magazines to try would be
Atlantic Monthly or
UTNE also has some interesting articles or even
the New Yorker
If you're l ooking for politics as the focus, then
National Review, hands down wins my vote, followed closely by
the spectator...
Since my butt isn't on an airplane every week anymore i read a lot less magazines... the economist is OK... I read it years ago, then started to get annoyed because they took themselves way too seriously.. Atlantic Monthly is well written (for the most part) and has timely articles for a monthly...
Time, Newsweak, and Useless News are all pretty much interchangeable - I worked for Newsweak for a number of years and US News was a client for even longer I wasn't impressed with the writing talent... the big difference between US news and the other two -- is US News puts their magazine to bed a day earlier than the other two - and will often miss some late breaking details in the stories...
There are some good magazines out there, some not so much... head to the magazine section of a big book store, and start perusing...