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Teen Vogue

Today's most insightful and aggressive political reporting isn't the exclusive domain of The New York Times, or The Washington Post, or NPR or MSNBC. You'll find topnotch political coverage in Teen Vogue, a magazine that feeds a girls-under-21 demographic with a steady diet of fashion, beauty and entertainment content, but that also takes on huge issues like feminism, immigration, racism, and activism. Subscriptions are just $5 for one year ($10 for two years), and if there's no one in your life who would enjoy Teen Vogue, why not ask your local public library, shelter, or afterschool program if they would like a subscription as a gift? You can follow Teen Vogue on Twitter, too. Honest, courageous journalism should be rewarded. 

Humans of New York

Have you fallen in love with Humans of New York? I'm in love with this blog, not only because I'm from New York, but also because it's an amazing snapshot of a place in time and the people who inhabit that place. In 2010, newly-unemployed Brandon began photographing New Yorkers, with the idea of plotting their photos on a map to create a portrait of the city. Somewhere along the way, the project became something more, and Brandon began to add quotes and stories to the photographs. Humans of New York captures people as they are: remarkable, each in his or her own way. There's a New York Times bestselling book from the blog, too.

Parts Unknown {The Jerusalem Episode}

Love him or loathe him, you have to admit that Anthony Bourdain knows how to tell a story. While slogging along on my exercise bike, I've been catching up on the first two seasons of Parts Unknown, his latest eat-and-drink travelogue, on Netflix. The first episode of Season 2 finds Bourdain in Jerusalem, accompanied by none other than Yotam Ottolenghi, whose London restaurant and the stunningly beautiful cookbooks he's written have changed everyone's way of thinking about vegetarian food. Even if you're not a Bourdain fan, or a vegetarian, watch this episode.

Is it really possible to design your life?

Is it enough to tell you that I sat transfixed by this extraordinary 48-minute video, and at the end, I believe something clicked in my head that might change the course of my work and my life? Jonathan Fields, host of The Good Life Project, interviews Debbie Millman, creator of the award-winning Design Matters podcasts and author of Self-Portrait as Your Traitor. Please pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and settle in. (Thanks to Brain Pickings for sourcing this.)

Andy Borowitz, keen observer

My mother would tell you I've been reading The New Yorker magazine since before I could read. In fact, I can't remember a time when I haven't had a subscription. I love that, in this electronic age, The New Yorker has given many of my favorite social commentators their own online homes. Andy Borowitz -- comedian and writer -- casts a wry eye on the news of the day, and calls out the powers that be when the world gets a bit skewed. The Borowitz Report arrives like magic, in my inbox, and almost always gives me my first laugh-out-loud of the day.