Utne Reader‘s library is abuzz with a steady flow of 1,500
magazines, newsletters, journals, weeklies, zines, and other lively
dispatches from the cultural front that are rarely found at big-box
bookstores, newsstands, or even online. So we share the highlights
(and occasional lowlights) of what’s landing in our library each
week in ‘From the Stacks.’ Check in every Friday for the latest
edition.
Anyone who’s a fan of food
writing should be reading the
Hungover
Gourmet, a Baltimore-based zine dedicated to full-flavored
tales of ‘food, drink, travel, and fun.’ The new issue (#10)
includes a lengthy guide to chicharron (fried pork skin)
offerings in Long Beach, California. Although the pork rinds are
entirely unappealing to me, it’s gratifying to see hardcore foodie
language applied to this oft-maligned snack food. Of one pork-apple
sausage-flavored brand, the reviewer writes: ‘Rich and
well-rounded, these may be a little too fancy (or ‘fruity’) for
your everyday rind-eater, but are still a welcome variation on the
classic treatment.’ In issue #9, a former employee chronicled the
demise of B’s Barbecue & Diner in Orlando, Florida. It
‘represented part of a vanishing breed,’ he writes. ‘Where can you
go nowadays for Easter breakfast and get served by a waitress with
tequila breath?’ Each issue of the Hungover Gourmet also
includes recipes and bite-size restaurant reviews submitted by
readers far and wide. — Danielle Maestretti
In Good Tilth is a
small newsprint magazine with grand ambitions. Published by the
nonprofit group Oregon
Tilth, the publication promotes organic and sustainable
agriculture through informative research and analysis of the latest
news and ideas, from the soil front to the store front. Amid the
local charm lacing each issue are potentially world-changing ideas.
In the latest issue (March/April), Susan Clark offers a ‘radical
re-thinking of social and economic values,’ including remaking
local governance into accessible units that would oversee communal
planning of sustainable land use. For Spanish readers, the paper
also features art?culos en Espa?ol. — Natalie Hudson
Green
Anarchy wants to rattle your skull and shake the
foundations of what you hold true. Arguing for opting-out of
cities, capitalism, domestication, technology, and virtually
every modern device known to man, Green Anarchy
presents theory and action with eloquent conviction. The
collection of intense writing and often disturbing imagery
might leave you questioning, as Jesse Cross-Nickerson does,
‘Can we imagine a world that is not divided between a poor
global south and a wealthy north?’ If you’re unfamiliar with
the theories of ‘primitivism’ and ‘anti-civilization,’ return
to the magazine’s earlier issues, which explain the ideas in
detail. — Natalie Hudson
As
a guy trying to cut back on his meat consumption — and getting
bored with ramen noodle soup and peanut butter sandwiches — I
found the book
101 Things To Do With Tofu by Donna Kelly and Anne
Tegtmeier just in time. The cookbook includes many vegetarian
renditions of my favorite Midwestern comfort foods (like Sloppy
Joes and casseroles) that sit nicely alongside more adventurous
dishes like tofu tika masala and Thai coconut curry. With any luck,
101 Things To Do With Tofu will help me stave off the
allure of yet another (real-meat) hamburger night. — Bennett
Gordon
The mission of
Arcade, a
Seattle-based nonprofit magazine put out by the Northwest
Architectural League, is to provide ‘an independent voice for civic
discussion’ on all things architecture. The spring issue covers
this beat well with stories on revamping the Seattle Center, the
importance of well-designed symbols (for example, how to warn
people of peanuts), and a city’s obligation to protect ‘ugly’
buildings. The latest issue also celebrates Arcade‘s 25
years of publication with an optimistic perspective on the future:
‘We’re excited to see what the next 25 years will bring.’ —
Mary O’Regan
