taken up again at the new site, but I also hope to cut some new paths, particularly in the discussion of Human Biological Diversity and also in terms of the format and look of a right-wing webzine.

In order to fuel more speculation around the blogosphere, I won’t say anymore… But expect a launch by early February. And if you’re interested in supporting this project, then I encourage you to shoot me an email, as I’d love to discuss the details with you.

Crises are opportunities, and I hope that 2010 will be the year when the Alternative Right comes into its own.

In closing, I’ve had a great time at Takimag over the past two years, and its been an honor to work with such intelligent contributors and readers.

Best wishes,
Richard