Most Admired Magazines: Esquire, Harvard Business Review and (gulp) AARP

Esquire, Harvard Business Review and (gulp) AARP

Long ago and far away, in a time when I didn’t work for a custom publishing company, I thought of magazines as doors and windows into other worlds where I could actually go. Simply by opening and turning the glossy pages, I could sit for hours imagining myself in houses beautiful, in better homes and gardens, or surrounded by glamour, feeling so vogue, so cosmopolitan! As a grown-up, I may not have as much time to sit around imagining myself anywhere, but my youthful assessment was right-on. Magazines do bring the world around us to our literal front doors. The task of actually choosing only a few magazines was difficult, but here they are. One for the money, two for the show … and three to get ready to get old, old, old.

Esquire – Consumer
   
Esquire started as a men's magazine in 1933. In that same year, James Brown was born, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, construction of  the Golden Gate Bridge began in San Francisco and the original movie King Kong starring Fay Wray premiered at Radio City Music Hall. Esquire is still considered a men's magazine, but because the world has changed, women can now vote, and King Kong has been made two more times, Esquire is read by everyone who appreciates writing. And if you happen to be an art director or a designer, it's a slick, clever, cutting-edge creation that's exciting to behold and full of photography, illustration and type treatment to die for.

It all started with those Hemingway and Fitzgerald guys in the ’40s. In the ’60s, Mailer, Wolfe, Buckley and Capote had a few things to say. It began as a magazine about fashion for men, but then led the way to publishing more unconventional writing, at the time called “new journalism.” Some like to call it "literature."

Today, Esquire continues to be a publication of new journalism. The latest news on  politics, health, style, food, drink, sports—it's all in there. So don't let the beautiful women on the covers (or in the “Women We Love” department) fool you. Esquire gives us urban, stylish, witty, hit-the-nail-on-the-head quality writing. Articles, interviews, fiction, reviews—you name it. You won't read this stuff anywhere else, at least not in quite the same way.

It's Esquire's search and continued support to publish fiction that enamors me so much. Since the Hemingway days, Esquire has consistently nurtured young talent and even tried to encourage it. A few years ago, they mailed out 250 cocktail napkins to new writers throughout the country, inviting them to send in stories—on the napkins. One hundred stories were returned.

Take the time to read them. It's great fun. And—read Esquire. They say in their media kit that “Esquire surveys the landscape to unearth the smart edge of culture: the people, places, things, and trends that intelligent, sophisticated men want, need, and ought to know.” I can only take issue with the “men” part. Women, too, enjoy this magazine. As for me, every issue takes me on a trip to the big city and shows me a great time.

Harvard Business Review – Business
   
There's nothing like a classic. So maybe it’s my love for classic films, classic clothing, classic cars and the like that sends me to Harvard Business Review when I want to check out the world of money, its management, its theories and its strategies. As dry as these topics may appear on the surface, when I read Harvard Business Review I feel as though I’m not only taking a look at what’s happening in the world of business, but I also have a sense I’m somehow becoming a part of the history of business that HBR has long been covering.

I’m a history buff. And I’m a romantic. So why would someone like me be reading the Harvard Business Review at all? To tell you the truth, I got sucked in once US Airways magazine began reprinting their articles a few years ago.

“Hmmmm,” I did not say aloud one day as I was proofing pages. “This is intriguing and important adult stuff. I need to know more about this.” And so a relationship was born.

It’s interesting to note that the magazine began almost 90 years ago. The idea behind it, according to Harvard Business School’s Dean, Wallace B. Donham, was that “the theory of business must develop to such a point that the executive may learn from the experiences of others in the past how to act under the conditions of the present. Otherwise, business will continue to be unsystematic, haphazard, and for many men a pathetic gamble.”

I think the same could be said today, only it would have to be changed to “and for many men and women a success-challenged endeavor.” (Of course we have to add women to the mix. And the term “pathetic gamble” may in today's economy be too harsh a term for those thinking of starting out in the business world.)

But about the magazine itself. Chock-full of content? Yes. More importantly? It’s got moxie. And by that I mean writers who go where I want them to go. One example of this is the subject of “Behavioral Economics,” a topic one of my favorite HBR contributors, Dan Ariely, tackles in a piece called “The End of Rational Economics.”

In another Dan Ariely article called “Our Irrational Fear of the Unnatural” (soon to appear in US Airways magazine) he ponders the “psychological barriers at play” when we try to make the right ecological decisions in “solving problems we must solve” today in our world.

And there you have it. For me, Harvard Business Review comes through again and again. Not with the down-and-dirty numbers we all hated in math classes and hoped never to have to deal with again, but with questions we might need to be asking ourselves as we go out in the real world each day to spend our money—wisely and with confidence.

AARP – Custom

Okay, all you youngsters out there. Becoming a member of AARP seems like a long way away. But one day, that magic age arrives when AARP mail starts arriving at your door. First there is denial. Then comes more denial and a lot of “Ha ha—look at this—I'm getting 'geezer mail,' and I'm only … I'm only …” and the denial starts to fade. Secretly you begin to read the mail and think you might be able to use some of those benefits of joining. Your interest is piqued. Visions of discounts dance in your head. So in a moment of wild-and-crazy, pre-geriatric spontaneity, you take the plunge for a nominal yearly fee, and suddenly you're drinking your senior coffee at McDonald's, reading the latest issue of AARP The Magazine. And guess what. It's not bad! (I'm talking about the magazine, not the coffee.)

Where once I clung to the few morsels of advice and inspirational articles geared toward middle-aged-and-still-ticking people like me in publications I'd been reading since I was a much younger woman, I began to find them lacking. Why was this happening? Then it came to me: It wasn't really that I was getting older, it was simply that, over the years I'd been gracefully evolving into a different demographic. And AARP The Magazine was there to justify that rationalization. After all, under the title of the magazine, the tag line says, “Feel great. Save money. Have fun.” And who, no matter their age, could argue with that?

AARP the Magazine is—like many mature men and women—an entity of realistic substance. Each issue features an interview with a person of fame and the accompanying cover shot that lures you in for more. This month, Robert Redford. For many Baby Boomer women, convincing  them to join AARP could just be left right there, but there's more. Inside, AARP offers a variety of articles on health (including the popular Dr. Oz), entertainment, travel, money, life problems and a special department called “The Best of Your Life.” Here you will find editorial on how to still pursue your dreams or make a perfect steak, how to change your priorities and redefine your success, how to ignite your fantasies and … and … then there's the puzzle! (Gotta' keep that brain active!)

Seriously, this magazine is pretty savvy. It looks good. It packs in lots of news on the latest events, new products, films, books and music. It's riddled with celebrity tidbits, which keeps the glamour factor high so that the magazine is a page-turner. Sure you get a discount with that AARP membership card, but AARP The Magazine keeps you plugged into the world where many folks who have evolved gracefully into the same demographic that you have are not only still ticking, but are having the time of their lives. 

Posted By: Lynn Gianiny