On September 17, 2025, I posted an article about my subscription to The Nation. I let my subscription expire and thought I was through with them – but they are still trying to get me too re-up. The ACLU is still pestering me too. They are wasting their postage.
Magazines in general are in trouble, victims of the internet. Many of them have shuttered their presses; others have switched to e-formats.
In the distant past, I subscribed to a variety of magazines such as Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest, and Playboy. The latter three shared a similarity; I liked sports in general, but I was never very good at any of them. As regards Golf Digest, I loved the photos of the lush golf courses that they featured, the tips to improve my swing, and their interviews; but my game never seemed to get any better.
My one secular magazine exception is Trains magazine, as I am a “railfan.” I think that started when I was a kid and my uncle took me to the Northern Pacific depot in Bismarck, North Dakota. Uncle Bill was a ticket agent and telegrapher for the railroad; and he let me hang out with him as he sold tickets, plucked away on the telegraph, and passed track orders (via a hoop) to the freight trains passing by. If I was lucky, one of the big-name passenger trains, like the Mainstreeter or North Coast Limited, would arrive while I was at the depot. As to Trains, I particularly like the photographs, maps, historical articles, and articles on the business of railroading. I also like the “inside” articles about the railroading of the past (e.g., the November 2025 issue had an article entitled “Rock Island sunset: In 1978 the handwriting was on the wall”).
The last political magazine that I subscribed to was National Review, which William F. Buckley, Jr. founded in 1955. It is politically the opposite of The Nation (mentioned above). Towards the end, I found that I was just skimming through most issues – and it was getting a bit pricey. The National Review was also a bit more “legacy Republican” than “MAGA Republican,” so I dropped it. For whatever reason, I still get their weekly e-mail summaries. I love their first, short, unique, and humorous bullet points. In the November 14, 2025, summary, written after Trump suggested that 50-year mortgages would be forthcoming; the National Review wrote, “Just wait for the 50-year reverse mortgage.” I love that kind of subtle humor.
That’s about it; there are a few other stranglers from time to time: AARP The Magazine; magazines from my alma maters Creighton, North Dakota State University, and Bismarck Junior College; and the Alpha Phi Quarterly. The latter has been published continuously since 1888. For some reason, it keeps coming to the house, thirty or so years after my daughter moved out, and almost as many years since she was a sorority girl. I admire their tenacity.