Q+A: Julia Rubin, Editor of The Goods at Vox

Interviewed by Allegra Hobbs (@allegraehobbs)

The beloved fashion publication Racked.com was recently shut down by its parent company Vox Media, but many of its editors stayed on for a new publication, The Goods, which covers consumer culture within the structure of Vox.com. Julia Rubin (@juliarubin), the former executive editor of Racked, runs the new site. We talked to her about how to cover capitalism.

Study Hall: Congrats again on the launch! Can you start off by explaining the ways in which The Goods differs from Racked (if at all)? Is the core editorial mission any different? The range of pieces we might see there?

Julia Rubin: Thanks! The Goods’ mission is to explain consumer culture. We’re covering how and why we buy…everything: clothes, tech, food, travel, beauty, transportation, fitness, and so on. Racked covered some of these topics over the course of its 11 years, but narrowed its focus to fashion and beauty in the last two. And while Racked had a service component, The Goods does not. What we do have are reported features; news analysis; essays and op-eds; narrative longform; and explainers.

SH: Consumerism is an interesting angle from which to write about the human experience. This is kind of a broad question, but what do stories about what we consume and how we consume say about us?

JR: I love this opening line from Vox EIC Lauren Williams’s Goods welcome note: “If you want to understand a culture, take a look at how its people spend their money.” For better or worse, nearly every culture is a culture of stuff. Things that are popular — or are not popular, or were once popular and now aren’t — help us make sense of what we value, and also what we fear.

Why are petcare startups so big right now? Because people are having children later in life, and spending a lot of money on their pets in the interim. Why are weighted blanketseverywhere? Because anxiety is the most common mental illness in America. The meaning behind, and also implications of, what we buy and how we present ourselves aren’t often examined.

SH: In what notable ways have you seen fashion and e-commerce journalism change? Are there challenges inherent in covering a constantly shifting landscape like e-commerce and fashion?

JR: Fashion journalism hasn’t changed much since I started working in 2010, which is a shame. It is largely littered with ethically murky market stories and boring fluff profiles and too-white, too-thin photo shoots. There is, of course, some great work being done, but there’s also just so much filler — a lot of fashion publications don’t seem to respect their readers. The biggest challenge may just be creating a trustworthy space in a sea of bullshit. Racked did that, and The Goods’ fashion coverage will follow suit.

As for where else you can find great fashion stories, Robin Givhan’s work at the Washington Post is essential. New York Magazine and The Cut run great reported fashion features. I’m super envious of the pieces Choire Sicha is publishing at Styles. Business of Fashion is also consistently excellent, particularly if you’re in the industry.

SH: The Goods covers a broad spectrum of topics, though they all fall under the umbrella of consumerism. What do you look for in a story? What makes a good story about consumer culture?

JR: I’m most compelled by stories about things that are super familiar to people. Big companies and big trends are legitimately interesting! I would so much rather read a piece about Starbucks than a cool one-off cafe in Brooklyn. A story about a small thing that illustrates a bigger point is also worthwhile, though harder to find and execute.

SH: Racked was well-known for its features. What is your approach to features at The Goods? 

JR: Features are a focus for The Goods, just as they were for Racked. We’re excited to have even more subjects in our purview, and for our work to reach an even larger audience. The goal with features is to elicit one of two responses, either “That’s a thing?!” or “I knew that was a thing, but always wondered why.” Unexpected stories are great, but so are ones that deepen our understanding of something already present in our lives.

SH: Where and how do you stay up to date on shifts in consumer culture, like what’s sought after and why?

JR: Consumer culture is so in our face all the time, both online and off, that it’s pretty easy to stay on top of what’s going on. A trip to the grocery store can lead to a million story ideas. Cauliflower pizza: what’s the deal? My team is constantly talking about what we see IRL and on Instagram, and what we’re hearing from friends and sources and our teenage cousins in the middle of the country. We all read a lot. and most importantly, we buy stuff.

SH: Because our audience is mostly freelancers, what do you appreciate when working with a writer?

JR: Clarity. It’s so important for pitches to be super clear: this is what this story will be about and this is how I will make it happen. Also originality! No editor wants the piece that’s already been done elsewhere, unless you can add value with significant new reporting, or a fresh angle, or a truly unique voice.

SH: Lastly… is capitalism bad? 

JR: Oh definitely.