In recent weeks, many media watchers, some of whom run free Manhattan weeklies, have raised interesting issues about our upcoming launch. Let’s take a moment to address them point by point.

Can Talk inspire respect among prospective readers while engaging in upfront whoring of the product to advertisers like me?

Yes. Yes it can. Talk will engage its readers by devoting its resources to writers, editors and European-style fashion spreads: the ingredients of a great magazine.

Will Talk’s punitive lead time be a significant factor in its eventual failure?

No. In the unlikely event of failure, it will be due to corporate infighting and a lack of clear mission, not because our content will be dated.

I’ve heard that the first cover will feature Hillary Clinton.

Good for you.

I’ve heard that the cover story will feature Hillary in a positive light.

Duh.

Will Martin Amis’s lucrative contract please the many young writers who’ve been courted with less-than-exorbitant fees?

True, young writers for Talk are not compensated as exorbitantly as Martin is. But then, they are being published in Talk magazine. And in publishing, one CAN eat prestige.

Does Tina Brown, an icon of the 80s, have a clue about how to start a grand magazine in this era of new communications?

Two points on this matter. First, Talk is more than just a magazine--it is a fully integrated, legacy-compliant, cross-platform cultural relevancy solution best viewed with Netscape 4.0 or higher. Second, screw you.

Does Brown still inspires a degree of fear in the industry?

We really shouldn’t be talking about this. I gotta go.

Will Talk be a necessary magazine?

On the record, yes. Talk will be the central reading experience for urbane literati in the next century.

Off the record, this magazine will kick ass.