# Periodical Subscriptions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 1999, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632 "1999-09-28T16:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 1999, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/21 "1999-09-28T21:14:00Z")
Chris, instead of throwing out the unread magazines, save them and take them to a hospital or drop them off at some old folks home. THEY will be more than happy to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 1999, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/22 "1999-09-28T22:24:00Z")
Let’s see… Premiere Entertainment Weekly National Geographic Maximum PC CMJ New Music plus a bunch of techie trade journals I get free subscriptions to that I don’t have enough time to read. My roommate, though, stumps me: He gets both Playboy and People. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 1999, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/23 "1999-09-28T22:30:00Z")
Not counting what I get at work: Newsweek New Yorker Scientific American Bulletin of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (you can subscribe, too; look at [http://www.sfwa.org/bulletin](http://www.sfwa.org/bulletin) American Heritage Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Aboriginal SF Funny Times Discover Science Fiction Chronicle ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 1999, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/24 "1999-09-28T22:54:00Z")
I only have a subscription to a local newspaper, the South Bay _Daily Breeze,_ in South Bay (south of Los Angeles) in CA, that I’ve maintained since 1973. I’m just too lethargic, I guess, to maintain subscriptions to: TV Guide Games Archie Digests (supposedly something I’ve outgrown, but the content of novels is so sleazy I prefer not to incite myself to anger by reading them). I just buy these in the store. I used to subscribe to _Sports Illustrated,_ but their subscription bills were cleverly worded so that by paying for the issues you’ve already received you are unwittingly renewing your subscription! But I put an end to this by telling them that I was ending my subscription outright, and going to contact the U. S. Postal Inspector’s office if they persisted. * * * “If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_RogersAWC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mister\_RogersAWC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_RogersAWC)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/25 "1999-09-29T01:26:00Z")
PCGamer, EGM, Star Wars Insider, Next Generation, Scientific American, The Economist, Popular Science. I also get Gamepro even though I haven’t renewed my subscription for a little over 2 years. They make great gifts. =) * * * **"No job’s too small, we bomb them all."** -Ace Wrecking Company ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/26 "1999-09-29T01:40:00Z")
I’m on the tail end of a free subscription to Car & Driver; I accepted it to get the telemarketer off the phone. I never even wanted it or read it; I just throw it straight in the trash when it arrives. Recently, C&D called me about renewing the subscription. “Are you enjoying the magazine?” “Well, it makes a real satisfying THUNK when it hits the bottom of the can…” Beyond that, MacWorld, Men’s Fitness, Writers’ Digest, and (I’ll be the first to admit it here) Playboy. And believe it or not, I really do READ it. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/27 "1999-09-29T01:56:00Z")
I have access to the full range of periodicals at work, but the ones I pay for at home… Bon Appetit American Heritage (it’s gotten pretty thin; I won’t renew) Smithosonian (love it! great mag!) want to get: Cook’s Illustrated From work, I cherish Kirkus; it’s pricey as hell but it’s the book reviewing source that kicks. Veb ---
**Author:** ![omniscientnot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a5b964/32.png) [@omniscientnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omniscientnot)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/28 "1999-09-29T02:43:00Z")
National Geographic and Time; plus I occasionally read articles from the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s on-line. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/29 "1999-09-29T02:57:00Z")
My various subscriptions generally run out and it takes me months to re-subscribe, but these are what I normally subscribe to: Reason PC Magazine Flying Poker Digest BYTE when it was still in print Popular Science Skeptical Enquirer ---
**Author:** ![elbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@elbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/30 "1999-09-29T03:13:00Z")
I get: Time (gift subscription) Outpost (adventure travel, Canadian) The Utne Reader ( I was shocked that I didn’t see anyone else listing this one, also a gift) I always buy: Islands Escape Games ---
**Author:** ![Moonshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Moonshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/31 "1999-09-29T13:24:00Z")
The Economist, Private Eye, FHM. Edge, the reason that you are getting so many “complimentary” issues of that mag may be linked to the fact that many publications, particularly start-ups, make more money out of advertising than actual subs, so to get advertisers in they buy an address list and mail those people free issues, then tell the advertisers that they have a reader base of so and so many people, getting more advertisers on board. Doesn’t work for long though, and 8 issues already seems a lot. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/32 "1999-09-29T14:02:00Z")
In no particular order: Brill’s Content Discover Skeptical Inquirer Skeptic U.S. News & World Report Mutual Funds Individual Investor Kiplinger’s Church & State ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/33 "1999-09-29T14:27:00Z")
Shirley: It’s THE HORNBOOK. Great little magazine reviewing children’s books. I had a subscription a couple years back, but I let it lapse…too much money for the good it was doing me (I get LOTS of review material, given my profession). TVeblen: You DO want COOKS ILLUSTRATED, a superb periodical, every issue’s been a great pleasure to me. If you like reading about food as well as reading recipes, try John Thorne’s excellent newsletter SIMPLE COOKING…John’s the best food writer working in the U.S. today. If you don’t believe me, check out his website at [www.outlawcook.com,](http://www.outlawcook.com,) or see his books (SIMPLE COOKING, OUTLAW COOK, and SERIOUS PIG.) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/34 "1999-09-29T14:28:00Z")
Ooooooooh…I made a blue. Pretty! ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/35 "1999-09-29T14:37:00Z")
Entertainment Weekly Nickelodeon Magazine (for the kids) I also have several free subscriptions to computer mags, although I don’t read them. I save them for my hubby, but he just puts them aside, saying he will read it later. I have magazines from a year ago still sitting around, but I’m not allowed to throw them out because he still hasn’t gotten around to reading them yet. I used to get National Geographic and Rolling Stone, but I let them both lapse a few months ago because I was too lazy to fill out the renewal cards. Shadowfox ---
**Author:** ![StStella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@StStella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StStella)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/36 "1999-09-29T18:42:00Z")
My husband has gotten National Geographic since the 70’s (believe me, I can tell from all the crates of the damn things stacked in the basement). I do actually enjoy the mag though. Also get Readers Digest and Better Homes and Gardens which just depresses me because I could never afford to spend the time (or money) to make my house look that incredible ☹ I would like to get: Smithsonian Popular Science ---
**Author:** ![StStella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@StStella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StStella)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/37 "1999-09-29T18:43:00Z")
Oh, almost forgot…also get lots of techie mags at work, but those aren’t the fun ones anyway. ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/38 "1999-09-29T20:50:00Z")
Communication Arts Fast Company MacWorld And of course, the National Geographics and Readers’ Digests that my folks send me in the mistaken assumption that I don’t have enough to read. ---
**Author:** ![Kakkerlak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@Kakkerlak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kakkerlak)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/39 "1999-09-29T21:15:00Z")
The Economist Harvard Business Review Scientific American and you might count the membership magazines: Columbia (Knights of Columbus) American Rifleman (NRA) Bunch of savages in this town. ---
**Author:** ![Valerieblaise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@Valerieblaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valerieblaise)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 1999, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632/40 "1999-09-29T21:16:00Z")
I get “Consumer Reports” and my father keeps having “Catholic World” sent to me, despite the fact that I haven’t set foot in a church in 4 years - not even for Easter & Christmas. Nothing. I’ve told him repeatedly over the past few years that I don’t want it, won’t read it… but I still get it. I’ve stopped even bringing it in from the mailbox. I throw it right into the garbage as long as I’m outside. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/periodical-subscriptions/8632.md?page=3)