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Rolling Stone and the Rise of Hip Capitalism: How a Magazine Born in the 1960s Changed America
304 pages, Hardcover
Published April 28, 2026
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May 3, 2026
People of a certain age may remember a time when music was or at least seemed important. A time when your social-circle expected you to listen to the ‘right’ music. It helped to know your views were shared by others, validated by more educated, and cooler people; music journalists and certain music magazines. Beyond social-status, it was just fun to read about a favourite band, the music you loved, a concert review of a band you may never see live.
I admit to being one of these people who thought music was important. In my youth it was to the British media I gravitated, reading about music and bands from far-away. A place making new, cool music in the 1980s. The US in those days was far from cool. Stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, with a soundtrack of AOR and soft-rock. But a little later in life, I lived in the US, embraced the culture and the people. And read Rolling Stone magazine. Not always, but not infrequently either. It was the perfect item to take on a long-flight to a remote, isolated, dusty land. Which is what job often required me to do. RS would accompany me and I would pass it on to others in need of news and culture from ‘home’.
Hence my interest in this book about the history of RS. A book that starts well before I even began listening to music and ends around the time I departed the US. It is in part interesting, boring, fascinating and frustrating. Perhaps containing something of interest for everyone, but also I suspect, covering much that is of little interest to many. RS, as the author lays out, was always a magazine unsure of its readership and what they wanted to read. At the same time RS was pretty sure what they should be listening to and reading. RS soon became a music magazine with coverage of both National and International topics tangentially or unrelated to popular entertainment.
It ended up being a magazine on whatever topics the editors and writers wanted and expected the readers to read. Topics that music fans may or may not wish to read about in their magazine, regardless of how relevant or important such issues might be to RS staffers.
The author takes a similar approach in this book. A history of RS, the music of course, but also all the other non-music topics. It is ironic that a constant criticism of RS since its inception is that it strives to be more than a music magazine, even though most people read it for the music. The book suffers in a similar way. RS, for much of its history wrote too much on non-music topics. This book is at least consistent in that area.
In fairness, the music aspects of the book are, for the most part, interesting. Particularly for me the years around the late 1970s and 1980s. Other may enjoy reading about earlier or later periods, depending on the music they listened to in their youth; a time when people develop the tastes that often stay with them throughout their lives, albeit, with less passion as they mature. But the cultural/political and other non-musical topics covered in the book are of less interest to me. Possibly because I am not American. Possibly because many of the views are outdated and discredited. Possibly because RS always had an ideology. The editors saw the world in a certain way and expected (hoped ?) the readers would as well. Nevertheless, these topics do add context to the times, which the music sometime reflected.
Beyond the music and other topics, the outsized personalities and people involved in RS magazine are a significant part of its history. Tom Wolfe, Greil Marcus, Hunter S. Thompson, P. J. O’Rouke to name a few. Writers that were cool, opinionated, informed and influencing. I enjoyed reading about some of these better-known people. Editors, owners, publicists and others populating the book, I found less interesting.
The author clearly enjoys writing about RS. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of RS founding, all back-issues up to the late 1980s were digitally released, thus defining the timeline of this book. Furthermore, numerous authors, writers, editors and others associated with the magazine allowed themselves to be interviewed, providing an element of authenticity to this history.
Although there are already books about RS, in the authors opinion:
“…all these books fail to situate the magazine historically, to identify its place in the wider culture, or to explain how it came to influence…”
Therefore:
“This book aims to rectify that. It is a cultural history of the magazine from its founding in 1967 to its twentieth anniversary in 1987. ”
I would say the author achieves his goal although in doing so the book is somewhat more academic in tone than reader may expect. The book begins with the genesis of RS. The people and the places. In the 1960s, we learn about the times, the music and the writers who enjoy music; listening to live bands, recorded music and writing for a new generation of consumers; teenagers…
Chapters soon move on to the growth of RS and are titled after prominent songs from the times they represent. ‘Changes’, ‘Respectable’, ‘Glory Days’ and so on. A nice touch to anchor a chapter to a popular song of the times.
The author leaves very little out of this story. Music and all things related. And unrelated. The business aspects, advertising, records and other media formats, contracts, management and the symbiotic relationship between everyone involved. Besides politics, the author recounts how RS covered the foreign affairs, the environment, finance, conflicts, crime, computers, drugs, race, sex and so on.
The emphasis on music comes and goes over the years, with record and concert reviews sometime ceding space to other entertainment topics such as film and television. RS content seemed be dominated by the world-views of certain editors and sometimes the writers employed. This is despite RS surveys that consistently showed readers subscribe for the music, not the politics. Hardly surprising.
RS founder Jan Wenner plays an outsized role in the magazine’s direction and naturally in this book. An example of one direction-change amongst many:
“…he ( Wenner ) announced in an editorial published in August 1973, the scruffy rock and roll newspaper he had launched in late 1967 would become a general-interest magazine covering American culture, politics, and the arts, with a special interest in music.”
A clear political bias seems evident throughout the years of RS covered by this book. Many names are well known around the world. Nixon, Carter, Reagan. Others may only mean something to American readers of a certain age. Gary Hart for example. Another, Teddy Kennedy is remembered fondly. Chappaquiddick is not mentioned.
The author covers the impact of numerous topics. Punk/New Wave, MTV/Cable TV, CDs and VCRs to name a few. A reader may feel nostalgia for simpler times. The early years of a quirky series called ‘The Simpsons’ on an obscure TV channel named Fox. I was curious how and if the author was going to discuss how RS covered deaths of famous musicians and celebrities. John Lennon receives multiple paragraphs of analysis by the author. John Belushi, one sentence. Ian Curtis even less.
One overall impression from this book is that it is surprising RS even made it into the 1980s, given the confusing and constantly changing directions of the editorial staff. Editors subsequent to Wenner seemed to be more market-focussed, nd sometimes even responded to reader surveys:
“…gradually increasing the number of music-related stories, and in early 1985, moving the music section back to the front of the magazine.”
The author ends this book in the late 1980s, soon after RS produces Four Special Issues, that he notes contains “weighty self important articles”. Although clearly a music fan and an avid reader of RS, it is to the authors credit that he provides a balanced and objective view of where RS was during this time. He notes:
“Self indulgent self serving self justifications for 60s values and attitudes seemed to bewilder younger people who constantly ignored RS expert guidance and came to their own worldview, their own outlook, opinions on music and on issues of the day…”
And in an Epilogue he adds:
“…Rolling Stone’s sensibility survived in attenuated form …But it was easy to miss, and readers in the mid-eighties could be forgiven for believing that, aside from a commitment to covering music, Rolling Stone didn’t really stand for anything except, perhaps, a disgust for Reagan-era conservatism and a yearning for a revival of liberalism…”
In closing, this is a book few may read from cover to cover, and that is fine. I think many, if not most readers will enjoy dipping into certain parts. Perhaps a certain time period ? A certain genre of music ? A momentous political or cultural event ? Feelings of nostalgia will abound. Perhaps with a certain soundtrack. A favourite song, not heard for years…
To quote a musician much loved by RS, ‘All Things Must Pass’. It is a wonder RS lasted so long. Apparently it is still with us today. I had to google to check. Who reads it ? Who subscribes to it ? I’ve no idea. It was ‘of its time’. A comforting companion during a long flight to a distant, isolated, dusty land. I enjoyed RS. Not reading all of it. Not agreeing with all that I read. I can say the same about this book. I wish the author and publishers success.
I admit to being one of these people who thought music was important. In my youth it was to the British media I gravitated, reading about music and bands from far-away. A place making new, cool music in the 1980s. The US in those days was far from cool. Stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, with a soundtrack of AOR and soft-rock. But a little later in life, I lived in the US, embraced the culture and the people. And read Rolling Stone magazine. Not always, but not infrequently either. It was the perfect item to take on a long-flight to a remote, isolated, dusty land. Which is what job often required me to do. RS would accompany me and I would pass it on to others in need of news and culture from ‘home’.
Hence my interest in this book about the history of RS. A book that starts well before I even began listening to music and ends around the time I departed the US. It is in part interesting, boring, fascinating and frustrating. Perhaps containing something of interest for everyone, but also I suspect, covering much that is of little interest to many. RS, as the author lays out, was always a magazine unsure of its readership and what they wanted to read. At the same time RS was pretty sure what they should be listening to and reading. RS soon became a music magazine with coverage of both National and International topics tangentially or unrelated to popular entertainment.
It ended up being a magazine on whatever topics the editors and writers wanted and expected the readers to read. Topics that music fans may or may not wish to read about in their magazine, regardless of how relevant or important such issues might be to RS staffers.
The author takes a similar approach in this book. A history of RS, the music of course, but also all the other non-music topics. It is ironic that a constant criticism of RS since its inception is that it strives to be more than a music magazine, even though most people read it for the music. The book suffers in a similar way. RS, for much of its history wrote too much on non-music topics. This book is at least consistent in that area.
In fairness, the music aspects of the book are, for the most part, interesting. Particularly for me the years around the late 1970s and 1980s. Other may enjoy reading about earlier or later periods, depending on the music they listened to in their youth; a time when people develop the tastes that often stay with them throughout their lives, albeit, with less passion as they mature. But the cultural/political and other non-musical topics covered in the book are of less interest to me. Possibly because I am not American. Possibly because many of the views are outdated and discredited. Possibly because RS always had an ideology. The editors saw the world in a certain way and expected (hoped ?) the readers would as well. Nevertheless, these topics do add context to the times, which the music sometime reflected.
Beyond the music and other topics, the outsized personalities and people involved in RS magazine are a significant part of its history. Tom Wolfe, Greil Marcus, Hunter S. Thompson, P. J. O’Rouke to name a few. Writers that were cool, opinionated, informed and influencing. I enjoyed reading about some of these better-known people. Editors, owners, publicists and others populating the book, I found less interesting.
The author clearly enjoys writing about RS. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of RS founding, all back-issues up to the late 1980s were digitally released, thus defining the timeline of this book. Furthermore, numerous authors, writers, editors and others associated with the magazine allowed themselves to be interviewed, providing an element of authenticity to this history.
Although there are already books about RS, in the authors opinion:
“…all these books fail to situate the magazine historically, to identify its place in the wider culture, or to explain how it came to influence…”
Therefore:
“This book aims to rectify that. It is a cultural history of the magazine from its founding in 1967 to its twentieth anniversary in 1987. ”
I would say the author achieves his goal although in doing so the book is somewhat more academic in tone than reader may expect. The book begins with the genesis of RS. The people and the places. In the 1960s, we learn about the times, the music and the writers who enjoy music; listening to live bands, recorded music and writing for a new generation of consumers; teenagers…
Chapters soon move on to the growth of RS and are titled after prominent songs from the times they represent. ‘Changes’, ‘Respectable’, ‘Glory Days’ and so on. A nice touch to anchor a chapter to a popular song of the times.
The author leaves very little out of this story. Music and all things related. And unrelated. The business aspects, advertising, records and other media formats, contracts, management and the symbiotic relationship between everyone involved. Besides politics, the author recounts how RS covered the foreign affairs, the environment, finance, conflicts, crime, computers, drugs, race, sex and so on.
The emphasis on music comes and goes over the years, with record and concert reviews sometime ceding space to other entertainment topics such as film and television. RS content seemed be dominated by the world-views of certain editors and sometimes the writers employed. This is despite RS surveys that consistently showed readers subscribe for the music, not the politics. Hardly surprising.
RS founder Jan Wenner plays an outsized role in the magazine’s direction and naturally in this book. An example of one direction-change amongst many:
“…he ( Wenner ) announced in an editorial published in August 1973, the scruffy rock and roll newspaper he had launched in late 1967 would become a general-interest magazine covering American culture, politics, and the arts, with a special interest in music.”
A clear political bias seems evident throughout the years of RS covered by this book. Many names are well known around the world. Nixon, Carter, Reagan. Others may only mean something to American readers of a certain age. Gary Hart for example. Another, Teddy Kennedy is remembered fondly. Chappaquiddick is not mentioned.
The author covers the impact of numerous topics. Punk/New Wave, MTV/Cable TV, CDs and VCRs to name a few. A reader may feel nostalgia for simpler times. The early years of a quirky series called ‘The Simpsons’ on an obscure TV channel named Fox. I was curious how and if the author was going to discuss how RS covered deaths of famous musicians and celebrities. John Lennon receives multiple paragraphs of analysis by the author. John Belushi, one sentence. Ian Curtis even less.
One overall impression from this book is that it is surprising RS even made it into the 1980s, given the confusing and constantly changing directions of the editorial staff. Editors subsequent to Wenner seemed to be more market-focussed, nd sometimes even responded to reader surveys:
“…gradually increasing the number of music-related stories, and in early 1985, moving the music section back to the front of the magazine.”
The author ends this book in the late 1980s, soon after RS produces Four Special Issues, that he notes contains “weighty self important articles”. Although clearly a music fan and an avid reader of RS, it is to the authors credit that he provides a balanced and objective view of where RS was during this time. He notes:
“Self indulgent self serving self justifications for 60s values and attitudes seemed to bewilder younger people who constantly ignored RS expert guidance and came to their own worldview, their own outlook, opinions on music and on issues of the day…”
And in an Epilogue he adds:
“…Rolling Stone’s sensibility survived in attenuated form …But it was easy to miss, and readers in the mid-eighties could be forgiven for believing that, aside from a commitment to covering music, Rolling Stone didn’t really stand for anything except, perhaps, a disgust for Reagan-era conservatism and a yearning for a revival of liberalism…”
In closing, this is a book few may read from cover to cover, and that is fine. I think many, if not most readers will enjoy dipping into certain parts. Perhaps a certain time period ? A certain genre of music ? A momentous political or cultural event ? Feelings of nostalgia will abound. Perhaps with a certain soundtrack. A favourite song, not heard for years…
To quote a musician much loved by RS, ‘All Things Must Pass’. It is a wonder RS lasted so long. Apparently it is still with us today. I had to google to check. Who reads it ? Who subscribes to it ? I’ve no idea. It was ‘of its time’. A comforting companion during a long flight to a distant, isolated, dusty land. I enjoyed RS. Not reading all of it. Not agreeing with all that I read. I can say the same about this book. I wish the author and publishers success.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Rolling Stone and the Rise of Hip Capitalism, by Charles L Ponce de Leon, is an interesting look behind the scenes of this iconic magazine while also contextualizing what allowed these things to contribute to a successful periodical.
As I have come to accept with the books I've read by Ponce de Leon, this being the third, I find the authorial voice less appealing but the material more than makes up for it. His personal introductions tend to drag, not to mention in this case it shows he was slow to the music scene beyond simply buying a few albums (I too was in high school in 1975) and he was late to wanting to know more than just whether he liked a song. Those aren't negatives but he drags us through this personal background for several paragraphs more than necessary for such a weak early background.
Once we get into the story of Rolling Stone, it gets better. He isn't the best writer but he is adequate for what we are getting. His research is excellent and he does a good job of placing everything in the historical moment. As disappointing as Rolling Stone became for readers like me who loved most of the first decade (I didn't start reading regularly until 1971) it still offered some good music background for some time. Eventually that also went by the wayside but it was gradual, or at least seemed like it at the time.
Recommended for both those interested in the culture of the 60s and early 70s as well a those who study at the intersection of business and popular culture.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
As I have come to accept with the books I've read by Ponce de Leon, this being the third, I find the authorial voice less appealing but the material more than makes up for it. His personal introductions tend to drag, not to mention in this case it shows he was slow to the music scene beyond simply buying a few albums (I too was in high school in 1975) and he was late to wanting to know more than just whether he liked a song. Those aren't negatives but he drags us through this personal background for several paragraphs more than necessary for such a weak early background.
Once we get into the story of Rolling Stone, it gets better. He isn't the best writer but he is adequate for what we are getting. His research is excellent and he does a good job of placing everything in the historical moment. As disappointing as Rolling Stone became for readers like me who loved most of the first decade (I didn't start reading regularly until 1971) it still offered some good music background for some time. Eventually that also went by the wayside but it was gradual, or at least seemed like it at the time.
Recommended for both those interested in the culture of the 60s and early 70s as well a those who study at the intersection of business and popular culture.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the University of North Carolina Press for providing this book as an eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This book is a fascinating and incisive look at Rolling Stone magazine and how it is a product of its culture, economic system, and contributors. Explorations of race and gender are interwoven with commentary on the media landscape and politics in a way that not only contextualises Rolling Stone but also helps you understand the nature of the media and publishing landscape today. Whilst the moments that delve into politics won't interest everyone, this book makes a strong case for their inclusion, pairing politics with the ambitions of founder Jann Wenner. It is at its strongest, pulling different threads to explain the nature of monoculture, and it gives an interesting genealogy for the different iterations of Rolling Stone.
It does, however, sometimes falter in its analysis, with some analyses being incisive but others feeling overly simplistic. I honestly would have loved for it to be even longer because the research was there, and so the simplistic parts could have been more fleshed out, and there could have been even more analysis of Wenner as a celebrity figure and how that ties into capitalism.
This book is a fascinating and incisive look at Rolling Stone magazine and how it is a product of its culture, economic system, and contributors. Explorations of race and gender are interwoven with commentary on the media landscape and politics in a way that not only contextualises Rolling Stone but also helps you understand the nature of the media and publishing landscape today. Whilst the moments that delve into politics won't interest everyone, this book makes a strong case for their inclusion, pairing politics with the ambitions of founder Jann Wenner. It is at its strongest, pulling different threads to explain the nature of monoculture, and it gives an interesting genealogy for the different iterations of Rolling Stone.
It does, however, sometimes falter in its analysis, with some analyses being incisive but others feeling overly simplistic. I honestly would have loved for it to be even longer because the research was there, and so the simplistic parts could have been more fleshed out, and there could have been even more analysis of Wenner as a celebrity figure and how that ties into capitalism.
February 17, 2026
University of North Carolina Press provided an early galley for review.
Growing up, I picked up the magazine periodically when certain artists appeared on the covers. In the 2000's, I picked up the DVD-ROM collection from Bondi Digital Publishing that contained the first forty years of the publication. So, I was curious to see what this author had to say about the first two decades of the magazine.
This is a very scholarly discussion, expertly researched and very formally presented (i.e. it comes across very factual without injecting too much of the author's unique voice/style in the prose). I expect this was purposeful, especially coming from a university press imprint. The author frames what was going on with the magazine and its staff as the events of the world unfolded around them, showing how each influenced the other.
If you are a fan of Rolling Stone, there is a lot to digest here. As someone whose music tastes were formed in the 70's and 80's, there was a lot that I found personally interesting.
Growing up, I picked up the magazine periodically when certain artists appeared on the covers. In the 2000's, I picked up the DVD-ROM collection from Bondi Digital Publishing that contained the first forty years of the publication. So, I was curious to see what this author had to say about the first two decades of the magazine.
This is a very scholarly discussion, expertly researched and very formally presented (i.e. it comes across very factual without injecting too much of the author's unique voice/style in the prose). I expect this was purposeful, especially coming from a university press imprint. The author frames what was going on with the magazine and its staff as the events of the world unfolded around them, showing how each influenced the other.
If you are a fan of Rolling Stone, there is a lot to digest here. As someone whose music tastes were formed in the 70's and 80's, there was a lot that I found personally interesting.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Well researched and well written chronicle of the preeminent music magazine of the last half of the 20th century. This was like a trip down memory lane for me as a subscriber to Rolling Stone from the late sixties to the early 2000s. I enjoyed learning how various writers I liked came to be part of Rolling Stone and what impact they had on the magazines direction. it was also fascinating to learn the evolution of the magazine over the course of its first twenty years. Of particular interest was the challenges of maintaining the integrity of the vision of championing less mainstream artists with the business realities of trying to increasing circulation. Engaging and informative, this is recommended reading for anyone interested in rock journalism or rock music of the twentieth century. Highly recommended
Thanks to NetGalley and The University of North Carolina Press
Thanks to NetGalley and The University of North Carolina Press
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Unlike previous volumes about Rolling Stone magazine and its polarizing founder, Jann Wenner, this book sticks to history. Rather than zoning in on the more salacious aspects of the magazine's rise and growing pains, it provides context of what drove its writers within the times they covered, and also an overview of American politics throughout the decades considered. In all, fascinating without resorting to scandal, but still acknowledging mistakes and missteps.
(preview copy provided by NetGalley)
(preview copy provided by NetGalley)
August 14, 2026
An excellent, insightful of Rolling Stone magazine and its place and impact on American culture from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. Ponce de Leon's prose is engaging and personable, and while he obviously appreciated the magazine, he doesn't hold back on criticism where it is due.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
ARC from NetGalley.
Well-researched if not always the most well-written, it’s at its best when placing happenings at the magazine into the larger cultural backdrop of America at the time.
Well-researched if not always the most well-written, it’s at its best when placing happenings at the magazine into the larger cultural backdrop of America at the time.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews