Popular Science stopped offering its magazine in 2023, but the announcement did not mean the Popular Science brand or website was shutting down. The magazine had already moved from print to digital: physical copies ended after 2020, and its first all-digital issue appeared in 2021. The Verge reported the magazine would no longer be available for purchase on November 27, 2023.
What ended—and what did not
The discontinued product was the magazine, not the entire publication. In 2023, Recurrent Ventures said Popular Science would continue publishing website articles. The company also said PopSci Plus, which offered exclusive content and magazine-archive access, would continue at that time. That statement describes the plan announced in 2023; the reporting does not establish whether PopSci Plus or archive access is available now.
So, if you are asking what happened to Popular Science magazine, the short answer is that it ended as a product readers could buy. The website and broader brand were not announced as closing.
How Popular Science moved from print to digital
- 1872: Popular Science published its first issue, according to The Verge.
- 2018: The magazine moved to a quarterly schedule, The Verge reported.
- After 2020: Physical copies ended.
- 2021: Popular Science published its first all-digital issue.
- November 27, 2023: The Verge reported that the magazine would no longer be available for purchase.
The “151 years” refers to the span from the first issue in 1872 to the 2023 announcement. It does not mean print editions continued until 2023: physical copies had ended earlier, and the digital magazine was the product discontinued in 2023.
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Recurrent Ventures gave a strategic reason, not a detailed financial explanation. Cathy Hebert, the company’s communications director, told The Verge: “We believe that the content strategy has to evolve beyond the digital magazine product. A combination of its news team, along with commerce, video, and other initiatives, will produce content that naturally aligns with PopSci’s mission.”
That is the publisher’s stated rationale. The available reporting does not establish a more specific cause, such as a particular revenue, circulation, or cost figure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the decision meant for readers
At the time of the announcement, the publisher said web articles and PopSci Plus would continue. Those services were positioned as a way to reach Popular Science content beyond the magazine, but their current availability and terms are not established by the 2023 coverage. A November 2023 Hackaday report also said the brand and website would remain and that two podcasts were expected to continue.
The decision drew criticism from former Popular Science editor Purbita Saha. As quoted in The Verge and repeated in a Nieman Journalism Lab reading note, Saha said she was “frustrated, incensed, and appalled that the owners shut down a pioneering publication that’s adapted to 151 years worth of changes in the space of a five-minute Zoom call.” That was Saha’s reaction to the decision, not the publisher’s explanation.
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