New Escapologist is a UK-based lifestyle magazine. It originally ran between 2007 and 2017, returning to print in 2023 and now ongoing.
Humorous in tone, the magazine takes the stance that work should be escaped if not abolished. Each issue contains features, interviews, book and film reviews, "escape plans," and a roster of regular columnists. It has been described as "whimsical … niche, cheeky, defiant."https://magculture.com/blogs/journal/robert-wringham-new-escapologistEscapology: Another way to look at Findependence MoneySense. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
History
New Escapologist was founded in 2007. Speaking at a public event together in 2009,"Great Escape" Photos NewEscapologist.co.uk. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016./ the magazine's editor told Tom Hodgkinson that he started New Escapologist after reading Hodgkinson's book How to be Free alongside a biography of Houdini.The Great Escape: Tom Hodgkinson (with Neil Scott) Wringham.co.uk. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
A pilot issue was printed in 2007, a first canonical issue in 2008, and a launch party was held at the Glasgow CCA in 2009.New Escapologist launch party. Newescapologist.co.uk. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016.Map of Thoughtland: New Escapologist Thoughtland. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
In 2011, New Escapologist organized a zine fair in support of the student occupation of Heatherington House at the University of Glasgow.Free Heatherington Zine Fair Zine Wiki. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2016. The same year saw the launch of a fifth issue at The Arches theatre and nightclub,New Escapologist Magazine Launch: Issue 5 thearches.co.uk. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2016. and a sixth issue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.An Escapologist's Diary. Part 28. NewEscapologist.co.uk. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
In 2014, around the time of the magazine's tenth issue, a spin-off book written by Wringham was announced. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign,Escape Everything! Unbound.co.uk. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2016. the book was published by Unbound on 28 January 2016Escape Everything!: Escape from work. Escape from consumerism. Escape from despair. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2016. followed by a German edition published by Heyne Verlag later that same year.
In 2017, it was announced that the magazine would close after a decade but would continue online as a subscription essay series mediated by Patreon. The first of these essays went live in April 2017. A New Escapologist newsletter also began in December 2022.
New Escapologist returned to print in 2023 after a successful crowdfunding campaign.https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-stack/585/
Production For thirteen issues, the magazine's distinct typography, according to a colophon printed in the back of each issue,Colophon, New Escapologist Issue 1 was achieved using Donald Knuth's TeX typesetting system with a layout based on an ancient Ge'ez liturgical text seen at the Matenadaran Manuscripts Museum in Armenia. Since Issue 14, the magazine has been produced using Scribus.Colophon, New Escapologist Issue 14.
The magazine's logo, featured prominently in the masthead of early issues and at the magazine's website is the ISO standard "running man" symbol usually seen on exit signs.New Escapologist Issue 1
More recent issues have dispensed with the logo, the minimalist covers featuring a pair of feet anchored in a different location. The masthead inside the magazine describes these photographs as "the view from [city name]".New Escapologist Issue 14
Notable contributors
Alain de Botton, philosopherStatus Anxiety and Bohemia: Alain de Botton. Wringham.co.uk. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2016. Ariel Anderssen, model Luke Rhinehart, author of The Dice Man Ewan Morrison, author of Tales from the Mall Richard Herring, comedian Tom Hodgkinson, author and editor of the Idler Dave Thompson, comedian and Teletubby Joshua Glenn, author of The Wage Slave's GlossaryNew Escapologist HiLobrow. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2016. Judith Levine, journalist and NWU founder Ella Guru, artist and musician Ian Macpherson, comedian Dickon Edwards, musician and diarist Jacob Lund Fisker, blogger
Aislínn Clarke, movie and theater director Landis Blair, illustrator and comic artist Seth, cartoonist and book designer Leo Babauta, blogger and author of Zen Habits Stanley Cohen, LSE Sociologist Mr. Money Mustache, financial blogger Lord Whimsy, designer and dandy Caitlin Doughty, author and mortician David Cain, blogger Steven Rainey, BBC Radio Ulster DJ Joseph Heath, University of Toronto philosopher and economics writer LD Beghtol, musician The Iceman, performer
References
Further reading Tom Hodgkinson (2006) How to be Free Jacob Lund Fisker (2010) Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence, Robert Wringham (2016) Escape Everything! Robert Wringham (2020) The Good Life for Wage Slaves
External links Official website