5 Weed Products That Paper Magazine’s David Hershkovits Can’t Live Without

David Hershkovits is a lifelong advocate of what he calls “cultural disruption”.

As a journalist, cultural critic, co-founder of Paper Magazine and host of the Light Culture podcast, Hershkovits has been at the forefront of American cultural disruption at every stage of his career.

“The road was the biggest disruptive factor for me, the [cultural] Make of the ‘high art’. “Hershkovits told Weedmaps.” There was this idea of ​​high art [in New York City] that was opera and symphonies and museums with porters deciding who can enter through the door. The gatekeepers lost their lead over time because street art and streetwear became the big thing. “

Hershkovits has seen this pattern of disruption over and over since he was five when his family immigrated from Israel to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. From an early age, Hershkovits felt the pull of culture because he couldn’t shake the feeling that culture was the way in which he could find his place in this new world.

“So I felt like I became American by immersing myself in the culture.”

In 1967, Hershkovitz went to San Francisco during the Summer of Love. There he had his first visceral encounter with the cultural disruption in the light bulb moment. By then, he had already started experimenting with substances like cannabis and acid, creating an inseparable link between cannabis and the counterculture experience.

As a young journalist in the early 1980s, Hershkovits began reporting news for SoHo Weekly News, a competitor to the Village Voice which, according to Hershkovits, reflected the culture of the time much more than the Voice. And although he was tied to the newsroom, Hershkovits was in love with the music scene, so he used his press cards to get into the clubs. SoHo News merged in 1982 and within a few years Hershkovits and his SoHo alum Kim Hastreiter were creating the first iteration of Paper Magazine.

“We only started with one sheet,” explained Hershkovitz, “it was super small, very little money, so it was very indie and local. We got a lot of locals to advertise. We started with this flyer. It had a monopoly billboard around it, each costing $ 250, and that added up to $ 5,000. That was the printing bill for the 10,000 copies or whatever we made of them at the time, and that was the point. ”

Esther Hershkovits

The magazine’s beginnings were largely useless and fueled by a belief in New York art and fashion that was just brand new. Today we take it for granted that brands like Gucci or Louis Vuitton and ultra-modern artists and designers can occupy the same space. But in the early days of Paper, the distinction between “high art” and “street art” was more clearly defined, and these were the lines that Hershkovits wanted to break through.

“I think that’s why we’re successful all these years later,” he added, “because all of the people we supported early on and many of the photographers all became super successful and famous. All of these young people have started making t-shirts with designs. Supreme started then. That was the most disturbing factor for me. And hip-hop was certainly a big part of it. ‘”

If you bring up Paper Magazine today, most people will think of the Kim Kardashian cover of Break the Internet in 2014, that picture, so it got really iconic and put Paper on the map around the world by that time, and it really changed the game. “

But when Herskovits looks back on nearly half a century of paper, one of his proudest moments is his coverage of cannabis as a major cultural disruptor. In 1993, Paper published the “Pot is Hot” issue, in which “the various constituencies – ‘rockers, rappers, dead heads, environmentalists and AIDS patients’ – are fighting to make marijuana mainstream and changing Role of grass in our culture through the ages. ”

“Hip-hop was on the rise [in the early ’90s], and that was very open to support the cannabis world and culture, they smoked on stage and were just so open that most people were uncomfortable with it and didn’t care. There was also a moment in fashion when a lot of brands started using images made from cannabis. Jack Herer’s book The Emperor Wears No Clothes began to circulate around this time and people began to develop a new awareness of what was happening. The first medical cannabis pharmacy opened in San Francisco. So it was a really important moment in our whole life when that happened. ”

In retrospect, Hershkovits is proud that he and the folks at Paper were ready to stick their necks out and make a statement on the new and emerging cannabis culture, as well as the stigma and criminalization of cannabis. The impact of cannabis on culture and, in an era of slow decriminalization, the reversal of mainstream culture’s influence on cannabis, drives his work today as the host of Burb’s Light Culture podcast.

“I felt very comfortable in [the podcast] Format, and I thought this could be a great way to expand the idea of ​​Burb, “says Hershkovits, describing the origins of his collaboration with the brand,” because Burb thinks it’s important to be connected to the culture that we’re in. It is not enough just to be a pharmacy or a shop that sells products. You want to support the culture. “

As cannabis culture and mainstream culture continue to integrate, Hershkovits firmly believes that the plant’s “magic and aura” and the culture that has evolved with it continue to serve a disruptive purpose.

“When I talk about cultural disruption, it never comes from the upper level of the company. They are content with things as they are because it works for them. They do it their own way, everything is great. That made it so exciting in part for me. I was able to point a finger at what I thought would be important in the years to come. And a lot of people were starting to realize that we knew what we were talking about, and it’s still in publication today, so there y go. ”

Here are five cannabis products David Hershkovits can’t live without.

Sour diesel

As a cannabis user, Hershkovits is still very much associated with smoking flowers and the experience of rolling joints.

“I’ve tried other things now that are sometimes handy. The oils and edibles come in handy in different situations. But the flower is still the best experience for me, it’s the full spectrum that is very difficult for me to go anywhere else.” Find.”

Sour Diesel, a strain that became popular in New York in the 1990s, remains close to his heart.

“Sour Diesel got the big thing,” said Herskovits, “I’m actually learning a lot more about it now. It was a great, great time in New York. The 1990s exploded and cannabis was a big part of it.”

AND Kush

OG Kush is a current favorite of Hershkovits, especially for promoting creativity.

“I like the sativas, something that gives me more ideas and stimulates me. I usually don’t really want to sit on the couch.”

Ball grinder

No joint roller is in its element without a proper grinder by its side. Hershkovits loves the Burb Grinder, “it’s a really nice item and it’s a really great grinder that actually works.”

Burb 420 belt pouch

Hershkovits has fond memories of Burb’s 420 Waist Bag while exploring the local scene in Vancouver, Canada.

“When I was in Vancouver before the lockdown, I met the guys who did them and they were so cool and really helped me understand Vancouver in ways I didn’t have before. It’s such a great scene with so many important people doing a great job. “

Radio broadcasts: Positive Vibrations, Jeremy Sole and new sounds

While not a “cannabis product” in the traditional sense, there is an inseparable link between smoking weed and listening to music for Hershkovits.

“Sure, music was an important factor in the [trying cannabis in the ’60s]because everyone was into music back then, and it really improved the experience of listening to music. You’d go to someone’s house, make music and show off your latest records … Since everyone is sitting in a circle and smoking and talking, everything kind of disappears, all the prejudices, and we just have fun together.

Hershkovitz still loves listening to music while smoking, especially on radio broadcasts. “Kid Hops is doing a show on KEXP in Seattle called Positive Vibrations, which is a reggae mix of old and new, and it really opened me up to a whole range of new music that I wasn’t really aware of. I am a regular listener.

He’s also a fan of Jeremy Sole on KCRW in LA and John Schaefer’s New Sounds on NPR.

“[Schaefer] plays a lot of avant-garde new music. It’s things that have a modern twist. Things that are ambient, of that nature that I really like. “

Written by Andy Andersen. Interview by Nic Juárez.

Featured photo by Esther Hershkovits. Artwork by David Lozada.