. . . and I’d be interested to get some feedback from our commentariat. I’m looking for something that’s reasonably priced, interesting, and generally sympathetic to conservative ideas (although not necessarily ideological). Here are the contenders:
1) The Atlantic
Pros: Great articles from a variety of different perspectives; allows me to subsidize bloggers I enjoy reading.
Cons: I’m not sure if posting articles online, free of charge, is a bad business model, but it’s definitely deterring me from getting a paid subscription.
2) Reason
Pros: A range of articles on culture and politics from a libertarian perspective.
Cons: A range of articles on culture and politics from a libertarian perspective.
3) The American Conservative
Pros: As with The Atlantic, I feel pretty guilty for enjoying The American Conservative’s stable of bloggers free of charge. I also enjoy pretty much everything that Bill Kauffman writes.
Cons: I really don’t want to subsidize Pat Buchanan.
4) The Weekly Standard
Pros: I’ve long held that skipping the blog in favor of their fantastic long-form articles is the best way to enjoy The Standard.
Cons: I really don’t want to subsidize Bill Kristol.
5) The Nation
Pros: Liberal liaisons; a smart, progressive perspective that (at least so far) hasn’t been overly solicitous of Obama.
Cons: It would take something pretty special for me to use my one magazine subscription on an explicitly liberal publication. Just sayin’.
If I wasn’t a marginally-employed twenty-something, I’d probably subscribe to all five. Resources being scarce, however, I’m only going to choose one. I’m also notoriously indecisive, so feel free to throw out your own suggestions in comments. Note to editors seeking favorable reviews from a hip Internet taste-maker: my email address can be found under the “contact” section.
Will Truman 
Patrick Cahalan 
Cornelius 
wardsmith 
Tod Kelly 
Tom Van Dyke 
Murali 
James Hanley 
Borat: “I do a picture, only small, of the Tishnik Masacre. Where many Uzbeks…crushed!”
Kindly Gray Hippie: “How did you feel when you drew this?”
Borat: “Very proud!”.
KGH: “I’m just listening with sadness…a little sadness for your people…?”
Borat: “Yes…no, it is not sad. It is us who do the kill!”
When in doubt,
{ 39 comments }
I say go with the Atlantic. I subscribe and it really is easier to read their longer articles in magazine form. Plus, their stuff really is worth paying for even if you can get it free. And I bet that it exposes you to fewer odious direct-mail lists just by virtue of being non-ideological.
Concur entirely with Dan. I’m also a subscriber, like having the mobility of reading the longer articles at my disposal and supporting the Atlantic in the time of a crumbling media industry.
Another place that does really good long-form journalism is the New Yorker, which is also worth subscribing to. Pretty sure they don’t give away the whole mag online either.
I just assumed that Will already subscribed to the New Yorker since it wasn’t on the list. If he hasn’t, then that should be the subscription choice. The New Yorker is, hands down, the best publication in the country.
Dan and Sonny -
So you guys would take the New Yorker over any of these other publications? I left it off the list because I’m looking for something a bit more political (for lack of a better word), but maybe I should reconsider . . .
It’s a bit of a tough call, but yeah, the New Yorker wins this one. And the front sections (“Talk of the Town”) generally has at least one explicitly political article which is always worth reading.
I mean, TWS could probably use the business more…but The New Yorker is, week-in, week-out, the best publication in the country. It’s the only magazine I read cover-to-cover every week.*
*Not counting the fiction, because I don’t read much fiction in general.
Agree on the New Yorker. I would also consider looking at smaller press magazines (Stop Smiling, Diner Journal, The Art Of Eating, Geez, to name a few I have subscribed to) which have the advantage of bringing you things you won’t have read on the net anyway.
It’s a tempting option, to be sure. And I do want the Atlantic to stay in business. But damnit, why are they giving away their articles for free?
Because they’re worth paying for, and you should pay for them. My dead-trees-and-ink subscription to The Atlantic is about out but I’m now getting it on my Kindle. Worth every penny.
I’m obviously biased towards option four, so take this with a grain of salt: Instead of thinking of it as subsidizing Bill Kristol, realize you’re subsidizing Labash and Messenger (and Andy Ferguson and, to a lesser extent since he’s all over the place anyway, Chris Caldwell). Bill’s always going to land on his feet, but the market for intelligent, long form journalism is small and shrinking by the day. (The print edition also looks pretty good in comparison to the web, especially with regard to those longer pieces.) The Atlantic would be my second choice … though I let my subscription lapse a while back, and haven’t really missed it.
I pretty much agree with all of this. Another reason I’m leaning towards the Standard is their eclecticism; I really can’t think of too many other outlets that would publish a (great) cover story on cocktails.
Also true. The Standard’s arts section is always an interesting (and eclectic) read as well: This week they have people writing on Gothic architecture, Woodstock, the life of Merce Cunningham, and Inglourious Basterds, among other topics. Most of that stuff stays behind the pay wall, making a subscription actually worth purchasing…
I was overjoyed to follow the link to Atlantic bloggers and land on James Fallows’ page.
My vote goes to “The Atlantic.”
A second choice would be the progressive “Harper’s.”
Harper’s isn’t a bad thought, but isn’t it a quarterly publication or something?
Monthly. 2 yrs/$26.97 plus access to the complete archive.
Think I’ll get one for myself; made the recommendation based on news-stand purchases now and then.
The “Readings” section of Harper’s is always interesting. Short essays juxtaposed with interview transcriptions and art. It’s worth checking out a newsstand copy to see if you like it. Their cover articles can be hit or miss for me, but I usually like their reviews section. And their Index is always a bunch of fun. (Just don’t confuse it with Harper’s Bazaar, which is rather different.)
One comment I recently made to someone (not sure where) is that even the best blog posts will usually only nudge my opinions in a certain direction. Long form articles will sometimes change my thinking for years.
I have a solution – ask for subscriptions to magazines as Christmas and/or birthday presents. One year at any of these mags is fairly cheap, a good gift price. Then you have a few months to try them all out.
Also, most of these offer trial subscriptions for two or three issues. That may give you a chance to decide…
I’d say Atlantic though I’ve never quite forgiven them for taking their fiction out of the monthlies. Weekly Standard is very good despite Kristol, as is TAC despite Buchanan. Funny how that works.
Another good one is the New Yorker. Excellent writing.
I third the New Yorker. That’s a spectacularly easy call.
http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/
You will be amazed.
Don’t keep it in the bathroom. You’ll sit down for one reason or another and not get up again for an hour.
Atlantic is the class publication in that list. American Conservative isn’t bad, but Buchanan and, more generally, the totally reflexive anti-immigrant and anti-Israel postitioning are turnoffs. As for the Weekly Standard, anyone considering that pro-torture rag in the same context as the other publications needs his head – and moral compass – examined.
Sheldon -
I’m as Kristol-averse as anyone, but you should check out the Weekly Standard articles I link to above – they really do publish some great stuff.
I’m with everyone who said The New Yorker trumps all of those. However, after that I’d say The Atlantic. The writing there is consistently excellent.
The New Yorker is a no brainer — cheap, superb writing most of the time. Only arguments against: too liberal – but usually not in a screechy sense. Liberal in the good sense of liberality, eg. a recent sympathetic profile of Michael Savage. Maybe that’s a bad example! New York Review of Books is also excellent. But my sense is that you want to be closer to the political muck, in which case, the Atlantic or Harpers might be better. Lapham’s Quarterly is a nice idea but it’s a little frustrating — just snippets of wisdom from various sources over the centuries, without context or argument. Good for the bathroom.
Sorry, Will, but a smug, smirking, and deeply deranged Kristol totally corrupts any publication associated with him. Add a buffoon like Fred Barnes to the mix and you couldn’t pay this reader to pick up the Standard even to throw it away.
Will:
Two points. One:
Salve that guilt by buying a newsstand copy once or twice a year. Bonus is, you can spread the wealth around to all the mags you list instead of just the one you subscribe to.
Point the Second:
If you’re going to read something “generally sympathetic to conservative ideas,” you really need to read Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture anyway. Real-deal paleo-conservatives.
jfxgillis –
I’m wading into murky waters here, but doesn’t Chronicles have a reputation of playing host to some real nutjobs?
Will:
Sure. But that doesn’t seem to bother you with respect to other mags you listed. To be perfectly honest, “American Conservative” is simply a Chronicles knock-off for a more general audience. Both Taki and Buchanan write for both, iirc.
And you get Andrei Navrozov on occasion in Chronicles.
I subscribed to Chronicles last year and let the prescription lapse. Mostly one trick ponies. There’s absolutely no engagement with the current political scene.
Agree with the folks above: the New Yorker is a no-brainer.
What’s wrong with the Economist? Don’t you want to subsidize Julian Sanchez?
My roommate already has a subscription; otherwise, I’d definitely add it to the list.
The only option here where you’ll get perspectives that aren’t essentially saturated into the media environment already is TAC. The Atlantic has descended into utterly predictable cw-peddling. Reason? Well, if that’s you bag… And the second you see Katrina vanden Huevel’s face on TV, don’t you instantaneously know what she is going to say? (Granted, supporting Jeremy Scahill’s reporting would be a worthy justification of sending the dollars that way. From a willing free-rider’s perspective, however, I believe most of his reporting is available free.)
Only with The American Conservative will you get an unpredictable, eclectic assortment of views not broadly available elsewhere. The bloggers’ work is available free, but many or most articles are not. Also, I believe Pat Buchanan has largely separated himself from the magazine.
I sound like a shill, but this is my true view. I’m far from sympathetic to most views expressed in TAC, but from among those you mention (indeed, from among nearly all public-affairs publications), this is clearly the best value when considering a subscription.
That reads like copy for a TV ad; deep voice over needed.
The Atlantic is worth reading for two authors/bloggers: Fallows and Sullivan. McArdle is an embarrassment to any serious political or economic thinker, Coates spends a lot of time playing a variety of riffs on the “I don’t want to play the racial victim, but…” theme, coupled with some of the laziest English in any respectable publication, while Ambinder offers soggy centrism for your delight. Reason is glibertarian pablum, even by the low standards of the modern libertarian. If you want mediocre fiction, surely you can buy a copy of Ayn Rand secondhand? The Weekly Standard offers nothing constructive, and you can predict that it will only get more snarlingly reactionary as time goes by. The American Conservative is slightly more interesting, but again, hardly original. As for your take on the Nation – isn’t it the case that the one magazine you need is the one that will challenge your views, rather than simply reinforcing you as you hunker down in your comfort zone? Or are you afraid that your arguments might not be quite as strong as you believe?
I read plenty of commentators who don’t share my views, thank you very much. As far as long form journalism is concerned, however, I’m interested in a publication that is at least sympathetic to conservative ideas.
But do you want Paleocon? Crunchy con? Cheney Con? Sullivan Con? Libertarian Default Con? What sort of “conservative” ideas are you looking for? Are we looking more at George H. W. or George W?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
You’ll come for the Goofus and Gallant, you’ll stay for the Hidden Pictures.
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