Mike Payne

November 16, 2009

Following years of wilting revenue and waning stature, Playboy is rumored to be on the chopping block. Known for its centerfolds, its on-again, off-again status as both public menace and free speech icon, and the well-worn joke about it being popular for its articles (which have often exceeded the quality of supposedly respectable publications. Remember that Playboy once published folks like Wodehouse, Nabokov, and Lenny Bruce), the magazine has been in the news following discussions about it potentially passing into new hands.

Deal or no deal, one has to marvel that the magazine even remains in existence. With all the free, easily accessed Internet naughtiness out there, I can