Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. For a century, magazines were the authors of culture and taste, of intelligence and policy - until they were overthrown by the voices of the public themselves online. Here is a tribute to all that magazines were, from their origins in London and on Ben Franklin's press; through their boom - enabled by new technologies - as creators of a new media aesthetic and a new mass culture; into their opulent days in advertising-supported conglomerates; and finally to their fall at the hands of the internet. This tale is told through the experience of a magazine founder, the creator of _Entertainment Weekly_ at Time Inc., who was also TV critic at _TV Guide_ and _People _and finally an executive at Condé Nast trying to shepherd its magazines into the digital age. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in _The Atlantic._