HOT PRESS: If the grand tourist from The Grand Tourist with Dan Rubinstein podcast were a real person, who would they be? Bygone bon vivants like writers James Joyce and Gertrude Stein and art collectors like Peggy Guggenheim are a few culture-shaping figures that come to mind. Offering interviews with people like designer, socialite and musician Daphne Guinness, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and Italian architect Stefano Boeri, it’s a collection of voices industry people should and want to know.

Now The Grand Tourist is launching its first print publication, for sale online and via the podcast from Wednesday.

The inaugural issue is a mix of design, architecture, home, art, collecting and style, and will be formally launched May 7 at lighting and furniture brand Apparatus’ Red Room in New York City on 124 West 30th Street. Apparatus’ artistic director Gabriel Hendifar was featured in the podcast’s sixth season during which he and Rubinstein shared an on-air meal. The aim of the new print venture is to bring the podcast to life in three dimensions, and tell new stories from The Grand Tourist universe in a visual way.

Rubinstein was most recently the home and design director at Departures and, before that, editor in chief at Surface. Based in New York City, he started his career at CNT’s House & Garden. “When Departures folded in 2021 during the pandemic, I started The Grand Tourist with Dan Rubinstein podcast. It started as a passion project, but grew into a full-time business fairly quickly with a lot of events, custom content, newsletter and audio advertising,” he told WWD.

About 80 percent of his advertising revenue has been generated from the design industry, particularly Italian and French companies including Cassina, Flos, Poltrona Frau, Liaigre, Ligne Roset, Janus et Cie, Molteni&C, Boffi|DePadova, Poliform and DWR (Design Within Reach).

Many of Rubinstein’s design world sponsors, he said, were keen on the project from the start. “In launching this first print issue, I turned to brands that worked with us on the podcast, or that trusted my editorial point of view going back 20 years. Design brands have a ton of options today, but many lament that it’s mostly sizzle, no steak,” he said, adding that the allure of The Grand Tourist is its ability to connect the worlds of style and design to the arts and cultural zeitgeist.

Some of his most listened to episodes included well-known names such as American designer Kelly Wearstler and French architect and interior designer Pierre Yovanovitch. In the case of Yovanovitch, listeners were curious to hear what his voice sounded like and indulged in tales of his youth playing piano, and what it was like working for fashion legend Pierre Cardin. “His interview captured his personal story in a way that most of his fans weren’t aware of,” Rubinstein said.

The print magazine involves bringing a collection of audio interviews to life with photos by The Grand Tourist’s team and collaborators from all over the world. The first issue includes stories from the entire current season of the podcast, including the duo behind architectural Studio KO, artists and jewelry designers Sybil and David Yurman, Boeri, Ulrich Obrist, American architect Liz Diller, outgoing Yoox Net-a-porter chief executive officer Alison Leohnis and designer Erdem Moralioglu, who is featured on one of the three covers. Another cover is dedicated to designs by Molteni&C, while the other, features high jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels.

The first issue of the linen-hardcover publication contains 364 pages and is expected to reach a circulation of 10,000. The print issue of The Grand Tourist will be published on a biannual basis starting from 2026.