Reunited, And It Feels So Good

The Week and I have had a long relationship, not without its ups and downs. I started subscribing years ago when it first came out - on cheesy newsprint rather than glossy magazine paper - and faithfully stayed with it until a subscription billing dispute led to an ugly breakup. But it wasn't long before I started missing the good times we'd shared, and remembering its comprehensive, non-U.S.-centric news coverage and the cute way it used to wrinkle its little nose, and eventually I swallowed my pride and begged The Week to take me back. And what do you know – it did (for $39.50 a year).

In a nutshell, The Week distills newspapers, magazines, and Web content from around the world into one easy-to-swallow summary, highlighting news from all over the globe, as well as discussing topical issues and even covering arts and culture. The magazine takes no positions itself, simply reporting viewpoints from both sides of hot issues in a way that gives you the gist of many periodicals in a fraction of the time. For those who, like me, are annoyed by most TV news programs and already overwhelmed with too many magazines, this is the quickest and easiest way to stay caught up on what major publications are saying about current events.

When you open the magazine, you'll see no table of contents or fancy masthead – there's no space to waste on junk like that. Instead, it plunges you right into "The main stories… and how they were covered," briefing you on the biggest news stories and what newspapers in various countries had to say. I like to start with "It wasn't all bad," a light-hearted little sidebar on the first page with heartwarming/inspirational/wacky anecdotes (akin to the "waterskiing squirrel"-type human-interest stories at the end of a news show). Next comes Controversy of the Week, along with snarky sidebars "Only in America" (usually civil-rights outrages or frivolous lawsuits) and "Boring but important."

Moving on! Next is "The World at a Glance," which goes around the world quickly noting major news stories in one paragraph. Each page has a map of a world region, with arrows pointing to the area where the story happened, which can be helpful in the 'Stans or obscure countries. After you slog through those downers, you get a little break with the "People" page, which features a couple of celebrity profiles and a small gossip section. Once you've caught your breath, dive back into the "Briefing," a one-page introduction to a controversial current issue, presenting arguments from both sides and a basic factual overview.

Next is "Best Columns: U.S.," "Best Columns: Europe," and "Best Columns: International," which are pretty much what they sound like. I enjoy these because it gives a sense of what other countries are thinking and saying about current events – a perspective that Americans aren't often exposed to (and it's often very different from how American news publications think). "Talking points" presents one issue with a variety of news sources weighing in on all sides.

If you've made it through all that, hooray! It gets easier from here on out. First, you'll get to snicker at the week's political cartoons, which will now make sense after all the heavy reading you just did. Then there's the "Health and Science" page, which always has some fascinating new studies, as well as a "health scare of the week." Next, it's on to the Arts section, with summarized book reviews, an "author of the week" profile, and a short list of recommended books chosen by some literary name. There are usually reviews of current museum exhibitions, theater, opera, or ballet, as well as movie and music reviews for the week's new releases. Then you'll get a one-page "Food and Drink" section, which features a fancy recipe or two and maybe some wine picks; "Travel," which highlights a destination of the week and a new section with last-minute travel deals; and a "Consumer" page, which features a themed selection of items you can buy online and online shopping tips. "Obituaries" summarizes the notable persons who have died in the past week, and the ever-popular "Best properties" spread shows you glossy, luxe pictures of fancy houses to drool over. I generally skip over the Business and Making Money sections, because I don't have enough of the latter to care about the former. Finally, "The last word" is a condensed two-page essay, generally part of a longer article or a book. The very last page is TV listings… and you're done.

As you can see, this is an incredibly content-rich news blitz, but believe it or not, you can read it cover-to-cover in about an hour – that's how good they are at condensing and sifting information into a highly readable, convenient format. Frequently I'll see summaries of articles I've also read in other publications, and it's a fair, if abbreviated, version of the original article's position, so I trust their coverage to be objective and comprehensive. Most magazines don't capture my attention on every page, but I read almost every word each week. When I'm done, I feel up-to-date but not overloaded, and more importantly, you can impress people by pretending you've read a stunning range of newspapers and magazines. Which you have, sort of.

According to the subscription cards I've shaken out of the issue in front of me, the regular subscription rate is $49.50 for one year, or 50 issues (they go on vacation twice a year). However, I got mine for $39.50 by agreeing to an auto-renewal billing, and they frequently offer 2-for-1 gift subscriptions or other incentives. You won't really find any bargain deals through third-party magazine clearinghouses on The Week, so resign yourself to forking out the cash, but even at $50/year, or $1/issue, you're definitely getting plenty of value for your money.

The Week bills itself as "All you need to know about everything that matters," and while that might be a bit of an exaggeration, it's not much of one. For a comprehensive yet easily digestible news buffet, you can't do much better than The Week.