# Reader's Digest circling the drain **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774 "2009-08-17T20:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/1 "2009-08-17T20:04:34Z")
[Requiem for Reader’s Digest?](http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/08/17/requiem-for-readers-digest) ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/2 "2009-08-17T21:07:50Z")
Does it circle clockwise or counterclockwise? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/3 "2009-08-17T21:09:56Z")
This is Chapter 11, which means Reader’s Digest intends to continue operations while restructuring their debt. They ain’t circling anything, in any direction. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/4 "2009-08-17T21:11:09Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > This is Chapter 11, which means Reader’s Digest intends to continue operations while restructuring their debt. They ain’t circling anything, in any direction. They are indeed quite stagnant. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/5 "2009-08-17T21:21:50Z")
Sounds like Drama in Real Life material. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/6 "2009-08-17T21:37:36Z")
Ah well. Life’s Like That. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/7 "2009-08-17T22:13:28Z")
My Mom used to set me down with the new issue, & quiz me on the meanings of the terms in _Increase Your Word Power_. If I got them all right, she bought me a comic book. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/8 "2009-08-17T22:27:09Z")
Back in the 1960’s, Reader’s Digest briefly offered subscriptions for life for some fee. The father of one of my childhood friends bought one. He died last year at 83 years old. I wonder how many of those lifetime subscription holders are still around. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/9 "2009-08-17T22:28:46Z")
“I am Joe’s Bankruptcy” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/10 "2009-08-17T22:44:47Z")
They have gone down hill in recent years. My folks always had a subscription and for some reason Dad felt the need to get one for me every Christmas. (Now Mom does.) I skim it, but it does not have the feel of the digest I grew up with. I’m not sure if it has changed, or I have. (OK, likely a lot of both.) I have told Mom not to renew my subscription this year. I keep the new copies in the car as an emergency read and often don’t get to them for months. Mom had a guy from them call and try to strong-arm her into renewing early. He was aggressive enough about it that my 70 year old mother used swear words on the phone - something she never does. She told him in no uncertain terms to cancel both subscriptions now and he hung up on her. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/11 "2009-08-17T22:46:31Z")
[QUOTE=the linked article from the OP] Think of it this way: Reader’s Digest was UGM before UGM was a gleam in Jeff Jarvis’s eye. [/QUOTE] I assume that [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Jarvis) Jeff Jarvis is the one he’s talking about, but what’s UGM? ---
**Author:** ![Myrrajh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Myrrajh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrrajh)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/12 "2009-08-17T23:17:32Z")
I had to ask them three times to take me off their junk mailing lists. I wrote to them and said, “In this age of technology, is it really necessary to use up trees to send me 10 pages of crap that says I _may_ have won? You have my address, my phone number, and now you have my email address. Feel free to enter my name into your draws, and if I win, please just email me.” After I started getting the junk mail yet again I called them back and blasted the CSR (sorry, I know it wasn’t you doing it personally) and told them to cancel my subscription. I don’t really miss it. They have their jokes and stories on their website anyways. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/13 "2009-08-17T23:24:54Z")
If Reader’s Digest folds, what will my Dad read on the can? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/14 "2009-08-17T23:27:22Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I assume that [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Jarvis) Jeff Jarvis is the one he’s talking about, but what’s UGM? User-generated media. Also known by several other names/acronyms, as noted in [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-generated_content) Wikipedia article. A good example is … well, Wikipedia. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/15 "2009-08-17T23:31:02Z")
Hey, if Cracked can come back, I’m sure Reader’s Digest can. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/16 "2009-08-17T23:33:01Z")
They’ll restructure as a right-wing blog centered on their current “That’s Outrageous” feature and called _Reader’s Indigestion_. > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > If Reader’s Digest folds, what will my Dad read on the can? What, is _Playboy_ folding, too? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/17 "2009-08-17T23:49:55Z")
I remember reading it as a kid just for the funny stories and jokes. Then, when I got older, I saw the article “Thank You, Ronald Reagan.” That was a big, rude wake-up call as to the general bent of the editorial staff (or else its target readership). OTOH, they DID print and reply to that woman who said she knew J.K. Rowling was a Satanist because of an article from The Onion, so they’re definitely not insane… ---
**Author:** ![Dusty\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@Dusty\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty_Rose)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/18 "2009-08-18T00:05:04Z")
I like Reader’s Digest! It’s one of the two magazine subscriptions that I always carry, over twenty years for both. With its short articles, Reader’s Digest is perfect bathroom reading. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/19 "2009-08-18T00:23:28Z")
Yes, unlikely to fold, but if it did, it would be undigested poetic justice. [http://www.salon.com/sneaks/sneakpeeks961113.html](http://www.salon.com/sneaks/sneakpeeks961113.html) > [@](#): > > Readers who have instinctively disliked Reader’s Digest will have their worst suspicions confirmed in “American Dreamers,” a new book from former Digest managing editor Peter Canning. Among other things, Canning details how, in the 1940s and 50s, the State Department and CIA fed content to the Digest and helped its international editions thrive. He also notes the magazine’s numerous pro-Vietnam War editorials, and the way Nixon speeches found their way into the magazine under the byline “The Editors.” Further, Canning dishes a good deal of dirt about founders Dewitt and Lila Wallace’s odd sex lives, and he digs into the story behind the sex discrimination suit filed against the Digest in 1976, among the largest ever, in which 2,600 female employees were awarded more than $1.5 million. > > Having said all that, “American Dreamers” is no hatchet job. Canning expertly details the Wallace’s early lives, their struggles to found the magazine in Greenwich Village in the 1930s, and how generously they treated their employees – paying huge salaries (often more than $100,000 even in the 1940s) and giving extraordinary sums to charity. The Wallace’s goal for the magazine was a noble one, to provide articles of “lasting interest” to people who often didn’t read much else. And it’s hard to disagree with Canning’s assertion that, while sophisticates often mocked the Digest’s simplicity, “clarity is not an unsophisticated goal.” Like \*\*Leaper \*\*I read it as a kid for the funny stories and jokes, then one day I read a harrowing tale of a US fighter pilot that almost died of his burns in Korea. He recuperated miraculously and he thanked god repeatedly for the recuperation. And then later he bombed the infidels in Vietnam, and therefore god was in favor of the war there. Of course, those were not the words in the tale, but that was the clear implication. The nauseating feeling I got was one element of my journey of becoming an agnostic. So, thank you(?) for the memories. But I will have to say that after the original owners passed away the magazine became less offensive and more harmless nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774/20 "2009-08-18T00:30:49Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > They have gone down hill in recent years. Years ago I picked up some Reader’s Digests from 1939 or so. No advertisements, no jokes or cartoons, just serious articles.\* There is not much market for that nowadays. \*Well there was the article entitled “Shakespeare in Chocolate” about a theatre for Negroes doing the Bard in Harlem. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/readers-digest-circling-the-drain/506774.md?page=2)