Katharine S. White — Shaping The New Yorker, with Amy Reading

Send us Fan MailOne hundred years ago this week, The New Yorker published its first issue. A few months later, the magazine’s first (and for decades, only) female editor joined the staff. Katharine S. White spent the better part of the next 50 years wielding her pen and her editorial influence there, carefully tending to an ever-growing stable of talented (sometimes high-maintenance) writers and shaping the magazine into a cultural powerhouse. Biographer Amy Reading joins us to discuss White’s life, legacy and undeniable importance in the history of 20th-century American letters.Mentioned in this episode:The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at The New Yorker by Amy ReadingKatharine S. WhiteElizabeth Shepley SergeantE.B. WhiteKatharine and E.B. White’s farm in Blue Hill, MaineSt. Nicholas magazineAmerican Heritage article on St. Nicholas magazineWomen authors discovered/edited by Katharine WhiteLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 187 on Kay BoyleLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth TaylorLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 158 on Sylvia Townsend WarnerLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 168 on Mary McCarthyLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 131 on Dorothy ParkerHenry Seidel CanbyFillmore HydeHarold RossThe Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con by Amy ReadingAbout Town: The New Yorker and the World it Made by Ben YagodaAmy Reading’s “Open Book” SubstackSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast