Taki's Magazine: Difference between revisions

{{Conservatism US|media}}

'''''Taki's Magazine''''', called '''''Takimag''''' for short, is an [[online magazine]] of politics and culture published by the Greek [[paleoconservatismPaleoconservatism|paleoconservative]]<ref name="voxvox2">{{cite web |last1=Matthews |first1=Dylan |date=6 May 2016 |title=Paleoconservatism, the movement that explains Donald Trump, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/5/6/11592604/donald-trump-paleoconservative-buchanan |access-date=12 July 2019 |website=Vox}}</ref> commentator and socialite [[Taki Theodoracopulos]] and edited by his daughter Mandolyna Theodoracopulos. It has published articles by [[Far-right politics|far-right]] figures such as [[Gavin McInnes]] and the [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] [[Jared Taylor]]; the white supremacist [[Richard B. Spencer|Richard Spencer]] was an early ''Taki's'' editor.<ref name=":002">{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Nick R. |date=October 19, 2018 |title=Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes has been using the same anti-gay slur hurled in the NYC attack for at least 15 years |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/19/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-has-been-using-same-anti-gay-slur-hurled-nyc-attack-least |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hawley |first=George |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/990778368 |title=Making sense of the alt-right |date=2017 |isbn=978-0-231-54600-3 |location=New York |oclc=990778368}}</ref><ref name=":662">{{Cite web |title=Taki's Magazine {{!}} Center on Extremism |url=https://extremismterms.adl.org/glossary/takis-magazine |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |language=en}}</ref>

Initially called '''''Taki's Top Drawer''''', the site was redesigned and relaunched under its current title in March 2008 with a subsequent redesign in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |last=Grant |first=Drew |date=9 April 2012 |title=Taki's Mag Founder Speaks Out on John Derbyshire Race Controversy: 'It's Nice to Be Light Sometimes' |work=Observer |location=New York |url=http://observer.com/2012/04/takis-mag-founder-speaks-out-on-john-derbyshire-race-controversy-its-nice-to-be-light-sometimes/ |access-date=15 August 2017}}</ref> Spencer as editor in the late 2000s had a role in marshaling and naming what would eventually become the [[alt-right]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name=":14" /> ''Taki's'' received criticism for publishing articles in support of the Greek [[neo-Nazi]] political party [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Golden Dawn]].<ref name="voxvox2" /><ref name=":10">{{cite web |last=Theodoracopulos |first=Taki |date=19 July 2013 |title=Black Belts and Golden Dawn |url=https://www.takimag.com/article/black_belts_and_golden_dawn_taki/ |access-date=25 March 2022 |work=Taki's Magazine}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{cite news |last=Rothschild |first=Mike |date=15 August 2018 |title=After Alex Jones, 4 Far-Right Voices Testing the Limits of Free Speech Online |website=The Daily Dot |url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/far-right-face-internet-censorship/ |access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="altRightExplainedaltRightExplained2">{{cite web |last1=Matthews |first1=Dylan |date=18 April 2016 |title=The alt-right is more than warmed-over white supremacy. It's that, but way way weirder. |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/4/18/11434098/alt-right-explained |access-date=12 July 2019 |website=Vox}}</ref> In 2016, McInnes announced in ''Taki's'' the founding of the [[Proud Boys]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" />

Founded on 5 February 2007, the intent of the site, according to Theodoracopulos, was to "shake up the stodgy world of so-called 'conservative' opinion."<ref name=":112">{{cite web |title=Taki's Magazine - Article Page |url=http://takimag.com/about#axzz4fZ6OJY11 |access-date=15 August 2017 |website=takimag.com}}</ref> Theodoracopulos said: "''Takimag'' is a [[libertarianismLibertarianism|libertarian]] webzine. We believe the best stories are smart, cheeky, and culturally relevant. We take our politics like we take life—lightly."<ref name=":112">{{cite web|title=Taki's Magazine - Article Page|url=http://takimag.com/about#axzz4fZ6OJY11|access-date=15 August 2017|website=takimag.com}}</ref> Theodoracopulos, a "New York society gadfly",<ref name=":332">{{Cite web |last=Matthew |first=Zoie |date=2019-10-03 |title=How Gavin McInnes Went from Vice to the Far Right |url=https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/gavin-mcinnes-interview/ |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=Los Angeles Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> and the playboy son of a Greek shipping magnate, hasand co-founder of ''[[The American Conservative]]'', had been a controversial columnist in publications like ''[[The Spectator]]'', and noted for his use of racial and ethnic slurs.<ref name=":222">{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Matthew |date=2010-05-15 |title=What's the point of Taki if he isn't offensive any more? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/what-s-the-point-of-taki-if-he-isn-t-offensive-any-more-1974383.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":772">{{Cite web |date=August 16, 2012 |title=Prominent White Nationalists Fired from National Review |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2012/prominent-white-nationalists-fired-national-review |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gollner |first=Adam Leith |date=July–August 2021 |title=Original Sins |url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2021/7/original-sins |access-date=2023-09-02 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":332" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Grant |first=Drew |date=2012-05-16 |title=To Slur, With Love: 'Ironic Racism' is More Than Just Taki |url=https://observer.com/2012/05/to-slur-with-love-ironic-racism-is-more-than-just-taki/ |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=Observer |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":442">{{Cite web |last=Read |first=Simon Van Zuylen-Wood, Noreen Malone, Max |date=2017-04-30 |title=Beyond Alt: Understanding the New Far Right |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/04/beyond-alt-understanding-the-new-far-right.html |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=Intelligencer |language=en-us}}</ref> ''Taki's Magazine'' drew note for its inclusion of [[white nationalist]] and white supremacist authors.<ref name=":662" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 7, 2016 |title=Anti-Immigrant Center for Immigration Studies Continues to Promote White Nationalists |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/11/07/anti-immigrant-center-immigration-studies-continues-promote-white-nationalists |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' called it "openly racist" in 2016.<ref name="altRightExplainedaltRightExplained2" /> ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine in 2017 said ''Taki's'' appealed to "hepcat paleoconservatives and cosmopolitan racists".<ref name=":442" />

''Taki's Magazine'' had [[Richard B. Spencer|Richard Spencer]] as its editor for about two years, through 2009;<ref name="altRightExplainedaltRightExplained2" /><ref name=":552">{{cite book |last1=Neiwert |first1=David |title=Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump |title-link=Alt-America |date=2017 |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |isbn=9781786634238 |location=Brooklyn, NY |page=236 |author-link=David Neiwert}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harkinson |first=Josh |date=October 27, 2016 |title=Meet the white nationalist trying to ride the Trump train to lasting power |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/richard-spencer-trump-alt-right-white-nationalist/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Meg |title=Hate Goes Mainstream With the Miami Proud Boys |url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/inside-miami-alt-right-and-proud-boys-chapter-10945821 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Miami New Times |language=en}}</ref> Spencer's tenure played a key role in marshaling and naming what would eventually become the [[alt-right]].<ref name=":12">{{cite web|last1=Nwanevu|first1=Osita|date=23 March 2017|title=National Review Wants Credit for Opposing the Alt-Right Movement It Helped Create|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/03/how-national-review-helped-create-the-alt-right.html|access-date=12 July 2019|website=Slate Magazine}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{cite web |last1=Stahl |first1=Jeremy |date=21 November 2016 |title=Meet the Neo-Nazi Whom Steve Bannon's Site Described as a Leading "Intellectual" |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/11/meet-the-neo-nazi-steve-bannons-site-described-as-a-leading-intellectual.html |access-date=12 July 2019 |website=Slate Magazine}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite news |last1=Seiger |first1=Theresa |title=Who is Richard Spencer? 5 things to know about prominent white nationalist |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/national/who-richard-spencer-things-know-about-prominent-white-nationalist/SSmffIguAxdRIGEGjiWGiN/ |access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> Using the headline "The Decline and Rise of the Alternative Right", ''Taki's'' under Spencer published a 2008 speech by [[Paul Gottfried]] to the H.L. Mencken Club, a group Gottfried had formed with Spencer's help that year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |newspaperlast=TheHartzell Atlanta|first=Stephanie JournalL. |date=2018 |title=Alt-ConstitutionWhite: Conceptualizing the "Alt-Right" as a Rhetorical Bridge between White Nationalism and Mainstream Public Discourse. |journal=Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric |volume=8 |issue=1/2 |pages=17–19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Spencermagazine |last=Marantz |first=Andrew |date=2017-07-06 |title=The Alt-Right Branding War Has coinedTorn the termMovement "alternativein Two |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-alt-right"-branding-war-has-torn-the-movement-in-two around|access-date=2023-09-04 2008|issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Siegal |first=Jacob |date=November 29, for2016 a|title=The ''TakiAlt-Right's'' headlineJewish heGodfather devised|work=Tablet for|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/spencer-gottfried-alt-right}}</ref><ref>{{Cite anweb article|date=June by18, [[Youth2020 for|title=Alt WesternRight: A Primer on the New White Supremacy {{!}} ADL Civilization|Kevinurl=https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alt-right-primer-new-white-supremacy DeAnna|access-date=2023-09-04 |website=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |language=en}}</ref> The magazine also began to use the phrase "alternative right" frequently in other articles about the development of a new, less neo-conservative, more [[Racialist attitude|racialist]] politics emerging in the conservative movement. This term was later adopted and shortened to "alt-right".<ref name=":5">{{citeCite bookjournal |last1last=NeiwertMoffitt |first1first=DavidBenjamin |authordate=2023-link=David Neiwert02-02 |title=What Was the 'Alt-America:' Thein RiseAlt-Right, ofAlt-Lite, theand RadicalAlt-Left? RightOn in'Alt' theas Agea ofPolitical Modifier Trump|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00323217221150871 title-link|journal=Alt-AmericaPolitical Studies |datelanguage=2017en |publisherpages=[[Verso Books]]4 |locationdoi=Brooklyn, NY10.1177/00323217221150871 |isbns2cid=9781786634238256566202 |pageissn=2360032-3217}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":52" /> This term was later adopted and shortened to "alt-right".<ref name=":52" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Alt-Right |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/alt-right |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref>

[[John Derbyshire]] was fired by ''[[National Review]]'' in 2012 after he wrote a derogatory column for ''Taki's Magazine'' responding to "[[The talk (racism in the United States)|the talk]]" given by American black parents to their children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Byers |first=Dylan |title=National Review fires John Derbyshire |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/04/national-review-fires-john-derbyshire-119887 |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=POLITICO |date=7 April 2012 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Davidson Sorkin |first=Amy |date=2012-04-09 |title=Why the National Review Fired John Derbyshire |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/why-the-national-review-fired-john-derbyshire |access-date=2022-09-17 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |access-date=2022-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Max |date=2012-04-08 |title=The Talk: What Parents Tell Their Children About John Derbyshire |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/04/the-talk-what-parents-tell-their-children-about-john-derbyshire/255578/ |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":772" />

[[Gavin McInnes]]' ''Taki's'' column, which began around 2011, made casual use of racial and anti-gay slurs, as described by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].<ref name=":002" /> In 2016, McInnes announced on the ''Taki's'' website the founding of his [[Neo-fascism|neo-fascist]] street-fighting group the [[Proud Boys]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Jason |last2=Squire |first2=Megan |date=February 18, 2022 |title=Prolific White Nationalist Personality Identified |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/02/18/prolific-white-nationalist-personality-identified |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Kriner |first1=Matthew |last2=Lewis |first2=Jon |title=Pride & Prejudice: The Violent Evolution of the Proud Boys |journal=[[CTC Sentinel]] |publisher=[[Combating Terrorism Center]] |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=26+}}</ref>

''Taki's'' published articles by Theodoracopulos in support of the Greek [[neo-Nazi]] political party [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Golden Dawn]].<ref name="voxvox2" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name="altRightExplainedaltRightExplained2" />