The Argument is an American online magazine that publishes commentary, analysis and reported essays on politics, culture, and public policy from a liberal perspective.
History
The editor-in-chief of The Argument is Jerusalem Demsas (formerly of The Atlantic). The publication attempts to blend traditional opinion writing with analytical and explanatory journalism. It is purportedly designed to boost liberalism.
Demsas raised over $4 million before starting the magazine. This was venture-capital funding, resulting in a $20 million valuation. The funders include Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz; former Enron trader and current Meta energy and data center strategist John Arnold; a Pritzker family heir; a Niskanen Center board member; and Stripe cofounder Patrick Collison.
According to early coverage in industry press, the site positioned itself as a space for slower, more reflective commentary amid fast-paced online news cycles.
The publication features essays, longform commentary, and analytical pieces on U.S. politics, education policy, culture, and social issues. Its staff writers, Jordan Weissmann and Kelsey Piper, are joined by contributions from writers like Matthew Yglesias, Derek Thompson and Lakshya Jain. Its pieces frequently spotlight controversial or under-discussed issues. It has been described as having a particular focus on Abundance-style content.