Favorite Magazines (past and present)...
 

What are your favorite magazines currently and which ones did you enjoy in the past that either you lost interest in for some reason or is no longer published?

My two current favorite magazines are Men's Health and 2600.

Men's Health has tons of short and to-the-point articles and info so I can read it in whatever time I have available whether its 30 seconds or 30 minutes. And it passes the acid test: I keep the old ones. I think its the best "guy" mag out there.

2600 is a hacker mag and I don't understand about half of it (I'm not really interested in actually hacking anything) but its very interesting. Its also very political and while its very liberal, I find much common ground in its positions against government intrusion. Its only the 2nd mag I have ever subscibed to (only because its hard to find - not available anywhere and tends to sell out quickly).

Growing up, I read Omni religiously but, around 1980 or so, it went the way of Albert Bell so I quit reading it.

The old Sports Afield was great, before it was co-opted by a bunch of whiny, latte-sipping city boys.

Speaking of that, my latte's ready.

Past: Omni

Present: Skeptic

I always thought that Skeptical Inquirer did a better job than Skeptic, although I haven't looked at the latter in a couple years ...

Whistleblower
America's First Freedom
Woman's Outlook

past? Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ... oh, and Omni, before the UFOnuts took over ... and Scientific American. (I still buy a SciAm from time to time, but don't subscribe any longer.)

a blast from my past
 

When I was in Junior High School, I would pick up the Scientific American magazines at my friend's house. They were not his, but his dad's. I was always intrigued by their descriptions of how stuff works, and the broad range of topics meant that there was something (or two) each month that really interested me. I found that I could always read the introductions and opening parts of all the articles, and the conclusions but most of the time the heavy duty math or biology or whatever in the middle was just so far over my head that I would skim ahead to the end or the next article.

I kept up with SciAm through the years with various subscriptions, though it's lapsed at the moment. I am pleased that I can read the magazine now cover to cover and understand all of it, even if I can't "do the math". I can follow what is discussed and it gives me a satisfying sense of understanding about some things that I would probably never have come across.

Some of my favorite parts of the magazine were the mathematical puzzles at the end by Martin Gardner--they always kicked my ass. I have solved only a handful in over 25 years. Speaking of years, the other favorite part is the section titled "Scientific American -- 25, 50 and 100 years ago" (the timeframe changed as there was more history to cover). They would have a paragraph for a given story from the magazine from 100 years ago! It was really cool to hear about Thomas Edison's "newfangled" light bulb or whatever. Once in a while there would be an editor's note drawing attention to some stark contrast, like, radium is not used for tooth fillings anymore :eek: .

Maybe for my birthday I'll have my subscription renewed. I could stand to learn a few things.

tach it up!
 

Car and Driver

Brock Yates and crew drove all the rigs I wanted to! There were considerable vicarious g-forces enjoyed as I roared through those pages! I think this is where I learned what four wheel drift was.

Road & Track

Far more studious than Car and Driver, R&T had exceptional statistics and, better still, applied the same metrics to all the cars they tested so I had DOCUMENTATION for which car would whip yer ass, cause I had both issues in which they were reviewed. By the way, for the longest time, I lusted after the Lamborghini Countach. Those crazy doors, and I'm only talkin about the ones before the S model with all the glued on plastic bodywork. Look like they drove through Pep Boys with a magnet. Ewww.

Motor Trend

Boring, but I was obsessive in my desire to know everything about the cars, and this let me cross reference what I'd read in the other mags.

I used to buy Entertainment Weekly and eat it over lunch during the 90s. It was exactly what a popular culture magazine should be. Don't know if it still is.

"read" it over lunch, rite? :greenface

I used to have a pile of SciAms from the 60s ... Had to ditch them in a move before there was ebay. (I had a complete set of Omni from issue one through about the next five or six years also.)

I really hate moving.

Heh. I don't remember if I just wanted to be colorful with that word, or if it was just a simple mistaek.

I'll go with the color.

Transworld -Skateboarding was better than
Thrasher - but i read them both in my younger years
Maxim - when it first came out
George - for a short time

i don't read any these days, i don't even know what is on the market.

I used to get SciAm but. I dunno... I cancelled it because it just wasn't interesting anymore.

I currently get the New York Review of Books, Premiere, and Maxim. It is possible that I'm the only individual who subscribes to all three of these publications.

SciAm and more
 

Access to the whole library of past issues is available to subscribers of the Digital Edition of SciAm. Talk about information overload!

Your mention of collections reminded me that I also avidly read and reread Heavy Metal. I have several years worth in binders from Vol 1 Issue 1. Dunno if there's some ebay value to them. They've been read, but lovingly so. Especially the ones with the naked robots.

Naked, oh yeah. Who can forget National Porno--I mean--GEOgraphic? Ok, I really liked the stories about the animals too. Some of the most conisistently IN-credible photography ever.

I subscribed to Outdoor Photographer for several years, as well. When Galen ...Rowell (i think) died, i kind of lost interest. his photos and articles were always the best.

mad magazine
fungus boy
fangoria
national geographic (mmm)
can we count comic books? is so!
new mutants
flaming carrot
the tick
tnmt (before they god kidified)
beautiful stories for ugly children
x-men (pre issue 300.. damn if you can find it issue 152 is a f*cking riot for long time readers)
green lantern
and i do loves me some batman!