73
New York Times head honcho AG Sulzberger must lead the paper into a new era
and control when the world around them is full of chaos. It’s perhaps not surprising that sales of the two most influential stoic texts rocketed during the early weeks of the pan- demic: Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations went up by 356 per cent and Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic by an astonishing 747 per cent. An annual ‘Stoicon’ for fans to come to-
country had reaffirmed its mission. Coupled with outstanding reporting on #MeToo and the Trump administration, and with enter- prising forays into new media, the NYT was evolving into the organisation Sulzberger en- visioned in his innovation report. But there is a practical side of leadership that Sulzberger seems yet to have mastered. He seems to have the vision of a leader but not yet the personal gravitas. This was most evident in the summer of 2020, when in the midst of protests over the murder of George Floyd, the paper published an opinion piece by Senator Tom Cotton calling for the use of troops to restore order. It was a reactionary view held by one of the Senate’s most self-serv- ing members, and the paper’s staff were angry that the article had appeared. In response to the uproar, Sulzberger fired opinion page edi- tor James Bennet, an accomplished editor whom Sulzberger had personally recruited. That seemingly precipitous decision could
have been chalked up to a neophyte’s overre- action, but eight months later the paper dis- missed reporter Donald McNeil, a 45-year veteran of the paper, for using a racial slur in a discussion with students.
‘Both these guys were made men who had given a lot to the paper, and who deserved an- other chance,’ one veteran of the paper told me. ‘The younger people here now don’t have as much tolerance for mistakes.’ Some observers are concerned that such po-
litical correctness will have wider repercussions. A veteran correspondent laments: ‘The Times of course had an editorial agenda, but it at least maintained standards sadly gone today.’ Sulzberger will soon have his most conse- quential opportunity to influence his legacy. Executive editor Dean Baquet will reach re- tirement age in September and Sulzberger
will name his successor. Also, the paper’s big- gest stars – opinion writers Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, Gail Col- lins –are all 68 or older. Nothing less than de- mocracy may be riding on the people that Sulzberger will select to help him carry the New York Times to where it’s headed next. S
CLASSICAL EDUCATION SOBER
REFLECTION Daisy Dunn
BARELY A MONTH goes by without some- one giving something up. Out go the ciga- rettes for Stoptober, the animal products for World Vegan Month, the booze for Dry Janu- ary. Come February we are craving pudding and pie after the tortures of the post-Christ- mas detox. And all along the way we are reas- sured that we are not suffering alone. The above are supported by vigorous social media campaigns. It’s hashtag CollectiveSelfDenial. The current vogue for self-enforced sobrie-
ty and abstinence coincides intriguingly with the popular resurgence of stoicism. First in- troduced to Rome from Greece in the second century BC, the ancient philosophy teaches its followers to become masters of themselves and their emotions to achieve equilibrium
gether and philosophise is held each autumn and attracts a wide international crowd. While the 2021 event took place online, previ- ous conferences have been held in London, New York, Toronto and Athens. It is quite something to see the lecture halls of Senate House in Bloomsbury packed out with stu- dent-stoics and grandparent-stoics and everyone in between. Many of the ancient lessons have certainly stood the test of time. Seneca advised that, like soldiers preparing for battle in peace- time, we should use those moments when we’re free from stress to learn to steel our- selves so we’re armed to cope if and when dis- aster strikes. The trend for temperance also gets the Senecan seal of approval. While ad- vocating that we lock ourselves away in rooms to maximise our work potential, the philoso- pher also recognised that it shows greater self-control to mingle with the crowd who are downing drinks and throwing up – but not indulge like this yourself – than to refuse to turn up altogether. His added tip not to be conspicuous about this is notably less appeal- ing to those who have amassed thousands of online followers. The desire to give things up in the interest of ‘wellness’ also has Christian overtones. Amid all the anti-obesity messaging from the gov- ernment we could well believe that gluttony is the deadliest of the seven sins. Christians and Stoics alike approve of self-restraint even when this tugs against our deepest human in- stincts. The battle between desire and control feels especially fraught at the moment. On the one side, we are being encouraged to go out and spend, enjoy the return of our long-with- held freedom, get the economy going again. On the other, we have seen shelves empty of imported goods and feel the fog of the pan- demic continue to waft about us. It is hard to know what’s holding us back more – these concerns, or the fashion for ‘being good’. I’m reminded of Euripides’ tragic play The
Bacchae. First performed in Athens in the fifth century BC, it presents a stand-off between Pentheus, the strait-laced king of Thebes, and his wild cousin, the wine god,
MICHAEL COHEN/STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
