Radar returns!

On my just-concluded vacation, I made quite a discovery. I was browsing the newsstand at Chicago Midway Airport when the bright, silly cover of Radar magazine caught my eye. With a photo of President Bush giving a medal to Paris Hilton, how could it not?

Well, it isn't exactly new...but it's new to mos tof us that don't live in New York. It's actually plucky relaunch of the often-cited, short-lived (and wildy overhyped) Radar of two years ago - and this time the mag seems to have found a new groove (and actually getting play in the more-interesting-than-they-thought Midwest).

Radar’s tagline describes its wide range of stories to a T: Pop. Politics. Glamour. Gossip. A magazine for pop culture fanatics, cynical politics aficionados, liberal readers and general haters…Radar is a long time coming. With a cynical, smart-ass tone that doesn’t bother to hide bias (or play nice), Radar tackles issues from faked fame to child stars to a surprisingly candid and heartfelt story from the front lines in Iraq. And the takes it has on business, politics and media has a feel as if it is written specifically for those in the media business (and its most adamant consumers).

It isn’t a piece of crap gossip rag like Us Weekly or a serious thumb-sucker like Time or Newsweek – it takes the best of both and shakes it up with a healthy style influx from Slate and Salon. More blog than paper, more attitude than substance...it’s exactly what a smart reader needs for a quick read. Check it out.