Cool Hunting

Premiering this month, Good is a smart bimonthly magazine that encourages and inspires conscious global citizens to band together and “give a damn." The inaugural September/October issue speaks to a generation of new capitalists (i.e. those who "embrace the merger of capitalism and idealism") with articles that include a primer on the upcoming mid-term elections to New Yorker writer James Surowiecki's insightful essay on the U.S.'s cultural, economic, and political relationship to the rest of the world. Other sections profile honorable people (like Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Stone Barns' creative director Dan Barber), illustrate statistics about contemporary issues, and report on the latest socially-minded creative projects, including Object Orange, a house-painting art collective that raises awareness of urban blights and the original pirate store-slash-tutoring center, 826 Valencia. For all the weightiness of the topics, an optimistic point-of-view coupled with elegant layouts, photography and illustration (that often add a dose of humor) keeps the LA-based magazine accessible without losing its intelligent edge.

Printed on recycled paper, natch, the $20 subscription cost goes entirely to the non-profit of your choice. If that's not a Good enough reason to subscribe, subscriber-only launch parties are planned for LA and NYC on 16 and 21 September 2006 respectively.

by Todd Thomas