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Product Description

A different read on life. Comprised of original essays and articles from 1,400 alternative media sources, Utne provides new perspectives on social change, environment, community, and creativity.

Customer Reviews:

• downmarket leftwing rag
  How people can read and be fooled by the nonsense sprouted in ths rag is beyond me. All the usual suspects are found through out it's pages. This rag represents all those things that leftists are now notorious for: Polictal correctness, anti-capitalists, anti-gobalisers etc With all these -isms and ologies your in for a pain in the head. What's more the 'ideas' you'll find here have been tried, tested and more importantly failed. Ah well... some people are just too easy to fool....more info
• Give your brain an electric shock
  I found Utne Reader while browsing the periodical racks of my favorite local bookstore (put yourself in the picture... wood floors, magazines as far as the eye can see, generally categorized, and the wafting aroma of fresh ground coffee). I was looking for something different -- maybe a collection of undiscovered short story writers -- maybe a different view of world events -- perhaps a fresh look at Mad magazine?
  
  What I found was Utne Reader -- I'm also a fan of Brill's Content (or was a fan... are they out of business now? I'll have to check after I write this review), and I found Utne Reader placed next to BC. It immediately grabbed my attention -- the magazine usually centers on a differently monthly theme, and pulls the best writing from a variety of sources (magazines, newspapers, websites) on a monthly basis -- what I'm always left with is a bunch of questions and an interest in learning even more -- I fold back pages, write notes in the margins, an!d eventually spend a good deal of time on the internet satisfying my curiosity.
  
  If you want to get a monthly crash course in what's important and who's effecting change, you can't go wrong with Utne Reader.
  
  Take my word for it.
  
  Dave...more info
• Mindnumbing Newspeak
  I was looking forward to a magazine that took a good look at different subjects than those covered in the mainstream media. What I received was a manual on how to think the "right" way. I've never delved deeply into politically labeling myself, but I vaguely considered myself a liberal. Man, was I wrong. Clearly, liberal means much the same as the demonized "conservative". This magazine has a single viewpoint, that of an ultraliberal ex-hippie who has found themselves wealthy in the 21st century. It is full of articles about "finding meaning" and "reassessing life" that seem to have been written by folks who drive Chevy Suburbans and pay too much for a cup of coffee. The magazine gives off a strong smell of covert superiority, and it made me nauseous....more info
• Seek and Ye Shall Find
  ...

  Powerfully iconoclastic, The Reader is possibly the voice of America's last remaining counterculture. Their rebellion against the norm sometimes comes across as an attempt to stir up debate rather than a truly heartfelt position, but it is still a valuable cultural contribution. Recent articles on rejection of private property, socially motivated cartooning, and President Bush's short-sighted political maneuvering offer a welcome reprieve from anonymous, monolithic opinion-makers in the mainstream media. Agree or not, this title offers us a chance to test our attitudes and beliefs, and a chance to change them when we find them to be flawed.

  Rather than being a single voice, which would undermine the whole concept of counterculture, The Reader distills from several maverick and small-press magazines to create its finished product. In this it's almost a counter-cultural Reader's Digest, putting the best unheard voices where we can find them. They even provide addresses at which we can subscribe to seldom-seen presses and magazines, if we want to continue having our outlooks expanded along a certain axis.

  Many of us have sought a free-thinking alternative to America's painful homogeneity for years. When we find it, we are almost religiously released. Titles like the Utne Reader become secular gospel to us in these cases, and like Paul after the scales come off, we take our mission to anyone who will hear. Come, follow me into the light that is the Reader! You shall be released!...more info

• Automatic renewal magazine
  I started reading the magazine in college. Utne was the first magazine I ever really enjoyed reading, I suddenly "got it". I would really like to subscribe to this magazine but, they have an automatic renewal policy, and I am personally against anyone taking my money without permission. I also don't subscribe to anything by Rodale Publishing for this reason; Men's Health, Fitness, Prevention, etc. ...more info
• a reader's digest for the liberal set
  UR consistently packs their pages with quality and diverse material.
  
  Their feature subjects are covered comprehensively and from several viewpoints. Other articles might not receive such thorough treatment, but still provide much food for thought. Every issue is a opportunity to learn something new....more info
• Alway Wonderful & Insightful
  For over ten years now I've had a subscription to the Utne Reader, and in that time I've never had a dud issue sent to me. Always wonderful and insightful, Utne draws from various sources to create wise, well-themed issues. So do yourself a favor, and get it sent your way....more info
• For thinking people
  UTNE is a publication we got hooked on back in late '89.

  We jokingly refer to it as the thinking readers Readers Digest, since the articles aren't "feel good" but are articles that are meant to make the reader think. Articles that come from a variety of other publications and cover a plethora of issues and topics.

  It is a magazine that I find myself re-reading and re-reading past issues for months or years ago. And yes the publication is liberal or at least alternative lifestyle mode....more info

• best of magazine writing
  This magazine has a little bit of all of the good things about magazines -- quick and quirky little essays you can skim through in a few minutes, longer, more thoughtful pieces on important topics and loads of little informational snippets. This is one of the only magazines where I simply can't (and don't want to) absorb all of it in one sitting -- each issue gets several reads before retiring to the recycling bin....more info
• Too light
  Utne takes on all the right issues, but doesn't deliver the kind of indepth reporting to make it matter. Most articles are short and too tidy. An interview with Alan Ball (creator of Six Feet Under) is a perfect example. Several times in the article you think "hey, they're going to get into something interesting," but each time the interviewer changes the subject before that can happen. Another article with great potential: ten green urban projects. Unfortunately, each project gets a palty 4 lines . . . and there are no links to other sources for follow up. There is great potential at Utne, but it needs to be developed. ...more info
• Best of the Left
  When I read and enjoyed my first copy of the Utne Reader I thought it was, as it claims, "the best of the alternative press". Having read a few more copies I now realise it is the "best of the alternative LIBERAL press", which is a slightly different thing. If this was the only magazine you read, you would get a rather onesided view of politics and of life. But why would you want to read only the one magazine anyway? This is a valuable magazine in that it gives some extra prominence to good articles from a whole range of smallish periodicals. America has a wonderful 'magazine culture' and the Utne Reader celebrates one important aspect of that culture....more info
• Unique... if you can relate to it
  This is not a magazine for the faint of heart, or anyone with anything less than an unshaking liberal view. If you are even remotely conservative, you probably won't enjoy this.
  
  However, if you enjoy a new perspective, or want to see things at a different angle, you just might like this. The magazine takes the best of alternative press-including literature and articles ranging from the political to the romantic and everything in between.
  
  It has a very well-targeted demographic. It aims for slightly older, perhaps middle-aged extreme liberals. That's not to say others won't like it, but that seems to be who it targets. There's a lot of self-improvement involved.
  
  I began reading this in college and a lot didn't apply and there was a lot I really couldn't relate to, but enjoyed reading none the less. It's facinating, and although i'm a lot less liberal and a bit older now-I still look forward to getting a copy in the mail.
  
  ...and just a warning, I have had a lot of trouble with their subscription people. I've moved a lot in the last few years and getting it all sorted out with them has been a massive difficulty....more info
• Addendum to the other reviews on the first page
  Hello, this will be the third time in the last many years that I've received, and read, UR on a regular basis. I agree with most of the other reviews. However, what I find most outstanding about the magazine is how uplifting, and ultimately positive, it is. I subcribe to several dozen web sites, from the media from around the world, most of which are far left of "liberal." While I take everything that I receive, through all forms of media, with a very large "grain of salt," I do tend to put much more stock in what I read on the web than I do in what the mainstream media feeds us, especially that from the U.S. Therefore, as a result of that reading, I often feel sorrow, rage, cynicism, and/or depression. Utne's positive spin on issues, even when the subject is inherently distressful, inspires me, as almost no other form of media does (except, sometimes, music), to rise up out of any negativity that I may be indulging in, and take positive steps toward helping to make our world a better place for us all. For that, I am very grateful to everyone who is responsible for such a fine magazine. Thank you, Utne....more info
• Excellent: Worthwhile Intelligent and Interesting Magazine!
  You know the thing is: this is a Magazine you might actually find yourself READING! IT's really interesting & diverse in every issue!

  This Magazine is worth every penny: I bought gift subscriptions to it for many of my friends and family last year, and I have heard back more interesting & Positive feedback on this gift, and specifically on this magazine than most gifts & magazines I have gotten for people!

  They really love it: it speaks of real issues & with diverse information & it is all Very Interesting! Very Educated, researched articles on cutting edge & current issues: pick up an issue and see for yourself: it's well worth the subscription....more info

• Kudos to Utne Reader
  Proactive, Intelligent, Whimsical, Obscure, Underground, Progressive, Open-Minded... Refreshing. You wont be able to put this magazine down.
  A++++++++...more info
• Like Reader's Digest, except for Liberals
  I love Utne Reader. A friend gave me an issue several years ago and I've subscribed ever since.

  When people ask me about it, I say "it's sort of like Reader's Digest" with lots of articles that have already been published in other publications. The difference is, the Utne staffers search through little known and not so common magazines for their stories. It should also be mentioned that Utne picks a topic for each issue. Here are some past topics:

  Imagine the America You Want March/April 2003 (Issue 116)
  The Future of Healing May/June 2001 (Issue 105)
  Great American Sellout November/December 1999 (Issue 96)
  Gender blur September/October 1998 (Issue 89)
  The future of love November/December 1996 (Issue 78)

  You can buy past issues as well.

  Utne is a forward-thinking magazine with liberal viewpoints. This may put people off. I find it refreshing....more info

• Subscription never started
  I ordered a subscription to Utne as a gift for christmas 2006 and, in spite of follow-up, the subscription never started. I don't know where the process broke down between Amazon and others, but I now avoid doing magazine subscriptions via Amazon....more info
• A Concentrated Plethora
  Utne Reader provides several articles on a specific topic each month. One month it's Healthy food, addressing urban gardens, pesticides, alternative diets, etc. The next month the topic may be the Lost Art of Conversation. Each month I love that I can read such a variety of articles on one subject. Utne compiles contributions from a wide spectrum of authors and other magazines. Kind of like a "Reader's Digest" for liberals! Very thought provoking. Utne also opens windows to other publications that I might want to read now!...more info