Truer words were never spoken than when Mandolyna said "Takimag is nothing without you" I haven't bothered to pull it up since you left. I'm looking forward to reading all of these. Thanks, Dave.
Same here, went to Takimag to read Jim Goad, discovered David Cole there. Without these two no reason to visit. The eternal foid chased both away, oy vey!
Did you ever see the episode of Beef Squad where Jim spends the whole thing on his quitting TakiMag and just unloads on Mandolyna and just how awful and incompetent she was?
Also a bit of LA history: did you know that in 1941 the owners of the St Louis Browns planned to move their franchise to LA, but then Tojo got the bright idea to bomb Pearl Harbor. This scuttled the move and in 1954 they ended up relocating the team to Baltimore. If the original move had happened the Dodgers would still be in Brooklyn. Instead in 1957 Walter O'Malley announced he was moving the team to LA contingent on the new stadium approved, and through a corrupt campaign it barely got approved. The big losers in all of this besides Brooklyn: All the Mexicans who lived in Chavez Ravine who essentially had their entire neighborhood confiscated through eminent domain to build Dodger Stadium (which is why I found the team's anti ICE statement hilariously ironic).
Truth be told, initially I sympathized with her. Goad and I have been friends since 1992, and I know that sometimes he can be prickly. As he'd often point out, Mandolyna was essentially being forced by her dad to edit Takimag. She didn't WANT the job. I sympathized with that. But, being Mandolyna, she couldn't just sit back and let her writers write. Goad warned me that eventually she'd start micromanaging me. He was right.
I didn't see the episode itself but I do remember Jim going off about her after he left to go write for CC. He basically did a brief synopsis of what would he said he would later detail more on the show.
From that I knew enough that if Dave ever let any details loose about quitting it was basically guaranteed involve her in some fashion. She sounds like real piece of work.
There's so many quotable things in this but my two favorites are:
"I don’t care much for Ron Unz. I don’t wish him harm; hell, every time the villagers chase him with torches, I’m the first to point out that he’s not an animal but a human being."
God damn that was savage lmao, if you had a street name it'd be David "Ice" Coled because that was ice cold holy shit lol. Thanks for the laugh, man.
And this:
"Also not a joke, this is a paper that ran a “political cartoon” showing Jews slitting the throats of gentiles and drinking their blood (the artist behind the cartoon was identified only as “C. Owens”)"
LOL
The whole compilation is full of top tier writing, as always of course but oh man those in particular got me good.
Not in the least bit surprised you were the main draw for readership of the site. Even when it had a slew of writers I liked before they started dropping like flies you were always the main draw. Always came to read your weekly article, then check out the others & since your departure I haven't been back since. Doesn't help that the search engine on there is about as functional as google search is so trying to look something up from one of your old articles is basically impossible.
Thanks for posting these articles, sharing what led up to you quitting as well as the resignation email. The curiosity was killing me lol.
David Cole is a comic writer of brilliance. Said without irony or snark. Taki's loss.
By the way, is there not something quaintly naïve, or perhaps shockingly self-unaware, about a site that has variously employed or been run by, e.g. Richard Spencer, Jim Goad and David Cole, taking the position "we don't want to piss off the wrong people"?
Ultimately, this feels like an instance of generational decline in that Taki's handing off editorial control to his daughter represented a fundamental and detrimental shift in perspective regarding maintaining editorial distance and granting freedom to writers they (we thought) respect even at the risk of alienating this or that Important Person. I always pictured Taki as the kind of person who would have had a laugh with Baldwin or Musk over having published a piece pillorying them. The judo expert in him should love that sort of situation and dynamic.
I only love JB Fletcher more than Columbo as far as TV show sluthers, but not by much. So much for appreciating what you did for Taki, at least you are doing your own thing now. I wouldn't put up with that either, maybe it isn't everyone else & her? Good riddance & I am not renewing my Taki sub since most of the people I read on there are on here now & their site is a mess & difficult to navigate.
Another beef; many times I offered to Mandolyna the services of one of my best friends, a genius tech guy who could've easily put the site in order. He offered his services free, as a favor to me. She refused, time & again.
My friend is one of the most well-recognized tech geniuses in Silicon Valley (where he lived before moving to Miami). And he was willing to fix the site gratis, as a favor to me. Yes, it was patently insane that Mandolyna said no.
I considered offering up my services, but I am glad I didn't now that I hear your account. If she had someone like that willing to do it for free then what a dumb ass. I hope you do your own site, or if you have one, please share & update. Their marketing is terrible.
At first I thought The Six Triple Eight film you described was something you made up!
I checked the cast list and Sommore is not in it. (I so miss those Comedy Central Roasts; on one of them Sommore was on the roast panel, and after she did her bit, Jeff Ross said, "Please, some less.")
Wow! I had no idea what a shitshow it was to write for Takimag. Well, it's their loss if they can't handle and appreciate the genius that is David Cole. What's next? Is Mandolyna going to correct Sailer's math? Ramanujan wouldn't even try one.
I was curious about whether your departure was due to Taki (or his daughter) having some ax to grind. Or whether you had offended some key reader demographic (say Viennese aristocrats). Sounds like it was a bit of both, coupled with the daughter having a very thin skin. Thanks for clearing that up. Also, I agree that with you gone Takimag has been degraded more than Iran’s nuclear program.
Yep, that's the "gotcha" where all van Dyke had to say was "I'm a world-renowned photographer. I identified the camera by the photograph. It's literally my job. I'll be on my way now."
By the way, what is the deal with Taki and his daughter? From what I can piece together, from you, Goad and others who have written for him over the years, he's a wealthy Greek (?) gent who philanthropically supports right wing or libertarian causes -- which is great, thanks, sir -- and it quite elderly now. So his daughter is taking over his endeavors much like Murdoch's children, but, as we know, sometimes the second generation may not run the ship as adeptly as dear old dad did. So ... what to think of it all? I'm curious, genuinely.
Goad knew her in person. Me, only via email for ten years. So according to goad, Taki put her in charge of Takimag to teach her "responsibility." To give her a "real job," and she HATES it. It's a chore for her, slavery. But the funny thing is, with such a small stable of writers, she could quite literally just let them do their thing. Like she could've let ME do my thing. But she was compelled to micromanage us. It's what drove away Goad, and, eventually, me.
Talk about a real heapin' helpin' of (delayed) Cole! Best served cold, actually. Who said leftovers aren't delicious?? I enjoyed every one of them, Dave. Thanks for posting these.
Truer words were never spoken than when Mandolyna said "Takimag is nothing without you" I haven't bothered to pull it up since you left. I'm looking forward to reading all of these. Thanks, Dave.
Exactly. I make it a point not to read it.
Thank you, Gunther. And thank you for your readership.
Same here, went to Takimag to read Jim Goad, discovered David Cole there. Without these two no reason to visit. The eternal foid chased both away, oy vey!
Thank YOU, Kelly. I very much appreciate the kind words.
Pure Gold Cole, pure gold!
Thank you Mike!
Reminds me of how much I miss the Cole TWTP.
I tried to read one, ONE, after you quit, didn’t even finish, and haven’t been back to Taki since.
You set the standard, and no replacement compares… but at least we’re getting a new book out of it!
Cheers man!
I love ya, Mike. That really means a lot.
Did you ever see the episode of Beef Squad where Jim spends the whole thing on his quitting TakiMag and just unloads on Mandolyna and just how awful and incompetent she was?
Also a bit of LA history: did you know that in 1941 the owners of the St Louis Browns planned to move their franchise to LA, but then Tojo got the bright idea to bomb Pearl Harbor. This scuttled the move and in 1954 they ended up relocating the team to Baltimore. If the original move had happened the Dodgers would still be in Brooklyn. Instead in 1957 Walter O'Malley announced he was moving the team to LA contingent on the new stadium approved, and through a corrupt campaign it barely got approved. The big losers in all of this besides Brooklyn: All the Mexicans who lived in Chavez Ravine who essentially had their entire neighborhood confiscated through eminent domain to build Dodger Stadium (which is why I found the team's anti ICE statement hilariously ironic).
Truth be told, initially I sympathized with her. Goad and I have been friends since 1992, and I know that sometimes he can be prickly. As he'd often point out, Mandolyna was essentially being forced by her dad to edit Takimag. She didn't WANT the job. I sympathized with that. But, being Mandolyna, she couldn't just sit back and let her writers write. Goad warned me that eventually she'd start micromanaging me. He was right.
I didn't see the episode itself but I do remember Jim going off about her after he left to go write for CC. He basically did a brief synopsis of what would he said he would later detail more on the show.
From that I knew enough that if Dave ever let any details loose about quitting it was basically guaranteed involve her in some fashion. She sounds like real piece of work.
She's an...acquired taste.
Is that what we're calling it now?
There's so many quotable things in this but my two favorites are:
"I don’t care much for Ron Unz. I don’t wish him harm; hell, every time the villagers chase him with torches, I’m the first to point out that he’s not an animal but a human being."
God damn that was savage lmao, if you had a street name it'd be David "Ice" Coled because that was ice cold holy shit lol. Thanks for the laugh, man.
And this:
"Also not a joke, this is a paper that ran a “political cartoon” showing Jews slitting the throats of gentiles and drinking their blood (the artist behind the cartoon was identified only as “C. Owens”)"
LOL
The whole compilation is full of top tier writing, as always of course but oh man those in particular got me good.
Not in the least bit surprised you were the main draw for readership of the site. Even when it had a slew of writers I liked before they started dropping like flies you were always the main draw. Always came to read your weekly article, then check out the others & since your departure I haven't been back since. Doesn't help that the search engine on there is about as functional as google search is so trying to look something up from one of your old articles is basically impossible.
Thanks for posting these articles, sharing what led up to you quitting as well as the resignation email. The curiosity was killing me lol.
Yeah, I had to get it out of my system! Thank you for your very kind words about my writing, and thank you especially for your continued readership.
Meanwhile in Canada: Toronto shuts down public swimming pools due to heat (no, that's not a joke):
https://x.com/WeAreCanProud/status/1937232943488885163?t=PlFlgmpz9gBaslzQEdf_iw&s=19
What a Week story that would've made!
David Cole is a comic writer of brilliance. Said without irony or snark. Taki's loss.
By the way, is there not something quaintly naïve, or perhaps shockingly self-unaware, about a site that has variously employed or been run by, e.g. Richard Spencer, Jim Goad and David Cole, taking the position "we don't want to piss off the wrong people"?
Ultimately, this feels like an instance of generational decline in that Taki's handing off editorial control to his daughter represented a fundamental and detrimental shift in perspective regarding maintaining editorial distance and granting freedom to writers they (we thought) respect even at the risk of alienating this or that Important Person. I always pictured Taki as the kind of person who would have had a laugh with Baldwin or Musk over having published a piece pillorying them. The judo expert in him should love that sort of situation and dynamic.
Thank you for the very kind words, Daniel. And your observations about Takimag are 100% spot-on.
Dave makes me, and the other me laugh like hell. Even all the way over here in Ulaanbaatar, my ass got laughed off.
PS I have a 'video hello' comin' soon, now that I got me a Unitel Sim. Fuckin AT&T, international roaming $35, shit don't work here.
And there are 05:30 leaf blowers around these parts too, just not beans running 'em !!!
I only love JB Fletcher more than Columbo as far as TV show sluthers, but not by much. So much for appreciating what you did for Taki, at least you are doing your own thing now. I wouldn't put up with that either, maybe it isn't everyone else & her? Good riddance & I am not renewing my Taki sub since most of the people I read on there are on here now & their site is a mess & difficult to navigate.
Another beef; many times I offered to Mandolyna the services of one of my best friends, a genius tech guy who could've easily put the site in order. He offered his services free, as a favor to me. She refused, time & again.
She made a mistake in not accepting a free offer to improve the site.
My friend is one of the most well-recognized tech geniuses in Silicon Valley (where he lived before moving to Miami). And he was willing to fix the site gratis, as a favor to me. Yes, it was patently insane that Mandolyna said no.
I considered offering up my services, but I am glad I didn't now that I hear your account. If she had someone like that willing to do it for free then what a dumb ass. I hope you do your own site, or if you have one, please share & update. Their marketing is terrible.
At first I thought The Six Triple Eight film you described was something you made up!
I checked the cast list and Sommore is not in it. (I so miss those Comedy Central Roasts; on one of them Sommore was on the roast panel, and after she did her bit, Jeff Ross said, "Please, some less.")
Don't forget the REAL King Of The Roasts:
https://youtu.be/5wTujmZ1c0k?si=PtZbwtj_I0713xJV
Norm's freeze-takes were amazing!
Wow! I had no idea what a shitshow it was to write for Takimag. Well, it's their loss if they can't handle and appreciate the genius that is David Cole. What's next? Is Mandolyna going to correct Sailer's math? Ramanujan wouldn't even try one.
Yeah, I wonder why Steve hasn't been alienated yet....
Steve has a family. He's tried to migrate as much of his traffic as possible to Substack, and he left Unz, but he can't be as "devil may care" as I.
Sonuvabitch! That's why my Week's suggestions never made it. Bitch was picking three stories herlself! Never again, Taki. Never again.
Thanks for posting all these, Dave.
That's what always hobbled me; I had to use her three stories. I did enjoy the challenge, but a lot of better stories were forced to go unmentioned.
I was curious about whether your departure was due to Taki (or his daughter) having some ax to grind. Or whether you had offended some key reader demographic (say Viennese aristocrats). Sounds like it was a bit of both, coupled with the daughter having a very thin skin. Thanks for clearing that up. Also, I agree that with you gone Takimag has been degraded more than Iran’s nuclear program.
Her heavy-handed editing drove away Goad, now Dave too. I wonder who else left Taki's because of it? John Derbyshire maybe?
Worse than that. In 2017 my friend Tim asked to write for us. Great catch, totally mainstream author.
Mandolyna managed to alienate him in one week.
https://www.takimag.com/contributor/Tim%20Sommer/357/
Mandolyna is not jolie.
Wow, he wrote for the Village Voice from 1980-84, back when Quentin Crisp still walked the streets!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Sommer
Yep, and we HAD him as an author. But then Mandolyna fucked it up.
Spooky! Recently my YouTube feed sent me this Columbo clip with Dick Van Dyke and the camera thing.
Yep, that's the "gotcha" where all van Dyke had to say was "I'm a world-renowned photographer. I identified the camera by the photograph. It's literally my job. I'll be on my way now."
Sunday nights. I was ten. Nixon was President.
Theme music by Henry Mancini!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VI9mUyG_f0
If I recall correctly, Columbo had him so annoyed he accidently identified the camera just to show up Columbo?
There was only one detective better than Columbo - Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the Surete - the greatest detective in all of France!
By the way, what is the deal with Taki and his daughter? From what I can piece together, from you, Goad and others who have written for him over the years, he's a wealthy Greek (?) gent who philanthropically supports right wing or libertarian causes -- which is great, thanks, sir -- and it quite elderly now. So his daughter is taking over his endeavors much like Murdoch's children, but, as we know, sometimes the second generation may not run the ship as adeptly as dear old dad did. So ... what to think of it all? I'm curious, genuinely.
Goad knew her in person. Me, only via email for ten years. So according to goad, Taki put her in charge of Takimag to teach her "responsibility." To give her a "real job," and she HATES it. It's a chore for her, slavery. But the funny thing is, with such a small stable of writers, she could quite literally just let them do their thing. Like she could've let ME do my thing. But she was compelled to micromanage us. It's what drove away Goad, and, eventually, me.
Talk about a real heapin' helpin' of (delayed) Cole! Best served cold, actually. Who said leftovers aren't delicious?? I enjoyed every one of them, Dave. Thanks for posting these.
Thank YOU, Bill! Your readership is greatly appreciated my friend.
Pure works of art - thanks for publishing them.
Thank you!