30 years ago, I’d luxuriate in a copy of Foreign Affairs, The Economist, New Yorker, Interview, NME. Each of those publications gave me subject depth I couldn’t get anywhere else, and the long form articles would provide background and context. They were another world. All I had to do was pay the cover price and find somewhere comfortable to sit without interruption.
What’s different now is I can get all the background and context I need for subjects about which I am naive online through search and Wikipedia. I don’t have to wait for next months periodical to satisfy a curiosity in a subject. So what I want from periodicals has changed. I’m just understanding this more clearly as I respond to your question.
With a magazine, I can’t search, so I want a different experience. I want what I can’t get online for free - inside information, deep subject specialty, skilful curation. The Atlantic often has that, but the curation isn’t assisted by bland typography and illustrations. New Yorker is better that way. I can tell which articles to read without trawling through 500 words.
