Salon's Ringmaster of Buzz

With a penchant for showmanship, the editor of the breakaway cyber magazine fosters an edgy takes on arts and issues.

March 29, 2000|LAURA LIPPMAN | BALTIMORE SUN

Let's accept Talbot's premise that Salon is here to stay. Where will it be in five years? "Salon 2005," he muses. "I think it will be a vibrant Internet newspaper that will cover even more subjects than it's covering now. We'll add business and sports. We'll also be a multimedia operation, with Salon radio and Salon television." He is answering this last question on the phone from New York, where he is hiring people for the television program planned for fall. He also is recruiting investors for an international version of Salon.

But where will Talbot be in five years?

"Oh, I'll be there, but that will be 10 years," he says, as if 10 years is a long time to hold any job. Talbot again mentions his age, 48, which he brings up constantly, as if the number is meaningful to him.

Just what is it with him and 48? Is he facing down his fear of 50, or feeling cocky for having done so much at a relatively young age? His answer is characteristically disarming: "I feel like I did this at just the right time. If I had been a little older, it might have been too difficult. I'm aware there was a window in my life, I needed to jump through."