Comments on: Are there any good magazines left?

Question: Are there any good magazines left?

mecran01 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:07:30 -0800

Are there any good magazines left worth reading?

Our New Yorker subscription is coming to an end. We live in the West and are a little burned out on the East coast focus, although overall it was good. In the past we've enjoyed National Geographic and Wired used to be pretty entertaining before it became Business 2.0. Can you recommend any good magazines with engaging writing, primarily longer non-fiction pieces? Right now we're leaning toward The Atlantic. Harper's leaves me feeling a little too bleak and cynical.

By: sirliberal

sirliberal — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:08:55 -0800

Probably out of your hyperbole, but Make is amazing

By: sharkfu

sharkfu — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:11:08 -0800

Esquire frequently has long non-fiction pieces.

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:15:19 -0800

The Walrus is an excellent lit and crit magazine that I have gained so much respect for.

A rather good magazine which is mainly non-fiction but has its share of everything is The Sun. I enjoy it, though some people think it hits some somber notes too often.

If you can get it, I also really recommend The Spectator from England. Not The American Spectator, but the original article. It's a great magazine with many great features and columnists, including Simon Hoggart.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:17:08 -0800

Some good answers here.

By: amtho

amtho — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:17:09 -0800

out of your hyperbole -- what does this mean?

This may or may not interest you, but I came across an issue of Ode Magazine at a grocery store recently, and it was pretty good. It's got a "positive" focus, but I'm OK with that -- it actually had interesting stories about things I'd not heard about before.

By: cocoagirl

cocoagirl — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:19:31 -0800

I hear ok things about n+1 (here's the table of contents of the most recent issue). It's out of NY but seems to have a non geo-specific focus. I don't know where it falls on the political spectrum--or if it even aspires to fall along it--since I haven't yet read the print version I picked up last week.

I also find that the "Best American _____ Writing" (where blank = travel, sports, science, etc.) series of books stands in for magazines very well for me. There's even a Best American Magazine Writing series.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:22:04 -0800

Sunset. The Art of Eating. Cook's Illustrated.

By: crazycanuck

crazycanuck — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:23:15 -0800

You might like the surveys published periodically in the Economist. Caveat: reading that magazine has warped my world view. I've read the Atlantic a few times since I started reading the Economist on a weekly basis (going on three years now). The lefty liberal superiority complex in the Atlantic gets nauseating after a while. If I wanted liberal moralizing, I'd read metafilter for a $5 one time charge.

By: skepticallypleased

skepticallypleased — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:30:25 -0800

I feel the New Republic and the Weekly Standard are good for politics and their occasional social commentary pieces. The Standard has been taking a hit for supporting the terrible war and its sort of fun to see what at least strives to be an intellectually honest magazine make sense of that massive mistake. And, it's also great for people who believe that they should "Know thy enemy".....as it a million times less obnoxious that the National Review and its ilk.

By: caddis

caddis — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:30:46 -0800

The Utne Reader?

By: skepticallypleased

skepticallypleased — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:30:56 -0800

Still waiting for Playboy joke though.....and, in half seriousness, they seem to get good interviews.....:)

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:32:57 -0800

hahaha! I was hesitant to subscribe to the Atlantic because it felt a little centrist to me. And the economist is good, albeit a bit conservative and an expensive subscription, but tempting. Sunset is on the list, as we just need an infusion of things Wester. I will find the Best American _______ and dig through it for possibilities. N + 1 is kinda cool, but only two issues a year. I like the whole cultural studies lite thing they have going on.

"Out of Your Hyperbole" is a jab at the thread title, which is indeed hyperbolic. But let's hope that ask.mefi doesn't become overwhelmed by the culture of thread critique that has soured the blue for many.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:33:34 -0800

ZMag?

I quite like Harper's. The writing and articles are usually quite interesting. It's not always about how America is turning to shit.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:36:09 -0800

We've gotten the Utne reader in the past, but it started to feel self-parodying after a while. Also, we are moderate liberals with four kids, so it didn't seem to speak to us as frequently as we wanted it to. Still, it might be a good means of stoking our dormant hippy aspirations.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:37:08 -0800

The only problem with Zmag is that there seems to be one solution to every problem. I do like it in small doses.

By: jbickers

jbickers — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:37:43 -0800

For your artistic/film/music needs, there is no finer magazine available today than Paste.

By: unixrat

unixrat — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:40:28 -0800

Esquire would fit your bill, I think. I always look forward to it.

Not what you asked for: Make and GAMES are top-notch also.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:43:14 -0800

Fast Company has some good non-fiction pieces, but if you don't like Wired because of its business coverage, you might not like Fast Company. (Though FC does have little if no "gadgets I could never afford" that seems to consume the bloated middle half of Wired)

By: twiki

twiki — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:46:06 -0800

We're big fans of GOOD magazine at our house. See, it's built right into the title; how can you go wrong?

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:51:35 -0800

I'd recommend The Economist or The New York Review of Books. The Atlantic has had a few stinkers lately.

By: nkknkk

nkknkk — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:54:31 -0800

Smithsonian can be a bit stodgy, but presents a nice range of interesting topics...

By: amarynth

amarynth — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:01:03 -0800

I've heard great things about the Virginia Quarterly Review. I intend to subscribe when some of my currents subs run out (I'm a bit of a magazine junkie).

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:02:34 -0800

American Scholar is pretty good, but it's a quarterly.

I think you should face the truth: the New Yorker has pretty much the best writing in an English language weekly or monthly magazine (I'm a Canadian, BTW).

How can you give up Anthony Lane? Or Tad Friend? Or Elizabeth Kolbert? Or Ken Auletta? Or Adam Gopnik?

The New Yorker could write about library paste and it would be interesting.

You...must...renew...the...New...Yorker...subscription.

By: bepe

bepe — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:14:57 -0800

For longer non-fiction pieces, I've got to recommend The Atlantic. Nothing makes me happier than opening my new issue and finding the lead article with pages and pages of text unspoiled by big graphics or ads. I particularly recommend any issues with articles by William Langewiesche. But now I'll have to go and sample some of these other recommendations too. Ah, the joys of a good magazine!

By: thinman

thinman — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:14:57 -0800

I like The Believer.

By: puppy kuddles

puppy kuddles — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:45:36 -0800

Cabinet is eclectic and interesting.

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:53:16 -0800

My wife is an editor at a DIY-type magazine and routinely brings home dozens of magazines from different publishers. The one I've enjoyed the most is New Internationalist. Natural History Magazine has loads of good science writing (samples from its online archives). And if you're into booze, there's Modern Drunkard. (Unfortunately, my wife does not bring home copies of Modern Drunkard.)

By: johngumbo

johngumbo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:03:48 -0800

The New Yorker is very, very well edited, which is damned hard to find in a magazine these days. I read it and the Economist in large part because I don't cringe over bad style when I read them (and they are both full of interesting stuff). My wife likes the New York Review of Books too.
Harpers, Atlantic, New Republic all have very uneven writing, which I find annoying.
You find the New Yorker east-coast-centric? I'm always amazed by how LA-centric is often seems.

By: ryanshepard

ryanshepard — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:05:13 -0800

No fiction in it, but every new issue of Arthur makes my day. A recent issue is available in PDF for preview.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:16:51 -0800

Arthur, Harpers, Bitch, ReadyMade and Res are all on my regular newstand list.

By: melorama

melorama — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:09:33 -0800

Most definitely seconding The Believer and Cabinet.

By: triggerfinger

triggerfinger — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:11:07 -0800

Does no one like Vanity Fair anymore? I'll say it then. Vanity Fair!

I also would heartily support Ode Magazine. It looks at the world from a positive slant so not as bleak and depressing as Harpers and the Atlantic can be. But you don't get the long articles like you do in the New Yorker.

The Sun is also a good one. The best part of it is the "Readers Write" section, where the editors pick a word (or words), like "Redemption" or "Sunday morning" and readers write in what it means to them. This section runs for pages and is one of my favorite features of any magazine I've ever read (and trust me, I read lots of magazines!).

I like the Spectator as well, though it's not as regular a read of mine.

The Economist is another one I really like. It makes things I never thought I would have been interested in interesting.

Also, the Utne Reader publishes its Independent Press Awards
every year so you might find some good ideas there.

Finally, run out and buy the Best American Magazine Writing books. I have all (except the most recent) of them and the articles are brilliant.

By: SoftRain

SoftRain — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:12:00 -0800

At our house, we get Harper's and the London Review of Books. The LRB is obviously a little more England-centric, and I can't keep up with it like my boyfriend does (I am in grad school, I only have so much free time), but most of it is just good writing. You learn a lot, because they tend to have people who are experts in their fields review the books.

I also read Bitch, and I got the Virginia Quarterly Review for awhile, but I didn't really have time to keep up with it (again, grad school). I can't recommend the VQR enough; good writing, combination of literary stuff and long nonfiction pieces. There might be too much lit for you if you are looking for something more general though.

By: iviken

iviken — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:41:38 -0800

"Overall Monocle comes across as fresh, original, careful not to be influenced in its editorial choices by the media system's herd logic (no stories on the "hot topic of the moment", and zero -- zero! -- celebrities and people gossip)".

By: neuron

neuron — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:45:18 -0800

Probably not what you're looking for, but anyone who finds Scientific American unsatisfying should try American Scientist.

By: neuron

neuron — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:51:04 -0800

As for the New Yorker, you must realize that nothing else comes close. Sure, Tina Brown nearly destroyed it in the 1990s, but it has bounced back very nicely under David Remnick.

And all you NYer fans should read Thurber's The Years with Ross.

By: you're a kitty!

you're a kitty! — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:51:21 -0800

If you have an interest in science, Seed is a particular favorite around my house.

By: waldo

waldo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:39:02 -0800

I've heard great things about the Virginia Quarterly Review. I intend to subscribe when some of my currents subs run out (I'm a bit of a magazine junkie).

W00t! And I didn't even have to whore myself out to get us a plug. :)

Our next issue, which we're putting to bed now, is focusing on South America, and features some pretty stunning articles about the hordes of people who pick through trash to sell the recyclables, the blind mayor who insists that he has a second sight (and plays soccer with the journalist to prove it), and lots of other strange goodness. About a third of the content of each issue goes up online, so that'll give you an idea of what we're about.

A few sample articles from the past few issues that you might like (although I worry about the "bleak" aspect with a couple of these) are J. Hoberman's Laugh, Cry, Believe: Spielbergization and Its Discontents, Ashley Gilbertson's Last Photographs, Matt Power's One More Martyr in a Dirty War: The Life and Death of Brad Will, Erik Campbell's The Accidental Plagiarist: The Trouble with Originality, and Pauline Chen's The Gross-Out Factor.

But now I'm just avoiding wrapping up the beta test for our new electronic submission system. :) Back to work...

By: chasles

chasles — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:59:15 -0800

seconding (etc) playboy... nice simple solid cosmopolitan writing. esquire has seemed to become a decent rag again and has been holding my attention recently. and surprisingly i really enjoy businessweek. (its "businessy" but any mag that is weekly has two advantages 1) the ability to be more topical and b) the ability to dedicate mroe pages to a topic (perhaps from various points of view, writers, etc) due to the fact that they have more real estate to fill on a regular basis than a monthly...

ymmv?

By: Seamus

Seamus — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:30:23 -0800

I like the Atlantic, Smithsonian, and Symmetry for my monthly dose of particle physics. I also like Scientific American and the Wilson Quarterly.

But, surprisingly, no one has mentioned the Shotgun News.
A couple months back they had an great article on the history and weapons of the German and Austrian Sturmtruppen in the First World War. There are a lot of advertisements to sort through before you get to the articles. I usually hit the magazine rack before I pick up refrigerated or frozen goods in case an article keeps me reading for too long but isn't good enough to make me want to buy it..

By: andythebean

andythebean — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:35:24 -0800

seconding twiki on GOOD magazine

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:18:25 -0800

Stop Smiling: The Magazine for High-minded Lowlifes

I've recently been turned on to this one and I find it fantastic. The Southern issue is amazing, if that's your cup of sweet tea.

Also: Esquire is quite good. And Playboy is not as good as it once was, but it's still better than almost everything else. Paste is pricey, but worth it.

The Believer will never be as good as Might.

I've taken The New Yorker since I was a freshman in college. I can't imagine my life without it.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:19:13 -0800

GOOD is not bad. More style than substance so far, but I'm holding out hope for it.

By: fredoliveira

fredoliveira — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:40:32 -0800

I'll second Monocle. Fantastic design (oh, the grid) and the form factor makes me want to grab it. I could sit around just looking at it - oh yes.

By: ifjuly

ifjuly — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:14:00 -0800

coppola (dont laugh!)'s young fiction writer-oriented magazine zoetrope looks promising...i just like my paris review and granta, though. didn't like harper's, utne, or the atlantic. the dalkey archive has a newsletter, i think it's called contemporary literature review or something like that...or maybe i'm getting dalkey mixed up with nyrb. sorry.

By: daviss

daviss — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:31:46 -0800

McSweeney's Quarterly is really interesting. It's intimately associated with the makers of The Believer, which is mentioned above. McSweeney's used to change its format each month-- comic book, DVD, CD, novel, etc.

By: Rain Man

Rain Man — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:55:46 -0800

Just as ColdChef says, "I've taken The New Yorker since I was a freshman in college. I can't imagine my life without it." 36 years for me now.

By: birdie birdington

birdie birdington — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:42:32 -0800

Current events-wise we get The Atlantic, Harper's, The New Yorker, Z, and The Nation. Of those I really really really really hate The Atlantic. I cannot wait for that subscription to run out. Chain restaurants are awesome whaaaa? I mean, seriously, even if they were, why am I reading that in a magazine? "The status quo is perfect. Never change!!" Great. I'm glad you're being paid for that. And the piece on Quirkiness in the latest issue? Their tone is so off for me. As far as I can tell they have a commitment to being beside the point.

Of those, Harper's is my favorite. The New Yorker should be my favorite, as I skip over almost everything NY-centric and love Seymour Hersh, but it's actually the one that leaves me feeling the most bleak -- as it's where I learned about ocean acidification.

So if it's among those my advice is keep The New Yorker and/or get Harper's!

By: birdie birdington

birdie birdington — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:45:13 -0800

(whoa, why did I reply to a two day old thread.)

By: specialk420

specialk420 — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:44:13 -0800

i get: mother jones, Garden Design, Dwell, intersection, and the Surfers Journal

along with the economist, and the new yorker. i second the monocle recommendation and Good magazine as well... but both of the aformentioned (along with dwell) are more fluff than substance.

By: specialk420

specialk420 — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:46:02 -0800

oh and if you really want to go down the rabbit hole... you could subscribe to the unparalleled Vice Magazine for a year.