I’d like to get a friend of mine a house warming gift consisting of a subscription of some sort. I’ve narrowed it down to either Harvard Business Review or the Wall Street Journal. What do you, the educated masses, say? My initial thought was HBR, but I remember an under grad teacher saying that the WSJ was a must for any young professional. Thanks.
Does he have time to read the WSJ every day? If so, get him that. Otherwise, the HBR is a nice read, once a month.
Is it too late to suggest The Economist? If so, then HBR.
Second vote for the Economist. HBR as a fallback.
Unless your friend the Rush/Fox News-listening type. If so, he may be more interested in the WSJ. It’s been a Murdoch publication for a while, and though it has long had a conservative bent it’s gone pretty far in that direction of late.
Smithsonian magazine or National Geographic magazine.
The Economist is great, my uncle (who happens to be an economist) got me a subscription for a few years when I was in grad school and myself and all my housemates read it cover to cover every week. And we weren’t even in business!
I subscribe to The New Yorker on my Kindle and love it - it’s a pretty eclectic mix, good writing all around, everything from political commentary (basically from the left) and investigative journalism to human interest and pop culture to short stories and poetry. It’s more substantial than most weeklies, I rarely have time to finish them in a week. The downsides are that about 20-25% of the content is NYC-centric (and makes me wish I lived there), and it’s filled with the absolute dumbest cartoons in the world (that some people seem to believe are the absolute cleverest things in existence).
The New Yorker is the best value for money out of any subscription I ever took.
I also am a big fan of The Week, which on the surface seems to be not a very impressive publication, but you will find yourself eagerly awaiting each magazine.
Oh, we can suggest others? Definitely the Economist, then.
I’ll also throw in for the Economist. You really can’t do better, IMO unless there’s a publication devoted to a very specific interest of his.
I came to say Economist too. Chances are good his job will give him access to the WSJ online. and I have to say the quality of WSJ is slipping IMO.
HBR is also very good.
What sort of “professional” are they? Are they in the financial markets? If they are say, left-leaning not-for-profit administrators, the WSJ would be a very strange choice indeed. Financial people probably get WSJ at work. Advertising and Marketing have their own publication of record - Advertising Age. NY-based Legal types have the New York Law Journal (which they probably get at work for free).
The Economist is a great pub but it comes too often for me. I can’t even handle a monthly anymore, much less a weekly (I out-posh everyone on the train with my quarterly, the British publication, Granta). And a Daily? You must be kidding!
IMHO, a gift that takes up time isn’t nearly as nice as a gift that saves time, when you’re just starting out. For someone like that I’d gift housecleaning or food delivery before a newspaper that comes every damn day, mocking both your efforts at staying on top of events and at keeping a tidy home.
WSJ for practical updates on Business on a large scale. Industries, companies, economies, etc. If you want to know it and understand it on a day to day basis - the ebb and flow of Business activity.
HBR for updates on Business concepts and trends. Better for when you are a manager/leader in some capacity and realizing you need to step back and think about what you are doing and where you are trying to steer your organization.
Economist for a weekly, more detailed dive into Business vs. WSJ, with a more broad focus (i.e., focused as much on politics and global economics and other global issues as business).
New Yorker for a sophisticated mix of culture, politics, business, etc. in a consistently well-written-and-crafted weekly magazine. An excellent choice all around. Probably the one I would get rid of last if pressed.
My $.02
While the WSJ editorial page does indeed sport its share of looneytunes right-wing nuttery, IME the regular reporting, particularly business reporting, is pretty stellar.
None of my banking friends actually read their WSJ’s and cancelled the subscription in favor of the electronic one.
HBR may or may not be a good gift depending on the person, but I would say it’s a better gift than the WSJ.
Otherwise, I agree with the suggestions thrown out already over the 2 given choices. The WSJ and HBR seem kind of stiff as far as gift subscriptions go.
The Economist and New Yorker are more lax, enjoyable reads while maintaining yuppie street cred. I’ll also add The Atlantic to that list.
Nat Geo, Smithsonian, etc. are also great magazines but don’t seem to be in the spirit that you’re intending.