WORKING MIRACLES.

• Author: Lueders, Bill

One of my favorite Grateful Dead songs, belted out with characteristic conviction by Bob Weir, is "I Need a Miracle." I think of it often when I go to work.

"One more thing I've just got to say: I need a miracle ev-e-ry day."

And, ev-e-ry day at The Progressive, it happens.

It may be an announcement of a major donation just when we need it most, which is always. It may be a nice note with a small check from a longtime supporter, appreciatively read aloud to the staff. It may be landing a beautifully reported dispatch from Afghanistan by peace activist Kathy Kelly. It may be how we work together to plow through thousands of words of copy each day, all reviewed by multiple editors and painstakingly fact-checked.

You can see from the photo that accompanies this piece what a small operation we are. There are just six of us, working out of an office across the street from the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin. Just six of us who produce a high-quality national magazine, feed a robust website with fresh daily offerings, and run two major initiatives: the Public School Shakedown, which tracks attacks on public education, and the Progressive Media Project, through which we train writers and distribute op-eds on topics of progressive interest to media outlets throughout the country. This year we are on track to distribute about ninety columns, reaching millions of readers.

Just six of us, plus my dog, Stella, who comes to work most days.

Just six of us, plus our excellent art director, Kerstin Vogdes Diehn, who lives in New Jersey; two outstanding proofreaders; and a changing cast of talented interns. Just us, plus regular contributors including Ruth Conniff, our editor-at-large; John Nichols, the closest modern-day equivalent of Fighting Bob La Follette; and columnists Mike Ervin, Dave Zirin, Maeve Higgins, Negin Farsad, and Jim Hightower.

Plus the dozens of other writers we work with from all around the globe. Some web regulars: Jeff Abbott, who writes from Latin America; Midwest correspondent Sarah Jaffe and political commentator Jud Lounsbury; legal issues reporter Bill Blum; and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore.

Yes, The Progressive is, on one level, just six people and one dog. But we are the stone soup of publications, drawing in flavor from many sources.

We have tens of thousands of loyal subscribers, some of whom have been enjoying the magazine for...