Barack Obama will become first US president to guest edit a magazine with Wired
In his last few months in office, Barack Obama will guest edit an issue of Wired magazine, a first in US presidency, the magazine claims.
Barack Obama
The president will take over editorial direction of the monthly magazine for its November issue. The issue will be themed on “frontiers”, with the magazine saying Obama wishes to focus on “the future, the next hurdles that humanity will need to overcome to move forward”.
Editor-in-chief Scott Dadich said: “When the Founders wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, they were at the bleeding edge of Enlightenment philosophy and technology.
“[Benjamin] Franklin was talking about crazy stuff like electricity and communications networks. [Thomas] Paine gave up the copyright to Common Sense so it could get wider publication. [Thomas] Jefferson was radically rethinking design and land use.
“We want to wrestle with the idea of how today’s technology can influence political leadership. And who better to help us explore these ideas than president Obama?”
Previous Wired guest-editors include Bill Gates, Serena Williams and film directors JJ Abrams and Christopher Nolan.
He follows first lady Michelle Obama, who guest-edited More magazine in 2015, another first in US politics.
As part of the special issue, the White House will host a Frontiers conference which Obama will host with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University on 13 October.
The issue will be available on select newsstands, Wired's website and tablet editions beginning 18 October, and will hit newsstands nationwide on October 25.