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Internships at New York Review Books

Applications for Spring 2024 are now closed.

New York Review Books will begin accepting applications for the Summer 2024 internship on March 1st, 2024. 

New York Review Books offers part-time marketing and publicity internships for motivated college students and recent graduates. NYRB has three internship terms throughout the year: Spring (mid-January–mid-May), Summer (mid-May–August), and Fall (September–December). Exact start dates are somewhat flexible.

Internships will require some in-office work and all applicants should plan to be based in the New York City area for the period of their internship.  All applicants should have good written and verbal communication skills, good copyediting skills, basic proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, especially), and an interest in entering the publishing profession.

Interns must commit to between 15 and 25 hours per week, full days working 10am to 6pm preferred though not required. Pay is $16.00 per hour.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to [email protected] . We review all applications but may not respond to each applicant. 

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A Spin Doctor to the Rich and Corrupt Spills His Secrets

In “All the Worst Humans,” Phil Elwood recounts a career spent engineering headlines for some of the world’s villains.

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By Jim Windolf

Jim Windolf is a features editor for the Style section of The New York Times.

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ALL THE WORST HUMANS: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians , by Phil Elwood

Late in their careers, journalists with well-known bylines tend to write memoirs. These books are all the same, just about. Early on, they have plenty of entertaining character studies of the scamps and scoundrels who populate newsrooms. That is followed by scenes of boozy evenings in exotic locations, usually with some gunfire in the distance. On Page 100 or so comes the step-by-step narrative of how the reporter, despite some deep-seated personal failings, plays a key role in exposing this or that corrupt politician, business leader or institution.

“All the Worst Humans,” a pithy, anecdote-rich memoir by Phil Elwood, has a lot in common with those books. But it tells a story from journalism’s shadow side, the realm of high-level public relations. And so, while the book has plenty of scoundrels, cocktails and guns, it comes with no cathartic recounting of how the author exposed wrongdoing. That is because Elwood has devoted himself to the dubious pursuit of drumming up positive news coverage for dictators and other malefactors.

It starts with the crack of a Jack Reacher thriller. It is 2018, and F.B.I. agents are about to knock on Elwood’s door. Nearly 20 years into a career of shaping public opinion, he has served so many bad guys that he cannot be sure just what the investigators are after.

“It could be the Israelis,” Elwood writes. “Or Muammar Gaddafi. Or Bashar al-Assad. Or the Iranians. Or because of what I pulled in Antigua. Or the bank transfers to accounts in tax havens all over the world. Or Project Rome.”

The author will describe his many misadventures in due course — but first he lays out how his desire to be counted as even a minor player in world events, along with a penchant for thrill-seeking and a dash of cynicism, led him to specialize in the dark art of massaging the truth for fun and profit.

A character who comes to life in these pages is Peter Brown , a onetime manager of the Beatles who, in 1983, founded the company that became the powerful international public relations firm BLJ Worldwide. Brown’s dealings with John, Paul, George and Ringo have been chronicled in countless books and articles. Thanks to Elwood, interested readers can learn of his long and lucrative sequel career as a behind-the-scenes image-maker and string-puller. If “All the Worst Humans” is a hit, Brown might consider assigning one of his charges to do some reputational cleanup work on his behalf.

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'Vamp Me Via Zoom': How personal ads at The New York Review of Books embraced the language of the pandemic

• At The New York Review of Books, COVID-19, Zoom, and vaccines made their way into the personal ads.
• Sharmaine Ong, who manages the ads, gave Insider a look at her favorites from the last year.
• One began: " Tony Fauci Seeks Deborah Birx."

A few days ago, Sharmaine Ong, who manages the personal ads at The New York Review of Books, said she'd be happy to choose a few of her favorite listings from the last year or so, since COVID-19 first brought New York City to a standstill.

Moments later, an email arrived listing her top four.

" Tony Fauci Seeks Deborah Birx — public health wonk seeks earthy Jewish woman for sniggering about the boss after work with our masks off," read one of Ong's favorites, from July 2020, when the real Fauci and Birx were often seen standing behind President Donald Trump at the White House.  

Ong, who was promoted to advertising associate in January 2020, told Insider that as the pandemic picked up, she noticed a few interesting changes in the literary publication's personals . These have long had a reputation as a mating ground for educated, sometimes wealthy, playful-with-words types.  

Mentions of COVID, Zoom, and other pandemic-related topics spiked last year, as might be expected. (One from last July began with "In the time of Corona ...") Some ad-buyers said they were lonely during lockdowns. Others were looking for pen pals, since face-to-face meetings were difficult.

Ong, who started at the NYRB as an intern about three years ago, also said more young people began buying print ads as the pandemic worsened. 

"When I started, I noticed a lot of ads run by 40 to 80 year olds, but now I'm seeing some ads from 20 to 30 year olds, which is quite different," she said. 

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Insider reached out to the email address attached to the Fauci/Birx ad. The ad-buyer introduced himself via email as Dr. Gabriel Ethan Feldman , who in 2011 was awarded $14.7 million as a federal whistleblower.

Feldman said via email that he'd mostly given up on internet dating, turning instead to print ads. The NYRB ad brought in a few replies. He'd gotten one date from it. They both wore masks. Nothing came of it.

"I thought it was a clever take as I am actually a real-life public health physician," he said via email. 

After a few back-and-forth emails, Feldman added, "You can use my name, I don't mind. Everyone knows I can't find someone in NYC despite being a multimillionaire, nice Jewish doctor, federal whistleblower."

Another of Ong's favorites was published last summer: " Vamp Me Via Zoom or FaceTime. Set my soul afire. Instagram my eager ego. Hashtag my desire. Though our lips may never meet. Tweet me, baby, tout de suite!" 

The NYRB usually increases its classified-ad rates each year but the company decided not to raise them last year during the pandemic, Ong said. The uptick in personal ad sales last summer outpaced growth in other ad categories at the NYRB, she said.

Rates for print ads ranged from $4.40 to $5.85 per word, depending on the number of issues the listing ran in. Emails counted as two words, phone numbers as one.

By this spring, the Zoom references had started being phased out, replaced instead by vaccine references. 

In March, the publication printed the most recent of Ong's favorites: " Pair of Unrepentant Queers (one pansexual Asian punk femme & one curly-haired nonbinary flâneur) found love in these pages. Seeking COVID-negative company to complete the hat trick; be enlightening, generous, flexible, spirited."

The final of Ong's favorite ads from the last year wasn't pandemic related. It was more in the spirit of the playful ads that have been running since 1968, when the NYRB published its first personal ad .

It read: " Ancient Bay Area live oak, still acorning, seeks fertile soil for sweet kindness. All species welcome."

That one was written by Daniel Raskin, 77, a retired preschool teacher, widower, and grandfather living in San Francisco. He wrote it for the magazine's personals contest, which it won. He said via email that he'd run a few other personal ads in the magazine in past. They had led to coffee dates. But he only got two replies this time. 

"It was too quirky to expect responses," he said.

Watch: 5 times Trump praised Dr. Fauci prior to retweeting that he should be fired

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These career reads will heat up your work life this summer.

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It’s time to gear up for some professional growth under the summer sun. Here are the best reads for career development and life advice for movers and shakers.

‘Negotiating While Black: Be Who You Are To Get What You Want’ by Damali Peterman (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

This new release by lawyer and mediator Damali Peterman is one she wishes she could have had to guide her through being the only black woman in the office.

Peterman advocated for her children, who attended predominantly white schools, and tackled biases in her personal and professional life.

Here, the trained negotiator for high-stakes situations lays out simple strategies that work for all people, regardless of their identity.

‘The Rejection That Changed My Life: 25+ Powerful Women on Being Let Down, Turning It Around, and Burning It Up at Work’ by Jessica Bacal (Plume)

From the author of “Mistakes I Made at Work: 25 Influential Women Reflect on What They Got Out of Getting It Wrong,” you’ll finish Jessica Bacal’s ode to rejection more inspired than ever to keep striving post flops or failure.

The book spotlights interviews with Keri Smith, Angela Duckworth and Roz Chast, among other noteworthy ladies. The men might learn a thing or two about facing career struggles from this one, too.

‘Move by Move: Life Lessons On and Off the Chessboard’ by Maurice Ashley (Chronicle Prism)

In case you haven’t noticed, the whole world has become obsessed with chess these past few years. This book, released in April, was penned by Maurice Ashley, the first black chess grand master.

The US Chess Hall of Fame inductee’s skills on the board bloomed in Brooklyn during his adolescence, when he played in parks and clubs throughout the city.

Drawing from his 30-year career in chess, he extracts practical takeaways and hard-won wisdom about life on topics ranging from embracing chaos to failure to strategic risks.

Even if you’re not a chess enthusiast, it’s safe to say you’ll come away from this book with a new appreciation for the game and ideas that you can apply to your personal and professional life.

‘Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head — and How to Get It Out’ by Kara Loewentheil (Penguin Life)

Kara Loewentheil is the host of the critically acclaimed “UnF*ck Your Brain: Feminist Self-Help for Everyone” podcast, and now the author of this manual to resetting your career.

Within, the Harvard Law grad turned life coach guides women on topics running the gamut from body image to finding more joy.

The counsel is doled out through the lens of implementing cognitive change to break free from anxiety and blaze a better pathway.

‘Team: Getting Things Done With Others’ by David Allen and Edward Lamont (Viking)

Back in 2001, author David Allen launched a movement and acronym (GTD — Getting Things Done) for acing time management. Now, he’s teamed up with Edward Lamont for this playbook on how to optimize collaboration.

In short, you’ll learn how to implement GTD principles in group contexts, perhaps more vital than ever in an era of hybrid and remote work.

Throughout, case studies from prestigious companies reveal the joy of working together when you’ve got a system that actually works.

‘Unlearning Silence: How To Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully’ by Elaine Lin Hering (Penguin Life)

Since hitting bookstores in March, this practical how-to tome has been inspiring professionals to speak up in the boardroom and beyond.

Grounded in human psychology, Elaine Lin Hering explains unconscious patterns that have trained us to keep our lips glued shut and how to change this behavior.

You’ll close the final page of the book feeling more confident than ever to speak up at work, whether it’s in a Slack channel or in your annual review with your boss.

‘Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change’ by Cady Coleman (Penguin Life)

Cady Coleman’s memoir motivates us all to push boundaries at work and shatter stereotypes. In 2010 Coleman blasted off to spend six months on the International Space Station as the only woman on her six-person crew, and knows a thing or two about doing just that.

While most of us likely want to glean intel on flourishing back on planet Earth, you’ll enjoy plenty of fascinating anecdotes (meteorite sleuthing in Antarctica! Deploying a $1.6 billion telescope into space!) and motivational takeaways along the ride.

Some may say, “You can’t have it all,” but this retired US Air Force colonel, mom and former NASA astronaut will remind you that you can — and should.

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