Office Hours Magazine – The Manifesto

What is Office Hours? 

Office Hours Magazine is a media company dedicated to the business of culture. It started as a weekly newsletter, eventually added a podcast, and just relaunched as a digital magazine—a one-stop-shop for all you need to stay up to date on what’s hot, who’s behind it, how they’re doing it, and what that means for the rest of us. Subscribers can expect personal essays, criticism, interviews, playlists, recommendations, and analysis of culture’s business from Ernest Wilkins. 

Who is Ernest Wilkins?

I’m a writer and media entrepreneur based in Chicago. My writing has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Gawker, GQ, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Vulture, VICE and many more. I’ve worked with major brands like Red Bull, Nike, The Chicago Fire, Soho House, and more on marketing strategy, events, and brand development. Oh, and I invented #ThrowbackThursday. 

I consider myself something of a “Forever Curious” type; I’m well read, adequately informed, and keep an eye on the workings of the world at large. But I’ve always cared more about devouring all information in my periphery than I have about doing a particularly deep dive into any of it. I have what I’d call a breadth of knowledge, coupled with an insatiable depth of curiosity. And to top it all off, I’m a talker. (Or as my elementary-school teachers wrote on every one of my report cards: “Ernest exhibits above-average empathy and communication skills, but often struggles to turn off the charm and focus during independent study hours.”) 

That’s where Office Hours comes in. I spent the first half of my career working as a journalist before pivoting to creating content for Corporate America. After a few years of working in-house at major conglomerates, I started looking for an excuse to talk to people outside my bubble. Specifically an excuse to talk to people who were specialists in their own fields—those whose knowledge is as deep as it as wide. And because I’m a natural-born hype man, I’ve always been passionate about share my findings with others. Because isn’t learning things cool? 

WTF is “The Business of Culture”? 

The business of culture is precisely that—the research and study of cultural industries.

This publication falls into a middle ground between analysis of individual cultural industries (like motion pictures, music, sports, art, TV, fashion, or video games) and the broader study of how all of them interconnect to create the world we live in. 

Why Should I Care? 

I provide a lot of value for a very specific kind of reader.

The Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins subscriber is someone who…

What Are People Saying?

“A newsletter from content strategist Ernest Wilkins meant to keep business folks updated on culture and culture folks updated on business. A great blending of two industries that are often divided, each newsletter features some combination of information on culture, music and marketing.”
–The Best Single-Operator Newsletters on the Internet (InsideHook)

“Fuck you. Not interested in you or your little rules, Ernest.” – Glenn Greenwald 

“Ernest Wilkins was looking for a T-shirt.” – GQ Magazine 

In Sum

Office Hours Mag is definitely…