About The Wonder Mag

The Wonder Mag began with one of my typical questions, clicking with a pair of Manolo Blahniks:

I couldn’t help but wonder…
What does culture reveal about the ways we move through modern life?

What does the music landscape tell us about who we are becoming?
What - and how much - do we trade for modern love?
Who are the public personas we look up to while trying to rebuild ourselves, and what do the private lives behind them reveal?
Where do we go to when we want to indulge in the excellence of life?
What is the cost of survival, disappearance and beginning again?

And more.

The Wonder Mag is a culture publication from Istanbul where glamour and wonder coexist beautifully. It is a place for pop icons, reinvention, love, city life, media, beauty, longing, and the private lives behind public personas.

Culture here is the entire infrastructure. A pop song or an album can become emotional architecture. A red carpet can turn into a power study. A magazine cover can become a mirror. A breakup can be a salvation. A woman being called “too much” can reveal everything about the room that tried to contain her.

Expect essays, letters, interviews, and cultural criticism on all topics mentioned.

The publication is edited and curated by Ivan Ssavsski, previously Ivan Cheresharski - a Bulgarian writer, video podcast host, and former TV reporter, now based in Istanbul. His work, moving between cultural criticism and personal essay, often returns to the same question:
What do the things we admire reveal about the ways we survive.

Most pieces are free. Subscribe to receive future essays directly in your inbox.

The Wonder Mag is an independent culture publication. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Sex and the City, HBO, Max, or Warner Bros. Discovery. References to television, film, music, fashion, and pop culture are used for commentary, criticism, and cultural analysis.