Magazines Matter: Volume 4 - January 2011
STS-134 Commander Mark Kelly made the cover of the Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine. "Shuttlenauts" by Tony Reichhardt briefly profiled him as well as the others in NASA in light of the pending final shuttle mission. That profile was done prior to Mark Kelly's name becoming a household one once his wife Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8.
I love Johnny Depp, and while seeing him on the cover of Vanity Fair got me excited, Patti Smith's article within "The Crowded Mind of Johnny Depp" was less than titilating. I was similarly less than impressed with Nancy Perry Graham's "What's Next for George W. Bush," which appeared in AARP magazine. She basically didn't give us anything more than the Matt Lauer interview. Teresa Wiltz's piece on Eva Rutland called "She's Write On" somewhat made up for it.
I love Johnny Depp, and while seeing him on the cover of Vanity Fair got me excited, Patti Smith's article within "The Crowded Mind of Johnny Depp" was less than titilating. I was similarly less than impressed with Nancy Perry Graham's "What's Next for George W. Bush," which appeared in AARP magazine. She basically didn't give us anything more than the Matt Lauer interview. Teresa Wiltz's piece on Eva Rutland called "She's Write On" somewhat made up for it.
Something I found interesting was that both the January issues of Washingtonian and Philadelphia magazine had cover stories of the best restaurants. Todd Kliman, Ann Limpert, Kate Nerenberg and Rina Rapuano at the Washingtonian were a bit ambitious and they did the "100 Very Best Restaurants." One of the more affordable eateries on their list was Bar Pilar in the U Street corridor. Top of their list was Komi, a Mediterranean-inspired spot in Dupont Circle. Meanwhile, Kirsten Henri edited the "50 Best Restaurants Right Now" for Philadelphia. Her team settled on Blackfish in Conshohocken as the #1 place to have a meal, followed by Vetri, an Italian restaurant in the Washington Square West area of the city.
Mac Margolis of Discover magazine did an amazing job collecting the "100 Top Stories of 2010." It was a list that included, such cliffhangers as the trapped Chilean miners and the BP oil spill.
Looking forward though, the most controversial article of the month would have to be Annie Murphy Paul's "Tiger Moms: Is Tough Parenting Really the Answer?" The piece got people talking as it profiled Amy Chua's tough and almost tortuous parenting style as exercised on her 7-year-old daughter. It got a lot of TV coverage, moreso than another equally controversial article by Caitlin Flanagan called "The Hazards of Duke," which had Karen Owen recounting sexual encounters with Duke athletes in Microsoft PowerPoint format.
Looking forward though, the most controversial article of the month would have to be Annie Murphy Paul's "Tiger Moms: Is Tough Parenting Really the Answer?" The piece got people talking as it profiled Amy Chua's tough and almost tortuous parenting style as exercised on her 7-year-old daughter. It got a lot of TV coverage, moreso than another equally controversial article by Caitlin Flanagan called "The Hazards of Duke," which had Karen Owen recounting sexual encounters with Duke athletes in Microsoft PowerPoint format.
Flanagan's article was one of many stellar pieces in January's The Atlantic. Hanna Rosin's profile and campaign conflicts for South Carolina govenor Nikki Haley will satisfy political enthusiasts. Chrystia Freeland's cover story "The Rise of the New Global Elite" looks at the ever-increasing economic divide in this country and Tim Kane's "Why Our Best Officers Are Leaving" reveals bureaucratic problems that are discouraging military higher-ups from staying.
Kane blogged about the research for that article on the Christian Science Monitor website. CSM magazine in January had on its cover "The New Retirement." Mark Trumbull's story called "How Retirement is Being Reinvented Worldwide" illustrates how middle-aged and elderly people all over the globe are continuing to work past the point they thought they would.
I loved how Nancy Franklin had a lot of the same criticisms of Oprah Winfrey's new network as I did. You can read her version in "Owning It" printed by New Yorker magazine. In that same issue, Woody Allen's hilarious article "Money Can Buy Happiness-As If" also had me smiling While it wasn't comedic writing, the title of Gabriel Sherman's article in GQ made me laugh. It was a profile of A.J. Daulerio called "Worldwide Leader in Dong Shots." If you know about the website Deadspin and its coverage of Brett Favre's alleged phone messages than you already know why it's funny.
Best Magazine Articles of January 2011...
- "The Hazards of Duke" by Caitlin Flanagan for The Atlantic.
- "Tiger Moms" by Annie Murphy Paul for Time.
- "Money Can Buy Happiness-As If" by Woody Allen for The New Yorker.
- "Worldwide Leader in Dong Shots" by Gabriel Sherman for GQ.
- "Why Our Best Officers Are Leaving" by Tim Kane for The Atlantic.
- "Fallen Star" by Robert Huber for Philadelphia.
- "The Day the Movies Died" by Mark Harris for GQ.
- "How Retirement is Reinvented Worldwide" by Mark Trumbull for Christian Science Monitor.
- "Good Ol' Girl" by Hanna Rosin for The Atlantic.
- "The Rise of the New Global Elite" by Chrystia Freeland for The Atlantic.
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