Radhika Jones | Editor-in-Chief at Vanity Fair

This interview has been edited for clarity.

What initially inspired your interest in storytelling?

I was always a big reader as a child. My grandmother taught English literature and she read Shakespeare and Dickens to my siblings and I when we were young. I think I just got addicted to stories and drama. It makes perfect sense to me that this is how we tell our stories. Storytelling is how we understand each other.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part is that it’s so creative and so collaborative. You can’t put together a magazine or website together on your own. There is always something to learn because ideally you surround yourself with people who have really amazing skill sets and when you bring all these people together everyone got a different perspective, everyone has got a different opinion, the idea that out of all those different opinions or perspectives you can create something that is lasting and meaningful and informative and entertaining that’s always been very exciting to me.

You’ve said before that you possess a love for discovery. What’s one thing you’ve discovered as Editor-in-Chief that has surprised you?

Let’s see, well, I don’t know if this has surprised me so much as heartened me. But what I’ve discovered is that there is an unofficial club of people who lead publications whether that be magazines or newspapers or digital only publications who are very very willing to support and advise those of us who are new to the group and that has been amazing.

I have learned already so much from my peers not just about what to do in this job but kind of about how to do it and what has worked for them and that has been very inspiring. There’s a way in which in many instances we are competitors but there’s also a very real way we are all collaborators across publications.

Your boss, Mr. Steven Newhouse, described you as having “vision and an active mind.” What are some things you do to maintain or satisfy your active mind?

I read a lot and I do crossword puzzles. I try to always ask a lot of questions because I think that’s the best way to find about the world. One great thing about being at Vanity Fair and in this position is that I’ve met so many people who are connected to the magazine or have been affiliated with it over time.

They all have such great stories about what it has meant to them I just try to be very inquisitive at every opportunity. Usually what that means is that at the end of the day you’ve learned something or got a new perspective on something or something funny or interesting has happened.

After the announcement of your appointment, there was a lot of “who is she” and “does she have what it takes.” And then all that nonsense about your tights. What was it like to navigate all that publicity?

That was surprising to me just because I had not been in that position before. And it was funny to me too because I have worked in New York City as an editor at various publications on and off for about 20 years. So I felt sort of like an open book. But obviously there are layers of being accessible.

I think that what has helped me navigate those particular challenges is just understanding that there’s always a lot of noise out there. But, if it gets in the way of your work then it’s not very helpful. And so I’ve tried to practice letting it in where it does feel helpful and constructive, which doesn’t always mean praise there’s also very helpful constructive criticism, tuning it out when it feels less relevant.

What advice would you offer young South Asians who are preparing for a career in media?

I think I would just say that media is not monolithic. There are so many different venue now and opportunities and different ways to tell stories. Some of them are text based and some are visual and some are audio. There are to my mind more outlets of publications than there have ever been I think the thing is to be ambitions and creative and now limit yourself to what you can do

How has your background informed who you are and how you see the world and your job?

I think that it’s so hard to say because I guess you can’t separate your background from yourself, right? I think I have learned over the years that if I am interested in something then probably other people will be too. And I think that in that sense, curiosity and desire to investigate and interrogate the world is the journalists biggest asset and really anybody can have those attributes.

Can you speak to your identity exploration and maybe the things that helped or still help you?

I think what I would say is that I’ve been influenced by so many different kinds of people. I think identity questions, as you say, are so complicated. You never want to box yourself in. And I think sometimes other people will try to box you in and it can be hard to navigate around that obviously but I think in terms of what you can control you want to make sure never to box yourself in.

Anything done in the public eye carries a certain amount of social responsibility. How would you describe the responsibility of Vanity Fair, and what are some things you do to stay true to that?

I think one of our major responsibilities is to report on culture both high and low and help sift through it on both ends. Magazines have a curatorial capacity that is important particularly in an era where we are inundated by info and entertainment. I like to think of Vanity Fair as being in the business directing the reader toward the people we think are really important who are moving the culture in important directions.

Is there anything you have experienced or witnessed that makes you feel optimistic about where things are headed in terms of representation and inclusion in media?

I think even the fact that we are having a conversation about it is encouraging.