In this issue

How should a magazine measure the passage of time? Sheer survival is one way. The past 15 years have not been particularly kind to media. And yet, despite the circumstances, this organization managed to grow in remarkable ways.

This anthology stands as a testament to the time that has passed but also, more importantly, to the work of the many, many people who have discussed, underslept, fundraised, fretted, proofed, written, designed, and edited along the way. LARB simply wouldn’t be here without them. It also wouldn’t be here without the city that has allowed it to grow so exponentially, provided it with space, with its own brand of intellectual curiosity.

The pieces in this collection are all pulled from our expansive online archives. Over the past 15 years, we have published approximately 16,400 articles, so curating this anthology was not an easy task. This collection is not meant to be exhaustive, or the “best of the best,” but rather representative of a certain LARBiness—that combination of critical attention and Los Angeles ease.

LARB’s 15th Anniversary Issue is out on March 10, with pieces from Ruha Benjamin, Lauren Berlant, Percival Everett, Maggie Millner, Dan Sinykin, and many others who have helped shape LARB over the last 15 years.