under the supreme tutelage of Editor Lewis Lapham , Harper 's Magazine consistently churn out intense , dramatic , sincere , frightening , uplifting , and challenging commentary . if other in the media censor they opinion in the face of big brother , Harper 's make up for it with brutally honest assessment of culture , politics , and world affair .  at first look , Harper 's seem a leftist publication , but if you read it a little more carefully , it be a lot more Mark Twain than Karl Marx . I would call it centrist , but even that imply straddle the center between two extreme . like Twain , Harper 's be more of a somewhat irascible , yet always care voice on the outside , not on one end of the spectrum or another , but rather on a different spectrum altogether .  the attitude be egalitarian , never pompous . the voice be reasonable , if sometimes angry or alarmed . Harper 's be definitely not a liberal magazine in the sense of marxist socialism . Harper 's be liberal in the sense of jeffersonian liberalism . it be opinion seem more focus on improve local culture and economy and challenge the demagogue and central planner who seek to control the mass , be they Democrat or Republican . perhaps Harper 's be the Jim Jeffords of the magazine world .  Harper 's be a eloquent and impassioned magazine that deliver carefully construct and inventive view of the world each month . there be a overriding sense of seriousness and genuine compassion find in every issue . in a world where so many media source be merely parrot for a larger corporate or political agenda , Harper 's stand out as a autonomous voice of indignant opposition to censorship and blind nationalism . if you care about the world we all inhabit and genuinely want to discover how we might all get to a better place , give Harper 's a read . it may not provide the answer , but it certainly raise all the right question .