Inside the Rise and Fall of Condé Nast with Michael Grynbaum
Summary
This episode explores the storied history of Condé Nast, detailing its peak influence in the 1980s and 90s as a dominant cultural arbiter. Reporter Michael Grynbaum discusses how the company, under Cy Newhouse, fostered an era of celebrity editors and lavish spending, funded by lucrative advertising and a family fortune. The conversation also delves into Condé Nast's struggle to adapt to the internet and its surprising, accidental success with the Reddit investment, before examining the future prospects of its iconic magazine titles amidst evolving media landscapes and cultural attitudes.Episode description
Here's one way New York Times reporter Michael Grynbaum described Condé Nast to me in this week’s chat: “A real exporter of American cultural influence in the late 20th century.” And here’s another one: "A kind of enchanted land” but also a “lost world."
And here’s one way I’d describe it: it’s hard to imagine in 2025, but just a few decades ago, magazines were incredibly important — and Conde Nast was the most important, most glamorous magazine publisher in the world.
We know why all of that has changed — in large part because of the technology that allows you to listen to this conversation. But Empire of the Elite, Grynbaum’s excellent new book, focuses mostly on how Conde reached its peak influence, and how it sustained it for years.
Also discussed here: Money money money. Also: Why Jeff Bezos is very unlikely to buy Vogue in the near future.
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