Look: How a Highly Influential Magazine Helped Define Mid-Twentieth-Century America

GATES / Recherche

On 8 June 2026

Look: How a Highly Influential Magazine Helped Define Mid-Twentieth-Century America

Building on a book published in 2021, Andrew YARROW (George Mason University - GATES Fellow) will present an ongoing documentary film project on LOOK magazine, the influential and enormously popular American publication that appeared between 1937 and 1971. The presentation will include a screening of a 22-minute film and a 2-minute trailer, followed by a discussion of the project's future development.

As part of a work-in-progress that differs from his current research project on masculinism, young men, and right-wing politics, Andrew YARROW will introduce his documentary film project on LOOK magazine. Building on a book published in 2021, he is currently developing a documentary about the magazine, which was published in the United States between 1937 and 1971.

Both more politically progressive and more popular than its rival Life, LOOK was known not only for its outstanding photojournalism but also for its often daring articles on racism and civil rights, feminism, the Cold War, and the counterculture of the 1960s.

The presentation will begin with a short introduction to LOOK, followed by a screening of a 22-minute film and a 2-minute trailer. These works serve as a prelude to a longer film about Pat Carbine, the woman who led LOOK during its final and most radical years, and to a feature-length documentary exploring the magazine’s articles, photographs, staff, and influence on mid-twentieth-century America.

Andrew Yarrow is a journalist and historian, and has taught at George Mason and American Universities and Sciences Po Grenoble. He has written six books, including LOOK: How a Highly Influential Magazine Helped Define Mid-20th-Century America, Man Out: Men on the Sidelines of American Life, and Measuring America: How Economic Growth Came to Define American Greatness. He was a reporter for The New York Times, has published in many major media, and is producing a documentary film. He was a Clinton Administration speechwriter and has also worked or consulted for the Brookings Institution, Public Agenda, Oxfam, the World Bank, UNICEF, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Export-Import Bank. He received a Ph.D. from George Mason University, Master’s degrees from Princeton and Harvard Universities, and a B.A. from UCLA.

With the support of the GATES project, funded by the French Government's Programme d'Investissement d'Avenir and implemented by the French National Research Agency (ANR) under France 2030 and the European Union's NextGenerationEU programme.

Date

On 8 June 2026

4:00pm

Localisation

Maison de la Création et de l'Innovation
Cinema Room
Station Gabriel Fauré - MUSE