Reviews For Mental Floss Magazine


The Best Thing In My Mailbox!

I have subscribed to "Mental Floss" from the very beginning, and now look forward to each new issue anxiously. Founded just a couple of years ago by two former college roommates who wanted a fun, hip, urbane magazine to make them smarter with style, "Mental Floss" has become a huge success, and is one of the few new magazines that debut each year that is actually prospering.

Each issue is loaded with information on interesting topics, from how common (or very uncommon) things work, to odd and unknown histories and biographies that you will not find anywhere else (and if you did, certainly not in as condensed and succinct a form as you will find here.) Without exception, the writers are literate, knowledgeable, and good humored.

The things that you don't know will amaze you after reading this magazine. Try "Mental Floss", and I am willing to bet that you will be hooked. I know I am.

Quick mental jolts to keep your brain entertained

There are magazines you read for specific how-to texts, like how to fix your kitchen sink. There are magazines you read to stay up to date with the latest news in the world, your field, or a given region. Then there are magazines like Mental_Floss, which is more like a "News of the Weird" magazine version release. These aren't brain puzzles to improve your memory a la Brain Age. They aren't research pieces that will test or challenge your mental ability. Instead, they are quirky factoids.

What is yelling "Geronimo" all about? Just what is a "Vegemite Sandwich"? There are all sorts of odd things covered here. Sometimes they touch on science, world politics or human relations - but often they're related to pop culture, the things you hear every day and never really thought about.

It's intriguing that how you react to this magazine is probably based a lot on what you have read until now. If what you've been reading has been mainstream newspapers aimed at the "lowest common denominator", or the Dummies series of books, you'll be greatly refreshed by this! This magazine doesn't assume you're a dummy with a dead brain. It assumes you want to learn, to grow, to find out the "why" behind the things in your world. It's aimed for people who pop onto Wikipedia when they hear about a new, interesting item on the news ... or people who jump onto IMDB to see what else an actor was in when they watch a movie. It's for people who are intrigued by those connections and backgrounds.

On the other hand, Mental_Floss generally provides a surface read. It's the perfect bathroom magazine - but for those who already get mentally challenging magazines, they might be let down by a magazine that is explicitly named Mental_Floss. This doesn't provide in depth or rigorous details on anything. If the academic magazines are at college level, Mental_Floss is more like the fun high school underground newsletter that tackles intriguing issues that might otherwise be ignored. Now, before you start to clamor that most newspapers write at a 5th grade level, that is in fact untrue! Here's a factoid for you :) The New York Times writes at a 12th grade level of vocabulary and comprehension, while most other newspapers fall between 9th and 10th grade. The 5th grade stat came from the 1700s and 1800s.

Still, every magazine has its target audience and its purpose in life. Mental_Floss isn't there to provide in depth education. There are other magazines for that. Instead, it gives you great tidbits on things that many people care about - things that are *super* to use at cocktail parties, networking events, dinners out with your boss or employees. Instead of getting into a discussion about religion or politics, and perhaps starting the third world war, you can give info on a topic that will intrigue most people there, and often impress them.

Definitely a magazine that just about every age group will enjoy - and that is very "useful"! If I have a real issue with this magazine, it's that it only comes out every other month. It'd be great if they could get this onto a monthly schedule, with more intriguing facts to keep us fresh and full of new information.

YESSSSS!!!

This is one of the most original, intelligent and stimulating magazines out there in an industry that seems to thrive on rehashing the same old same old. You'll learn fascinating new facts, be faced with stimulating ideas...all for the price of a few dollars. Concise and witty, it sure beats those droning college textbooks.

just great

I love Mental Floss. The magazine is funny, entertaining, and educational. Its not boring by any means, the articles are often short, but to the point. A reviewer wrote in that one does not come away with wisdom. Education is power and by getting you to think, you can walk away with so much more. And its not boring and I commend the writers and the staff at Mental Floss for making learning fun again.

It doesn't go in too deep in an academic way, just gives you an overall knowledge of certain things. Just give the magazine a try, it may or may not be for you, but thank goodness it doesn't dumb down its audience. I've really had it with those books "the idiots guide..." and "the dummies guide..." All of us are intelligent human beings, maybe not geniuses, but we certainly don't deserve to be called dummies. I've had it with the "stupid" label that corporations try to give the masses. I just wish that Mental Floss was published more often.

Go get a copy today!

I bought an issue of Mental Floss at the bookstore after reading an article about it in the Washington Post. It is certainly the most enjoyable, irreverant perodical out there today. Beyond just factoids and useless information, the editors seem to strive to put knowledge into context, so that when you are waxing on the industrial revolution's relationship to Marxism at your next party, you'll actually know what you are talking about! I think this magazine would be a great gift for anybody, but it is certainly perfect for young people with a thirst for knowledge. The perfect thing to have on the coffee table of your first apartment. Go buy a copy today!

Geeks, trivia buffs, & all who want to be informed read this

If you want to know more but don't have a lot of time to read, subscribe to Mental Floss. I first heard about it in a segment on NPR. It made me curious so I bought an issue that night and was instantly hooked! I went online and ordered not only a subscription for myself, but one for a friend's birthday as well (and have it on my Christmas list as a good gift for numerous others).

The magazine is fast and easy to read and chock full of bite-sized morsels of information,the sorts of things we all want to know. I even saw an issue of it being read on the show "Friends," this season. Recently, one of my monthly issues sat on my coffee table, when a friend's husband picked it up and began reading it. His wife and I heard very little out of him for the next thirty minutes other than an occasional "Wow" or a "That's really interesting" or a "Did you know?" because he had been instantly absorbed into the Mental Floss World. You should be,too.

Great Brain Entertainment

There are magazines you read for specific how-to texts, like how to fix your kitchen sink. There are magazines you read to stay up to date with the latest news in the world, your field, or a given region. Then there are magazines like Mental_Floss, which is more like a "News of the Weird" magazine version release. These aren't brain puzzles to improve your memory a la Brain Age. They aren't research pieces that will test or challenge your mental ability. Instead, they are quirky factoids.

What is yelling "Geronimo" all about? Just what is a "Vegemite Sandwich"? There are all sorts of odd things covered here. Sometimes they touch on science, world politics or human relations - but often they're related to pop culture, the things you hear every day and never really thought about.

It's intriguing that how you react to this magazine is probably based a lot on what you have read until now. If what you've been reading has been mainstream newspapers aimed at the "lowest common denominator", or the Dummies series of books, you'll be greatly refreshed by this! This magazine doesn't assume you're a dummy with a dead brain. It assumes you want to learn, to grow, to find out the "why" behind the things in your world. It's aimed for people who pop onto Wikipedia when they hear about a new, interesting item on the news ... or people who jump onto IMDB to see what else an actor was in when they watch a movie. It's for people who are intrigued by those connections and backgrounds.

On the other hand, Mental_Floss generally provides a surface read. It's the perfect bathroom magazine - but for those who already get mentally challenging magazines, they might be let down by a magazine that is explicitly named Mental_Floss. This doesn't provide in depth or rigorous details on anything. If the academic magazines are at college level, Mental_Floss is more like the fun high school underground newsletter that tackles intriguing issues that might otherwise be ignored. Now, before you start to clamor that most newspapers write at a 5th grade level, that is in fact untrue! Here's a factoid for you :) The New York Times writes at a 12th grade level of vocabulary and comprehension, while most other newspapers fall between 9th and 10th grade. The 5th grade stat came from the 1700s and 1800s.

Still, every magazine has its target audience and its purpose in life. Mental_Floss isn't there to provide in depth education. There are other magazines for that. Instead, it gives you great tidbits on things that many people care about - things that are *super* to use at cocktail parties, networking events, dinners out with your boss or employees. Instead of getting into a discussion about religion or politics, and perhaps starting the third world war, you can give info on a topic that will intrigue most people there, and often impress them.

Definitely a magazine that just about every age group will enjoy - and that is very "useful"! If I have a real issue with this magazine, it's that it only comes out every other month. It'd be great if they could get this onto a monthly schedule, with more intriguing facts to keep us fresh and full of new information.

Floss Your Funny Bone

Resuscitation - act of reviving a person and returning them to consciousness

This publication does just that. It resuscitates the sense of humor and throws in some facts.

If you are looking for cold hard dry data listed in chronological order and you find humor pointless, this periodical is not for you.

You don't have to be trivia crazed to enjoy this magazine. If you have a sense of humor and (more importantly) enjoy others who have a sense of humor, you have found your magazine. You might even enjoy the information it contains.

Great buy

Magazine is full of super interesting facts and trivia, not to mention longer stories about random, funny stuff. It's really great quick reading for a bus or subway and the tone is never too academic to make it inaccessible. Perfect for the man who needs to know something about everything. I'd highly recommend this.

Fascinating--and Just Plain Funny

The information is interesting and fun, the writing is superb, and the writers and editors have a great sense of humor. I just wish it came out more often!

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