March 25, 2025, 12:18pm

On a recent lark to New York’s storied newsstand, Casa Magazines, I was struck by a deep peace. There’s just something about that IRL weekly. Perhaps because unlike scrolling, rifling through pages is a soothing experience. In the best magazines, there’s a thoughtful balance of content. And that which a feed is designed to eradicate—a unified voice.

As some of us celebrate The New Yorker’s hundredth birthday, or Graydon Carter’s tell-all hitting shelves, I’m thinking of the life and culture magazine with an eye to appreciate. Let’s say you’ve scratched the quarterly surface.

You love N+1 and The Paris Review. And between The Nation and The New Republic, you’ve got the golden oldies on lock. There’s always Vogue or Architectural Digest, for a long flight (or flight of fancy). But I’m here to tell you that there’s even more in print today that’s fit for you.

Here are eight actual, hold-in-your-hands rags that you might consider subscribing to. Treat yourself to something real.

Lux Magazine

This prettily packaged, socialist feminist “mag for the masses” puts out three issues a year while maintaining a robust website. Coverage includes in-depth reportage and cultural criticism. And there’s a fine byline mix between seasoned critics with name recognition (see: Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won’t Love You Back) and newer voices.

Lux is pleasantly globe-minded. Subscribers can expect to find election dispatches from Ecuador, reports on Britain’s rising far right, and thoughtful mini reviews of international cinema between its covers. The essays take up under-lauded causes, too—like this great piece on the chaotic bisexual novel, from novelist Emma Copley Eisenberg.

The Onion

Did you know your old friend The Onion is back in the broadsheets again? And by all accounts, the return is triumphant?

Aside from providing the only truly funny coverage of our grim historical moment, the paper Onion expands on the site with in-depth features like “Baby Saves Affair.” The latest issue includes a contemplative op-ed called “Am I Ugly?” written by a Cybertruck, and some absolutely unhinged horoscopes. And let’s not forget the (fake, perfect) ads from Ashley Madison, who promises not to lose your information twice.

We could all use a laugh these days, so do yourself a favor.

On the Rag

Though it’s only on its first volume, this cheeky new literary tabloid seems custom-brewed-in-a-cauldron for a certain kind of Dimes Square dabbling, Emma-Cline’s-The Guest–reading girlie. Incredibly irreverent content includes an advertorial from the novelist Marlowe Granados (“Women should only sleep with hot men”) and joke obituaries. But there’s also new fiction, and an interview with the Moscow-born painter Sanya Kantarovsky.

Though its cover promise for hot Rachel Kushner tea may go unfulfilled—it’s a tabloid, after all—you’ll forgive On the Rag for all the fresh air it blows in your face. Follow them here to find a copy in the wild.

The Baffler

The Baffler has been consistently terrific for years. I’m a regular visitor to the oft-updated online leg, but I always look forward to the print edition. There’s a happily singular style to the magazine itself. And you’ll find photography and art beside all that incisive prose.

Recent issue highlights include Alex Cocotas’ thoughtful look at how a spate of recent novels glamorize ex-pat Berlin, and a bracing poem by Funto Omojola. I also adored this short story from Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Beautyland.

Current Affairs

Here is the founding mission of this cheeky, New Orleans-based politics and culture magazine: “to render all other magazines both despised and obsolete and, in the process of doing so, to help usher in a glorious era of democratic socialism.” High-minded, sassy, and beautifully illustrated, I go to Current Affairs for well-researched hot takes. Satirical features in the print edition include games, maps, and quizzes. Stay for philosophically tinged profiles on the likes of Naomi Klein.

Bookforum

Really needs no introduction. If you’re a fan of the literary arts, this one should already be on your radar. Though a lot of the A+ criticism to be found in its pages is available online, deep dives make the print edition, making a subscription well worth it. And though physical readability isn’t everything, I note to commuters that Bookforum print is more manageably sized than its cousin broadsheets, The New York Review of Books or The London Review of Books.

That means you can take Christian Lorentzen on Tony Tulathimutte with you, on the train.

The Drift

This newish kid on the culture block publishes fiction, “class sensitive analysis,” left-leaning political commentary, and capsule reviews. Contributors include great thinkers, reporters, and stylists like Sophie Lewis, Erik Baker, and Dur e Aziz Amna.

I admire the way a political consciousness frames and suffuses the literary work in the magazine. The Drift has done a great job lately reporting on the campus protest movement. They continue to publish voices from around the globe on the Gaza genocide in particular. And their capsule culture reviews (“Mentions“) are always fun.

Wired

Wired, the science and ideas magazine, has been doing a bang-up job reporting on the Trump administration and its Silicon allies. They have recently scooped stories on DOGE and the federal firing sprees. And intent to stay ethical vanguards, the online magazine is officially dropping paywalls for all pieces reported with Freedom of Information Act requests, which is very cool.

The writing in the print edition is just as gripping, but pleasantly packaged. Recent stories include a deep dive into Google’s doomed race to catch up with ChatGPT, and this wild look at the Zizians, a utopian tech community turned murder cult. Truly, no one else is reporting on these things. So way to go, Wired.

Print is dead, long live print.