Shouldn't More People be Reading Harper's?

Jon Friedman wants to know why Harper’s isn’t more widely read (notwithstanding Moe Tkacik). Is it because, as Friedman notes, “its covers have all the pizzazz of a form letter from the Internal Revenue Service.” Certainly an apt observation, though Drudge isn’t especially pretty to look at either and it seems to do okay. We think it’s worth pointing out that unlike, say, The New Yorker, Harper’s firewalls most of its content behind a subscription service, and even though we prefer to read long-form pieces in print online access has a way of putting you in the conversation.