For the past six months, we at the magazine and website formerly called Miller-McCune have spent a lot of time thinking about you, our readers, and how we can take the next step in improving your reading and viewing experience in both our print magazine and online. This redesigned, rethought website is the result.
The biggest change, of course, was the title. We talked—a lot—about what we had to offer in a crowded print and online magazine field, and why we felt it was important to publish the kind of stories we do. What we came to was this: there are few magazines that look deeply at the work coming straight from academia and other research centers, and even fewer that do it from the West Coast, home to seven of the world’s leading research universities, most of the world’s top technology companies, and the gateway to a rising Asia.
We aim to cover that terrain with a mix of short and long pieces—and quick, easily digestible blog posts—that showcase original research, foreground primary-source data of national importance, and, sometimes, are just fun to read.
To that end, PSMag.com will feature original, Web-only articles every day. We’re also polishing up some popular online offerings from Miller-McCune, including “Findings,” our daily blog on the latest studies and discoveries you should know about, and “Today in Mice,” your essential source for all research rodent-related. Coming soon will also be “The 101: Quick and Nerdy” our blog on current research that adds insight and depth to the latest news about education, economy, energy, politics, and health.
We’re also showcasing Pacific Standard’s new columns and departments. These include “Abstract: The Study of Everything,” a graphic-driven look from many interdisciplinary angles at a timely topic; “The Culture Lab,” a dive into the latest deep thinking on the shallows of pop culture; “R&D—Researchers and Discoveries,” a portrait of a top researcher at work; “On Second Thought,” a look back at what happened to research or innovative ideas that made a big splash in the recent past; and more. Our features stories on politics, health, education, economy, and the environment will be written by savvy journalists, or professional researchers, who can provide an informed, well-reasoned take on new and important research, and emerging issues from the western United States and around the Pacific Rim.
And we aim to do all this in a more beautiful setting. Art Director Craig Edwards has put his heart and soul into our newly redesigned pages, and it shows. (Not to mention our animated first cover! You can see it here.)
Please let me know what you think. It’s been a long time getting to this launch, and we’re excited to begin the journey with you.
Maria Streshinsky
Editor in chief
Pacific Standard
