Keen On

The digital revolution has few more persistent critics than John (Rick) MacArthur, the legendarily outspoken publisher of Harper’s Magazine. His skepticism about Silicon Valley, he confesses, came at the turn of the century when he overheard the gibberish sales talk from a rabble of start-up entrepreneurs in a San Francisco restaurant. In the quarter century since, MacArthur hasn’t been shy to argue that the internet is killing not just our culture and economy, but also our democracy. His latest crusade is what he considers to be the disturbing impact of screens on our cognitive skills . Kids learn better on paper, he insists. Which may be why Harpers - in contrast with the Atlantic and the New Yorker - is first and foremost a print rather than an online magazine. John R. (Rick) MacArthur is president and publisher of Harper's Magazine and an award-winning journalist and author. Under his leadership, the magazine has received nineteen National Magazine Awards, the industry's highest recognition. He writes mon