Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Atlantic: 150 Years Old

The Atlantic Monthly is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. To mark the honor, the magazine is publishing an issue discussing the "Future of the American Idea". Atlantic is one of my favorite magazines—the only print magazine I subscribe to, in fact— and is filled with great writing by equally great writers. The list of contributors is a virtual who’s who of American letters. And since it’s a monthly, I have time to read it from cover-to-cover in relative peace and without the fear of feeling rushed. Can’t do that with a weekly magazine.

As a subscriber, I also have access to Atlantic’s vast archives where I can reread some of my favorite articles and discover new talented writers. Robert Kaplan is one of my favorite writers, and Christopher Hitchens’ book reviews are a joy to read. It was in the Atlantic the world was introduced to A.Q. Khan, father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb and all around villain.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could take with you one magazine—the Atlantic should be it.