The Atlantic magazine debuts first weekly publication as iOS-only app

By Kevin Bostic

The Atlantic on Friday debuted its first weekly edition in the magazine's 156-year history, bringing choice content to owners of Apple's iPad and iPhone in what is, for now, an Apple iOS exclusive.

Announced Friday in a post on The Atlantic's website, the new weekly edition will be published on Fridays. The first issue, available now as a free download, contains seven stories on topics ranging from garbage men to Ghandi. Subsequent issues will cost $1.99.

Content for the publication will be aggregated from the most provocative stories published by TheAtlantic.com, The Atlantic Wire, and The Atlantic Cities. Each issue on the iPad will also contain a story pulled from The Atlantic's more than 150 years of news coverage and features. The first piece from the archives is Henry Thoreau's "Walking," which ran in 1862.

"No one who doesn't work for The Atlantic can keep up with it all (many of us can't, either), and we suspect that even our most constant readers miss some of our best pieces," said Editor in Chief James Bennet of the dozens of stories the publication puts out each day. "The purpose of The Atlantic Weekly is to collect that work into a weekend guide to how the world is changing, and to where that change might take us.

The Atlantic Weekly app is available as a free download in the iTunes App Store, with individual issues beyond the first running $1.99 apiece.