General Excellence - Magazines
Mother Jones
After an excellent year in 1999, this venerable bimonthly keeps getting better. The San Francisco–based Mother Jones is one of the best chronicles of American life (and its discontents) now on the newsstand.
$18/yr.(6 issues) from Box 334, Mt. Morris, IL 61054; 800/438-6656; www.motherjones.com
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General Excellence - Zines
Punk Planet
You don’t have to love punk rock to be drawn into the orbit of Chicago’s Punk Planet, a bimonthly that features a wild array of articles on music, politics, the micro-press scene, and the do-it-yourself revolution now sweeping the land. $18/yr. (6 issues) from Vital Music Mailorder, Box 210, New York, NY 10276; 773/784-9774;
www.punkplanet.com
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General Excellence - Newsletters
The Hightower Lowdown
Radio populist Jim Hightower is known for being equal parts witty and scathing—the volatile blend that also fuels The Hightower Lowdown, the nation’s only monthly update on political folly and corporate excess that’s funny and inflammatory in the same breath. $15/yr. (12 issues) from Box 10011, New York, NY 10114-1151; www.jimhightower.com
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Reporting Excellence
Audubon
If you like your nature writing based in fact rather than sentimentality, the bi-monthly Audubon, from the National Audubon Society, is a great source of well crafted, carefully reported articles on environmental issues. $35/yr. membership (6 issues) from Box 52529, Boulder, CO 80322; 800/274-4201; magazine.audubon.org
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Writing Excellence
The American Scholar
Ever thoughtful, never precious, The American Scholar, a Washington-based quarterly largely dedicated to essays and memoirs, proves once again that the life of the mind and mastery of the pen need not be separate careers. $25/yr. (4 issues) from 1785 Massachusetts Av. NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20036; 800/821-4567; www.pbk.org/americanscholar.htm
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Design Excellence
Orion
Striking an elegant balance between art and text, with a special emphasis on photography, Orion, a national quarterly dedicated to the Orion Society’s call for the "humane stewardship" of nature, is as much a joy to look at as it is to read. $30/yr. membership (8 issues) from 195 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230; 888/909-6568; www.oriononline.org
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Local/Regional Coverage
The Stranger
An arts and entertainment weekly stuffed with everything under the Seattle sun—at least when it shines—The Stranger does honor to the hallowed, irreverent, and just slightly sleazy tradition of the hip hometown tabloid. $59.99/yr. (52 issues) from 1535 11th Ave., Third Floor, Seattle, WA 98122-3934; 206/323-7101 www.thestranger.com
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Spiritual Coverage
Shambhala Sun
A handsome magazine of Buddhist practice and culture, Shambhala Sun never fears to venture into politics, psychology, and any other field where Buddha’s noble truths can shed light on contemporary reality. $24/yr. (6 issues) from 1345 Spruce St., Boulder, CO 80302; 902/422-8404; www.shambhalasun.com |