‘Sup, Bookwyrms? We begin our Subversive Summer Reading Program with two magazines that reboot one of the raddest 90s phenomena: the alternative magazine.

WARNING: the title reviewed in this post is NSFW, so I recommend reading this where the people in charge of your paycheck won’t see you. 😉

Playlist:

My BUST a Move list on Spotify, a collection of BUST-inspired and recommended artists like:

• The trippy synth-pop quartet Kalbells, with whom I became so insta-obsessed I iTuned both complete albums;

• The equally trippy art-pop tUnE-yArDs;

• Disco-punk band CHAI, whose latest album (created on Zoom) is “the musical equivalent of comfort food”;

• The Linda Lindas, a group of new middle-grade/high-school Riot Grrrls;

• and Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox.

It all began when I was listening to an episode of the Pi Beta Alpha podcast (an off-shoot of Double Love), in which Anna and Karyn expressed extreme skepticism about the TV show’s assumption that Jessica Wakefield reads Sassy, a late-80s/early-90s counter-culture magazine.

I’m thinking either:

• the episode writers hadn’t read their Sweet Valley Bible closely enough and underestimated Jessica’s epic level of social-climing Mean Girl conformity…

• Jessica/the writers picked up the magazine purely for the fashion content and paid no attention to the actual messages…

• or (to be totally optimistic) the writers were exercising a bit of authorial rebellion by exposing the Queen of Mean to an alternative point of view.

In any case, I was extremely intrigued by Anna and Karyn’s nostalgic waxing about the racy, empowering, socially-conscious magazine. Unfortunately, all the ebay copies I could find were a bit out of my price range at the time, so I started looking for contemporary equivalents.

And so, as I was browsing Barnes and Noble’s periodical section, the Spring 2021 issue of BUST — a.k.a. Chest Trunk, according to Google Translate 😆 (see previous post) — caught my eye. The rosy pink cover featured Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) standing boldly with her hands on her hips and her head turned slightly to give the reader a Mona Lisa side-eye.

A quick survey of the headlines hooked me with promises of third-wave feminist (i.e. racially, sexually, and gender-inclusive) attitudes; sex-positive musings (one of the articles is about how to maintain a successful open relationship); and a more global view of women’s history (contributor Lara McCaffrey writes about Southeast Asian vegetarian halls, alternative communal homes where women escaped unwanted marriages or unsupportive home situations, made their own money, and generally cared for each other instead of letting men control them).

Also, #vanlife, neo-roller-skating culture and tips for creating rad recipes with foraged ingredients (see Alexis Nikole Nelson‘s acorn pancakes! 😀 ). I HIGHLY recommend following Alexis Nikole, who goes by @blackforager on Instagram and @alexisnikole on TikTok. She’s 2021’s raddest alternative home ec teacher and she will song-and-dance her way into your hearts with her lessons on pinecone syrup, magnolia cookies, “tree tea,” dandelion fritters, and seaweed snacks (Seaweed Week > Shark Week and I will fight you on that).

Plus, she’ll teach you how to recognize those “toxic lookalikes” that can make people nervous about getting into foraging in the first place. See this article from Bon Appetit for more info on how Nelson got started and how she went viral!

So, of course I subscribed and was even more delighted by the Summer ’21 issue, with its Fried Green Tomatoes fashion and feminist alt-Harry Potter book recs, anti-racist art history, and tips on rebooting the colonialist AF “Tiki Bar” into something more legitimately fun and socio-eco conscious (hint: there are multiple women already doing it).

You can find a number of these articles at bust.com, but I personally prefer the old-school comfort of lounging on the front porch with a treebook copy and an iced hibiscus-lemon tea.

How about you, Bookwyrms? What’s the most subversive/alternative magazine you’ve read? Ever tried foraging or RV travel? What’s your favorite crafty/culinary/athletic trend that started during the lockdowns (or did YOU start a trend)?

Next up: I review author/blogger Angélique Jamail’s new self-published zine, Sonic Chihuahua!

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Credits:

Iced tea GIF from tenor.