Magazines

I am not posting any book reviews this week, as I have not read any recently that warrant the effort. I subscribe to no daily newspapers, but get two weekly magazines online and two monthlies. So I am just posting my musings about those, not as any kind of academic assessment, but as a tentative guide to what some readers, if at all like me, might expect to get from them.

The Atlantic: (online, monthly). This very informative magazine has a distinctive U.S. focus, but covers some international topics in each issue. The publishers maintained a strict neutrality with respect to coverage of U.S. politics until the Trump era, and then carefully explained why they came to overtly oppose his agenda. Long reviews and opinion pieces cover diverse topics from changing race relations, gender issues, and income inequality, to background in-depth analysis of historical trends, often with unique perspectives. The poetry and fiction stories, often written by creative writing gurus frequently leave me confused and disappointed. The book reviews are often very lengthy and some of the books chosen will be of very limited interest. But I usually read most of each issue, and learn a lot.

The Economist: (online weekly). As befits economists, this extensively researched magazine with a British flavour follows an unvarying format, starting with the very-up-to-date section called The World This Week that reports world news from as late as 24 hours before publication. That is followed by Leaders, Letters, United States, The America’s, Asia, China, Middle East and Africa, Europe, Britain, International, Business, Finance and Economics, Science and Technology, Books and Literature, Financial Indicators, and an Obituary, always in the same order. If you are interested in the challenges facing dictators anywhere in the world, the trends in the economy of any country, or the latest scientific discoveries, you are likely to find relevant information here. There are abundant, sometimes contrived, charts and graphs, and, as one would expect, a lot of predictions. The writers seem fond of quoting members of various think tanks but seldom reveal the inevitable biases of the thinkers. Political leaders and parties are invariably described as being somewhere on the right/left axis, as though that somewhat outdated distinction explains where they stand on every issue. There is never any doubt that economic growth measured by such figures as the GDP is the acme of human achievement. And some of the science and technology described is so complex, especially if it involves astronomy, that I despair of ever understanding it. Given the poor track record of economists in predicting anything, the frequent predictions need to be regarded with enlightened scepticism. I can’t declare that I read it cover-to-cover, but I may get through 75% and I enjoy reading it. There are rarely any spelling, grammar, or syntax errors, although I am jarred by oft-used “But although”, which seems to me to be a redundancy.

Harpers: (monthly, paper, not sure why I don’t get the e-edition). It is unabashedly iconoclastic and critical of mainstream political and philosophical trends (some would label its focal point as ‘far-left’). I enjoy the contrarian essays as a counterbalance to some group-think ideas taken as the gospel truth not to be questioned, in other publications. It’s reports are perhaps less research-based conclusions, and more an appeal to use careful logic to reach sound conclusions about all manner of social ills, political issues and day-to-day problems. The iconic one page Index masterfully shows the absurd inconsistencies and unintended consequences of a great variety of political actions and laws as well as our daily capacity to make irrational decisions. The last page, Findings, documents some very bizarre conclusions from the world of science, including all of the social sciences. The artwork on display is often abstract and leaves me unimpressed. I probably only read about half of most issues.

The New Yorker: (online, weekly). O.K. skip the first few pages, Goings On About Town, detailing the latest shows, night life possibilities, dining fads, art exhibitions, etc, unless you live in NYC or are planning a trip there. Designed carefully to appeal to urban liberals, the long essays on politics, social issues, and science discoveries are very informative and well researched. I am concerned that the recent endless Trump bashing may be helping him label the facts as fake news and thereby appeal to his base- he probably regards any negative publicity from his fellow privileged wealthy urbanites as an asset. The famous cartoons are scattered throughout the articles and some are hilarious. The choices for long book reviews often puzzle me, but I start in to all of them anyway, looking for hidden treasures. The poems and fiction pieces seldom appeal to me, even with the option of listening to the author’s read them. I probably read an average of 60 % of most issues.

Which magazine would I give up if time constraints dictated less reading? Probably Harpers. But I would still read at least the Index and Findings in each library copy. I suppose I could give up all of my subscriptions and just take up residence in the library.