Could my more Erudite friends recommend a decent periodical?

tim_wand

I spend a silly amount of money on Magazines which predominantly seem to be little more than glossy advertising brochures for aspirant lifestyles.

I would like to find something a bit more fulfilling, and have pondered , New Scientist, National Geographic and the Spectator. My issues with the later two are NG seems a bit to Americanised and the Spectator far too politicised.

Could any one recommend another Monthly periodical which would expand my mind a little more than the ones associated to this Forum.

P.s could the Usual BB forumites please note I have choosen to post this on Cake not BB and would appreciate suggestions not in Seano's Personal Library

pblakeney

I very much doubt it.
I can't even understand the question.

tangled_metal

I used to get the New Scientist on subscription through my school in the dim and distant past. Basically less than half price so not too bad. Did think it was a bit like a science comic though. In an even more dumbed down down style the focus science and technology magazine might be a more glossy science periodical widely available.

Not sure what your other interests might be but there are two "bushcraft" magazines. One available in WH Smith the other you have to order. I got bought as annual NG subscription one Xmas. It was Americanized but still a good read. I found it boring and only read it when out car camping with family. There were a few articles.relevant to.the UK reader such as one on the Orkney archaeology being discovered each year in a very, very important iron.age religious area IIRC. New Statesman might be interesting too. What about working your brain with puzzle mags like sudoku? The brain slows as you age so work it to minimize the effects?

orraloon

For broad spectrum interest, step away from the paper and embrace the podcast. I have a shed load of listening, from The Economist though loads of BBC and USAnian NPR to the Motley Fool, the Guardian and The Moth. 'Tis the future innit. Get on iTunes or the alt, is free.

Bobbinogs

Procycling

Stevo_666

Any of those would be good, depends on what floats your boat in terms of subject matter. Of the three you mention, New Scientist is probably the best bet as there is no obvious political or country bias.

tim_wand

I ve dipped a little into Pod Casts, With the TED lectures things, some of the U.K based ones , especially those around Medical Science and Economics, I quite enjoyed. But I actually like the tactile nature of reading something and being able to go back and re-read or research the bits I don't understand at first or hold a different / counter view on.

Took me a long time to move from Paper Books to a Kindle, which I now read a hell of a lot of Crime Fiction on,

My main interests would be Medical Science and Health , Environment and World Travel. I suppose most publications carry a form of Bias, Think I m going to give New Scientist a go.

They kind of had a best of 2015 compendium for a Tenner in Waitrose the other day which I nearly picked up instead of Roleur, wish I had now,

finchy

You say you're in for a monthly one, but New Scientist is weekly. If you're going for a monthly magazine on a similar topic, Scientific American is a good bet. You could rely on that for health and general science news and the Guardian has a very good environment section - probably as good as any specialist magazine out there.

Not too sure about travel. If you're looking for holiday ideas, I'd suggest you look on Internet forums - it's one of those areas where the advice of many people is worth more than the opinions of a small number of experts.

sungod

does it need to be a monthly?

private eye is my only regular magazine now

have you ever read the international new york times? (used to be the herald tribune), gives you international news (not too much american), good features, crossword, often reports things a few days ahead of it being 'news' on the bbc

if you want proper science/tech have a browse of http://arxiv.org/ in the topic(s) that interest you, you can down load as much as you like as pdf, i keep a bunch downloaded for emergency reading on long trips

want something a bit different? try monocle http://monocle.com/magazine/, it's got a bit too fat in my opinion, but there's always something of interest, not sure i could eat a whole one every month, but i like it every so often

964cup

Private Eye
New Scientist
The Economist
Prospect and the Spectator (by means of which you get political balance)

Please don't read Monocle; it means you're giving money to Tyler Brule, and that should be a crime.

sungod

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19771972#p19771972]964Cup[/url] wrote:

Please don't read Monocle; it means you're giving money to Tyler Brule, and that should be a crime.

yeah, this is definitely the downside to monocle!

surrey_commuter

definitely try The Economist offer of 12 copies for £12....https://subscriptions.economist.com/407uk/

rick_chasey

Problem with the economist is everyone thinks you're a smug bastard or a tosser if you read it, and you become very smug when you do read it.

I'm a case in point.

ballysmate

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19772122#p19772122]Rick Chasey[/url] wrote:

Problem with the economist is everyone thinks you're a smug bastard or a tosser if you read it, and you become very smug when you do read it.

I'm a case in point.

Tosser!

keef66

I got copies of Private Eye and Cyclist in my Christmas stocking. After a promising start, Cyclist is starting to get a bit repetitive, so I wouldn't want more than 2 or 3 a year. Also got a year's subscription to Nat Geographic, which I'm quite pleased about. Normally only get to read NG while waiting for the dentist or doctor, so it will be a pleasant change to savour one in the comfort of my own home without the prospect of a painful / embarrassing / expensive procedure looming. I like it as much for the excellent photography as the articles.

New Scientist I tend to browse the free content on-line.

Flâneur

I like the Economist and I browse the New Scientist. TED is great for online content (volume is there so quality can be found)

One of my favourites though is Alpinist, so it may be worth looking at your other interests and the periodicals their rather than generic areas. (This could be journals in BB behaviour for instance)

CiB

The Oldie is aimed at the over-50 market but is very readable with a good mix of general interest articles, personal viewpoints and reviews. Includes crosswords, one difficult, one easy (The Moron ). The problem page at the back puts life into perspective too.

It was started up by Richard Ingrams after he left Private Eye to Hislop, and carries a lot of the Eye's attitude. It also has an Ed Reardon column, which makes it a good buy.

Farmers Weekly was always a good read when arr wurr a lad, but it's been a while.

Matthewfalle

Private Eye for the inside line, The Week to catch up on everything and Cyclist to get angry with its increasing pretentiousness.

finchy

Now you've got loads of recommendations, time to get down to a decent newsagent and sample the wares.

mr_goo

Dorset Life, the monthly magazine for the best county in the UK.
It is a really good county magazine. Of course if has advertising, but this is offset by excellent and informative articles on local - wildlife, towns/villages, history, geography and planned walks.

priory

http://theridejournal.com/

this is a series of ?10 issues each half an inch thick consist of short ssays about cycling . A proper read rather than the same old comments about yet more saddles and frames and tyres. not cheap but in terms of the time spent reading very good value.

london-red

You could try The Browser (http://thebrowser.com) - not quite the same as a print magazine experience, but dead good for expanding one's horizons, and all that.

blim

London Review of Books - www.lrb.co.uk

good, long reads. always one decent piece per issue.

deadeyedjacks

"The Week" and "Money Week" are good weekly news and financial magazines.
Also free in the lobby of the building I work in :-)

briantrumpet

Private Eye is my only paper subscription. Apart from the fact that it's a riveting read, I feel that my subscription is money well spent in supporting an organ (perhaps the only organ) that is holding all politicians and other people in power (in business and in law) to account, with no paymasters pulling its strings. Most of the mainstream press's 'scoops' have been in PE months or years before, thanks to its tenacious digging.

Other than that, no. Every morning a scan of varied news websites, from the Grauniad to Telegraph via Le Monde and a few local papers' websites here and abroad. And than that I've got a pile of books to read, and the pile seems to be getting bigger. I do still like books though, and thanks to the internet, and businesses like Amazon and Abebooks, are easier to fnd and cheaper than in the past. Someone once did a comedy sketch about those magazines which were essentially one book split into 48-page chunks, and cost about 10 times what a book would have cost by the time you got all the magazines. All too often ordinary magazines are like that. I don't mind paying for PE as its news is always current, and it provides a vital service to democracy.

Obviously academic journals are also vital in their own way, but 1)tend to be stupidly expensive and 2) would cure even the most extreme insomnia for most people outside the discipline, as they make navel-gazing appear the height of excitement.