Still the best
Pros:
readable and informative
Cons:
bad issues exist
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Back when I was in graduate school, I was constantly pressured to keep up with all the latest developments in academia, especially on political issues. That was why I subscribed to a bunch of magazines. I got Time, Newsweek, and US News. I kept Time. I got all three of the major 'intellectual' magazines, The New Yorker, Harpers, and The Atlantic Monthly. Although I still buy The New Yorker occasionally from the book store, I only read The Atlantic Monthly on a regular basis.
Some of the other reviews here commented that the level of interest in the main essays have deteriorated for the Monthly. Since I've only read AM for the past four years I cannot say one way or the other whether there is such a trend, but I am personally satisfied with the articles from this year's issues. I really enjoyed the articles on the Holocaust Denial movement, on the New Germ theory, and on the global economy. AM has its share of boring articles, but, let's face it, no one is interested in everything.
There are people who say that AM has lost its relevance. I would say it still has a pretty good track record of keeping up on the important developments. For example, it has become fashionable now to discuss the possibility that cancer and cardiovascular diseases were caused by bacteria. I first read about that in AM two years ago.
I also find the travel section highly entertaining. AM does not send its journalists to obscure little Italian towns to document the local's culinary practices. Instead, they publish essays that focused on the look, the feel, the entire state of the locale. They are also more willing to cover the more obscure parts of the globe than the other mags.
I'll admit that AM is not perfect. However, it is pretty cheap. Less than three dollars an issue if you subscribe. It is also clearly superior to its chief competitors. The New Yorkers have the range and depth but it's a weekly, and who has time to read it four times a week? Harpers' has been a joke. It's too concentrated on historical trivia and the literary arts. If you want to keep abreat of all developments in politics, history, science, and the arts, the Atlantic Monthly is just indispensable.
