joining us to talk about the issue is deputy editor scott stossel. >> thanks for having us. >> before we delve into the issue itself, let's talk about the atlantic. the atlantic has a great history that goes back to the civil war. how does abolition and the abolitionist movement play into the founding of the magazine? >> we had a wonderful time putting this issue together probably because we love these pieces so much and it gave us an opportunity to reconnect with the founding history of the magazine. the atlantic was published its first issue in november 1857 in boston. the magazine was basically created by a group of writers who came together with two fundamental purposes, one to capture what they saw an emerging american voice and letters, including their own voices, some of them including the writers you named. the other was to abolish slavery. they were very committed abolitionists. in 1857 this was a very radical idea still. they were interested in promoting the founding magazine what they called the american idea. they didn't exactly define what they meant. but they regarded sl