Magazines

[Smellincoffee]

Magazines used to be a more substantial form of media than they are now. When reading collections of Isaac Asimov's short stories, I'm frequently surprised by the kind of quality magazines had earlier in American history: they were substantial, filled with diverse content. They often contained both fiction and nonfiction. These days magazines are far slimmer, and more pages are claimed by obnoxious glossy advertisements. I used to subscribe to PC Gamer in the early 2000s and saw it become a shadow of its former self in just the few years I followed it. Even so I like magazines, and often spend more time browsing bookstores' magazine sections than their actual books. I'm interested in finding magazines outside of my specialized interests (history, science) -- general lifestyle magazines, for instance, or magazines with literary content in addition. Can anyone suggest any? Asimov's books have already stoked my interest in Analog and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

More generally, which magazines do you read? Do you subscribe to any, read them when they're offered in public places (I use my library to read National Geographic), or pick single issues up in stores?

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on why magazines are ailing so? I know the internet has not been kind to print media in general, but print culture was fading before the web became ubiquitous. Literary culture seems to have taken a big hit from the rise of television: is magazine readership stronger in countries where television isn't quite as pervasive?

 

[Narz]

Don't read any. I find the medium intellectually & visually repulsive.

 

[downtown]

Don't read any. I find the medium intellectually & visually repulsive.

Intellectually repulsive? That seems silly...there are plenty of intellectually stimulating magazines. Not everything is US Weekly after all.

I enjoy The Atlantic, and I might end up getting another subscription to Rolling Stone this year.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

More generally, which magazines do you read? Do you subscribe to any, read them when they're offered in public places (I use my library to read National Geographic), or pick single issues up in stores?

I sometimes pick one up when there is something of interest inside. I also
buy older ones (from 1970s-1980s) on ebay.

 

[Eat_Up_Martha]

I read the Economist regularly. I don't have a subscription but I pick one up a couple of times a month. I usually read it cover to cover but I occasionally skim the 'Britain' section. My parents also got me a subscription to Canadian Geographic for Christmas.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I also buy older ones (from 1970s-1980s) on ebay.

I'm very tempted to do that, but I wouldn't know what to do with the older magazines once I had them. I'd love to buy a box of Asimov's first SF magazines just to read his editorials.

 

[illram]

I usually only find myself reading magazines in the following locations: airports, barbershops, waiting rooms, friend's bathrooms. The Internet has supplanted magazines usefulness, but iPads and Kindles are bringing the medium back in vogue I think.

I have a subscription to National Geographic, which is always awesome. To call that magazine "intellectually and visually repulsive" is hilarious. Or the New Yorker: visually and intellectually repulsive? Come on Narz, have you read these magazines?

I also like the Economist, the Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Wired, Harper's, Popular Science, Discover, & Scientific American. The Sun is also a cool magazine no one has heard of. (Not the news-rag, this.)

 

[Narz]

Intellectually repulsive? That seems silly...there are plenty of intellectually stimulating magazines. Not everything is US Weekly after all.

I enjoy The Atlantic, and I might end up getting another subscription to Rolling Stone this year.

It's all trying to sum up alot in a little space in a simplistic way, though I guess all journalism does that.

I do like National Geographic though.

 

[Narz]

Or the New Yorker: visually and intellectually repulsive? Come on Narz, have you read these magazines?

I do like the New Yorker alright, my mom gets it. I find most of their articles try too hard & are boring but some of them are intreging. I used to like the cartoons but most of them suck lately.

 

[Save_Ferris]

I used to like Time, but I dont find it to be the news source it once was. I enjoy mental_floss and the Economist, however.

Also, my school library has a 1908 Natonal Geographic.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Here are the magazines currently in my rack:

Musician -- July 1981
Trouser Press -- August 1981
Creem -- April 1983 (This is my newest acquisition)
RockBill -- August 1987
Sound & Vision -- June/July-August 2010
Rolling Stone -- December 8, 2011 (I bought this on recommendation of a friend)

I also have a batch of these hilariously outdated "Sympatico NetLife" magazines that we used to get in the mail. They werent outdated at the time but its always funny to look back and see them talking about technology when it was still new.

By the way, speaking of magazines, if you like these ones & if you can find a copy of this for under $40, go for it. It was well worth the price.
http://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Stone-40-Years-Cover/dp/0981766005

 

[bombshoo]

I think the only magazine I read anymore is Entertainment Weekly, which I just thumb through rather than sit down and read.

Almost all my reading is either in books or online anymore.

 

[Smellincoffee]

The Sun is also a cool magazine no one has heard of. (Not the news-rag, this.)

First I've heard of it! I was enjoying that article about public profanity. Judging from the Wiki entry this is definitely one I'm going to look more in to. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[warpus]

More generally, which magazines do you read? Do you subscribe to any, read them when they're offered in public places (I use my library to read National Geographic), or pick single issues up in stores?

I pretty much only read magazines when I fly. Usually Discover and/or Scientific American.. or "Science". I think that's what it's called.

 

[Narz]

I read those skymall catalogs when I fly (it's been awhile), I marvel at all the crap they try to sell people for prices double what you could pay online, some of it is neat though.

 

[Godwynn]

The only magazine I read nowadays is The Economist. I used to read TIME, but it has gotten amazingly crappy over the past decade. I also read Highlights as a kid. I once had a subscription to PC Gamer and Nintendo Power.

When I was a kid I was always excited on Tuesday when the new issue would arrive. I'd wake up early to get it. Walk into the living room. Open the door. Get on the floor. Everybody walk the dinosaur.

 

[Narz]

Nintendo Power, I remember that one, I think it used to have another name even.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Even Reader's Digest isn't what it was. I own a lot of magazines, mostly SF-related, but nothing from recent years. I just can't afford them. When it comes to a choice of spending $$ on a single issue of a magazine, or $$ on a paperback book, I'll choose the book (almost) every time. The only exception might be a back issue of something I really, really want.

 

[Zelig]

I read Communications of the ACM - it's more professionally written than most tech news websites, and covers topics based on their actual importance rather than the number of page hits generated.

 

[Tee Kay]

I read, occasionally, the Economist, National Geographic, Cosmos, SciAm and Newscientist, as well as gardening magazines and some Thai political/current affairs magazines. I'd sit in a cafe or a takeaway or a restaurant with one of these (or a newspaper) and just sit there quietly reading for a couple of hours. I avoid "entertainment" magazines like the plague though.

My uni library has a collection of old magazines, including quite a few foreign ones, and I really enjoy going through those too.

IMHO, a good layout is key for magazines; I prefer reading a good mag than a cluttered internet page (and most internet sites do look, to me, cluttered and generally unpleasant to look at. CFC is one of the few exceptions). Another advantage of a magazine (or a physical book or newspaper) is that you really concentrate on the print material and not easily distracted by innumerable links.

Literary culture seems to have taken a big hit from the rise of television: is magazine readership stronger in countries where television isn't quite as pervasive?

Countries where television or the internet can be said to not be pervasive are usually dirt-poor with low literacy rates.