How to Make Something from Nothing
Adam Moss was the best magazine editor of his generation. When he retired, he wrote a book about how creative people work — and, in the process, he made himself happy again.
For a long time, Adam Moss was considered the best magazine editor around.
He was the founding editor of 7 Days, a clever and slightly transgressive arts-and-culture weekly. From there, he went to The New York Times Magazine, and after many years there, he took over New York magazine, which he radically remade for the digital era.
He won all the awards an editor can win. He directly shaped the careers of hundreds of writers and editors; indirectly, he did the same for millions of readers.
He left New York in 2019, still on top but feeling a bit too old for the game, a bit burned out, and ready for something new. The something new eventually took the form of a book, called The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing. (It could have just as easily been called The Art of Work — more on which later.)
Many people who know Adam were surprised that he wrote a book. He was one of the few magazine editors who didn’t start out as a writer, or want to be a writer, or think of themselves as a writer. He was a full-fledged editor.
An editor is mostly backstage; there’s a lot of power and a bit of risk. A writer, meanwhile, is out front, directly in the line of fire — you work on a thing for months or years, and then it goes out into the world with your name on it. If people hate it, they know where to find you. That’s why it was so intriguing that Adam Moss would write a book.
The Work of Art is a set of interviews with a variety of makers — Stephen Sondheim, Twyla Tharp, David Simon, Samin Nosrat, Will Shortz — and their stories unfold on pages that are packed with sketches and graphics, sidebars, footnotes. It’s very much a magazine in book form. But it’s more than that.
In this episode of Freakonomics Radio, we’ll talk about the book, and some other things too — especially Adam’s tenure at The New York Times Magazine, where he happened to be my boss. This was in the late 1990s. I was what’s called a story editor, which meant I came up with ideas, assigned them to writers, and then shepherded those pieces through the editorial and publishing process. The Times Magazine was considered a great magazine during this era, and it was a thrill to be inside of that. Also terrifying, sometimes, but mostly a thrill, because our boss was really good at his job, and we all got to watch and learn.
That said, I quit the Times after about five years. It used to be that when someone left that place voluntarily, and was relatively young — I was in my thirties — people would think you were crazy. I was doing well as an editor and an occasional writer; the bosses told me I might be a boss before long. That was the last straw. I didn’t want to be an editor, or a boss. I just wanted to be a writer, and I wanted to work on my own, not within a hierarchy.
When Adam’s book came out in early 2024, I read it right away. For me and for many others who worked for him, it was a bit like discovering his journal: Everything that made him tick as an editor, as a boss, was right there on the page.
At the time, I was trying to make a podcast series about mentorship. The idea was that mentorship is this standard and successful practice in many realms — in education, sports, the military, the medical and legal professions. And yet, in other realms, mentorship isn’t standard practice at all. I wanted to know why not, and whether something should be done about that.
That series never came together; we just couldn’t find a center of gravity, and eventually we gave up. Which is fine — that happens all the time in this kind of work. But there was one interview we did for the series that I wasn’t willing to ditch: the one with Adam Moss. Was he in fact a mentor to me? Or maybe more like the master who teaches an apprentice? Or was he just an old-fashioned boss, trying to extract labor?
That’s what today’s conversation on Freakonomics Radio is about. It’s the latest in our series of one-on-one conversations to end the year.
Even if you are not a big fan of magazines, even if you’ve never held a paper magazine in your hands, I suspect that you will benefit from hearing Adam Moss’s perspective. Because all of us, at some point, try to make something from nothing. So you might as well learn from a good teacher. Like I did.
You can hear this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio, “How to Make Something from Nothing,” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A full transcript is available on our website.
I want to also let you know that Freakonomics Radio is coming to California in 2025. We have two live shows — one in San Francisco on January 3rd and the other in Los Angeles on February 13th. For tickets, go to freakonomics.com/liveshows. I’ll be there — and I hope you will too.
Also on the Freakonomics Radio Network this week
People I (Mostly) Admire: Turning Work into Play (Update)
How psychologist Dan Gilbert went from high school dropout to Harvard professor, found the secret of joy, and inspired Steve Levitt’s divorce.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | transcript
No Stupid Questions: What About All the Questions We Haven’t Answered?
How can you learn to love uncertainty? Is it better to cultivate acceptance or strive for change? And, after 223 episodes, what is the meaning of life?
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | transcript
The Economics of Everyday Things: Fonts
Behind almost every character you see displayed on a page or a screen, there’s a complex — and sometimes lucrative — web of licensing deals. Zachary Crockett is just your type.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | transcript
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