The majority of Americans probably haven’t heard of Jacobin magazine, but the leading leftist publication holds great political influence among the growing progressive sect of the Democratic Party. The publication, which examines current events and culture from a socialist slant, has a current print run of 60,000 subscribers per issue and about 2 million website views per month. The magazine’s popularity is no accident: Its trajectory has grown alongside the Democratic Socialist movement, ushered in by celebrity politicians like senator Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but founder and publisher, Bhaskar Sunkara, has been honing the look and editorial direction since its launch in 2010. At 12 years old Sunkara was reading Leon Trotsky and the New Left Review, and by 17, he was editor of The Activist, the youth blog for the Democratic Socialists of America. A few years later, he launched Jacobin while he was still a student at George Washington University.
Today, Jacobin has an international affiliate in Italy and its own book-publishing arm, hosts video content, and features the work of thinkers like Slavoj Žižek, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Jeremy Corbyn.
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