An Interview with David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker

There is perhaps no more apt use of the phrase "needs no introduction" than to describe David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker. I won't even attempt to describe his immense talent, instead I will just express my gratitude for the opportunity to interview him. Read on to find out his reading recommendations and how he brought the magazine into the digital age.

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What's the best piece of storytelling you've ever encountered?

Impossible, there are so many man! But I can highly recommend, for starters, some rarities like "Great Plains" by Ian Frazier or "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" by Joan Didion.

What's the worst argument you've gotten into with a staff member?

I think I will keep that one a secret.

Which issue of The New Yorker is your favorite?

The one we just put to bed. And then I would say the same the next week. But you have to say that the "Hiroshima" issue, in which John Hersey's 1946 piece was the only piece in the issue, was amazing. As was our 9/11 issue with Art Spiegelman's back cover.

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When you first became editor was there anything you were really looking forward to changing about the magazine?

When I first became editor, it was a huge surprise. And while I wanted to do certain things-- more political reporting and deeper international reporting and to publish more writers of color, more women, and certain individuals whom I was eventually lucky enough to hire-- my first thought was not to drown in a sea of inexperience and nerves!

What major changes has The New Yorker gone through over the years you've been editor?

Well, the biggest is that we have made the transition to the digital world. So that in addition to publishing the traditional print magazine, with its usual complement of in-depth pieces and fiction and the rest, we have added an entirely new piece of business, newyorker.com, which, in addition to publishing what's in the print magazine, adds at least fifteen pieces every day on a variety of subjects and by, very often, some very exciting and young new writers, like Doreen St. Felix and Jia Tolentino and Charles Bethea.