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The US EDITION of the world’s oldest magazine
While others are scaling back, The Spectator is stepping up its US edition — now publishing biweekly instead of monthly. Twice the insight, twice the wit — and the same fearless commitment to truth in every issue.
★ Editor’s Note ★
The Spectator is one of the most influential and enduring voices in the English-speaking world.
With a deeply engaged and growing subscriber base, we already reach some of America’s most important political and media figures, thinkers and decision-makers, helping to shape the conversations that matter most.
We bring you wit, wisdom and intelligence – and we never confuse the serious with the dull.
Freddy Gray
★ Our Story ★
1711
The original Spectator was founded in London by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele: a single-sheet daily essay written to “enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.”
Its essays soon travelled to colonial America. George Washington kept six issues at Mount Vernon, Benjamin Franklin copied them out to improve his prose, John Adams wrote out passages at Harvard, and Thomas Jefferson recommended The Spectator as essential reading.
1828
Robert Rintoul founded the modern Spectator in London, drawing inspiration from the original 1711 publication. Its mission statement: “The principal object of a newspaper is to convey intelligence. It is proposed in The Spectator to give this, the first and most prominent place, to a report of all the leading occurrences of the week. In this department, the reader may always expect a summary account of every public proceeding, or transaction of interest, whether the scene may lie at home or abroad.”
1861
As the American Civil War began, The Spectator was almost alone in Britain in backing the North. Its editors, Meredith Townsend and Richard Holt Hutton, argued for the Union and the abolitionist cause.
The stance cost readers and brought the magazine close to bankruptcy, but it held firm, carrying reports from “A Yankee” and “An English Traveller”. After Lincoln’s assassination, The Spectator wrote that he would be remembered “for ever among the noblest rulers of the world.”
1900s
Theodore Roosevelt was a regular reader of The Spectator, sending letters to its proprietor, John St Loe Strachey, and later inviting him to stay at the White House and sit with him in the newly built West Wing.
2015
The Spectator had a long record of shaping political language — Henry Fairlie’s “the Establishment” and Iain Macleod’s “nanny state”. Then James Bartholomew coined the modern political use of the phrase “virtue signalling.”
2016
The magazine came out in support of Brexit and published its butterfly cover – one of the most widely recognized images of the referendum.
2019
After launching digitally in America the previous year, The Spectator publishes its first monthly US print edition in October. The inaugural issue, “American queen”, set out the magazine’s stall as a glossy transatlantic sister to the London weekly, with Freddy Gray as US editor.
2024
The Americano podcast, hosted by Freddy Gray, grows with filmed online episodes and launches its series of Americano Live events in London — featuring guests including Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Nigel Farage, Ann Coulter, John Bolton, Nate Silver, John Mearsheimer and Victor Davis Hanson.
2025
In response to growing demand, the US print edition goes biweekly — and publishes the first magazine interview with President Donald Trump since his return to the Oval Office.
1711
The original Spectator was founded in London by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele: a single-sheet daily essay written to “enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.”
Its essays soon travelled to colonial America. George Washington kept six issues at Mount Vernon, Benjamin Franklin copied them out to improve his prose, John Adams wrote out passages at Harvard, and Thomas Jefferson recommended The Spectator as essential reading.
1828
Robert Rintoul founded the modern Spectator in London, drawing inspiration from the original 1711 publication. Its mission statement: “The principal object of a newspaper is to convey intelligence. It is proposed in The Spectator to give this, the first and most prominent place, to a report of all the leading occurrences of the week. In this department, the reader may always expect a summary account of every public proceeding, or transaction of interest, whether the scene may lie at home or abroad.”
1861
As the American Civil War began, The Spectator was almost alone in Britain in backing the North. Its editors, Meredith Townsend and Richard Holt Hutton, argued for the Union and the abolitionist cause.
The stance cost readers and brought the magazine close to bankruptcy, but it held firm, carrying reports from “A Yankee” and “An English Traveller”. After Lincoln’s assassination, The Spectator wrote that he would be remembered “for ever among the noblest rulers of the world.”
1900s
Theodore Roosevelt was a regular reader of The Spectator, sending letters to its proprietor, John St Loe Strachey, and later inviting him to stay at the White House and sit with him in the newly built West Wing.
2015
The Spectator had a long record of shaping political language — Henry Fairlie’s “the Establishment” and Iain Macleod’s “nanny state”. Then James Bartholomew coined the modern political use of the phrase “virtue signalling.”
2016
The magazine came out in support of Brexit and published its butterfly cover – one of the most widely recognized images of the referendum.
2019
After launching digitally in America the previous year, The Spectator publishes its first monthly US print edition in October. The inaugural issue, “American queen”, set out the magazine’s stall as a glossy transatlantic sister to the London weekly, with Freddy Gray as US editor.
2024
The Americano podcast, hosted by Freddy Gray, grows with filmed online episodes and launches its series of Americano Live events in London — featuring guests including Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Nigel Farage, Ann Coulter, John Bolton, Nate Silver, John Mearsheimer and Victor Davis Hanson.
2025
In response to growing demand, the US print edition goes biweekly — and publishes the first magazine interview with President Donald Trump since his return to the Oval Office.
★ The magazine ★
A magazine worth keeping
Every issue of The Spectator World is an intelligent mix of politics, culture, essays, reviews, cartoons and columns — bringing together some of the most incisive writers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The sharpest voices in print
Our writers have no party line: their only allegiance is to clarity of thought, elegance of expression and independence of opinion.
Regular writers include Douglas Murray, Lionel Shriver, Christopher Caldwell, Roger Kimball, Daniel McCarthy, Freddy Gray and Katherine Dee.
More than politics
Every issue opens with The Spectator’s editorial and Court Circular, our round-up of Washington politics, before moving through the cover story, current affairs analysis, dispatches, features diaries and essays.
Beyond that, you’ll find technology, American books and arts reviews, life stories from New York to Palm Beach, food and drink, wine, travel, cartoons and criticism, all full of wit and surprise.
The art of argument
With award-winning illustrations, front covers and cartoons, every issue is vivid, enjoyable and made to be kept.
Best of British
The second half of every issue brings readers the best of The Spectator from across the pond: political insight, Westminster drama, culture and life.
Best of British gives our American readers a front-row seat to Britain at its sharpest.
★ AND THE REST ★
Never miss a moment
With our app, readers get instant access to the biweekly magazine as soon as each issue goes live, plus the latest writing, videos, episodes of Americano podcast, hosted by Freddy Gray, and Cockburn’s mischief and Washington gossip. And, with the UK edition just a few taps away, the app opens up even more of The Spectator.
Newsletters for every part of your week
From Today, our flagship morning newsletter, to Tonight’s afternoon round-up and Weekend’s culture, food, drink, travel and lifestyle, The Spectator’s newsletters bring readers the best of our writing throughout the week.
Beyond the page
From live debates and subscriber-only livestreams to wine tastings, culinary events and gatherings with writers and fellow readers, The Spectator takes the conversation further than the page throughout the year, with events across the US, Britain and further afield — including multi-day retreats.
★ America, still ★
For more than three centuries, The Spectator has watched America with admiration, criticism, curiosity and affection. Henry Fairlie, the Spectator writer who made America his home, put it best:
“America has — if one opens oneself to it — a bewitching power.”
Frequently asked questions
When can I expect the first issue after I subscribe?
We publish the US edition of The Spectator on a biweekly schedule. Once your payment has been processed, your delivery details will be added to the mailing list for the next issue. Depending on where your subscription falls within the publishing schedule, your first issue should arrive within 2–4 weeks.
Can I cancel my subscription?
You can cancel your subscription at any time by going to your account area icon in the top right of your screen. Then go to ‘manage my subscription’ and scroll to the bottom. Your cancellation will come into effect with the end of your current subscription term.
When will my payments be taken?
Your initial payment is taken on the day you purchase your subscription. After that, your subscription will automatically renew either monthly or annually, depending on the subscription package you selected.
How do I log in after I subscribe?
Once you’ve subscribed, you can log in using the email address you used to purchase your subscription and the password you created when registering your online account.