The Believer: Summer 26

by Vendela Vida, Vendela Vida (founder), Heidi Julavits (founder)

Named the best magazine of 2022 by Alta . Sound the bugles! The Believer is back with McSweeney's! This massive 144-page resurrection issue is packed with highlights. We have essays from Rafia Zakaria , Sarah Marshall , and Ryan Walsh , and new guest columns from Claire Vaye Watkins and Hanif Abdurraqib . There is an interview with Alan Alda , in which he extensively discusses fruit cake. There are conversations with musicians Angel Olsen and Rickie Lee Jones , and between Aubrey Plaza and Miguel Arteta . There is a new crossword, which is very difficult but also, in our opinion, very enjoyable. There is commentary, from Oscar Villalon , on San Francisco's 24th Street McDonald's, and a tribute to Greg Tate from Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah . There is an exegesis of thirteenth century children's art. There is a surprise guest advice columnist (you'll just have to pick it up to find out who it is). There are other new ingredients too, like our first-ever worldwide best sellers list. Not to mention all of the other regular things you have come to expect from The Believer , like Nick Hornby 's column on what he's been reading, and schemas that exhaustively analyze the demon babies of medieval art. This one is not to be missed. Revel in the relaunch of this unkillable arts and culture magazine.

100 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Vendela Vida is the award-winning author of four books, including Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Lovers, and a founding editor of The Believer magazine. She is also the co-editor of Always Apprentices, a collection of interviews with writers, and Confidence, or the Appearance of Confidence, a collection of interviews with musicians. As a fellow at the Sundance Labs, she developed Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name into a script, which received the Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award. Two of Vida’s novels have been New York Times Notable Books of the year, and she is the winner of the Kate Chopin Award, given to a writer whose female protagonist chooses an unconventional path. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two children, and since 2002 has served on the board of 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing and tutoring lab for youth.

Reviews

[Raewyn]

Fun read. All the long pieces were really great (romance over the landline in Pakistan, Greg Tate, true crime, computer chip theft, cheesy paintings of 50's celebrities). The interviews were also good, especially the Miguel Arteta one. I find magazines so charming, and this was very charming and magazine-y (puzzles at the back! letters to the editor! classifieds!)

[Owen Haines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming as all get out.

Alan Alda is not interested in chatting.

[Kristina Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The temporarily defunct magazine from McSweeney’s was resurrected by a Kickstarter campaign and this is the first issue of the new era. It’s quite possibly better than ever.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mix of interviews, graphic art, experimental fiction

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

First issue I’ve read. I enjoyed the featured essays more than the interviews.