national geographic: july 2010

ancient human skull on the cover
table of contents here


Let me just say that I absolutely love NatGeo and I always have for as long as I can remember. Before I could read, I'd lay on my stomach on the floor at my Aunt Betty's house, looking at all the amazing pictures and being just stunned that the things in them were real, that one day I might get to see them for myself. Then, almost as soon as I could read, it seemed, I'd spend hours reading through the back issues that were always there, filling my head with information and big words and page after page of text. Maybe that's why I'm not afraid of text.

When I was maybe 17, I got my first subscription to them under my own name, and since then, I've had several. Not really consistent, since my income is not really consistent, but at least a year, at least every few years, and when I don't have a sub, I usually track down the new issues and get them individually at cover price. I've tracked down the issues from the years of birth for my entire immediate family (except my own, which seems to all be mythical). I've kept all the ones I've bought.

And my favorite ones are the ones that feature human history and archaeology. This issue doesn't disappoint, and it's beautiful. Well-written, told like the best story around, clear, informative, not too much slant that I can see (which either means it's pretty unslanted, or that my degree in anthropology slants in the same way and I don't notice it). Evocative. Exactly what I want from NatGeo. Even the little articles are amazing-- one about space junk, how it matters and how to deal with it-- a little one-pager about the worst places in America to be a pedestrian (with the top four all being in Florida!).

If I wind up working for a magazine, I want it to be NatGeo. I want to be able to say, 'I edited that to make it so pretty', or 'I wrote that article and it blends seamlessly with the 150 year history of the mag'.

I've got two more fresh issues to read, and another old one that I misplaced and never finished, and that right there is more than worth the time it takes to read a whole issue. It actually almost makes me wish I still had a two-hour each way bus ride to get to work!