Publisher’s Notebook

A man in a gray blazer and white shirt with a pocket square stands against a blurred indoor background.
Publisher's Notebook: A Well Designed Life

Publisher’s Notebook: A Well Designed Life

Great design is never just about use.

Is life better when the things around us are beautiful? Beauty,  when we experience it, actually slows us down in the best possible way. It commands us to notice. A beautifully designed thing doesn’t just function—it holds within it the accrued talents of its maker, the culture of its time, and the promise that life…

Publisher's Note: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Health-Obsessed Publisher

Publisher’s Note: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Health-Obsessed Publisher

Supplements, serums, masks — you have no idea

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I am obsessed with looking and feeling younger. Yes, people have wondered. Yes, some days I do look “suspiciously well-rested” for someone who owns a magazine, sits on multiple nonprofit boards, and drinks way too much coffee. But no, I do not sleep in a cryogenic pod…

Publisher's Note: Trailblazing Women - The Power of Courage and Vision

Publisher’s Note: Trailblazing Women – The Power of Courage and Vision

Thought leaders share diverse perspectives, challenge gender norms

Women should run the world. I believe the world would simply be better if there were more female CEOs, board members, founders, and yes, presidents. In this “Trailblazing Women” issue — on stands now and available by subscription —  we are privileged to feature extraordinary women whose contributions across technology, health care, social justice, and…

Publisher's Note: The Beauty Of A Second Home

Publisher’s Note: The Beauty Of A Second Home

A place to relax, refresh, and a solid investment

Nobel prize Literature Laureate Paul Thomas Mann had the right idea about a change in scenery when he said: “We know full well that the insertion of new habits or the changing of old ones is the only way to preserve life, to renew our sense of time, to rejuvenate, intensify, and retard our experience…

Publisher's Note: When Purpose and Talent Come Together

Publisher’s Note: When Purpose and Talent Come Together

Seattle’s Most Influential people put community first

Each year, we take the time to highlight some truly remarkable individuals in our “Seattle’s Most Influential” people issue, and it remain one of the most important and rewarding projects we undertake. Frankly, it’s a real privilege for all of us here at Seattle magazine. This issue is about more than just recognition — it’s…

Publisher's Note: The Essence Of Excellence

Publisher’s Note: The Essence Of Excellence

Recognizing the spirit and character that define our city

With this issue’s mission to highlight what makes Seattle exceptional, we sought out the experts: you…

Publisher's Note: Embrace The Magic Of A New Beginning

Publisher’s Note: Embrace The Magic Of A New Beginning

A fresh start is a mindset as much as anything

Equal parts terrifying and hopeful. That’s how it feels to embrace a completely new career after retiring from your first line of work. For most, retirement is often seen as the end of a professional chapter, a time to downshift, smell the roses, etc. But for those willing to embark on a second or even third act, it can catalyze complete and radical self-reinvention…

Publisher's Note: From Stigma to Science

Publisher’s Note: From Stigma to Science

Seattle is emerging as a leader in using psychedelics for mental health

Right or wrong, psychedelics have long been relegated to the fringes of society, dismissed as dangerous substances with no legitimate medical value. Having grown up during the late ‘60s and ‘70s, my word associations for “magic mushrooms” were always with “Woodstock hippies” or worse, “Charles Manson.” But recent research taking place in our region has begun to challenge this perception…

Publisher's Note: Defining Success, Defying the Odds

Publisher’s Note: Defining Success, Defying the Odds

A celebration of Seattle's "trailblazing" women

At the time of this issue’s newsstand date, the newest season of Jean Smart’s Hacks will be making its much anticipated season 3 debut on HBO Max. With a hilarious “odd couple” dynamic between a young Gen Z comedy writer and a legendary standup comedian…

Publisher's Note: A Sense of Place

Publisher’s Note: A Sense of Place

What makes Seattle distinctive and unique?

Growing up in Edmonds during the 1970s, many beautiful attributes of the Pacific Northwest became inseparable from my notion of what “Seattle’’ really was. I vividly remember the smell of the beach, the sound of ferry boats, and an indelible sense of community from the city’s small-town feel…

Celebrating Seattle

Celebrating Seattle

Honoring the driving forces creating change in our community

Seattle magazine has consistently posited that “what happens in Seattle impacts the rest of the world.” This issue’s cover subject is one such example of the outsized influence Seattle’s thought leaders can have on our culture and shared history.
Author Daniel James Brown was someone whom I fondly remember knowing while at Microsoft during the pre-internet era. He was a quiet and contemplative thinker with a reputation for humility and hard work, and such is the very ethos that has come to define how we see ourselves in the Pacific Northwest. When very few tech retirees could reboot to wholly non-tech careers, Daniel thrived as an author of multiple best sellers.

Publisher's Note: The Lost Art of Civility

Publisher’s Note: The Lost Art of Civility

How to bring back respectful discourse

Can a city be too “woke”? That’s a provocative question. If we root the term to its original definition from early 1900s to 1950s African American culture, “woke” is an adjective  generally defined as “being alert to racial prejudice and discrimination.” Beginning about 10 years ago, it came to also encompass a broader awareness of…

About

Publisher’s Notebook is Seattle magazine owner Jonathan Sposato’s highly subjective perspective on the issues that confront our community the most.  Jonathan’s mission with the publication is to focus our attention on solutions, and to change the conversation in Seattle to an always hopeful, positive, and productive place.

A man in a gray blazer and white shirt with a pocket square stands against a blurred indoor background.

Join The Must List

Don't miss a thing.
Get Seattle's best events,handpicked
and delivered to your inbox weekly.

Follow Us