When I helped launch Twist magazine in the late '90s, we basically huddled around old issues of Sassy like sacred texts, trying to decode what made them so special. The answer? Jane Pratt. So it was with excitement and a little nervousness that I jumped on a Substack Live Interview with her. We chatted about:

• Her miserable boarding school experience and how it inspired Sassy

• Getting pulled off 70% of newsstands after a boycott by the religious right

• The secret behind Sassy’s success and why it changed so many lives

• Her evolution from Sassy to Jane

• Working with Michael Stipe, who she dated for years and now calls her best friend and daughter’s godfather

• Her decision to launch Another Jane Pratt Thing on Substack rather than a standalone website

• How she finds new writers and spots a good story

• What makes her such a good editor

• Gen X resilience

• Why she hates the word “influencer,” even though she was one of the first

• Her optimism about the current state of the media

• Name dropping

• The shift to multi-hyphenate careers, and what she puts as her profession on doctor’s forms.

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