# Question for New Yorker subscribers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** magazines-newspapers\ **Created:** [December 26, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133 "2022-12-26T19:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/21 "2022-12-28T18:21:16Z")
_The New Yorker_ started in my family when mom was a budding young social worker back in '49, beginning her subscription. As soon as my brother was on his own, he got a subscription, while mom handed down whatever she finished to me, and then when she passed, my brother hands _his_ down to me now. Thus, I’ve always read it for free. 😇 > [@slicedalone](#): > > …then I take the issue into the bathroom… > [@Aspenglow](#): > > This is my bathroom!! Yep, me too. A logical progression. 🙂 > [@slicedalone](#): > > Then I leave the magazine next to the toilet or the hot tub so I can peruse the articles of secondary interest if I find myself ensconced for a long time without reading matter. Precisely this, trying to limit the stack to three issues on the ole loo, where I relegate the slightly-less interesting reading stuff. > [@digs](#): > > Flip through it from back to front… > [@psychobunny](#): > > I start at the back… Yeah me too - why the hell is that? And then I… > [@digs](#): > > …glance at articles and turn up the bottom corner of the page if I want to read it later. …while always making sure to take in every cartoon (and the extremely rare, now) italicized, goofy (and usually tiny) news blurbs - with titles like “In Other News Dept.” or “Constabulary Notes From All Over” - that always appeared at the end of an article. In The Talk of the Town section, I take in only the music and movie reviews. (pffft…“Tables For Two”? Whatevs). Funny, but I always skip the poilitcal editorials because that stuff’s _always_ already covered here, at this site. Then I go back to starting into the articles with the flipped page corners. Always look forward to Jon Lee Anderson’s very in-depth pieces, usually covering strife abroad, as well as anything by Jane Mayer, Evan Osnos, Alex Ross, among a host of many great staff writers. > [@Voyager](#): > > …except for the period when _That Woman_ was editor. Meh, other than tarting it up a little, Mrs. Brown didn’t really put me off. Didn’t exactly bemoan her departure either. Whoa Ian Frazier sure didn’t like her. > [@digs](#): > > Read articles before I recycle it (when the next issue comes). Good you’re doing it in that order. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/22 "2022-12-28T18:35:15Z")
My Vermont in-laws used to get _TNY_, and when we visited them I would enjoy reading the magazine. It always impressed me as erudite and sophisticated, and I like the NYC vibe, although I’ve only been in the city a few times in my life. When I got my current job I received an ultracheap subscription offer (including a tote bag!) and took it. Almost a year later, I cancelled before it would have been autorenewed at a much higher rate. Then I got _another_ ultracheap offer, and renewed at that lower rate. I leave back issues in a nearby waiting room where I work. I typically read any articles that catch my eye (usually one or two per issue) and check out the cartoons. I’ll also glance at the short movie reviews and Broadway updates. I know from past experience that the poems and fiction usually won’t be worth my time. I also submit captions to _TNY_’s online caption contest weekly, but haven’t won yet, despite several times having written a better caption than _any_ of the three finalists, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/23 "2022-12-28T18:41:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I also submit captions to _TNY_’s online caption contest weekly, but haven’t won yet, despite several times having written a better caption than _any_ of the three finalists, dammit. I always wondered which clever people were up for writing those captions. Now I know! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/24 "2022-12-28T19:05:24Z")
Well, thanks, but you’ve never seen one of mine. _Yet!_ ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/25 "2022-12-28T19:14:39Z")
You know we expect to be notified when it happens. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/26 "2022-12-28T19:19:25Z")
I read the caption contest first, then the letters to the editor, then the restaurant review, then the Talk of the Town music section. I like to see if there are any musical artists that I would be interested in adding to my Spotify. From there, I begin at the beginning and read thru to the end. I skip anything that doesn’t hold my interest after the first page or so. I read the fiction, even though often times I don’t understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/27 "2022-12-28T19:21:16Z")
You’re welcome! ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/28 "2022-12-28T19:34:21Z")
Love the NY. I many times find myself clipping out stories to send to friends and family. Sometimes I will get halfway through an interview though and think “geez this person is a total douchebag” and then move on. I read every issue though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/29 "2022-12-28T19:35:39Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > You know we expect to be notified when it happens. 😃 But of course. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/30 "2022-12-29T01:54:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I know from past experience that the poems and fiction usually won’t be worth my time. I was thinking to myself that I used to read everything in the New Yorker (when I bought an issue) but I also skipped most of the poetry and fiction. I also skip the fiction segments of the “This American Life” podcast. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/31 "2022-12-29T01:57:19Z")
My GF has a subscription and she pretty much reads it cover-to-cover. She will skip some bits she may deem uninteresting that week but mostly she reads it all. She probably burns through the whole thing in 3-4 days (give or take). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/32 "2022-12-29T04:18:24Z")
I have subscribed to The New Yorker over two different periods. First, I subscribed during the 2010s. I tried to read the whole issue cover to cover (except for the fiction, which I never read). If I didn’t finish, I’d put the issue aside for later. I quit the subscription when I realized I had a huge pile of back issues I would never get to, and also because so many articles were about the Trump administration. (I hate him too, but I don’t want to read about him 24/7.) About a year ago I decided to subscribe again. But this time my procedure is to go through the magazine once, reading anything I find interesting. After that it goes immediately into the recycle bin. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/33 "2022-12-29T04:31:16Z")
Typical three-week period (any three-week period): Week 1: Read three or four articles (including the fiction piece), all the cartoons, the reviews, and do the crossword. That is, most of the magazine. Week 2: Read one or two articles, and most of the cartoons. Week 3: Read a couple cartoons, if that. Rinse and repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/34 "2022-12-29T13:16:47Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Week 1: Read three or four articles (including the fiction piece), all the cartoons, the reviews, and do the crossword. That is, most of the magazine. Some may be unaware that TNY has five crosswords a week at their site, hard Monday, Moderate Tuesday, easy Wednesday and Thursday, and themed Friday. I do them every day and so never do the paper one. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133/35 "2022-12-29T14:40:36Z")
Thanks — I didn’t know that. But for me, NY Times Thursday through Saturday is more than enough of a time sink! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorker-subscribers/977133.md?page=1)