Thought Provoking Magazines

Working at a library I get to see thousands of books, movies and magazines each day. More often than not I'll take a book out and not have time to read it (my latest failure - only due to being busy trying to move - is Naiomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, which if the first chapter and a half would indicate, is a very engrossing book).

Magazines, however, are much easier to get through since they are often full of shorter articles. I have found two (well two and a half, but everyone knows about National Geographic already) that have been full of interesting and relevant articles (at least to me): Scientific American (this isn't something I discovered, but rather something I read a few times) and the New Internationalist (which I had never heard of until I saw it on the shelf one day).

A couple of examples as to why I enjoyed these magazines (which might spur you on or make you stay away from them):

- Scientific American recently did a huge feature issue on food and it's many issues. It talked about why there are discrepancies between food advice taken from studies (apparently scientists are only looking at nutrients in isolation and in fact they act together in your body - the best way to stay healthy is to eat a balanced diet with natural foods, lots of vegetables, few servings of junk food, and to get regular exercise - advice that is as simple as it is tried, tested and true). The issue also dealt with obesity (in developed and developing countries) and how food can be addictive. It was very informative and based in facts not some fad diet guru trying to sell his newest plan to lose weight and be lazy at the same time. The potential downside to this magazine is that often the language is very complex and hard to understand (in a scientific kind of way, not in a Chaucer kind of way)

- New Internationalist frequently does similar things in each issue. It takes a topic (depleted uranium, corporate responsibility and Darfur are three recent examples) and discuess different aspects of them at length. It gives facts and statistics to help paint an accurate picture of the topics. This magazine is definitely not for those who aren't into international issues.

So if you're interested, check out their websites, read them in libraries and if you like them, subscribe.