Linda recently estimated that we subscribe to about fifty magazines and journals. Magazines are the great bargain of publishing; at $15/year, it makes sense to subscribe even if you only occasionally find something useful.

The New Yorker

For years, talking about the New Yorker has been an exercise in "it's not what it was."

It isn't.

But there are still interesting bits and pieces. Auletta, Gopnick, Lahr. The cartoons.

The Atlantic Monthly

Wonderful essays, wonderful writing. I'll miss Phoebe Adams' short book reviews; you don't realize how much you depend on the little features until someone retires.
Harpers See The Atlantic. Nowadays, the strengths of these two magazines are identical. The weaknesses (Atlantic lifestyling for the rich, Harpers outtakes from smaller magazines) don't matter.
The Nation We started subscribing because Eastgate's print czar, Eric, likes it. Refreshing doses of good old lefty roughouse, a nice reminder of what politics should be rather than what it is. Remember when there were real Democrats?
Birding The best birding magazine. Peter Dunne alone is worth the price of admission. Yes, some of the topics are esoteric ("Systematics of the Marbled Murrellet," or "A Closer Look at the Spectacled Eider"). The monthly photo quiz is a nice reminder of how much there is to learn.
Birders' World Nice photos. Nice travel tips.
Double Take Linda's favorite photography.
Communications Arts Linda subscribed for the photography, and dropped it for Double Take. I got hooked for the design news.
American Artist A magazine about American representational painting, useful for how-to's and, occasionally, for inspiration. Appeals chiefly, I think, to the wannabe and "isn't that a pretty lighthouse" crowd, who for years were the only people interested in realism. Now that realism is fashionable, caught in a bind between real work and sentiment, and saddled with a readership that thinks nudes are dangerously avant garde.
Scientific American

Bathroom reading.

The gradual decline of Scientific American leaves an interesting opportunity for a Web magazine that would cover science and engineering for scientists and engineers. Scientific American assumes a level of literacy that's just too low, and no longer dares to challenge readers.

Communications of the ACM

Once indispensable and archival, now rarely worth a glance. Dumbed down to the level of BYTE, and dropping fast.

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