The show’s format is loose and conversational. Episodes are built around Wesley’s exchanges with fellow critics, artists, and cultural figures; at their best they feel real, incisive, intimate, surprising, loose, unpredictable and crackling with on-the-fly cultural criticism. The senior editor will play a key role in refining this format, ensuring that each episode feels cohesive, dynamic, and fun while showcasing the distinct voice and authority that define Wesley’s work.
This job is for you if: you are a rigorous editor, a strong producer and an active, generative collaborator — someone who can listen as well as direct. You enjoy the give and take involved in challenging, sharpening, and expanding ideas in real time with a dynamic team. You know and have respect for Wesley’s critical voice. You are an experienced and accomplished culture editor/writer/producer/thinker in your own right, someone with ideas about what’s going on in the world of movies, TV, books, music, art and more. You have a keen sense of who the interesting critical voices in this landscape are, and a sense of how to program great guests each week. You are well-organized, someone capable of leading a multidisciplinary team through the many overlapping stages of development and production on multiple episodes at a time. You’re adept at working within a larger editorial system, taking notes and other input. You have an understanding of YouTube and other social platforms where the show may travel. You have a feel for the right way to use audience data to inform editorial decision-making. You’re adaptable, friendly, creative, and discerning. And above all, you’re interested in and capable of doing all the work—both the glamorous and exciting stuff and the basic but necessary stuff—to build a successful show.
As senior editor of Cannonball, you will also be part of the staff of The New York Times Magazine, where Wesley is a staff writer and where the show is based. You will draw on and be part of the magazine’s cultural coverage.
This is an in-office position, based in New York City and includes regular attendance in the office four days each week. There may be some flexibility to work remotely per your departmental guidance.