Weekly Geeks #10 - Magazines

This week’s Weekly Geeks theme is to talk about the magazines we read.

We have a number of magazines come into our house, but there are only two I read cover to cover when they arrive: The Sun and Orion.


The Sun is a monthly literary magazine chock full of essays, poetry, short stories, photos and interviews. One of my favorite features is a themed section called Readers Write. The editors choose a topic for each month and readers submit short essays on the topic. They are often poignant or humorous and frequently very well written. It's a wonderful opportunity for new writers to get published.

Orion is one of the best environmental magazines around. From their website:

It is Orion's fundamental conviction that humans are morally responsible for the world in which we live, and that the individual comes to sense this responsibility as he or she develops a personal bond with nature.

Frequent contributers are Bill McKibben, Rebecca Solnit, David James Duncan and Terry Tempest Williams. Orion also publishes poetry and some fantastic photos.

One of the things I love about both of these magazines: NO ADS!

Other magazines that come into our house:


Ms. Magazine - a classic. Last week at the grocery store checkout line, my eyes wandered to the tabloids, which I rarely look at. They haven't improved since the last time. The two cover headlines (with photos, all of women of course) that turned my stomach: "Stars Caught without Makeup" and "The Best and Worst Swimsuit Bodies." Ms. is a good antidote for these accidental encounters.


Ode is a good international magazine that covers a lot of environmental and cultural issues.

Utne gleans and compiles articles from a variety of progressive magazines, as well as publishing original articles. They are "most interested in creating a conversation about everything from the environment to the economy, politics to pop culture."

Yes Magazine offers articles about what's working in the environmental and peace and justice movements. A more positive approach than some of the "going to hell in a handbasket" publications.

Shambhala Sun is a bi-monthly Buddhist magazine with teachings of Buddhism and other contemplative traditions. Pema Chödrön, Jack Kornfield, and Sharon Salzberg are frequent contributors.

There are more periodicals that find their way into our house, but these are the handful that most often get my attention. I'm way behind on my magazine reading -- Mount TBR seems to interfere with that activity. Go figure.

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