Current Affairs enjoys promoting itself, and tends to think it’s one of the finer magazines on the newsstands. But if you’re the skeptical type, you might believe the best way to determine whether Current Affairs is any good is not to consult Current Affairs itself. “There is a chance that you are biased in favor of your own magazine,” you could say to us. And this, we confess, may be true. So we implore you: don’t take our word for it. Pick up a copy of Current Affairs from our online shop! And ask our readers what they think. Here’s just a sampling of the unsolicited feedback we’ve recently received:
- “Just got my first issue of Current Affairs magazine and it is absolutely excellent. It leaves no stone unturned, from a critical examination of the RBG popular cult to a review of recent popular books on prisons. If you’re bored with the same tired takes on everything, I assure you this will refresh and educate you, and it’s beautifully designed, too.”
- “I recently described it as ‘The best thing that’s happened to me in as long as I can remember.’ I also made friends on the subway because I was laughing so hard reading it, so you may have some new subscribers soon. It’s amazing.”
- “A graphically luscious, contrarian view of the vomit of conformity.”
- “[Features some] of the greatest wits writing on the left today, and the layout is so pleasing to my eyeballs.”
- “Just read your first issue. Never read a magazine cover to cover before. I’ll be subscribing!”
- “I’ve just finished reading your first issue, cover to cover… It is rare to witness intelligence, irreverence, idealism, and invention in such loving communion. I feel changed from what I have read. And it’s not just what I have learned. I feel in better spirits to face the chaos of the world.”
And from Slate Star Codex:
“I’ve been reading Current Affairs magazine and really enjoying it. It’s edited by Nathan Robinson of Navel Observatory and discusses issues from what for ignorance of a better name I think of as “the Freddie deBoer perspective” – ie pretty far leftist/socialist, but especially interested in criticizing other leftists – especially those who prefer wet dreams about gulags and guillotines, or analyzing how Rihanna lyrics can teach us about mansplaining, to actually fighting for justice. Although the articles are pretty good, what I really love is the sense of humor: for example, instead of real ads, they have beautifully designed fake ads for “companies” and “products” like Tony Blair’s Dictatorship Counseling (“no human rights violation too egregious to euphemize”) and Big Pharma-style socialism pills (“occasional side effects include…accidentally becoming the very embodiment of the thing you are attempting to eliminate”). There are also interviews “conducted nonconsensually and transcribed entirely from the results of public Twitter harassment” and fun childrens’ activities like Color The Flint Water Supply.
All of which should make a very strong case for subscribing in time to receive our May/June issue. Ah, but would you like to know what’s in it? Very well then.
- Amber A’Lee Frost defends the necessity of being vulgar
- Fredrik deBoer suggests a few journalists who could stand to deport themselves
- Yasmin Nair on how gay political power in Chicago was built
- An in-depth look at Ted Cruz’s autobiography (spoiler: we didn’t care for it)
- An interview with Dwayne Betts on whether prison prose is possible
- Some annotations brutally making fun of law professors
- An offensive joke about Martin Shkreli
- Our homemade cures for several major diseases
- A tricky optical illusion!
- An adorable painting of a sloth
- A special letter to ISIS from Current Affairs
- More amusement at the expense of Nicholas Kristof and Jonathan Franzen
- The Entire Problem With Everything Summed Up In One Quotation
- A special luxury word-search
- Book reviews! Denunciations! Misleading statements!
- Our famous cartoon caption contest!
- Much, much, much more
If you don’t get yourself a copy, all of your friends will question your judgment. So subscribe today, or head over to our shop to try a single issue.
