We’ve pored through our old issues, a towering stack going back to February 1984, and tabulated the 100 publications we’ve cited most often through the years. We’re happy to report that 82 of these great reads are still in business. (The final issue date of those dearly departed is listed in parentheses.)
1. The Nation
America’s oldest weekly magazine, delivering a progressive perspective on politics, the arts, and social currents since 1865. (New York)
2. In These Times
A national biweekly with smart coverage of international affairs, labor, social movements, electoral politics and popular culture from a left-of-center vantage point. (Chicago)
3. The Village Voice
The original urban alternative weekly, the Voice has helped shape American culture through six decades with its authoritative views on music, film, politics, feminism, gay culture, and life in New York City. (New York)
4. The Progressive
Kindling the flame of progressive populism since 1909, this monthly offers investigative reporting mixed with incisive commentary on the events of the day. (Madison, Wisconsin)
5. Mother Jones
Strong writing, stirring photography, and dogged investigative reporting characterize this politically-engaged progressive magazine. (San Francisco)
6. The New Republic
A centrist political journal from Washington, D.C. with occasionally excellent coverage of cultural issues–both the arts and what goes on day-to-day in American life. (Washington, DC)
7. The New Age
A smart and well-written magazine that charts innovations and inspirations in the realm of spirituality, community, health, and personal growth. (Boston)
8. East-West/Natural Health
All the latest in natural healing, nutrition, and wellness. (Boston)
9. L.A. Weekly
A chronicle of life in L.A., with a keen eye for the amazing ethnic and cultural diversity of this sprawling city. (Los Angeles)
10. Rolling Stone
The latest trends in music, entertainment, and youth culture with an occasional hard-hitting report on social issues and politics. (New York)
11. Ms.
The longtime voice of the feminist movement, Ms. Magazine offers comprehensive coverage of issues and ideas important to women around the world. (New York)
12. Whole Earth Review
A rich sampling of bright new ideas and far-reaching visions drawn from sources way outside the mainstream culture. (Marin County, California)
13. Harper’s Magazine
A 150-year-old pillar of publishing that regularly offers some of the freshest and unashamedly alternative thinking around. (New York)
14. The Guardian (1992)
A leftist American weekly that offered an alternative perspective on the news for more than four decades. (New York)
15. Pacific News Service
A unique gathering of opinion articles that frequently dispute the conventional wisdom of left, right, center as well as the middle-class and middle-aged. (San Francisco)
16. American Demographics
A mainstream business journal chock full of surprising information about Americans: Who we are. How we live. What we do. (Stamford, CT.)
17. The New Internationalist
Penetrating portraits of life around the word, especially the developing world, delivered in an accessible, heartfelt style. (Toronto and Oxford, England)
18. Z Magazine
Probing leftist analysis of national, international, and social issues. (Boston)
19. The Boston Phoenix
One of the nation’s oldest alternative weeklies stands out for political reporting, arts criticism and coverage of the changing currents of Americans’ everyday lives. (Boston)
20. Sojourners
Politics, culture and community from a deep and radical Christian perspective. (Washington, DC)
21. World Watch & Worldwatch Institute Papers
In-depth and factual coverage of global environmental and economics trends from a respected green think tank. (Washington, DC)
22. New Statesman
A venerable journal of politics and the arts that offers a window seat on all the goings-on in English life and excellent coverage of the rest of the world, too. (London)
23. Resurgence
A lovely English magazine devoted to holistic thinking, green politics, spiritual discovery, community revitalization, artistic exploration, and the simple wisdom that bigger is not always better. (Devon, England)
24. Washington Monthly
A lively neo-liberal political magazine that manages to be quite radical with its insistence that government programs and business practices serve the public good. (Washington, DC)
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW, 4th Floor
25. San Francisco Bay Guardian
A feisty alternative weekly that keeps close tabs on blossoming cultural, political, and social developments in the Bay Area. (San Francisco)
26. Mothering
Everything parents need to know offered in heartfelt personal essays from other parents; the soul and spirit of child raising gets attention here along with the science and psychology. (Santa Fe)
27. Extra
All the news about what’s left out of the news from a respected media watchdog organization. (New York)
28. Dollars and Sense
A common sense approach to economic issues written in a way that everyday people–precisely those who are now left out of political decision making about economics–can understand. (Boston)
29. The Atlantic Monthly
Thoughtful reports and reflections on all sorts of subjects from a not-exactly-alternative but still interesting magazine. (Boston)
30. The Sun
A gathering of delightfully-written personal essays, most of them about small subjects that have far greater impact on our lives than the big news on the front page. (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
31. New York Review of Books
In-depth intellectual explorations of literature, politics, and history. (New York)
32. Common Cause (1996)
A voice for reform in our political system, we need a stimulating magazine like this now more than ever. (Washington, DC)
33. Environmental Action (1996)
Environmental activism, from grassroots campaigns to Capitol Hill, was the focus of this publication. (Washington, DC)
34. In Context/Yes!
The good news about creative, inspiring grassroots efforts to find answers to the problems of society through work on the local scale in communities across the world. (Seattle)
35. Harrowsmith/Country Life (1996)
A splendidly-written, well-reported, richly-illustrated magazine that explored all aspects of life in the American countryside. (Charlotte, Vermont)
36. Tikkun
Culture, spirituality, and politics from a progressive Jewish perspective, but with rewards for readers of all faiths. (San Francisco)
37. The Futurist
Arresting visions and provocative ideas about what tomorrow holds in store published by the World Future Society (Bethesda, Maryland)
38. Not Man Apart/ Earth Focus
Environmental news and views from Friends of the Earth. (Washington, DC)
39. Multinational Monitor
News and analysis about how multinational corporations’ treat people and ecosystems around the world from a group (founded by Ralph Nader) that’s been monitoring the global economy long before it became a high-profile political movement. (Washington, DC)
40. New Scientist
Smart and witty analysis of all that goes on in the name of science, with an open mind about theories and beliefs that challenge the empirical status quo. (London)
41. Family Therapy Networker
The inner life of America seen through the eyes of family therapists, with insights (and exceptionally good writing) for all of us. (Washington, D.C.)
42. Technology Review
From MIT, an accessible magazine covering all arenas of technological pursuit that is not afraid to sometimes ask tough questions about the point of it all. (Boston)
43. Cultural Survival Quarterly
A voice for all the indigenous cultures struggling to find a place in an increasingly technological, Westernized world. (Boston)
44. Earth Island Journal
Packed with news about environmental issues all over the globe, this exciting magazine is not afraid to raise radical questions about what we’re doing to the planet Earth. (San Francisco)
45. This Magazine
Zeroing in on Canada’s political and cultural currents, this magazine consistently excels at shedding new light on important matters. (Toronto)
46. New Options (1991)
A bold, refreshing newsletter that prodded activists of all stripes to rethink some of their most dearly-held assumptions, and introduced many of the insights of holistic thinking into the political debate. (Washington, DC)
47. Orion
A gorgeous, lyrical celebration of the natural world filled with ideas and strategies about how to protect it from rampant destruction. (Great Barrington, Massachusetts)
48. The American Spectator
Trenchant and often witty commentary on American life from a firm (yet playful) conservative point-of-view. (Washington DC)
49. Granta
The editors here almost single-handedly reinvented the whole idea of a literary periodical, from a musty journal to an exciting chronicle of how the world is remaking itself anew. (London)
50. City Pages
This Minneapolis-St. Paul newsweekly looks beyond the usual alternative weekly focus on young hipsters in order to tell stories about all kinds of people all across town. (Minneapolis)
51. Spy magazine (1998)
For better or worse, Spy transformed magazine journalism in the early ’90s with its dazzling cleverness and absolute genius in packaging information in entertaining new ways. (New York)
52. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The paramount issues of war, peace, and human survival get detailed and compelling coverage in this remarkably important magazine. (Chicago)
53. E magazine
Up-to-date coverage on the greening of America, with equal emphasis on big-picture political issues and what folks can do on the local level. (Westport, Connecticut)
54. New Perspectives Quarterly
An ambitious survey of bold new ideas from many of the world’s most creative thinkers. (Los Angeles)
55. Vermont Vanguard Press (1990)
A politically engaged weekly chronicling Vermont at exactly the time it was being transformed into America’s most progressive state. (Burlington, Vermont)
56. Boston Review
A political and literary forum with a superb track record of addressing the biggest questions of our times in an engaging and thorough way. (Boston)
57. Dissent
A leftist political journal offering thoughtful analysis of key issues of the day. (New York)
58. Medical Self-Care (1990)
A fact-filled magazine that showed steps you can take to keep yourself healthy. (San Francisco)
59. Yoga Journal
More than just poses and mantras, this well-written magazine introduces you to whole new realms of holistic living. (Boston)
60. Gay Community News (1999)
Comprehensive coverage of all facets of gay and lesbian life without the slick sensibility of a later generation of publications. (Boston)
61. Columbia Journalism Review
Keeps an eagle eye on what’s happening–both good and bad–in the American media. (New York)
62. National Catholic Reporter
The church, American society, and the world from a progressive Catholic perspective. (Kansas City)
63. Rock and Rap Confidential
A smart and sassy newsletter bubbling with strong opinions about pop music’s role in the world, plus a great tip sheet for hot new music. (Los Angeles)
64. Mother Earth News
Everything you need to know about living on the land. (New York)
65. Outside
The great outdoors in all its glory–the thrills, the spills, the gear, the activism. (Santa Fe)
66. 7 Days (1990)
The Village Voice’s interesting attempt to fashion an alternative newsweekly for upscale thirty- and forty-somethings. (New York)
67. Psychology Today
A journey to the center of your mind and soul. (New York)
68. DoubleTake
Capitalizing on superb photography and some of the best writing anywhere, this ambitious journal shows us the America that the mass media is to busy to ever notice. (Boston)
69. Shambhala Sun
A finely-produced guide for anyone on a spiritual journey; Buddhism is its base but the insights will ring true for almost everyone. (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
70. Northern Lights
A literary and local culture journal almost as breathtaking as the Northern Rocky Mountain region it covers. (Missoula, Montana)
71. Nutrition Action
Everything you ever wanted to know about eating right, with considerable investigative reporting on what food companies don’t want you to know. (Washington, DC)
72. Chicago Reader
An alternative newsweekly famous for its in-depth reporting on the subjects–both great and small–that make Chicago a town like no other. (Chicago)
73. Vegetarian Times
The joy of soy, veggies, grains, fruit, nuts, and legumes. (Stamford, Connecticut)
74. Sierra
More than a century old, this lovely-to-look-at magazine chronicles the ongoing battle to preserve wilderness and protect our environment. (San Francisco)
75. National Review
A stalwart of American conservatism, this highly opinionated biweekly loves to debunk prevailing wisdom about all aspects of modern life. (New York)
76. Interview
The oversized fashion and celebrity magazine that spawned a whole wave of graphically-daring arts publications (New York)
77. The Ecologist
Hard-hitting and thoughtful inquiries into the root causes of our environmental crisis, and what needs to be done to be done to save our planet. (London)
78. Isthmus
A lively and well-reported weekly monitoring events in one of America’s most alternative and interesting communities. (Madison, Wisconsin)
79. Processed World (1993)
The champion of temp workers everywhere, this feisty journal described life on the frontlines of the new economy with humor, with anger, and with a clear sense that low-wage office workers deserve a better deal. (San Francisco)
80. Covert Action Quarterly
A vigilant watchdog over the frequent abuses by the CIA and its fellow spy rings, as well as a strong voice for fairness and justice in foreign policy. (Washington, DC)
81. North Carolina Independent
Deeply rooted in the rich cultural traditions of the south, this Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill weekly stands as a strong advocate for investigative reporting and progressive thinking. (Durham, North Carolina)
82. The Other Side
Philosophical inquiry and head-on reporting about American society from a radical Christian perspective. (Philadelphia)
83. Amicus Journal
Practical perspectives on how to promote and protect the environment from the Natural Resources Defense Council. (New York)
84. Simply Living (1996)
Holistic living and New Age politics from Australia. (Sydney, Australia)
85. Northern Sun News (1994)
A chronicle of anti-nuclear activism, Native American culture, and environmental consciousness from the upper Midwest. (Minneapolis)
86. Sojourner
A far-reaching feminist newspaper. (Boston)
87. Seattle Weekly
One of the more literary alternative weeklies, known for its fine writing and sharp observation of the contemporary zeitgeist. (Seattle)
88. Texas Observerv
A national treasure, this scrappy progressive magazine has been raising hell all across the Lone Star state for decades. (Austin, Texas)
89. Common Boundary (1999)
A rich little magazine that explored the fascinating ground where spirituality and pyschology meet. (Washington, DC)
90. Southern Exposure
An unstoppable voice for social justice and economic fairness, this quarterly magazine digs up some of the most important–and most overlooked–stories throughout the South. (Durham, North Carolina)
91. Business and Society Review
An early advocate of socially responsible business, this journal follows new developments in the movement to remake business into a force for positive social change. (Boston)
92. Christianity and Crisis (1989)
Political and social commentary from a liberal protestant point-of-view. (New York)
93. Clinton Street Quarterly (1989)
A unique and wonderful blend of literary journal, visual arts showcase and political magazine, CSQ spiced up the local culture stew in both the Pacific Northwest and Minneapolis-St. Paul. (Portland and Minneapolis)
94. Valley Advocate
A small alternative weekly from western Massachusetts that stands out for its strong coverage of international events. (Hadfield, Massachusetts )
95. Commonweal
A liberal Catholic perspective on arts, culture, politics, and social trends. (New York)
96. Greenpeace Quarterly (1996)
News, analysis, and opinion on ecological issues around the world. (Washington, DC)
97. New Art Examiner
A reliable and stimulating guide to what’s new in the world of visual arts. (Chicago)
98. Shift
Digital culture at the turn of the millennium, chronicled with style and smarts. (Toronto)
99. Spin
Rock, rap, raves, and the underestimated political dimension of youth culture explained in passionate detail. (New York)
100. Nuclear Times (1992)
The voice of the anti-nuclear and freeze movement. (New York)
