what are some of your favorite ~*print*~ magazine subscriptions? lifestyle, food, culture… asking for a friend but also for myself 👀

Question

Khaki · Answer

The Gentlewoman: I’m always transported to a world of luxurious creativity when I have one of these magazines in my hands. The first one I ever purchased was from this past spring and solange was on the cover. The way she conducts herself and designs her life is incredibly inspiring. High quality publication with women at the center of it all!

Meredith Mitchell · Answer

Mother Tongue: Mother Tongue is a biannual print magazine that interrogates (and celebrates) modern motherhood through inclusive stories about art, sex, pop culture, politics, food and a few things in between.

It’s not about kids or how to parent them: it’s about the nuanced lives we are living—as mothers, and much more.

The magazine is edited by co-founders Melissa Goldstein and Natalia Rachlin and designed by creative director Vanessa Saba.

Nina · Answer

🧐 Monocle magazine, my precious: Arty friends turned me onto this 10(?) years ago and I alternate between thrusting the current issue into the hands of friends and strangers or hoarding them like grandma hoarded National Geographics. It covers absolutely everything from politics to art to architecture to food to fashion but it’s got a secret “good vibes only” approach that I just really cherish.

even*cleveland · Answer

The World of Interiors: Everyone needs one (relatively) easy-to-find print media treat, and WOI is mine. Reading it is akin to eating marzipan—delectable and best savored slowly, in small bites. If I lived the sort of life where I had my own light-filled library filled with rare treasures, I’d make room for Min Hogg-edited back issues of WOI because they are stuffed with beautiful things to look at, and the sort of casually erudite writing that makes me wish I read Ancient Greek and knew off-hand the ins-and-outs of various 18th-century porcelain manufactory practices.

Nora Rev · Answer

Foreign Affairs Magazine: Ok so yes I’m on the masthead, but listen! Iconic century-old publication that offers deep context for WTF is going on in the world in a way that somehow manages to feel more interesting than stressful. Also, all our product design is reader-centric: good paper stock, house-designed font in a readable size, minimal ads. FA is one of those niche publications that’s like a secret club— crack it open on the train and you WILL get the nod from other readers.

eva h · Answer

Yankee Magazine

eva h · Answer

a garden & gun subscription: i have never been disappointed in a g&g recipe for food or bev. those pimiento cheese wontons are calling to me, think they’re up next to try.

even*cleveland · Answer

London Review of Books: Just ever-so-slightly better (and more fun to read) than the NYR, which sets a high bar (they share quite a few of the same authors, so I think the difference must be down to the editors: there's a little more dry wit and wry amusement in the LRB's approach, but just as much intellect and ambition). I keep stacks of the print copies for reference.

even*cleveland · Answer

Harper’s Magazine: One of the best deals in journalism; front of book is always an inimitable assortment of excerpts, and the core articles are ambitious + thought-provoking.

even*cleveland · Answer

Stack magazine subscription: If you love magazines, a subscription to Stack is a dream come true, because even if you are lucky enough to live near an excellent newsstand (vanishingly rare), Steve Watson (the founder, and maybe the kindest person working in the magazine realm) has a gift for sourcing and surfacing beautiful and thoughtful publications from all over the world, often way before anyone else is paying attention to them or when a long-timer publishes something that merits fresh eyes. (He's transformed the fate of more than one small pub, giving it the lift needed to survive to future issues.) Steve reads a bonkers amount of magazines (what I wouldn't give for a day to browse the storage unit where he keeps his personal magazine collection ...) and it is fascinating to see what he chooses. And if you can't afford a subscription, the archive of all the magazines Stack has sent out is its own intriguing discovery tool.

Side Projects · Answer

Macguffin Magazine: Each issue jumps of from  a specific thing (the log, the chain, the desk, the ball, most recently the mirror) and the articles and photo essays are all digressions, reflections, and artistic renderings of its different resonances.

It’s always surprising what they include, and I always learn something new! Great if you love rabbit holes and fun facts and obscure details.

Mari · Answer

Honest History: It’s geared towards kids but I have learned so much from it! (Did you know the world’s first hospital was built in Baghdad?) Beautiful illustrations and uplifting little-known stories make it a pleasure to read. And no ads!

Lisa · Answer

Konfekt Magazine: Analog only guide to pretending you summer in the south of France.