Virginia Postrel, the author of The Future and Its Enemies, is editor-at-large of Reason. Postrel has been a columnist for Forbes and its companion technology magazine Forbes ASAP. Her work also appears in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. She is widely recognized as, in Camille Paglia's words, "one of the smartest women in America." Postrel has spoken at a wide range of venues, including the Naval War College, the Mont Pelerin Society, PC Forum, Vortex, Pop!Tech (the Camden Technology Conference), the ABB Future Center, the Mars Society, and the Smithsonian Institute's Millennium on the Mall celebration, as well as many think tanks and public policy groups. She serves on the advisory boards of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Center on Governance at UCLA. Postrel has twice been a finalist in the commentary category of the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism for her columns in Reason. In 1995, she received the Free Press Association's Mencken Award for Commentary. Prior to becoming editor of the magazine in 1989, Postrel served as associate editor of Reason and, before that, as a reporter for Inc. and The Wall Street Journal. Postrel graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English.

Talking with Virginia Postrel

From the site: Postrel’s book, The Substance of Style: How the Growth of Aesthetic Value is Remaking Commerce, Culture, Consciousness, explores the economic, cultural, social, personal, and political implications of the growing importance of aesthetics in business and society.”

Skin deep at Starbucks

This site contains a review of Postrel’s The Substance of Style: How the Growth of Aesthetic Value is Remaking Commerce, Culture, Consciousness, According to the reviewer Emily Hall, “Virginia Postrel mistkes style for meaning and refuses to judge the consequences.”

Yes, Don’t Impede Medical Progress