Welcome to the luminous and cheery world of Current Affairs.¹

Contents

• Our Story
  • Our Mission Statement
  • Our Operating Structure
  • Our Writers and Artists
  • Our First Promise
• FAQs
• Contact Us

Our Story

The rise of Current Affairs has been the subject of many salacious rumors. Since growing into an international multimedia powerhouse, Current Affairs has attracted the admiration and envy of countless people, birds, and invertebrates. We hear the whispers. To set the record straight, it is our pleasure to provide for you a brief history of our organization.

Current Affairs was launched by roommates Oren Nimni and Nathan J. Robinson via a Kickstarter campaign in 2015, which promised “a new print magazine of political analysis, satire, and entertainment” that would “bring wit, color, and verve back to print media!” With $16,607 of their $10,000 goal raised, the magazine Current Affairs (almost named The Navel Observatory) was born!

Since that successful Kickstarter campaign, Current Affairs has been entirely supported by subscriptions, purchases, and donations from readers (along with the occasional bonus Kickstarter). No large corporate donors, no opaque foundations, and no advertisements have contributed to Current Affairs at any time. We have expanded to include a podcast, which is entirely funded by generous Patreon donors, a Newsletter, and video content!

Our Mission Statement

1. To make the world’s first readable political publication.
2. To make life joyful again.

Our Operating Structure

Current Affairs, Inc. is a C-Corp which is not profit-seeking. With a small staff (five full-time employees as of Jan 1, 2021), a part-time podmaster, and a volunteer editorial board who are all very passionate about the project, we are working on becoming a truly democratic workplace. As we continue to expand, it is our number one priority to create, live by, and continuously improve our organizational structure and employee handbook. 

Currently:

1. All full-time staff are paid equally.
2. Current Affairs engages no sub-minimum wage ($15) labor. That includes interns; sorry, all the college students in our DMs. [Infrequently, a writer may choose to donate their fee back to Current Affairs, or to a charity of their choice].
3. Current Affairs is a non-stock corporation. It pays no dividends to any member of staff, including the board members. Though a C-Corp, any revenue Current Affairs makes in excess of expenses is re-invested into the business (e.g. investing in website updates, increasing contributor rates, switching to union made merchandise) or reserved in savings to ensure we can fulfill all our financial obligations.

Our Writers and Artists

Our print and online content would not be possible without our many contributing writers and artists.

Current Affairs executes contracts for each piece of work we commission from a contributor. We pay as soon as we receive finals—often on the same day, but almost always within the week. We do not require contributors to submit invoices or complex paperwork—we just send the money straight to your account. Current Affairs has always been committed to giving freelancers favorable terms and paying them promptly and in full.

Our rates were last raised in 2020.

Our First Promise

From page 2 of the March/April 2016 issue of Current Affairs (Vol. 1, Issue 1), we have set a strong tone for the magazine. Loaned from the British Museum for exclusive use on our site, please enjoy “Our Promise”:

FAQs

1. Why isn’t Current Affairs a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, if it is “not profit seeking”?
   • 501(c)(3)s under Internal Revenue Code cannot endorse political candidates or educate voters with evidence of bias for or against a candidate. Current Affairs strongly believes that neutrality, or non-partisanship, is a stance. The fairness bias works to reinforce the status quo, and is therefore inappropriate for a media organization whose original and continued aim is to “increase your sense of connectedness to the sufferings and elations of your fellow human beings.” If suffering comes from one place, person, party, or candidate, then Current Affairs must clearly denounce it.
2. How can I pitch/ask a question about my subscription/get in touch with Current Affairs?
   • See our Contact Us section.
3. How do you use my information?
   • Current Affairs will never sell your information. Read more in our Privacy Policy.
4. How can I help?
   • We frequently receive offers of volunteer work or advice, which warm the deepest cockles of our hearts, but which we cannot accept because of our firm commitment to never pay subminimum wages. You can help by subscribing, donating, and sharing our articles to your friends, family, and enemies on social media.
5. Did Current Affairs execute a hostile takeover of a popular electrical magazine?
   • No eyewitness accounts have been brought to support this outrageous claim.
6. Did Nathan J. Robinson lie about discovering the giant squid?
   • …yes.