(#44) / Mental Floss / (founded) by Mangesh Hattikudur & Will Pearson / (Magazine)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Mental Floss / (founded) by Mangesh Hattikudur & Will Pearson

ISBN-10: 7547008896 / Mental Floss, LLC

p. 72 / $4.99 (Retail)

2011 (March/April issue)  

Body of Content

Summary: The magazine often covers a few areas in great depth – as opposed to diverse, article-heavy entries like many magazines.  In this issue of Mental Floss, the magazine takes an in-depth look at topics concerning the human brain and technology.  Further, it highlights a geographical concern – by looking at “8 Things You Didn’t Know about Congo”.  Smaller articles also include looks at a visionary Japanese artist, a Russian playwright’s forgotten play, a look into Turkey’s Islamic yet democratic government, and the magazine signature trivia column, “The Quiz”.  The magazine is cerebral and cognitive in nature – with a nice visual look – with only a few advertisements dotting its pages.   

Critique: The magazine is a bi-monthly publication (6 times annually) and often contains a major theme that unites large sections of its pages.  In this issue, the motif is technological applications in cognitive areas – or more simply, modern issues surrounding the human brain.  The magazine calls this topical umbrella “Hacking the Brain” – with five persons (i.e. articles) standing underneath – “Cyborg Monkeys and the Future of Prosthetics” – “The Art of Building a Better Lie Detector” – “Why Cockroach Brains Will Save Your Life” – “Growing One Animal’s Brain inside Another Animal’s Body” – and “The New Science of Confronting Fear” (p. 38). 

The headline categories within each article often feature word puns or instances of irony.  In the robotic monkey article, the headlines include “Monkey See, Monkey Do” and “The Giant Leap to Mankind” (p. 42-43). In the lie detector article, the headlines include “Anatomy of a Lie” and “Paying for the Truth” (p. 45).

Overall, the magazine contains a humorous, cerebral quality to it – and the magazine completely embraces this identity – of finding interesting article ideas and spinning them with intellectual and humorous information.    

      

Teaser: “Fun facts have never been more interesting or useful – read Mental Floss for an academic, fun-time experience.”

Information about the Author: Mangesh Hattikudur is a co-founder of the magazine, along with Will Pearson.  Both were students – enrolled at Duke University – when they began the magazine.  He graduated in 2001 and over the last decade, Hattikudur and his cohorts have established a magazine that includes commercial spin-off products – such as t-shirts and board games – along with an accompanying web presence via their online site (Wikipedia, 2011).  The various editors of Mental Floss have also written eight books coinciding and based upon their magazine (Amazon, 2011).  

Supplemental Material

Genre: Entertainment / Trivia

Curriculum Ties: History – geography / Technology – machines, robots / Anatomy – neuroscience, animal science

Booktalking Ideas: 1) “Do you want to beat a lie detector test – or find out about robots who can read your mind? Check out this issue of Mental Floss”.

Reading Level: Later teens will appreciate the more difficult sections of cognitive information – best for 16-19.  

Challenge Issues and Defense: This magazine is a pretty safe choice for any library – I would not expect any challenges.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wish I had read this magazine when I was in high school – a lighter version of Popular Mechanics with a little bit of Jeopardy mixed in.

Last Thoughts

References:

Amazon. (2011). Mangesh Hattikudur [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/

Mangesh-Hattikudur/e/B001IGNZDO

Wikipedia (2011). Mangesh Hattikudur [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangesh_Hattikudur

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Vanessa Carlton / Album – “Rabbits on the Run” 

(#39) / Seventeen / (edited) by Ann Shoket / (Magazine)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Seventeen / (edited) by Ann Shoket

ASIN: B005MKB3L8 / Hearst Magazines  

p. 152 / $1.99 (Amazon)

2011 (October issue)

Body of Content

Summary: The magazine breaks down into various categories – such as the topical areas of fashion, beauty, love life, personal advice, and miscellaneous.  Unlike the two previously mentioned magazines (cf. Under the Radar and GamePro), Seventeen magazine is filled with advertisements – easily equal if not more than the volume of articles.  This issue features a “Seventeen’s Hot Guy Special” – with Taylor Lautner, Kenny Wormald, and Joshua Bowman draping the pages with page-sized photos and candid interviews.  The fashion section includes page-sized photos of various outfits; the beauty section focuses on makeup products and application techniques; the love life section focuses on advice and straight-forward confessions; and the personal advice section covers a wide range of topics.  

Critique: The magazine is marketed towards teenage girls.  But the magazine also feels like it is written by teenage girls.  I do not necessary mean that as an academic slam.  Still, it feels like the majority of the narratives come from teenagers themselves, companies marketing products at teenagers (who are pretending to be their friends), or adults behaving like teenagers.  In this way, the magazine is a safe place for teens to “talk/read” through their (own) issues without having to worry about parental judgment.

All the same, the advice columns and confessions have a tonality to them that few 30-year-old adults would provide to teens looking for guidance.  The level of advice is not abhorrent – but it does not contain the balance that an older perspective can offer.  One statement, in particular, from a college freshman, in essence, providing “advice” to teen readers about their first year in college, states, “I got into the habit of going out all night then sleeping … even through class … I was so dazzled by my new freedom that I didn’t notice I was being irresponsible until I bombed my finals …Now I make sure partying is just one part of my routine – not all of it” (p. 148 italics mine).

And that is supposed to count as sage-like wisdom?  Now, the magazine is not a fashion-advice version of The Lord of the Flies – but it does sponsor a lax attitude that teens have the rational and experiential capacity to entirely self-govern themselves and form well-reasoned decisions.  The perspective of the magazine allows teens to feel at ease reading it.  But a lack of actual content – i.e. advice from experts or psychologists – lets marketers and pop culture define the teenage experience for teens in a way that lacks social accountability or self-actualization – and steers teens towards a pleasure-defined, existential, consumerist version of worth.      

Teaser: A mix of fashion tips, relationship advice, and pop culture low-down, Seventeen offers everything a teenage girl needs. 

Information about the Author: Ann Shoket is the 39-year-old editor of the magazine. She started her professional ventures as a reporter for The American Lawyer.  She later branched out on her own with the creation of Tag – a web-based magazine.  Additional editor roles occurred within various publications like Parade and CosmoGIRL!  More recently, Shoket served as a celebrity judge on the TV show America’s Next Top Model.  The chief editor hails from Pennsylvania – having attended New York University for her undergraduate degree (Wikipedia, 2011).  

Supplemental Material

Genre: Pop Culture / Fashion / Advice

Curriculum Ties: Social studies – pop culture trivia / Psychology – advice columns

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Catch the latest fashion trends – and see if they fall within your budget 2) Taylor Lautner is a hot, hot hottie – catch his interview and free poster – inside this issue of Seventeen magazine.

Reading Level: Heavily-oriented towards teen girls – aged 13-19.

Challenge Issues and Defense: Some may object to the relationship advice based upon views of sexual mores.  But the magazine is not as “sketchy” as other advice magazines aimed at girls/women – like Cosmopolitan. 

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: Believe me – as a male – I didn’t want to read this magazine … or face the librarian when checking it out … But I needed a balancing factor to GamePro …

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Ann Shoket [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Shoket

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Jennifer Knapp/ Album – “Kansas”   

(#38) / GamePro / (founded) by Patrick J. Ferrell / (Magazine)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

GamePro / (founded) by Patrick J. Ferrell

ASIN: B005BZJUAA/ International Data Group (IDG)

p. 92 / $ 3.95 (Amazon)

2011 (July issue)  

Body of Content

Summary: The magazine is largely a review source for video games – across a host of game consoles.  Each issue holds a wide variety of reviews – with this issue looking more closely at the following games – “The Lord of the Rings: War in the North” – “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City” – “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” – MMA Supremacy” – “Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One” – Tomb Raider” – and “Game of Thrones” – among others (p. 3).  The magazine also contains a few articles dealing with the video game culture – for lack of a better idiom.  These articles refer to trends in game design, self-construction of a PC unit, and video game classifications – with interviews of game designers and industry experts as part of the write-up.   

Critique: Whether it is a book or a magazine, the author(s) have an intended audience for their work.  Often, in the case of magazines, if someone looks at the advertisements, then they can decipher a great deal about the intended readership.  Looking at GamePro, it is clear that younger males comprise the key demographic.

One ad from Digital Storm for a specially-made gaming computer shows a computer tower – in ominous red light – with a chain of bullets draped across the tower – with the headline reading “DOMINATE your opponents” (p. 21).  Another ad markets the Blu-ray version of Battle: Los Angeles – an action-based alien invasion movie – with the review headline “Pure Adrenaline” (p. 17).  Further, an ad for a fantasy game reads “He’d love to wake up next to Nina” (p. 50).  The ads present a consistent message that males – heavily interested in hot technology, violent action games, and sexual innuendos – demonstrate their chief demographic.       

Teaser: “All the latest game news, reviews, and cheats that a serious gamer could ask for!”

Information about the Author: In 1988, Patrick J. Ferrell started the magazine with Leeanne McDermott, his sister-in-law.  Early contributors also included a husband-wife duo of Michael and Lynne Kavish within the design aspects of the magazine.  The founders teamed with a major publisher – IDG – and settled in various Bay Area cities (San Mateo, San Francisco, and Oakland) over the years (Wikipedia, 2011).  In a 2002 news article, industry experts reported that GamePro held 3 million monthly subscribers – mostly to a male teen demographic (Business Wire, 2002).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Gaming 

Curriculum Ties: Technology – video games graphics, game design, game theory

Booktalking Ideas: 1) How does GamePro’s review of a game stack against other industry standards like GameSpot? 2) “See the feature article on the newest addition to the Elder Scrolls franchise!”

Reading Level: GamePro is a thoroughly young adult selection – read highly by teens 13-19 … and even a few procrastinating college students.   

Challenge Issues and Defense: Some games are rated-M for Mature audiences – even though the magazine contains a heavy teen audience.  Although the magazine does not contain a high amount of objectionable material, some parents may feel that it pushes, advertises, influences, etc. teens towards such titles for purchases.  The best defense is not one of exclusion from the collection – but rather to tactfully inform parents that they still hold parental rights over what product purchases their teens make – instead of asking for censorship of the collection.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wanted a resource for males in the magazine format that countered the female-heavy Seventeen magazine.

Last Thoughts

References:

Business Wire. (2002). Find articles [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/

p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Sept_23/ai_91910470/

Wikipedia. (2011). GamePro [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GamePro

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Leeland / Album – “Sound of Melodies”   

(#26) / “Under the Radar” / (published) by Mark Redfern & Wendy Lynch Redfern/ (Magazine)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Under the Radar / (published) by Mark Redfern & Wendy Lynch Redfern

ISBN: 7447056683 / Under the Radar LLC

p. 97 / $5.99 (Retail)

2011 (July issue)

Body of Content

Summary: The YA magazine covers the music industry – though mostly the indie music scene.  The magazine features a dozen or so interviews with musical bands – mostly short interviews covering one to three pages.  Most of these interviews converse with the chief songwriter/singer – and not necessarily with the entire band.  These shorter entries still have a significant amount of photos (one to five photos) per interview – with the text to photo ratio around an equal 1:1 portion.  Each issue also features a longer, more formal interview – lasting five+ pages.  This July issue, Under the Radar talked to Annie Clark from the band St. Vincent.  The magazine contains a handful of other types of columns – including a section called “Digital Sampler” – which allows readers to digital hear (and/or download) musical tracks online with a magazine-provided password.  At the end of the magazine, over 10 pages are devoted to reviews – mostly music CDs, tracks, etc. – though some books, DVDs, and video games are also reviewed.   

Critique: For such a small production – started by a husband and wife versus a major publication company – the magazine is of good quality.  Under the Radar knows its target demographic – an audience mostly made of late teens and young adults.  The magazine represents a nice, balanced ratio of text to photo – (i.e. narrative to visual).  It is not overwhelmed by ads – nor does it read like a musical version of the Wall St. Journal.

The magazine offers a nice intentionality to its presentation.  It does provide a great deal of personal information about musical acts.  But it also offers an immersive amount of industry information – regarding new releases, album reviews, and sampling venues – making it a great source of functionality for reader advisory purposes.

Overall, magazines as a genre do not reflect the expertise of a journal article – or the comprehensiveness of a printed book – or the artistic aspirations of cinema.  But as a magazine, Under the Radar does a thorough job on providing interesting information.  And as such, looking more closely at the interviews, their feature article – an interview with Annie Clark of St. Vincent fame – demonstrates some interesting information.  The article talks about the process of recording, her song inspirations, the relationship between her third (new) album and her two prior releases, specific song details, and even biographical information including her formal education at Berklee College of Music in Boston and theories regarding the band/project’s name.  Though it may lack (compared to other formats) in particulars – or in scope – or in multimedia – Under the Radar is still a worthwhile read.

Teaser: Did you know that one of the tour musicians for Sujian Stevens also has a solo career?

Information about the Author: The magazine was founded in 2001 by Mark Redfern and Wendy Lynch Redfern – who have since married each other in 2007.  Mark is the senior editor of the publication, while Lynch controls the visual elements – photography, layout, etc.  The magazine mostly covers the American music scene – but special edition have also covered Canadian independent music – along with British pop acts (Wikipedia, 2011).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Indie Music / Popular Culture

Curriculum Ties: Music – industry information, band bios / Journalism – photography, writing styles

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Would you like a music source that provides sampling opportunities to quality bands – bands you might not have heard of – that are Under the Radar? 2) Have you ever wondered what inspired the lyrics to your favorite song – or performed the occasion for the composition of your favorite indie rock song? Under the Radar might just provide those answers.   

Reading Level: Usually teens need a little time to develop more independent music sensibilities – making this magazine more particular to teens 15-19 – than middle-school-aged teens.   

Challenge Issues and Defense: I did detect some language in the ads.  Magazines are hard to generalize – since each issue provides new content – and new opportunities for challenges.  The magazine appears as a lighter-toned “Rolling Stone” magazine – marketed towards teens – and generally should not represent too many challenge concerns.  Further, the advertisements within the magazine did not appear overly sensual or sexual in tone or content.   

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wanted a neutral magazine – not target to only boys or only girls – and this magazine helped accomplish this desire.

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Under the Radar [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Radar_%28magazine%29

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Shaded Red / Album – “Shaded Red”