Recommend Some Magazines
December 6, 2004 8:25 PM Subscribe
While reading this thread I began, for obvious reasons, to consider expanding my media collection. I have plenty of books, but I have virtually no magazines around the house. As I looked over potential subscriptions I realized that I know almost nothing about the world of magazines (outside of what I have learned from my dentist's waiting room). Do any of you have any recommendations?
I've given up on magazines as I've gotten more news from the web, but I'm seriously thinking about getting a subscription to The New Yorker.
This is largely based on the writings of Malcolm Gladwell. I just discovered his stuff, and it's great. I also found this article about the Bell Curve in Medicine to be very interesting.
posted by willnot at 8:35 PM on December 6, 2004
This is largely based on the writings of Malcolm Gladwell. I just discovered his stuff, and it's great. I also found this article about the Bell Curve in Medicine to be very interesting.
posted by willnot at 8:35 PM on December 6, 2004
An old thread on the subject.
Watch out though. Without proper care and feeding, magazines will eventually take over every horizontal surface in your place. It is not a good look.
posted by smackfu at 8:40 PM on December 6, 2004
Watch out though. Without proper care and feeding, magazines will eventually take over every horizontal surface in your place. It is not a good look.
posted by smackfu at 8:40 PM on December 6, 2004
Wired is good reading, I also get Popular Science and Motorcyclist. Beyond that, I don't get more than I can read anymore since all that paper's gotta come from somewhere.
posted by fenriq at 8:43 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by fenriq at 8:43 PM on December 6, 2004
Harper's is awesome. Wired is excellent. I recently got an issue of Esopus Magazine thanks to a link on MeFi, and it is really beautiful.
posted by mai at 8:59 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by mai at 8:59 PM on December 6, 2004
The New Yorker is excellent.
This list from the Chicago Tribune is good. Reg Req.
This thread at Kottke is also worth perusing.
posted by stuart_s at 9:01 PM on December 6, 2004
This list from the Chicago Tribune is good. Reg Req.
This thread at Kottke is also worth perusing.
posted by stuart_s at 9:01 PM on December 6, 2004
I was a sick magazine addict before I become a sick MeFi addict. But two that I still keep subscriptions to are general interest; The New Yorker, which has consistently great fiction, interesting articles on obscure subjects (like this week's profile of Ole Anthony of The Trinity Foundation), and the past year in particular, great writing about politics and Iraq. Also, Harper's magazine; great oddball facts in the front 'Notes' section, and politics that likely please the most hardcore MeFi devotee.
posted by extrabox at 9:03 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by extrabox at 9:03 PM on December 6, 2004
My current subscription is; Adbusters (www.adbusters.org)
Previous good subscriptions include:
Atomic MPC (www.atomicmpc.com.au)
Australian Personal Computer (www.apcmag.com)
My mother currently subscribes to Time. She does it every so often when the free gift looks interesting, but I think even then it doesn't look like it was worth it this time.
posted by krisjohn at 9:07 PM on December 6, 2004
Previous good subscriptions include:
Atomic MPC (www.atomicmpc.com.au)
Australian Personal Computer (www.apcmag.com)
My mother currently subscribes to Time. She does it every so often when the free gift looks interesting, but I think even then it doesn't look like it was worth it this time.
posted by krisjohn at 9:07 PM on December 6, 2004
I've subscriptions to Newsweek, Vegetarian Times, and Paper. Paper is a bit NYC-centric though.
posted by FunkyHelix at 9:09 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by FunkyHelix at 9:09 PM on December 6, 2004
I subscribed to Esopus based on the NYT articled referenced by the aforementioned MeFi thread.
This thread discusses cooking magazines. Not cooking magazines, but more general food magazines are The Art of Eating and Gastronomica. Some Gastronomica articles seem aimed at academic food historians but that certainly doesn't describe me and I like the magazine, too.
Topic magazine looks pretty good based on their recent food issue.
posted by stuart_s at 9:10 PM on December 6, 2004
This thread discusses cooking magazines. Not cooking magazines, but more general food magazines are The Art of Eating and Gastronomica. Some Gastronomica articles seem aimed at academic food historians but that certainly doesn't describe me and I like the magazine, too.
Topic magazine looks pretty good based on their recent food issue.
posted by stuart_s at 9:10 PM on December 6, 2004
The New Yorker and Harpers are favorites of mine. Also Bookforum and NYRB.
posted by dame at 9:11 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by dame at 9:11 PM on December 6, 2004
The Utne Reader matches up quite well with the typical MeFi poster.
posted by caddis at 9:15 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by caddis at 9:15 PM on December 6, 2004
Depends on what you are interested in.
I subscribe to four magazines: Adbusters, Stay-Free, Wired and Blender (though it is "Maxim's Blender," and often has a revealing pic of a scantly clad pop-starlet on the cover, it really is the best mainstream American music magazine on the market - hands down).
I often pick up issues of Utne Reader, THIS, Mother Jones, MOJO.
I sometimes buy SPIN, Entertainment Weekly, Macleans (canadian mag). Oh - and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine.
posted by Quartermass at 9:17 PM on December 6, 2004
I subscribe to four magazines: Adbusters, Stay-Free, Wired and Blender (though it is "Maxim's Blender," and often has a revealing pic of a scantly clad pop-starlet on the cover, it really is the best mainstream American music magazine on the market - hands down).
I often pick up issues of Utne Reader, THIS, Mother Jones, MOJO.
I sometimes buy SPIN, Entertainment Weekly, Macleans (canadian mag). Oh - and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine.
posted by Quartermass at 9:17 PM on December 6, 2004
The Economist and Scientific American are the only two magazines that I've consistently wanted to read cover-to-cover every month. The unfortunate truth is that I rarely have time to do so.
posted by Danelope at 9:33 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by Danelope at 9:33 PM on December 6, 2004
I get in the mail Harper's (which is always amazing), and (always infuriating and smug and crazy) The Weekly Standard. I recommend both, for the reasons just stated.
posted by interrobang at 9:33 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by interrobang at 9:33 PM on December 6, 2004
Magazines I'd subscribe to, were I the subscribing type:
Adbusters, Scientific American, New Yorker, Utne Reader, Harper's, The Economist, The Nation...
If you're a fan of popculture, add US and Entertainment Weekly. Avoid Time and Newsweek like the plague. Haven't found a music mag I like enough to recommend yet. There's more esoteric and specialized stuff out there but that all depends on your taste and interests.
posted by drpynchon at 9:34 PM on December 6, 2004
Adbusters, Scientific American, New Yorker, Utne Reader, Harper's, The Economist, The Nation...
If you're a fan of popculture, add US and Entertainment Weekly. Avoid Time and Newsweek like the plague. Haven't found a music mag I like enough to recommend yet. There's more esoteric and specialized stuff out there but that all depends on your taste and interests.
posted by drpynchon at 9:34 PM on December 6, 2004
I subscribe to Old House Journal and may get Family Handyman soon. Several years ago I gave up on Wired and Vegetarian Times, as I realized I wasn't reading them for months at a time. My friends like Ready Made.
posted by belladonna at 9:51 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by belladonna at 9:51 PM on December 6, 2004
Response by poster: Well my mail box (and coffee table) should be filling up in around 4-6 weeks. Thanks!
posted by aburd at 9:53 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by aburd at 9:53 PM on December 6, 2004
I *heart* my subscription to Entertainment Weekly. I have a subscription to Utne Reader, which doesn't get me enthused but it was a gift and it's fine reading. I am currently coveting a subscription to Cook's Illustrated. I used to subscribe to Games but I didn't do the puzzles often enough to make it worth it. Still fun though.
I have picked up Adbusters and Colors now and then for years. Colors is great for practicing another language. I just have never gotten around to subscribing to it, even though I'd like to. I enjoy reading my grandmother's Better Homes and Gardens and Cooking Light, but would not pay for either.
Make sure you have someone to pass the magazines on to when you are through, or you will be swamped with them in no time. I'm still hauling around back issues of Rolling Stone and Spin from my teen years. I just can't bear to throw reading material out.
posted by Melinika at 9:55 PM on December 6, 2004
I have picked up Adbusters and Colors now and then for years. Colors is great for practicing another language. I just have never gotten around to subscribing to it, even though I'd like to. I enjoy reading my grandmother's Better Homes and Gardens and Cooking Light, but would not pay for either.
Make sure you have someone to pass the magazines on to when you are through, or you will be swamped with them in no time. I'm still hauling around back issues of Rolling Stone and Spin from my teen years. I just can't bear to throw reading material out.
posted by Melinika at 9:55 PM on December 6, 2004
I really like Dwell but then I think I may have a modern home fetish.
posted by gyc at 10:00 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by gyc at 10:00 PM on December 6, 2004
The New Yorker is all I seem to have time for these days (& I hardly have time for it, but it is a great mag), but the Sun is a good fiction periodical, and the Economist is smart and offers various perspectives. Harper's can be great but lewis lapham can be a little annoying. I like scientific american, too, though I've never subscribed. What websites do you frequent? aldaily has a good list of periodicals and journals on its site that could give you material to peruse before you decide what to commit to...
posted by mdn at 10:00 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by mdn at 10:00 PM on December 6, 2004
The only mag I subscribe to, per se, is Harper's, which many have mentioned already, but it really is great. I'd def. susbscribe to the Economist if a) I could afford it and b) if I thought for a second I could read all of it on a weekly basis. I go a browse it on an almost weekly basis at the bookstore though. I did subscribe to the Nation for a year and really didn't like it. Just a bunch of op/eds with the occasional well researched article. But it left me feeling empty.
I'll give a shoutout to the Sierra Club's magazine though, if they jive with your style. It comes "free" with membership dues and is quite good.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:02 PM on December 6, 2004
I'll give a shoutout to the Sierra Club's magazine though, if they jive with your style. It comes "free" with membership dues and is quite good.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:02 PM on December 6, 2004
I'm subscribing to the New Republic and the the New Yorker. I love that they're weeklies. And the New Republic has an excellent website with additional articles and blogs, plus some of the best lliterature/art/film reviews.
I think you should go to your local magazine vendor and buy some magazines that strike you fancy before investing in subscriptions, though.
posted by sophie at 10:08 PM on December 6, 2004
I think you should go to your local magazine vendor and buy some magazines that strike you fancy before investing in subscriptions, though.
posted by sophie at 10:08 PM on December 6, 2004
I look forward to the day when I have a steady income and long-term housing for the opportunity to subscribe to: Venus, Stay Free!, Bitch, The Wire, The New Yorker, Harpers, In These Times, LiP, Kitchen Sink, The Economist, Mother Jones, The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, Cabinet, Comes With A Smile, and Other. And pray for chronic diarrhea or constipation to keep me on the toilet long enough to read them all.
Spend the energy to find at least one small magazine that you like and subscribe. They tend to be worth it.
posted by drewbeck at 10:22 PM on December 6, 2004 [1 favorite]
Spend the energy to find at least one small magazine that you like and subscribe. They tend to be worth it.
posted by drewbeck at 10:22 PM on December 6, 2004 [1 favorite]
Magazines are like crack for me.
I currently subscribe to the New Yorker, Wired, Funny Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Stay Free!, McSweeney's, Maxim (hey, it was a free subscription, and makes good bathroom reading) and a buncha trade magazines.
My girlfriend subscribes to Readymade and she lets me read hers.
I also occasionally pick up Utne, Harper's, the NYT mag, Cook's Illustrated, Columbia Journalism Review, Newsweek, the New Republic, Frommer's BudgetTravel, the Economist, National Geographic, Psychology Today, et cetera, ad infinitum.
And I really, really miss the Oxford American.
posted by Vidiot at 10:52 PM on December 6, 2004
I currently subscribe to the New Yorker, Wired, Funny Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Stay Free!, McSweeney's, Maxim (hey, it was a free subscription, and makes good bathroom reading) and a buncha trade magazines.
My girlfriend subscribes to Readymade and she lets me read hers.
I also occasionally pick up Utne, Harper's, the NYT mag, Cook's Illustrated, Columbia Journalism Review, Newsweek, the New Republic, Frommer's BudgetTravel, the Economist, National Geographic, Psychology Today, et cetera, ad infinitum.
And I really, really miss the Oxford American.
posted by Vidiot at 10:52 PM on December 6, 2004
If you are the kind of person who likes to curl up with your sweetie, a pen and some puzzles, Games Magazine or those newspaper print cheepo PennyPress compilations can be great. Yeah they don't give you any style, nor do hint at mysterious obscure obsessions, but they are a great way to waste an afternoon with someone.
posted by aspo at 11:04 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by aspo at 11:04 PM on December 6, 2004
Comic Art Magazine, Verbatim, and Proof (scroll down), which will be even better if Neil ever decides to publish another copy.
posted by j.edwards at 11:26 PM on December 6, 2004
posted by j.edwards at 11:26 PM on December 6, 2004
Of the magazines I get the best are the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Cook's Illustrated, Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding, and Sailing.
At some point something I did caused the publisher of Maxim and Stuff to start sending me their magazines for free, but I told them to stop, because they were making me stupid.
You can sort Amazon's magazine subscriptions sections by price if you'd like to see what you can get for cheap.
posted by nicwolff at 11:40 PM on December 6, 2004
At some point something I did caused the publisher of Maxim and Stuff to start sending me their magazines for free, but I told them to stop, because they were making me stupid.
You can sort Amazon's magazine subscriptions sections by price if you'd like to see what you can get for cheap.
posted by nicwolff at 11:40 PM on December 6, 2004
I'll second Readymade. It's chock full of creative do-it-yourself projects--kind of like Martha Stewart for hipsters. Dwell, Metropolis and I.D. are great if you're into architecture and design. Giant Robot is ostensibly about Asian and Asian-American pop culture but there's great graphic design and a wide range of subjects.
posted by hydrophonic at 12:03 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by hydrophonic at 12:03 AM on December 7, 2004
oh yeah, second Giant Robot. I really oughta subscribe, since I make a point of getting each issue at the newsstand anyway...
And I had terrible luck using Amazon for a subscription. Took four months of me calling them, asking when the Atlantic would get my order, getting the runaround, et cetera.
posted by Vidiot at 12:55 AM on December 7, 2004
And I had terrible luck using Amazon for a subscription. Took four months of me calling them, asking when the Atlantic would get my order, getting the runaround, et cetera.
posted by Vidiot at 12:55 AM on December 7, 2004
I'll throw in the suggestion of the Smithsonian magazine., which is a great read. Also Private Eye , but you'd need to be seriously Anglophilic to enjoy it all. Although it's more expensive I prefer to buy magazines in the store, when I've subscribed in the past they tend to end up in large unread piles.
posted by Cuppatea at 1:23 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by Cuppatea at 1:23 AM on December 7, 2004
london review of books - a new-yorker with balls, a brain, and a conscience (and without the ads that make you think "my god, am i the target market for that?").
unfortunately, it doesn't have cartoons.
posted by andrew cooke at 2:31 AM on December 7, 2004
unfortunately, it doesn't have cartoons.
posted by andrew cooke at 2:31 AM on December 7, 2004
Print Subscriptions -
The Economist - just head and shoulders above every other weekly newsmagazine out there.
The New Yorker, especially for the Profiles and current events articles
Scientific American - gives me the same thrill I used to get watching Mr. Wizard (and other kiddie science shows) as a seven year old, watching TV in my PJs and eating sugared cereal
No Depression - great coverage of alt.country, folk, traditional music
Subscribe to the website, not the print edition:
Consumer Reports. The site includes the full text of all print articles but is infinitely more useful.
Do not subscribe to, but often pick up on the newsstand:
Harper's, The Atlantic, The Nation, National Review, Reason, New Scientist, Gourmet
posted by enrevanche at 4:30 AM on December 7, 2004
The Economist - just head and shoulders above every other weekly newsmagazine out there.
The New Yorker, especially for the Profiles and current events articles
Scientific American - gives me the same thrill I used to get watching Mr. Wizard (and other kiddie science shows) as a seven year old, watching TV in my PJs and eating sugared cereal
No Depression - great coverage of alt.country, folk, traditional music
Subscribe to the website, not the print edition:
Consumer Reports. The site includes the full text of all print articles but is infinitely more useful.
Do not subscribe to, but often pick up on the newsstand:
Harper's, The Atlantic, The Nation, National Review, Reason, New Scientist, Gourmet
posted by enrevanche at 4:30 AM on December 7, 2004
Family Handyman (always has cool projects, not that I do any of them), Birds & Blooms and their new one Backyard Living.
Used to subscribe to Utne, but then it got all new-agey. How has it been lately?
Hubby reads American Prospect, Wired (Salon extra), Washington Monthly and Newsweek (gift).
oh, and Consumer Reports online.
posted by evening at 5:11 AM on December 7, 2004
Used to subscribe to Utne, but then it got all new-agey. How has it been lately?
Hubby reads American Prospect, Wired (Salon extra), Washington Monthly and Newsweek (gift).
oh, and Consumer Reports online.
posted by evening at 5:11 AM on December 7, 2004
I second/third/fourth Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Adbusters, Smithsonian, McSweeney's and Mojo (best music mag on the stands today).
Here are some others:
Fortune: well-written nonpartisan business mag. They printed an article awarding The Worst New Technology of The Year Award to Diebold's voting machines directly across from a full-page ad for Diebold.
The Comics Journal: if you're really into comics. Great Interviews with the best writers and artists, past and present.
Happy Reading!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 5:27 AM on December 7, 2004
Here are some others:
Fortune: well-written nonpartisan business mag. They printed an article awarding The Worst New Technology of The Year Award to Diebold's voting machines directly across from a full-page ad for Diebold.
The Comics Journal: if you're really into comics. Great Interviews with the best writers and artists, past and present.
Happy Reading!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 5:27 AM on December 7, 2004
I subscribe to The New Yorker and Cooking Light.
Pick up on the news stand: Harpers and Atlantic Monthly. For music, I used to subscribe to Magnet, which is an amazing magazine (so good, in fact, that I really should start up that subscription again).
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:51 AM on December 7, 2004
Pick up on the news stand: Harpers and Atlantic Monthly. For music, I used to subscribe to Magnet, which is an amazing magazine (so good, in fact, that I really should start up that subscription again).
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:51 AM on December 7, 2004
Like Numerous People I subscribe to Harper's and I highly recommend it. I would put it above all other magazines that I read, although I never read the fiction. But then again, I never read the fiction in the New Yorker either.
I tested out a subscription to The Economist to balance out my subscription to The Nation. The results: I just can't keep up with The Economist each week, but I feel compelled to read it even though I'm more to the left of most of its writing and I feel guilty when I don't finish, whereas The Nation I can usually finish and what I don't I don't miss. Though I'm more to the right than The Nation I'm usually not infuriated by their writing, just saddened, maybe made tired, and but being more to the left than The Economist I tend to get outraged more. And maybe that's a good thing: to be challenged by what your reading rather than just feeling confirmed. Again, this is why Harper's is such a good fit: I find it balances these things well.
I pick up on a semi-regular basis*:
Print, Art In America, Mighty Robot, Nest, Skyscraper, Punk Planet, the New Yorker, Art Forum, and the Big TakeOver.
I find myself wishing I subscribed to:Punk Planet, Art in America, Print and the Big TakeOver
*or picked up -- as I think Nest is no longer.
posted by safetyfork at 6:33 AM on December 7, 2004
I tested out a subscription to The Economist to balance out my subscription to The Nation. The results: I just can't keep up with The Economist each week, but I feel compelled to read it even though I'm more to the left of most of its writing and I feel guilty when I don't finish, whereas The Nation I can usually finish and what I don't I don't miss. Though I'm more to the right than The Nation I'm usually not infuriated by their writing, just saddened, maybe made tired, and but being more to the left than The Economist I tend to get outraged more. And maybe that's a good thing: to be challenged by what your reading rather than just feeling confirmed. Again, this is why Harper's is such a good fit: I find it balances these things well.
I pick up on a semi-regular basis*:
Print, Art In America, Mighty Robot, Nest, Skyscraper, Punk Planet, the New Yorker, Art Forum, and the Big TakeOver.
I find myself wishing I subscribed to:Punk Planet, Art in America, Print and the Big TakeOver
*or picked up -- as I think Nest is no longer.
posted by safetyfork at 6:33 AM on December 7, 2004
On a couple of totally unrelated notes, if you have any interest in how people work, you might check out Psychology Today. My other favorites include FastCompany and an xth recommendation for Cooks Illustrated. I used to be a Maxim fan, but my subscription lapsed and I felt my brain heave a sigh of relief. Also they photoshop all my favorite women to hell so you can't even recognize what actually makes them attractive anymore. Seriously, how do you make all the That 70s Show girls look the same?
I've said too much...
posted by softlord at 6:44 AM on December 7, 2004
I've said too much...
posted by softlord at 6:44 AM on December 7, 2004
Reason is a dandy mag - sassy libertarians on parade. I enjoy it mightily. Seed is a fantastic magazine as well - I hope it becomes more popular. The idea behind it, and the writing within it, is so gosh-darned strong that I fear for the worst. The New Yorker and The Economist are also very much worth your time.
Res, Print, and AdBusters are good to pick up on the stand.
(Interesting that AdBusters is the only lefty print publication I'm into...hm.)
Oh, and FHM is better than Maxim. Maxim is doo. But, I'm biased.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:10 AM on December 7, 2004
Res, Print, and AdBusters are good to pick up on the stand.
(Interesting that AdBusters is the only lefty print publication I'm into...hm.)
Oh, and FHM is better than Maxim. Maxim is doo. But, I'm biased.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:10 AM on December 7, 2004
My absolute must have mag is not glossy and has no pretty photos, but every three months when i finally get the new issue i devour it -- The American Scholar. It's got the best essays being published, and on such a variety of topics.
posted by katie at 7:10 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by katie at 7:10 AM on December 7, 2004
You may enjoy The Believer, which is a monthly non-fiction magazine published by the McSweeney's people. It generally is focused on literature and writing, but it has wonderfully written essays and interviews on a number of subjects besides. If you don't like the McSweeney's style be warned that it has at least some content in that vein but on the whole it is way cleaner. It's usually 80-90 pages of text with no ads, making it a very substantial read. I also second the recommendation of Cabinet given above.
posted by monocyte at 7:34 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by monocyte at 7:34 AM on December 7, 2004
Not one person has recommended Esquire? Not one??
It really is an excellent magazine. It had the most finalists among the National Magazine Awards contestants this year (I think it may have tied with something else), and it deserved it. And take a look at the varied swath of categories it was nominated in: Leisure Interests, Feature Writing, Profile Writing, Reviews and Criticism, Design, and Fiction.
I'm surprised it didn't receive a nomination for reporting, as two of Ron Suskind's pieces on the Bush administration in the last year (one on Karen Hughes, the other on Paul O'Neill) were absolutely excellent.
Anyway, except for its tendency to go a little too crazy with its gimmicky list-stories, like "What I've Learned" (I swear every other issue is now a compendium of "What I've Learned"s from the great personalities of our time), Esquire has much to recommend it.
I've allowed my subscription to lapse in the last couple months, but I'm definitely renewing. The Atlantic Monthly is worth it for "Primary Sources" alone, but the reporting in that magazine, especially the work of James Fallows, is second to none. Some of the best reporting on Iraq, before and during the war, has been in the pages of the Atlantic. I have a subscription.
The rest of the best reporting on Iraq, and many other subjects, was in the pages of The New Yorker. If you missed TNY's recent pre-election double-issue, you missed a great treat. I don't have a subscription, but I usually read every issue in the bookstore.
Harper's is a mixed bag. Most of its cover essays are wildly self-indulgent (like last month's "Attack of the Superzeroes" ... ridiculous), buuuut there's occasionally something worth writing home about in there. The real attraction is the reprinted information -- the Harper's index, extended quotations from amazing documents you never knew existed, &c. I have a subscription, but I won't renew it.
And Wired really earned its keep over the last year-and-a-half. Joshua Green's story on the new diamond age this year should have garnered awards, both for the reporting and for the writing. Chris Anderson's recent piece on "The Long Tail" was groundbreaking. I have a subscription, although most of their material is available online after a while.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 8:35 AM on December 7, 2004
It really is an excellent magazine. It had the most finalists among the National Magazine Awards contestants this year (I think it may have tied with something else), and it deserved it. And take a look at the varied swath of categories it was nominated in: Leisure Interests, Feature Writing, Profile Writing, Reviews and Criticism, Design, and Fiction.
I'm surprised it didn't receive a nomination for reporting, as two of Ron Suskind's pieces on the Bush administration in the last year (one on Karen Hughes, the other on Paul O'Neill) were absolutely excellent.
Anyway, except for its tendency to go a little too crazy with its gimmicky list-stories, like "What I've Learned" (I swear every other issue is now a compendium of "What I've Learned"s from the great personalities of our time), Esquire has much to recommend it.
I've allowed my subscription to lapse in the last couple months, but I'm definitely renewing. The Atlantic Monthly is worth it for "Primary Sources" alone, but the reporting in that magazine, especially the work of James Fallows, is second to none. Some of the best reporting on Iraq, before and during the war, has been in the pages of the Atlantic. I have a subscription.
The rest of the best reporting on Iraq, and many other subjects, was in the pages of The New Yorker. If you missed TNY's recent pre-election double-issue, you missed a great treat. I don't have a subscription, but I usually read every issue in the bookstore.
Harper's is a mixed bag. Most of its cover essays are wildly self-indulgent (like last month's "Attack of the Superzeroes" ... ridiculous), buuuut there's occasionally something worth writing home about in there. The real attraction is the reprinted information -- the Harper's index, extended quotations from amazing documents you never knew existed, &c. I have a subscription, but I won't renew it.
And Wired really earned its keep over the last year-and-a-half. Joshua Green's story on the new diamond age this year should have garnered awards, both for the reporting and for the writing. Chris Anderson's recent piece on "The Long Tail" was groundbreaking. I have a subscription, although most of their material is available online after a while.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 8:35 AM on December 7, 2004
By the way, DiscountMagazines.com. It'll take your subscriptions a few months to start, but $6 a pop (for most)? How can you say no?
posted by grrarrgh00 at 8:44 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by grrarrgh00 at 8:44 AM on December 7, 2004
I couldn't live without the New Yorker. (Though I don't read the fiction either and when I do, I generally wish I hadn't.) I love the magazine so much I am planning to devote the next few years to landing a job there.
Harper's is great but I never get through it. The Readings section is like crack though.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:02 AM on December 7, 2004
Harper's is great but I never get through it. The Readings section is like crack though.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:02 AM on December 7, 2004
You know, I've tried numerous times to get into the New Yorker, based on the recomendations of people I respect, but it somehow still annoys me in the same way that NPR and Trader Joe's do. It seems to be the reduction of the "progressive/alternative" paradigm to a collection of stereotypes or a marketing niche. And most of it, I just really don't get, in that I don't recognize most of the cultural references or get the jokes.
Or maybe, and this is a real possibility, it's all just over my head.
As far as magazines go, I don't read nearly as many as I used to, since blogs have taken up the slack that Zine's like Beer Frame and Answer Me! used to fill. I always pick up Mojo and Wax Poetics, though.
posted by jonmc at 9:36 AM on December 7, 2004
Or maybe, and this is a real possibility, it's all just over my head.
As far as magazines go, I don't read nearly as many as I used to, since blogs have taken up the slack that Zine's like Beer Frame and Answer Me! used to fill. I always pick up Mojo and Wax Poetics, though.
posted by jonmc at 9:36 AM on December 7, 2004
I can't believe none of you have suggested The Week. It's flat-out incredible. It's "everything you need to know about everything that matters." Basically, they take the major news magazines and distill them into brief, coherent articles. Really really really good.
posted by Alt F4 at 10:41 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by Alt F4 at 10:41 AM on December 7, 2004
I'll second The Week as a follow-up to Alt F4. I was thinking the exact same thing (how come no one mentioned it) until the last post.
posted by tuxster at 10:49 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by tuxster at 10:49 AM on December 7, 2004
Great thread. I second Colors. Each issue focuses on a single topic (fat, violence, public housing), approached from a global angle, with a lot of great pictures.
posted by hartsell at 11:20 AM on December 7, 2004
posted by hartsell at 11:20 AM on December 7, 2004
Yes, The Week is really good.
I've tried numerous times to get into the New Yorker, based on the recomendations of people I respect, but it somehow still annoys me in the same way that NPR and Trader Joe's do. It seems to be the reduction of the "progressive/alternative" paradigm to a collection of stereotypes or a marketing niche. And most of it, I just really don't get, in that I don't recognize most of the cultural references or get the jokes.
Or maybe, and this is a real possibility, it's all just over my head.
It's not over your head. I like it because the writing is really good, and ranges widely. Their nonfiction is phenomenal, their Profiles are the best around, Anthony Lane's film reviews are usually a hoot, Malcolm Gladwell is the man, and they've also got Sasha Frere-Jones, Calvin Trillin, Nancy Franklin, Susan Orlean, et al. Is there stuff I skip, or read and hate? Sure. I don't tend to like 95% of their fiction. I loathe Caitlin Flanagan, Adam Gopnik seems to be stuffy and musty, and I confess I sometimes lose interest in the book reviews halfway through.
Then again, I like NPR and Trader Joe's. (Though I like Trader Joe's more than NPR.) And I'd disagree that the New Yorker (or NPR, or Trader Joe's) is a reduction of a particular point of view. I'd say that the New Yorker definitely has a definable POV, but that you're not being beaten over the head with it and the arguments are cogent instead of dippy. (And I get this sense of a definable POV much less from NPR and Trader Joe's.)
[/derail]
posted by Vidiot at 11:33 AM on December 7, 2004
I've tried numerous times to get into the New Yorker, based on the recomendations of people I respect, but it somehow still annoys me in the same way that NPR and Trader Joe's do. It seems to be the reduction of the "progressive/alternative" paradigm to a collection of stereotypes or a marketing niche. And most of it, I just really don't get, in that I don't recognize most of the cultural references or get the jokes.
Or maybe, and this is a real possibility, it's all just over my head.
It's not over your head. I like it because the writing is really good, and ranges widely. Their nonfiction is phenomenal, their Profiles are the best around, Anthony Lane's film reviews are usually a hoot, Malcolm Gladwell is the man, and they've also got Sasha Frere-Jones, Calvin Trillin, Nancy Franklin, Susan Orlean, et al. Is there stuff I skip, or read and hate? Sure. I don't tend to like 95% of their fiction. I loathe Caitlin Flanagan, Adam Gopnik seems to be stuffy and musty, and I confess I sometimes lose interest in the book reviews halfway through.
Then again, I like NPR and Trader Joe's. (Though I like Trader Joe's more than NPR.) And I'd disagree that the New Yorker (or NPR, or Trader Joe's) is a reduction of a particular point of view. I'd say that the New Yorker definitely has a definable POV, but that you're not being beaten over the head with it and the arguments are cogent instead of dippy. (And I get this sense of a definable POV much less from NPR and Trader Joe's.)
[/derail]
posted by Vidiot at 11:33 AM on December 7, 2004
Economist - Great, but I have to read it at the library. Too expensive.
Wired, New Yorker - Great, but I get them through RSS (I've seen a lot of links to the New Yorker recently, I should find a direct RSS feed for it).
If you want a PC magazine, the only one really worth getting is Maximum PC, assuming you want a PC centric, non-programming view. They've always got a great picture of a casemod at the back, but they actually don't focus too badly on the "let's add fluorescent lights my pc" crowd.
posted by easyasy3k at 11:46 AM on December 7, 2004
Wired, New Yorker - Great, but I get them through RSS (I've seen a lot of links to the New Yorker recently, I should find a direct RSS feed for it).
If you want a PC magazine, the only one really worth getting is Maximum PC, assuming you want a PC centric, non-programming view. They've always got a great picture of a casemod at the back, but they actually don't focus too badly on the "let's add fluorescent lights my pc" crowd.
posted by easyasy3k at 11:46 AM on December 7, 2004
Maybe, I should rephrase. The times I have read the NY'er (or Harper's for that matter) have usually been when I had to take a train or bus ride and figured what the hell. By the comparison to TJ's and NPR, I mean to say that it just struck me as so...damned tasteful that it made me crave a Mad magazine fart joke or something. It's inoffensive to a certain marketing niche the same way say McCall's or People is inoffensive to another. Not that I'm knocking any of these niches mind you, just making an observation. I realize that this magazine is something of a cultural talisman, so I'm trying to step carefully.
And by "over my head," I don't wish for the magazine or any peice of writing to dumb itself down for anyone, but the NY'er does seem to assume educational/cultural background that not everyone has.
Or maybe I just picked up a crappy issue.
posted by jonmc at 12:00 PM on December 7, 2004
And by "over my head," I don't wish for the magazine or any peice of writing to dumb itself down for anyone, but the NY'er does seem to assume educational/cultural background that not everyone has.
Or maybe I just picked up a crappy issue.
posted by jonmc at 12:00 PM on December 7, 2004
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Playboy. I switched to it when I got tired of Maxim, Stuff, FHM and I have to say it is infinitely better than all of those.
I also read regularly Wired and Scientific American, but they have already been mentioned several times.
posted by Penks at 12:26 PM on December 7, 2004
I also read regularly Wired and Scientific American, but they have already been mentioned several times.
posted by Penks at 12:26 PM on December 7, 2004
Penks, if your gonna mention stroke rags, then I say Hustler is far better than Playboy. It dispenses with any pretense of refinement, the raunch is unapologetic and the cartoons are much funnier.
posted by jonmc at 12:30 PM on December 7, 2004
posted by jonmc at 12:30 PM on December 7, 2004
Harper's only seems tasteful. It's funny, I was just talking about this with someone...I read both Harper's and The New Yorker, and enjoy doing so, but they both at times smack of what I call "John Updike syndrome": there's a tone sometimes of the sad old man who remembers wistfully when his dick cooperated and he could shag all the sexy young things he sees walking about. It's not in your face or anything, but I for instance recall "Sex and the River Styx", which even acknowledges selfconsciously that viewpoint. It's one (admittedly a longer one) ofvarious similarly-themed articles running recently in both. It's like trying to do Philip Roth's schtick but not funny; you're supposed to sympathize with the tragedy of all the aging once-virile Oxford types struggling with their flagging sexual activity as if it was THE epic battle to end all battles, as if it was a matter of ethos rather than pathos, as if devoting large amounts of premium article space to this woe-is-me sex tale again and again makes sense. Maybe this sounds like overreaction. It doesn't anger me though; it just sort of leaves me amused and puzzled. And lest you think this is nothing based on the single article above, keep in mind many of the critical reviews in The New Yorker at least center in some way on whether a musician or actor is physically arresting (read even just one more review for a new record where the critic goes "Musican X has a long, slender frame and dark mussed tresses; she smiles girlishly and shines her piercing blue eyes" blah blah blah who cares) or whether, say, Yeats or Edna St. Vincent Millay had hot sex or not. :) Whether this reflects those who write for The New Yorker, those who read it and want this, or both, who knows. But it only seems stuffy...or maybe it is stuffy in its own way, even about such matters. Ha.
Also keep in mind the funny way the back ads in Harper's are mostly for sex pills and "marital aids." And, and I know this one is stretching it, also remember that the infamous Chan-Marshall's-pubes! Avedon photo first ran in The New Yorker in full page unabashed glory (by the way, I <3 that photo; don't think i don't! :).br>
As for the question, since I can't tell what your interests are like others have mentioned, I like others can only rattle off titles I like and suspect others would too:
Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review (probably my very favorite), Cook's Illustrated, Bon Appetit still (I gave up on Gourmet a while ago), Tape Op (which you can subscribe to online for free; the only catch is you get a catalog for recording equipment too), Magnet, Elle, The Economist, Nylon, The Believer, Granta, and to get meta, I hear Factsheet 5 is back though sadly without the great "subscribe and get a shitload of small press and diy zines as a sampler bag" deal.
posted by ifjuly at 12:46 PM on December 7, 2004
Also keep in mind the funny way the back ads in Harper's are mostly for sex pills and "marital aids." And, and I know this one is stretching it, also remember that the infamous Chan-Marshall's-pubes! Avedon photo first ran in The New Yorker in full page unabashed glory (by the way, I <3 that photo; don't think i don't! :).br>
As for the question, since I can't tell what your interests are like others have mentioned, I like others can only rattle off titles I like and suspect others would too:
Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review (probably my very favorite), Cook's Illustrated, Bon Appetit still (I gave up on Gourmet a while ago), Tape Op (which you can subscribe to online for free; the only catch is you get a catalog for recording equipment too), Magnet, Elle, The Economist, Nylon, The Believer, Granta, and to get meta, I hear Factsheet 5 is back though sadly without the great "subscribe and get a shitload of small press and diy zines as a sampler bag" deal.
posted by ifjuly at 12:46 PM on December 7, 2004
Harpers, because it's actually cheaper to subscribe to in Canada than in the US, and also good (although Lapham can get repetitive... I read 'Imperial Masquerade,' an essay collection from the 80s, a while back, and think I've hit my limit. Also, wtf was all that about marrying into the Mulroneys?)
I get the Atlantic, but won't renew because I never touch it. Way too imposing, given all the reading I should be doing for school.
I'm waiting for my first free issue of the London Review of Books to get here.
And if I didn't have tuition, of course the Economist.
posted by maledictory at 1:54 PM on December 7, 2004
I get the Atlantic, but won't renew because I never touch it. Way too imposing, given all the reading I should be doing for school.
I'm waiting for my first free issue of the London Review of Books to get here.
And if I didn't have tuition, of course the Economist.
posted by maledictory at 1:54 PM on December 7, 2004
Vidiot, I'm so glad someone else hates Gopnik.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:50 PM on December 7, 2004
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:50 PM on December 7, 2004
hee-hee...well, he seems awfully full of himself an awful lot of the time. The ur-Gopnik piece for me is the one in which he marveled at a crosstown bus ride. And his "Letters from Paris" have been done before, and better, by lots of different authors.
Although I did quite like last week's piece on Django Reinhardt.
posted by Vidiot at 8:08 PM on December 7, 2004
Although I did quite like last week's piece on Django Reinhardt.
posted by Vidiot at 8:08 PM on December 7, 2004
I hate to be the lone philistine voice, but I couldn't get through a seven day period without my subscription to Sports Illustrated. I also subscribe to Dungeon and well as Dragon (*hangs head*).
posted by absalom at 8:49 AM on December 10, 2004
posted by absalom at 8:49 AM on December 10, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
Before I cut back on my magazine purchasing, I also bought Vanity Fair, Atlantic Monthly, Martha Stewart Living, and, sadly, the Star.
Plus I get Wired and The New York Review of Books, both perks from my Salon.com membership, but they languish sadly on the shelf.
But, I used to work as the magazine wench at a large bookstore, and I can tell you -- if it's something you're interested in, there's a magazine for it.
posted by sugarfish at 8:29 PM on December 6, 2004