Little magazines we like: Inroads bridges the political and language gaps

It's always interesting to see the bubbling up of good journalism despite its many impediments and I'd like to bring to your attention a little magazine that's produced out of New Hamburg, Ontario. Inroads offers informed commentary on Canadian and international affairs and has been doing so since 1992 to a smaller-than-deserved audience. Its focus is to publish the best ideas in political life, left and right, and even more rare, to bring a selection of the best writing from Quebec to English-speaking readers. 

It's presented in print form and in a tidy website (teasing, but paywalled) and its coverage is both deep and broad, in areas of the economy, arts and books, environment and -- above all -- politics. Consider the current issue, which gives enough space to five, informed observers to look at the significance of Quebec's Charbonneau Commission into corrupt practices in Quebec municipalities, principally in Montreal. Then it dives into examining if government financed health care can be sustained. And goes halfway round the world to ask if Bangladesh is really experiencing a "Bengal Spring". 

Many of the contributors are, while not household names, familiar to serious readers. Such as Bob Chodos, the managing editor and former stalwart of the long-late and lamented Last Post magazine (see an earlier post); Reg Whitaker; Eric Hamovitch; Garth Stevenson; Linda Cardinal; Henry Milner and John Richards (the publishers).

The magazine is on most good, particularly independent, newsstands but subscribers are as important to it as any other magazine. Samples of every article are available on the website, as are those from past issues, but the full text of the meaty editorial only comes to subscribers. 

There is a special deal being offered for a limited time,making the whole magazine available on a 30-day free online trial (click on the relevant button). So you can rummage around in the current and archived issues as much as you want and then decide that this is something worth supporting with a subscription: $48 for two years print and online; $36 for two years (online only).