M2 Issue 200, May/June 2024 – Editors Letter

There’s nothing quite like a work anniversary to give you an existential crisis about the passing of time. It is even more pronounced when you have a growing archive of publications that not only capture a sense of social, technological, economic, entertainment and style trends for a given time but also act as a kind of glossy post-it notes for your own personal journey. When I look at the last 200 covers of M2 I see 200 bookmarks for a whole lot of events. Both personal and macro. Ben Affleck, Oct 2013 was the issue when my dad died. I never really liked Ben Affleck as Batman. Bradley Cooper, rocking a woollen vest with his navy suit for April 2015 issue was on the shelves when my daughter was born. Time taketh and time giveth I guess.

Local tech guru, Danu Abeysuriya showed of his impressive beard-producing skills on the August 2019 cover. This marked the launch of M2 Summit and me starting to realise that public speaking wasn’t as bad as death or for that matter getting a four-year-old to understand that 20 half episodes of Paw Patrol Season 5, is probably enough for one sitting, regardless of whether “Chase is on the case” or not. Each issue is also a tangible record of the wonderful people I have interviewed. February 2013 for instance with Andre Agassi on the cover, marked the moment I got to talk drugs, marriage and performance with the legend, as well as thanking him for making the name “Andre” passable in the mean streets of Johnsonville in the ‘80s.

Each issue is also a really cool testament to the awesome people that I have been able to work with. Working with Tim Lawrence and Greg Sinclair for almost 20 years has been like a weird marriage. Sometimes emotional but consistently inspiring. Also a constant companion in the choppy seas of article deadlines and low-resolution images is Isaac Taylor, designer, writer, cartoonist and a translator of memes for his older colleagues. Isaac arrived fresh from university in time for the January 2013 issue with Geoff Ross on the cover. He now has his own collection of glossy post-it notes which cover marriage, fatherhood and probably that time he was made to retrieve and layup 200 covers of M2.