Lapham’s Quarterly
Lapham's Quarterly is a nonprofit quarterly literary magazine of history and ideas, founded in 2008 by Lewis H. Lapham and published by the American Agora Foundation. It serves educated general readers and academic libraries through themed print issues, a podcast, blogs, and a paid Substack subscription.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Lapham’s Quarterly does
Lapham's Quarterly is a quarterly literary magazine of history and ideas founded in 2008 by Lewis H. Lapham, former editor of Harper's Magazine, and published by the American Agora Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in New York. Each issue is organized around a thematic topic (e.g., war, religion, money, energy, crime) and assembles historical documents and literature from authors across centuries alongside contemporary essays and original artwork. The publication has produced 57 issues between 2008 and 2023 and has been recognized with multiple Best American Essays inclusions and a 2011 National Magazine Award finalist designation.
The company operates a multi-channel content platform spanning a print magazine (paused since October 2023), a website at laphamsquarterly.org, a podcast (The World in Time), two blogs (Roundtable and Déjà Vu), a weekly newsletter (Back Matter), and a paid Substack subscription at $5/month. Following the founder's death in July 2024 and an institutional partnership with Bard College's Hannah Arendt Center, the publication is in a revival phase led by Acting Editor Donovan Hohn and a volunteer editorial team. A searchable digital archive of all 57 back issues is under development with Aboard, an AI strategy consultancy co-founded by Paul Ford.
Revenue is generated through subscription recurring streams (Substack paid tier, previously print subscriptions), one-time back issue sales, advertising on the podcast, and tax-deductible donations channeled through fiscal sponsor The Nation Fund for Independent Journalism. The audience is primarily educated general readers, lifelong learners, and academic and public libraries in the United States, with global digital distribution via the website, podcast networks, and Substack. The operating model is currently constrained by reliance on volunteers and donor support as the organization works to reduce pandemic-era debts and resume print publication.
Lapham’s Quarterly firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lapham’s Quarterly
- Legal name
- Lapham's Quarterly (published by American Agora Foundation)
- Website
- https://laphamsquarterly.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Lapham's Quarterly is a nonprofit quarterly literary magazine of history and ideas, founded in 2008 by Lewis H. Lapham and published by the American Agora Foundation. It serves educated general readers and academic libraries through themed print issues, a podcast, blogs, and a paid Substack subscription.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lapham’s Quarterly industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Literary Magazine Publishing
- NAICS
- Periodical Publishers (51312)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)
Keywords
Where Lapham’s Quarterly is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Lapham’s Quarterly business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Print Subscriptions: Quarterly print subscription revenue from individual and institutional subscribers. Print subscriptions were suspended during the pandemic period (2023-2024) and are in the process of being resumed.
- Digital Subscriptions (Substack): A paid Substack subscription at $5/month unlocks all published content including ad-free, unabridged episodes of the podcast The World in Time. Many essays and readings on the website remain free.
- Back Issue Sales: Sales of back issues through the online store. Thousands of back issues have been sold since reopening the store in March 2025, with nine issues having sold out.
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: Tax-deductible donations accepted through fiscal sponsor The Nation Fund for Independent Journalism. Donations constitute a significant revenue source during the revival phase.
- Podcast Sponsorships: The World in Time podcast is sponsored by advertisers, with ad-free versions available to paid Substack subscribers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Access |
| Subscription | Monthly | Paid Substack Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Print Subscriptions (On Hold) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Lapham’s Quarterly product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lapham's Quarterly is a quarterly print and digital magazine of history and ideas, publishing themed anthologies that pair centuries of historical documents and classical literature with contemporary essays and original artwork. The publication also operates The World in Time podcast, the Roundtable and Déjà Vu blogs, the Back Matter newsletter, a paid Substack subscription tier, and an online back-issue store.
Product overview
Lapham's Quarterly is a quarterly print magazine and digital publication of history and ideas, founded in 2008 by Lewis H. Lapham. The publication operates across multiple platforms: the core print magazine published since 2008, the laphamsquarterly.org website serving as the primary digital hub, The World in Time podcast featuring conversations with writers and thinkers, the Roundtable and Déjà Vu blogs providing ongoing commentary, a Substack subscription service for premium content access, and an in-development digital archive with partner Aboard for searchable access to all back issues. The magazine's content draws from historical documents and literature spanning millennia, organized around thematic issues covering topics such as war, religion, money, medicine, nature, and crime.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lapham's Quarterly Magazine A quarterly magazine of history and ideas that addresses topics of current interest by bringing historical documents, classical literature, and contemporary essays to readers. Published since 2008, featuring content from authors such as Aristotle, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and Mark Twain, with original artwork and perfect-bound, four-color printing on acid-free paper.
- The World in Time Podcast A podcast featuring stories and insight from today's leading writers and thinkers, including conversations with historians, authors, and scholars covering history, literature, and contemporary ideas.
- Roundtable Blog A blog featuring opinions and analysis from Lapham's Quarterly writers and editors, with regular essays, commentary, and historical perspectives on current events.
- Déjà Vu Blog A blog series bringing historical perspective to current news, comparing contemporary events with similar historical occurrences.
- Back Matter Newsletter A weekly newsletter accompanying the podcast and website content, distributed to subscribers covering new content and historical context.
- Substack Subscription A paid subscription platform offering access to premium digital content, unabridged ad-free episodes of The World in Time podcast, and exclusive content for $5/month.
Companies that use Lapham’s Quarterly
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Lapham’s Quarterly technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Lapham’s Quarterly partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- AboardcoreAboard, a New York City-based AI strategy consultancy co-founded by Paul Ford, is partnering with Lapham's Quarterly to build a searchable digital archive of all 57 back issues. Annual Substack subscribers will gain access to the full digital archive on desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone.
- Curio.iocoreIn partnership with Curio.io, Lapham's Quarterly presents audio versions of selections from the magazine and website, enabling listeners to hear content narrated or produced through the Curio platform.
- Bard College (Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities)majorBard College's Hannah Arendt Center has provided institutional support to Lapham's Quarterly during its revival phase. The publication is under the stewardship of Bard College while working toward resuming regular publication and paying off pandemic-related debts.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Lapham’s Quarterly competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Granta: Quarterly literary magazine of fiction, reportage, and memoir. Comparable as a themed-issue literary quarterly with a similar print-quality artifact and curatorial approach to contributors.
- The Paris Review: Quarterly literary magazine featuring original fiction, poetry, essays, and author interviews. Comparable as a curated literary quarterly with a similar print artifact identity and literary-author contributor model.
- Orion Magazine: Independent magazine on nature, culture, and place, blending essay, fiction, and reporting. Comparable as a nonprofit, mission-driven literary/ideas quarterly with a similar thematic-issue model and donor-supported economics.
- American Scholar: Quarterly public-intellectual magazine of essays on literature, history, and culture published by Phi Beta Kappa. Comparable as a themed-essay quarterly in the same history-and-ideas lane.
- The Believer: Literary and culture magazine founded by McSweeney's. Comparable as a themed literary quarterly with a similar niche audience and print artifact design philosophy, and one that itself navigated a revival in recent years.
- Harper's Magazine: Long-running American monthly literary and intellectual magazine. Highly comparable as a peer periodical in the same literary/cultural space; Lapham's Quarterly was founded by the former editor of Harper's, making it a direct conceptual descendant.
- n+1: Intellectual magazine publishing essays, reportage, and criticism. Comparable as a print-and-digital intellectual periodical targeting a similar educated-general-reader audience with quarterly cadence.
Broad incumbents
- Smithsonian Magazine: Monthly magazine covering history, science, nature, and culture. Comparable as a history-and-ideas magazine with themed content and broad cultural reach, though operating at much larger scale.
- The Atlantic: Large American magazine of politics, ideas, literature, and culture. Comparable as a multi-format magazine covering literature and ideas, but operating at significantly broader scale and as a subscription-driven incumbent.
Emerging players
- A Public Space: Independent literary magazine and book publisher of fiction, essays, and poetry. Comparable as an independent literary quarterly serving a similar niche of educated readers, with overlapping curatorial sensibility.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lapham’s Quarterly social profiles
Digital presenceLapham’s Quarterly financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lapham’s Quarterly leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Lapham’s Quarterly funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lapham’s Quarterly M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lapham’s Quarterly
What does Lapham’s Quarterly do?
Lapham's Quarterly is a quarterly print and digital magazine of history and ideas, publishing themed anthologies that pair centuries of historical documents and classical literature with contemporary essays and original artwork. The publication also operates The World in Time podcast, the Roundtable and Déjà Vu blogs, the Back Matter newsletter, a paid Substack subscription tier, and an online back-issue store.
Is Lapham’s Quarterly a public or private company?
Lapham’s Quarterly is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Lapham’s Quarterly founded?
Lapham’s Quarterly was founded in 2008. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Lapham’s Quarterly based?
Lapham’s Quarterly is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lapham’s Quarterly make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Print Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are digital Subscriptions (Substack), back Issue Sales, donations and Charitable Contributions and podcast Sponsorships.
Who are Lapham’s Quarterly's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Granta, The Paris Review, Orion Magazine, American Scholar, The Believer, Harper's Magazine and n+1. Broad incumbents are Smithsonian Magazine and The Atlantic. A Public Space is listed as an emerging player.
Does Lapham’s Quarterly have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lapham’s Quarterly.
What industry is Lapham’s Quarterly in?
Lapham’s Quarterly's product category is Literary Magazine Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAEAO, News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines. Its NAICS code is 51312 and its SIC code is 2721.